tshepiso's review against another edition
2.0
This thoroughly miserable slog of a read as firmly reminded me why I avoid omnibus' i don't begrudge collectors for their love of them and while I don't read weekly single issues like some comic readers I can say with confidence that I am not designed to consumed story arcs is such heavy doses.
I do have to admit though that while a LOT of my distaste for this series comes from the way I read it. often beats in the story felt painfully redundant as authors retreat points in case a reader missed certain things or skipped over certain issues.
the story itself felt overstuffed. this is partly the fault of collection editors who may have been too generous in the back half of the narrative by including related but unessential threads of the story. but the main story itself also felt necessarily drawn out. in part because of the aforementioned redundancies
there was also an obvious fixation on writing and art quality as dozens of writers and artists works to create a single cohesive story. in particular, I disliked Paul Gulacy's let's say.... one-handed art style in Catwoman issues and four Devin Greyson's writing in Nightwing issues painfully repetitive and stale
but over and above all war game's biggest flaws were ultimately thematic. It's a story about the city of Gotham turning its back on its heroes that asks if capes exacerbate crime but truly wasn't up to the task of actually answering those questions. for one it doesn't present a conflict that lends itself to the question. gang wars and created largely by gangs and regardless of the inciting incident involving spoiler and batman because the violence was meted out by criminal elements that existed long before superheroes or supervillains existed
the literal and figurative character assassinations were also pretty hard to stomach. I know they get retconned but the brutality of spoiler's torture especially got to me given the excellent moments with her earlier in the run. I also found batman as a character to be pretty exhausting to read. the writers here generally went for violent and cold in terms of his main personality and his lack of empathy especially and kindness made him a very unlikable character throughout. The narrative's attachment to only seeing bruce express anger or cold solemnity undermined the impact of a lot of central moments. it didn't help that he was frequently an unrepentant jerk
overall batman war games was exhausting. while I have plans to read more batman crossover events in the future I'll be giving myself the appropriate grace and space over diving into them again
I do have to admit though that while a LOT of my distaste for this series comes from the way I read it. often beats in the story felt painfully redundant as authors retreat points in case a reader missed certain things or skipped over certain issues.
the story itself felt overstuffed. this is partly the fault of collection editors who may have been too generous in the back half of the narrative by including related but unessential threads of the story. but the main story itself also felt necessarily drawn out. in part because of the aforementioned redundancies
there was also an obvious fixation on writing and art quality as dozens of writers and artists works to create a single cohesive story. in particular, I disliked Paul Gulacy's let's say.... one-handed art style in Catwoman issues and four Devin Greyson's writing in Nightwing issues painfully repetitive and stale
but over and above all war game's biggest flaws were ultimately thematic. It's a story about the city of Gotham turning its back on its heroes that asks if capes exacerbate crime but truly wasn't up to the task of actually answering those questions. for one it doesn't present a conflict that lends itself to the question. gang wars and created largely by gangs and regardless of the inciting incident involving spoiler and batman because the violence was meted out by criminal elements that existed long before superheroes or supervillains existed
the literal and figurative character assassinations were also pretty hard to stomach. I know they get retconned but the brutality of spoiler's torture especially got to me given the excellent moments with her earlier in the run. I also found batman as a character to be pretty exhausting to read. the writers here generally went for violent and cold in terms of his main personality and his lack of empathy especially and kindness made him a very unlikable character throughout. The narrative's attachment to only seeing bruce express anger or cold solemnity undermined the impact of a lot of central moments. it didn't help that he was frequently an unrepentant jerk
overall batman war games was exhausting. while I have plans to read more batman crossover events in the future I'll be giving myself the appropriate grace and space over diving into them again
angelwolf45's review against another edition
3.0
It was an ok graphic novel. I kinda enjoyed this read.
I love these characters a lot. It was what got me through this one.
The story was ok but I was getting bored as I kept reading.
I had a hard time wanting to keep reading but I was curious as to how this was going to end.
This had many authors working together to write this graphic novel. It was good and there some that I had read from before and it was fun to read from one's I have not read from before.
Overall it was ok.
I love these characters a lot. It was what got me through this one.
The story was ok but I was getting bored as I kept reading.
I had a hard time wanting to keep reading but I was curious as to how this was going to end.
