Batman: War Games

"War Games"

Cover to Batman: War Games, Act Three trade paperback (October 2005), art by James Jean.

Publisher| DC Comics
Publication date| October 2004 – January 2005
Genre|

* Superhero
* Crossover

| Title(s)

Batman #631-634
Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure
Batman: Gotham Knights #56-58
Batgirl #55-57
Catwoman (vol. 2) #34-36
Detective Comics #797-800
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182-184
Nightwing #96-98
Robin (vol. 2) #129-131
Main character(s)| Batman
Black Mask
Spoiler
Oracle
Batgirl
Nightwing
Robin
Catwoman
Creative team
Writer(s)| A. J. Lieberman, Bill Willingham, Andersen Gabrych, Devin Grayson, Dylan Horrocks, Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka
Penciller(s)| Raymond Bachs, Pete Woods, Brad Walker, Mike Lilly, Sean Phillips, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jon Proctor, Thomas Derenick, Kinsun, Paul Lee, Paul Gulacy
Inker(s)| Raul Fernandez, Rodney Ramos, Nathan Massengill, Cam Smith, Drew Geraci, Troy Nixey, Andy Owens, Sean Phillips, Lorenzo Ruggiero, Robert Campanella, Aaron Sowd, Adam DeKraker, Brian Horton
Act One: Outbreak| ISBN 978-1401204297
Act Two: Tides| ISBN 978-1401204303
Act Three: Endgame| ISBN 978-1401204310

"War Games" is a 2004-2005 major storyline comic book story arc published by DC Comics that ran in its Batman family of titles, Detective Comics, Legends of the Dark Knight, Nightwing, Batman: Gotham Knights, Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, Batman, and Gotham Central. The storyline, which was published from October 2004 until January 2005, was preceded by a prologue that appeared in Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure.

## Synopsis

[edit]

The plot revolves around a gang war involving all the major criminal groups in Gotham. It starts with one of Batman's most ambitious contingency plans for a possible outbreak of uncontrollable gang violence, Batman developed an elaborate scenario that would unite all of Gotham's underworld under a single crime boss: Matches Malone, who is really an alias of Batman himself.[1]

This plan is discovered by Stephanie Brown, who was serving as Batman's sidekick, Robin, at the time, and who was unaware that Malone and Batman were one and the same, believing that he was simply an employee of Batman. When Brown is fired from the Robin position, she attempts to regain Batman's trust and confidence by implementing the contingency plan without Batman's knowledge or participation. Thus, Matches Malone is not present when Brown, having returned to her former identity of Spoiler, assembles the leaders of all of the gangs into one place. The meeting ends disastrously, with numerous crime bosses and henchmen killed (including Lew Moxon, Hellhound, Silver Monkey and NKVDemon III) and all of the gangs in Gotham going to war with one another.

In the chaos of the citywide gang war, the crime lord Black Mask seizes control of all the gangs by kidnapping Stephanie and torturing her for the information she possesses, and becomes the most powerful crime lord of Gotham City. Stephanie would seemingly die from her torture at Black Mask's hands, a tragedy for which Batman holds himself responsible.

## Aftermath

[edit]

Besides the aforementioned death of Stephanie Brown, many other side effects came about from this event. The biggest of these included Black Mask becoming the single crime boss in Gotham, something that would remain until his death at the hands of Catwoman. Another would be Commissioner Akins effectively making all vigilantes criminals, a move that would stay in place for over a year until the return of Commissioner Gordon to the Gotham City Police Department. The more controversial effect, not seen until the follow-up story War Crimes, was turning Doctor Leslie Thompkins against Batman, when she allows Stephanie Brown to die from her wounds as Batman's "punishment" for including children in his war on crime. Jason Todd, a former Robin, confirmed to be alive on Batman: Under the Hood as a violent vigilante the Red Hood who waged a one-man war against Black Mask and successfully crippling his criminal operation in the city before seeking revenge towards Batman and the Joker. Finally, the citizens of Gotham City no longer consider Batman to be an urban legend (which has been in place since Zero Hour), as he was caught on camera trying to save the life of a wounded student at the end of Act One.[1] Additionally, Barbara Gordon lost the clock tower that served as her home and headquarters and left Gotham City, eventually moving to Metropolis. She would later re-establish her ties to Batman.

