Batman: Contagion

Batman (Bruce Wayne) is carrying the mantle once again after the Knightfall saga's events. But now he must deal with a threat he could never have imagined to handle on his own - the eription of a highly deadly ebola breakout, where people are dying pianfull & deformative deaths.Story is dark, well made and the graphic illustrations are among the best DC have ever offered.Truly worth its money and time to read and enjoy!

Good read.

Tenía 15 años buscando la saga completa, gracias.

Great storyline

So first and foremost let me address a point many people might be wondering about. It's been mentioned in another review, but I want to mention it as well to lessen the number of people that will be confused: this volume does NOT contain Batman Legacy. It's understandable how some might get confused, as when this volume was first announced and then listed on Amazon it did mention that Legacy would be included. Furthermore, it's made even more confusing because the title of the listing has changed since it was first put up. I watched it in the months since its announcement and personally saw it go from Batman Contagion/Legacy, to Batman Legacy/Contagion, to Batman Legacy, and then finally Batman Contagion. So it is again very understandable how some might get confused and why a few people that pre-ordered the item when it first popped up might be disappointed (as the first reviewer was). That being said I don't think it should really be held against the volume and the number of people who are disappointed from this point forward should drastically decrease, since the final changes to the listing have been made and should stay as they are since the volume is available for purchase now.So, onto the actual trade paperback. I've always had something of a soft spot for this event, due to where it stands in that Batman mythos. Contagion is the first Batman event to take place after  Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 1  (My personal favorite Batman event of all time) and is also really what should be considered as the beginning of Batman No Man's Land. By that I mean that Contagion begins a downfall for Gotham City that culminates in No Man's Land. The order should therefore be read as:Contagion->Legacy->Cataclysm->No Man's LandYou have the outbreak of an extremely dangerous disease, a second outbreak, an earthquake, and finally the city being quarantined by the U.S. government. Read together it's really just an amazing arc in my opinion, which ran from the mid-90s to the early-2000s. DC recently just finished re-releasing  Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 1  and  Batman: Cataclysm (New Edition)  , and have also started to release  Batman: Road to No Man's Land Vol. 1  trades, that take place after Cataclysm and lead into the event. So it can really be seen that they've been putting some effort towards releasing updated versions of everything that deals with No Man's Land, which is why this new release of Contagion isn't such a surprise. It's also why i'm fairly confident that we'll see a new release of Legacy within a year or two. The fact that the listing originally mentioned Legacy as well also makes me think that DC clearly hasn't forgotten about the event.More importantly, while this volume doesn't collect Batman Legacy it DOES collect all of Contagion AND many Batman stories that took place between Contagion and Legacy. This includes Azrael Agent of the Bat (1995-2003) #15-16, Batman (1940-2011) # 529-532, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992-2000) #48-52, Batman Chronicles (1995-2001) #4, Catwoman (1993-2001 2nd Series) #31-32, Detective Comics (1937-2011) #695-696, and Robin (1993-2009) #27-30. This brings the volume to just over 500 pages in total, which to me is definitely fair for slightly more than $20. That also makes this volume almost twice as large as the original printing from 1996 (Which I used to have and can confirm had 260-270 pages). Just to go more in-depth, the original volume lacked some issues from Shadow of the Bat and Robin. So if you're planning on picking up the event and can't decide, this new trade is the way to go, being far more complete than the original one was. This is standard for the updated trades DC's been releasing over the past few years and I don't think you could go wrong with this.Contagion is a very interesting story, because as Batman notes time and again a disease isn't something you can physically combat. So when a major one is let loose in Gotham City he is naturally struggling to fight back against it. He can't punch it in the face or throw it in jail, which makes this story unique in that stopping any one villain isn't going to solve the greater problem at the end of the day. None of the classic Batman villains (Such as Joker, Scarecrow, and Two-Face) even had anything to do with the virus being released into Gotham City and they don't have a large presence in the event. The story remains focused on Batman and his allies dealing with the outbreak and the chaos it causes, while also valiantly searching for a cure. This story is kind of like a time capsule, in that when compared to Batman stories of today you can really see how things have changed. Besides Batman, Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Robin (Tim Drake), Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), and Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley), all show up and play some role in the plot. That's what the Bat Family looked like in the 90s. Today, besides Batman, none of those characters are in the same roles that they were back then (Besides Jean-Paul, and that is very, very recent, as in something that happened within the last few months. Everyone else has moved on to another role). It's just interesting to look at how things change.Personally, I enjoyed seeing the separate stories of all the characters. Batman is Batman, so he rules Gotham City and everyone reports back to and works with him, but the best stories here are the ones where different characters are on their own. I really enjoyed the issues from Robin and I was pleasantly surprised by Catwoman. This isn't like the current take on the character. This is where she was a straight up villain and enemy of Batman, who really wouldn't have been caught dead working with him. I probably enjoyed her issues even more because they are from her 2nd series, which ran through the 90s and for the most part has never actually been collected. In her own way she tries just as hard as Batman, Robin, and the others to find a cure for the plague. On the subject of the plague again, every writer does an excellent job portraying it. The volume begins with its release, so you can really see the slow way it spreads from person to person, before finally ravaging the entire city. The way different characters and authority figures react to it are great and interesting to behold. You will put this volume down with a new understanding and respect for diseases, because the authors do that good a job at portraying how horrific they can be.I will say that this is not the best story you could read if you want to see a worn down Batman, that is to say the character when he is exhausted from everything going on around him. While Batman does note being tired and how frantic things are, it really isn't driven home that well. In comparison, Knightfall had Batman's exhaustion being a central part of the story, and it plays a large role in what allows Bane to defeat him. Here it's not really that big of a deal. However, it's notable in that Batman really works his butt off (as do his allies) to find a cure for the virus and fails time and again. This helps make the story that much better in my opinion. There's no quick fix and Gotham doesn't escape unscathed. Thousands of people die and many of them are shown doing so. It is in fact the people of the city who might be called the real, or secondary, villain in this story, since a lot of what Batman has to deal with is a result of their actions. You don't see many classic Batman enemies wandering around here, which is another aspect of this story that sets it apart from others of its kind. With so many artists you also have the artwork changing pretty drastically, and this can happen from issue to issue based on how the story's set up. It doesn't ruin things in my opinon and I was able to enjoy the different kinds of artwork.Overall, I think this is an excellent volume that collects a great event. Not the best of all time, but a suitable addition to any collection, especially if you're a fan of No Man's Land. Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 1Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 1Batman: Cataclysm (New Edition)Batman: Road to No Man's Land Vol. 1