This had many authors working together to write this graphic novel. It was good and there some that I had read from before and it was fun to read from one's I have not read from before.
Overall it was ok.
angelwolf45's review against another edition
Didn't enjoy this one that much.
I ended being bored and was not excited to pick it up and read.
That's why I dnf'ed this graphic novel.
I ended being bored and was not excited to pick it up and read.
That's why I dnf'ed this graphic novel.
kpeninger's review against another edition
3.0
Got really repetitive. Stephanie deserved way, way better.
literati42's review against another edition
4.0
This one had some hit or miss moments for me, but overall I adored it. Whenever it's focusing on Batman without some member of the team the story ground to a halt, but much of it was the interaction I adore in this story. This is a particularly shining arch for Stephanie Brown, chronicling her brief time as Robin.
thatpaintedpony's review against another edition
3.0
I've read most of Act One of War Games before (a long time before) but I enjoyed this edition for the prelude to the body of the story, as there are a lot of threads that tie into this collection. I find this a really enjoyable arc, as all of the big Batman disasters in Gotham tend to be - No Man's Land is another favourite of mine. War Games includes all my favorites, Nightwing, Cassandra Cain as Batgirl and Barbara Gordon as Oracle, Tim Drake even though he's not currently Robin - he's my Robin. I like the implication that runs through this arc, that Batman's mistakes, his attitudes, the way he treats his "family" are what have set this disaster in motion, directly or indirectly. He's the one who set the dominoes toppling. I've never read the second act of War Games so I look forward to that when I can get my hands on it. The writing is tight, the characterisations are good. there's a couple of art styles that crop up here that I don't like much, but on the whole this is a really good read.
morebedsidebooks's review
2.0
War Games, where a hypothetical stratagem Batman devised against Gotham’s underworld is put into action with disastrous consequences, can be memorable for several reasons. I remember it because of another beloved Batman character to me who played a major role Stephanie Brown, aka the Spoiler and for a short time also the fourth Robin among other designations. (She was however not the first young lady Robin if one includes The Dark Knight Returns which is outside main continuity.) Fair warning the treatment of Stephanie, in War Games is the reason that I took a break from reading DC comics for a long time. It would be almost four years before DC returned to Stephanie’s character retconning (Robin #174, July 2008). The comic also repeatedly invokes Jason Todd the second Robin whose memory looms from the start in the prologue War Drums collected in the first volume. So, it wouldn’t hurt to read A Death in the Family or at least acquaint oneself with the history of that story which played out 16 years before this one as well. There are further other issues of Batman comics around the selections in this collection which one might also wish to read since they give some more context or deal with the consequences. (Robin #122-124, Batgirl #54, Nightwing #93 [cw non-con, go back further to get the full picture of Roland Desmond/Blockbuster] 99, 100, Robin/Batgirl Fresh Blood, Under the Hood… I could go on it depends on personal preferences too.)
Marking the 15th anniversary of War Games in 2019 I’m surprised in fact at how much the comic still has such an effect. It’s been a long time with many, many people creating countless more titles at DC Comics. Including stories featuring Stephanie Brown and the executive editor finally acknowledging how she connected to a portion of the fanbase and Bat-family in 2009. Yet, I remember most clearly the earlier Stephanie perhaps by virtue being a teenager back then too. As a young adult War Games seared into me a visual of a brand that was less than positive. There are all kinds of stories, and what they offer to people as diverse as humanity itself. The ugly, tragedies and heartbreaks are important too for many reasons. But still, today I have to wonder when I pick up a comic and seem to find the same over and over, as time marches on what about this common story has changed and what is its legacy?
Marking the 15th anniversary of War Games in 2019 I’m surprised in fact at how much the comic still has such an effect. It’s been a long time with many, many people creating countless more titles at DC Comics. Including stories featuring Stephanie Brown and the executive editor finally acknowledging how she connected to a portion of the fanbase and Bat-family in 2009. Yet, I remember most clearly the earlier Stephanie perhaps by virtue being a teenager back then too. As a young adult War Games seared into me a visual of a brand that was less than positive. There are all kinds of stories, and what they offer to people as diverse as humanity itself. The ugly, tragedies and heartbreaks are important too for many reasons. But still, today I have to wonder when I pick up a comic and seem to find the same over and over, as time marches on what about this common story has changed and what is its legacy?
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