Stephanie's death at the hands of the Black Mask and Dr. Thompkins would also lead to the mystery of her later appearances in the pages of Gotham Underground and Robin as a mysterious female vigilante wearing the Spoiler costume later unmasked to be Stephanie herself.[2][3] Stephanie's death was retconned by writer Chuck Dixon, revealing that Dr. Thompkins had switched her body with a deceased victim who had a similar body type and treated her in secret.[4]

## Planned death of Stephanie

[edit]

At the 2011 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, former Batgirl writer Dylan Horrocks said that the writers were told by editorial that the crossover would be "involve some kind of gang war in Gotham" and involve Stephanie's death. Her debut as Robin was, according to her story, "purely as a trick to play on the readers, that we would fool them into thinking that the big event [War Games] was that Stephanie Brown would become Robin but we knew all along it was a temporary thing, and she was then going to die at the end of this crossover story". Both Horrocks and Nightwing writer Devin Grayson opposed the move during planning, to the extent that Horrocks deliberately kept Batgirl out of several key events in the story.[5]

## Reading order

[edit]

War Drums:

* Detective Comics #790-796
* Robin (vol. 4) #126-128
* Batgirl #53
* Solo #10

Act One - Outbreak:

* Prelude: Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure #1
* Part 1: Detective Comics #797
* Part 2: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182
* Part 3: Nightwing #96
* Part 4: Batman: Gotham Knights #56
* Part 5: Robin (vol. 4) #129
* Part 6: Batgirl #55
* Part 7: Catwoman (vol. 3) #34
* Part 8: Batman #631

Act Two - Tides:

* Part 1: Detective Comics #798
* Part 2: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #183
* Part 3: Nightwing #97
* Part 4: Batman: Gotham Knights #57
* Part 5: Robin (vol. 4) #130
* Part 6: Batgirl #56
* Part 7: Catwoman (vol. 3) #35
* Part 8: Batman #632

Act Three - Endgame:

* Part 1: Detective Comics #799
* Part 2: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #184
* Part 3: Nightwing #98
* Part 4: Robin (vol. 4) #131
* Part 5: Batman: Gotham Knights #58
* Part 6: Batgirl #57
* Part 7: Catwoman (vol. 3) #36
* Part 8: Batman #633
* Epilogue: Detective Comics #800
* Epilogue: Batman #634

### Modern releases

[edit]

Starting in November 2015, DC began to release new editions of the War Games arc, with the first volume composed of the issues from the original release mixed in with the issues that were originally used for the prequel "collected edition", Batman: War Drums, as well as a brief story from the Solo series by Damion Scott about Stephanie Brown as Robin and the issues Robin #121 and Batgirl #53, which were not part of the original release.[6]

The second and final volume which was released in May 2016 contained the rest, which was the issues originally used for the second and third volumes of the original release, combined with the ones from the post-story "collected edition", Batman: War Crimes and Batman #642, which was not part of the original trade paperback release.[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Wallace, Dan (2008), "Batman", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 40–44, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1
2. ^ Robin #172
3. ^ Gotham Underground #6
4. ^ Robin #174
5. ^ Footage and transcript of the Auckland Writers And Readers Fest panel at Bleeding Cool: "Spoiler Was Gonna Die" – Inside The DC Writer Meeting That Killed Stephanie Brown". Archived link.
6. ^ Gabrych, Andersen (2015). Batman War Games Book One. ISBN 978-1401258139.
7. ^ Brubaker, E.; Horrocks, Dylan (2016). Batman War Games Book 2. ISBN 978-1401260705.

* v
* t
* e

Batman publications and story lines

Publication history

Current series|

* Batman
* Batman: The Brave and the Bold
* Batman/Superman: World's Finest
* Detective Comics (#27)
* Catwoman
* Harley Quinn
* Nightwing
* Poison Ivy

Completed
ongoing series|

* Azrael
* Batgirl
* Batgirl and the Birds of Prey
* Batman (comic strip)
* Batman and Robin
* Batman and the Outsiders
* Batman: Arkham Unhinged
* Batman: The Brave and the Bold
* Batman: The Dark Knight
* Batman: Gotham Knights
* Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight
* Batman: Shadow of the Bat
* Batman: Streets of Gotham
* The Batman Adventures
* The Batman Chronicles
* Batman Beyond
* Batman Confidential
* Batman Family
* Batman Incorporated
* The Batman Strikes!
* Batman/Superman
* Batwing
* Batwoman
* Birds of Prey
* The Brave and the Bold
* Gotham by Midnight
* Gotham Central
* Gotham City Sirens
* Gotham Girls
* Grayson
* The Huntress
* The Joker
* Man-Bat
* Mother Panic
* The Penguin
* Red Hood/Arsenal
* Red Hood and the Outlaws
* Red Robin
* Robin
* Robin: Son of Batman
* Superman/Batman
* Tim Drake: Robin
* We Are Robin
* World's Finest Comics

