Batman is up against his most dangerous enemy ever. He can't hit this enemy, plan against it, or even stop it. Why? Because the enemy is mother nature herself as Gotham suffers a devastating earthquake that measures a 7.6. The entire city is destroyed and people are dying all over. Gotham's vigilantes must work together if they hope to have a future. -summary
Many people I know don't look back fondly at the late 90's when it comes to comics. I will admit there were some pretty weak stories provided to the fans during that time; one thing is for sure though in my eyes though, Batman does not count among them. Beginning in 1996, Gotham City was indeed on its way towards being hell on Earth. Now I know it wasn't the place to be before then, but during this time it was facing its darkest hour and it all began with the stories Contagion and Legacy, which saw the city's populace being hit with a terrible virus. Therefore, Gotham was pretty much on its last legs; the inevitable earthquake Bruce Wayne always feared finally came around and cinched its destruction. Batman: Cataclysm written by Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, and several others follows the Dark Knight as he tries his best to fight against this natural enemy. This crossover also serves as the starting point to Batman: No Man Land's, which is another crossover through the Batman books that took almost a year to reach its climax, and it actually had lasting effects. This TPB contains Batman 553 - 554, Detective Comics 719 - 721, Batman: Shadow of the Bat 73 - 74, Nightwing 19 - 20, Catwoman 56, Robin 53, Batman Chronicles 12, Blackgate: Isle of Men 1, and Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma 1.
Cataclysm is among the more ambitious Batman works. It doesn't take long for the plot to start rolling, and once it does things are in full-throttle from there. The earthquake hits and it's destruction mania as skyscrapers are knocked down like Lego sets and people are being killed by the dozens. The death toll quickly reaches into the thousands, and Batman along with Alfred are almost among the casualties, due to Wayne Manor and the Batcave suffering unbelievable damage. Chaos runs rampant across the city, and Blackgate prison takes heavy damage which results in the inmates rioting with some escaping to freedom. People are pinned under debris, others are trying to save loved ones, looters are doing their thing, and the Gotham Police are pretty much lost until they receive direction from the wheel-chair bound Barbara Gordon formerly Batgirl.
This crossover stretches into the books of the Bat-Family, so there are appearances by Spoiler, Huntress, Nightwing, and Robin. Each of these characters are developed enough to the point where newbies will understand how they think. Batman interests me here the most though. His mansion suffered damage to the point where his secret identity can be uncovered, yet he can care less about the destruction of the Bat, so long as he can save lives. Later on, another plot takes place when someone attempts to claim responsibility for the earthquake in the first place, and he wants a 100 million dollar ransom or else he's going to set off another. This is probably the most enjoyable part of the story, and it was quite a surprise who was behind it.
The artwork is outstanding in the case of the dark backgrounds. They produce this claustrophobic feel to the point where you feel for the victims. The dark flooding sewers, dead bodies laying around, and the mass destruction capture's the after effects of a major disaster really well in a city that clearly wasn't prepared for it. The only issue I have here is some of the character designs are kind of ugly, with some having these deformed noses as if they belong in the comedy genre of comics. There's also some poor detail in facial designs from a distance. It may feel small to some people, but this grated on my nerves in some cases.
This story has a fine balance of character and plot development with minor issues. The artwork is pretty strong across the board for a crossover I admit, still some of those character designs got to me in the wrong way. Overall, this story stands very well on its own, and it sets the stage for No Man's Land really well. This is a great story for those who already have some knowledge on the Batman universe.
Pros:
-Very strong character driven story
Cons:
-Some weak character designs at times
