I’ve included all of the No Man’s Land issues except for the Robin tie-ins. I felt that those issues did not add much to the overall story, and in some places caused more continuity headaches than they were worth. So, we have Legends of the Dark Knight (LOTDK), Shadow of the Bat (SOTB), Batman, Detective Comics, Batman Chronicles, Azrael: Agent of the Bat, Nightwing, and Catwoman. Specials include No Man’s Land #0-1, Young Justice in NML, Batman: Harley Quinn. There are also two optional issues of JLA that can be included. I’m not including any Batman comics that take place during NML, but are part of larger DC events and don’t reference NML itself (i.e. the Batman JLApe Annual and Day of Judgement tie-in).
I also used this site as a resource: http://batman-superman.tripod.com/pob/nmlguide1.htm It summarizes all of NML (with spoilers). I don’t completely agree with it, but it’s a good starting reference. It also explains some of my reasoning about putting certain issues in certain places.
We start with the prelude volume.
Road to No Man’s Land
Azrael #47
SOTB #80
Batman #560
Detective #727
Azrael #48
SOTB #81
Batman #561
Detective #728
Azrael #49
SOTB #82
Batman #562
Detective #729
NML #0
Batman Chronicles #16 (stories 2-3 / first story is included in “Aftershock”)
NML #0 could be a tough one, since it does spoil some of the mysteries of the first half of NML. But that goes to personal preference. If you’ve read it all before, there’s no reason not to put it there.
And now, the main event…
Volume 1
NML #1
SOTB #83
Batman #563
Detective #730
Azrael #50-51
LOTDK #116
SOTB #84
Batman #564
Detective #731
Azrael #52-53
LOTDK #117
SOTB #85
Batman #565
Detective #732
Batman Chronicles #17
LOTDK #118
SOTB #86
Batman #566
Detective #733
Young Justice in NML
Azrael #54-55
LOTDK #119
SOTB #87
Batman #567
Detective #734
Volume 2
LOTDK #120
JLA #32
Azrael #56-57
SOTB #88
Batman #568
Detective #735
Nightwing #35-37
Batman Chronicles #18
Nightwing #38-39
JLA #33
LOTDK #121
SOTB #89
Batman #569
Volume 3
Detective #736
LOTDK #122
SOTB #90
Batman: Harley Quinn
Batman #570
Detective #737
LOTDK #123
SOTB #91
Azrael #58
Batman #571
Detective #738
LOTDK #124
SOTB #92
Batman #572
Detective #739
LOTDK #125
Volume 4
Catwoman #72-75
Azrael #59
SOTB #93
Azrael #60
Batman #573
Detective #740
Catwoman #76-77
LOTDK #126
Batman #574
Detective #741
Azrael #61
SOTB #94
Good break points, story wise, are LOTDK #120 and #125. I also try to group a lot of the “filler” issues that came out in the summer months together in one book. (I don’t like Larry Hama’s Batman work, and I think his issues in NML are the absolute worst. Therefore, if I can keep his involvement down to just one volume, I will. Although I think in my personal breakdown, he creeps into two…but one of those is just for a single issue. And I can’t just skip Hama’s issues, because at least one of them has a pivotal plot point to the overall NML arc.)
The early Azrael issues were a little difficult to place, because the first four are supposed to take place in a short span of time right after the bridges are blown up. However, Batman shows up in #53. Batman does not show up in NML proper until three months into the ordeal, as stated in the opening arc. So I fudged it a bit. Also, Azrael #58 is also a Day of Judgement tie-in.
The Catwoman issues are also a bit difficult, because they try to tie the beginning of the arc in with issues that came out in June 1999, and the end of the arc with issues that came out in November, but try to say the story only took three days, or some nonsense like that (That’s my problem when writers and editors try to give specific timeframes — they want to say a large batch of issues takes place over a large span of time, but most of the stories contained within only cover a few days). Catwoman #75 shares scenes with Azrael #59 and SOTB #93, so preference goes to those.
Did DC ever release an official checklist of NML issues or is it clearly noted within the issues themselves which book comes next?
Of course not!
Although, if a story was directly continued, they noted it. And for the core storyline of just the Batman titles, it followed the same pattern of LOTDK, SOTB, Batman, and then Detective.
I ended up making four volumes out of this. The first one is really thick, and the other three are relatively even.
I also shifted Azrael #50-51 out of Road to NML, and placed them with #52-53.
Breakpoints
volume 1 ends with Detective #734
volume 2 begins with LOTDK #120 and ends with Batman #569
volume 3 begins with Detective #736 and ends with LOTDK #125
volume 4 begins with Catwoman #72.
I also added the NML Gallery in the back of volume 4. That issue was amazing for providing images for custom covers.
‘I don’t like Larry Hama’s Batman work, and I think his issues in NML are the absolute worst.’
I can list worse writers than Hama.
Maybe I’m missing it but I don’t see what you did with the first story from Batman Chronicles 16 and I don’t see No Man’s Land Secret Files & Origins anywhere.
BC #16 is explained in Road to NML, and I skipped the SF&O. I didn’t feel like it added enough to the overall story to justify getting it and trying to separate the individual stories.
And for the record, after flipping through the new NML trades, while they are a better attempt, I think they still miss the mark a bit.