Completed
miniseries|

* Anarky
* Batman: Anarky
* Batman & Dracula trilogy
* Batman: Arkham City
* Batman: Battle for the Cowl
* Batman Black and White
* Batman: Cacophony
* Batman: Creature of the Night
* Batman: The Cult
* Batman: Damned
* Batman: The Dark Prince Charming
* Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham
* Batman: Earth One
* Batman: Gates of Gotham
* Batman: GCPD
* Batman: Gotham County Line
* Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City
* Batman: The Imposter
* Batman: The Knight
* Batman: Nosferatu
* Batman: Orpheus Rising
* Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
* Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity
* Batman: Three Jokers
* Batman: Thrillkiller
* Batman: Turning Points
* The Batman Who Laughs
* Batman: Year 100
* Bat-Mite
* Dark Knights of Steel
* First Wave
* Flashpoint Beyond
* Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons
* Gotham Underground
* Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy
* Man-Bat
* Penguin: Pain and Prejudice
* Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death
* Red Hood: The Lost Days
* Section 8
* Superman & Batman: Generations
* Trinity
* The Untold Legend of the Batman

| Batman Eternal|

* Batman Eternal
* Gotham by Midnight
* Batman and Robin Eternal

|

Dark Moon Rising|

* Batman and the Monster Men
* Batman and the Mad Monk
* The Man Who Laughs

The Long Halloween|

* Batman: The Long Halloween
* Batman: Dark Victory
* Catwoman: When in Rome

Millerverse|

* The Dark Knight Returns
* The Dark Knight Strikes Again
* The Dark Knight III: The Master Race

Murphyverse|

* Batman: White Knight
* Curse of the White Knight
* White Knight Presents: Red Hood
* Beyond the White Knight

Year One|

* Batgirl: Year One
* Green Arrow: Year One
* The Riddler: Year One
* Two-Face: Year One
* Robin: Year One

One-shots|

* Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
* Castle of the Bat
* Dark Knight Dynasty
* Dark Night: A True Batman Story
* Death of Innocents
* Digital Justice
* Gotham Noir
* Holy Terror
* Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop
* In Darkest Knight
* The Killing Joke
* KnightGallery
* Leatherwing
* The Man Who Laughs
* Nine Lives
* Noël
* Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl
* The Joker: Devil's Advocate
* Batman/Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows
* Son of the Demon
* The 12 Cent Adventure
* Two Faces
* War on Crime
* The Batman Adventures: Mad Love
* The Berlin Batman
* Gotham by Gaslight
* Joker
* Poison Ivy: Thorns
* Red Hood vs. Anarky
* Superman and Batman: World's Funnest

Story lines|

* "The Man Behind the Red Hood!"
* "The Joker's Millions"
* "The Joker's Double Jeopardy"
* "Batman: Year One"
* "Year Two"
* "Batman: A Death in the Family"
* "Year Three"
* "The Man Who Falls"
* "Anarky in Gotham City"
* "Gothic"
* "The Return of the Joker"
* "Prey"
* "The Last Arkham"
* "Knightfall"
* "Contagion"
* "Legacy"
* "Cataclysm"
* "No Man's Land"
* "Joker: Last Laugh"
* "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive"
* "Hush"
* "Broken City"
* "War Games"
* "City of Crime"
* "Under the Hood"
* "War Crimes"
* "Face the Face"
* "Batman and Son"
* "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul"
* "Batman R.I.P."
* "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?"
* "Batwoman: Elegy"
* "Bruce Wayne: The Road Home"
* "The Black Mirror"
* "Night of the Owls"
* "Death of the Family"
* "Zero Year"
* "Endgame"
* "Robin War"
* "The Button"
* "Dark Nights: Metal"
* "Joker War"
* "Dark Nights: Death Metal"
* "Fear State"
* "Shadows of the Bat"
* "Shadow War"
* "Gotham War"

Intercompany
crossovers|

* Batman/Aliens
* Batman/Daredevil: King of New York
* Batman/Hellboy/Starman
* Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham
* Batman/Spawn: War Devil
* Batman & Spider-Man: New Age Dawning
* Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-woman
* Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
* Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
* Batman/The Spirit
* Batman Versus Predator
* Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham
* Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye
* Ghost/Batgirl: The Resurrection Machine
* Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica
* Spawn/Batman
* Superman and Batman versus Aliens and Predator

Incomplete|

* All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder
* Batman: The Widening Gyre

Related topics|

* Batman: Child of Dreams
* Batman: Haunted Knight
* Batman Legends
* DC Comics – The Legend of Batman
* Elseworlds
* The Further Adventures of The Joker

Category
Publications are listed alphabetically by published titles. Storylines are listed in publication order. Compiled without respect for canon or "current" continuity.
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