Rating:  -
What happens when you get all the criminal bosses together for a meeting with their crew, yup, you get a free for all shootout in which most of the heads of the criminal underworld are killed, thus leaving a power vacuum. Chaos ensues as the underlings scramble to take power during this vacuum. Who can stop this, Batman! At least he will try along with his Bat crew, you know, Nighting, Oracle, Catwoman, Tim Drake (he is retired from being Robin) etc. This 1st arc deals with the criminals trying to wrest control and establishing themselves, which includes the assassination of rival family members. This targeting of family members eventually spills into Tim Drakes high school and its up to Batman and the Bat crew to rescue Tim. Since there are so many different artist and writers in the book, the stories jump around a bit. But overall, this compilation is a decent read.
Rating: -
As a meeting of all the most powerful crime bosses takes place, a powder keg explodes that devolves into a gang war. Batman and all his allies are cast into a constant defensive position, putting out fires all over Gotham. What can end this nightmarish gang war in which innocent people are being killed?
What is worse, it becomes clear that a third party is pulling strings and manipulating this worst of situations to gain an upper hand. However, it is clear that the chaos and confusion caused by this war will not be easy to undo.
War Games contains some great art. In addition, this is another great way to implement the full Batman gallery of rogues, an undertaking that is admirable. Batman's list of strange and unique enemies is indeed a long one, and War Games makes a good run at pitting them against one another. War Games is a solid Batman graphic novel series.
Rating:  -
I read all of these issues in individual comics, so when I found out that they were putting it out in a graphic novel it was a shock. The story is great and the fact that it involves all the characters in the Batman story is great. The fact that it is all the issues in one volume is a great convince.
Rating:  -
This was one of the few Batman stories that I couldn't follow all the way through. It was uninteresting, and just as so many authors are doing with Batman lately, it does not portray him as the detective, therefore there were no foreseeable plot twists or intrigues to make me want to read more. If you want a solid Batman story, pick up Hush, or Bruce Wayne: Murderer.
Rating: -
Previously, in the prequel "War Drums", we are given an account of Batman's guilt over the death of the second Robin (Jason Todd), the "retirement" from active service of the third (Tim Drake) and the temporary anointment of a fourth (Stephanie Brown, a.k.a. the Spoiler).
The Spoiler's dismissal from the role of Robin for failing to following instructions leads Stephanie to the rooftop for a gangland meeting between rival leaders that ends in a bloodbath. With only 8 of the 21 assembled surviving, reprisals are the order of the day and Gotham City's rapid descend into gang war is the premise of War Games: Outbreak.
For the uninitiated, the story of Batman's battle to save Gotham City takes place across a number of titles (four associated Batman titles) with ramifications in Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, Batgirl, and Birds of Prey. As these individually-written books are held together by editorial direction for the purposes of broad crossovers like War Games, each issues has a different feel and look. What is key is the ramifications of the warfare between the city's criminal element, abetted by super-powered adversaries, on Batman's protection of Gothan City as he tries to unravel the motivation behind this latest challenge.
War Games: suffers from a reliance on readers' who know what has come before. Although some connections are made in the prequel (Dr. Leslie Thompson connection to Batman), the book would benefit from primers on the various characters involved to allow the uninitiated a better background to the motives and actions of the cast (e.g.: Nightwing's connection to Tarantulas and the death of Blockbuster, the mysterious bandaged stranger in Penguin's office). As the story unfolds throughout this book and its sequel, War Games: Tides, there is sometimes a disconnect between what one character knows between one instance and the next, without any real sense that this change of perception was anything but by accident (e.g.: the heroes view of Orpheus' role in the drama). And the book seems unwillingly to put aside the absurd premise that all these actions took place in a single evening.
Nevertheless, Outbreak remains a great reader for casual readers and fans of the DC Universe. It is engrossing and seemingly offers a rare commodity in comic books - the possibility of change and serious ramifications.
(While I am writing, I want to correct a number of misconceptions made Mr. Leighton in his earlier and terrible review. The police hardly give up - they are not at the scene of the gang leader bloodbath. Batman's banter with his allies, Alfred included, is an expression of his singular focus on his mission at the expense of other's feeling. There is no real evidence of a "pro-smoking" message that need become the centre point of a review. And readers never "learn that Mr. Freeze is responsible for the fake meeting" because it is quite clear that he is merely another player in the drama. These misconceptions make me question whether Mr. Leighton read the book at all and his review does him no credit.)
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