Detective 740 – Bane vs the Joker
Greg Rucka, Sergio Cariello and Mark Buckingham bring the two-part Shellgame storyline to a close in Detective 740 (Jan. 00), as No Man’s Land draws to a close.
The issue, which scans over a large group of people and places, begins with Oracle musing over Lex Luthor’s reconstruction of Gotham, and how he has played the media to make himself the golden boy hero of the city.
Batman and Robin have been monitoring Pettit and the Huntress. Their region has held off everyone, including all aid, and the people are starting to flee. Pettit demands that no one be allowed to leave, as it will weaken them. The Huntress tries to reason with him, but fails.
Luthor gets frustrated at how his equipment and crews keep getting sabotaged and killed by the Joker, and enlists Bane to guard them. The Joker brings Harley Quinn to help him, but Bane also has Mercy at his side, and fends the Joker off.
We even catch up with good old Dr. Simpson Flanders, back on tv, hawking his new book about life in No Man’s Land.
With Luthor’s rebuilding indicating a power shift in Gotham, the Penguin makes his move, with a large group of men, to demand his cut of the action. Mercy takes out the Penguin’s men without even breaking a sweat. Luthor gives the Penguin nothing but his own life.
The issue has lots of ominous foreboding, but ends on a happy note, as Lucius Fox takes the airwaves to announce that the government has rescinded the No Man’s Land proclamation, and Gotham is open again.
But the story is not yet over…