Published in 2004-2006, the Batman: War Games Saga is a Batman crossover event that spanned every Batman Family title being published at the time. Part of the Batman Modern Age (check out our reading order), the story was written by Devin Grayson, Andersen Gabrych, A.J. Lieberman, Bill Willingham, Dylan Horrocks and Ed Brubaker, with illustrations by Ramon Bachs, Pete Woods, Brad Walker, Mike Lilly, Al Barrionuevo, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Sean Phillips, Paul Gulacy and Kinsun Loh.
Taking place after No Man’s Land and Bruce Wayne: Murderer, Batman: War Games tried to be a sort of mix of those two stories, with stakes on a street level as it is an all-gang war, but still on a big full scale like No Man’s Land. It’s also an event happening when Tim Drake had given up on his Robin role and Stephanie Brown had taken his place — and for her fans, this story is simply her character assassination.
But what is really Batman: War Games about? Tensions escalate and war comes to Gotham City when Batman is drawn into a skirmish between rival gangs. As Gotham’s biggest gang battle ignites, Batman must call on all his available allies—Oracle, Batgirl, Nightwing, Orpheus, Onyx, and Tarantula—to preserve life and contain the chaos while trying to determine who started this outbreak of violence.
Batman: War Games Reading Order: Collected Editions
- Batman: War Games Book One
Collects Batgirl #53, #55, Batman #631, Batman: The 12-Cent Adventure, Batman Legends Of The Dark Knight #182, Batman Gotham Knights #56, Catwoman #34, Detective Comics #790-797, Nightwing #96, Robin #126-129 And Solo #10. - Batman: War Games Book Two
Collects Batgirl #56-57, Batman #632-634,642-644, Batman Legends Of The Dark Knight #183-184, Batman Gotham Knights #57-58, Batman Secret Files And Origins Allies 2005, Batman Secret Files And Origins Villians 2005, Catwoman #35-36, Detective Comics #798-800, #809-810, Nightwing #97-98, And Robin #130-131
The story arc was previously collected in the following trade paperbacks:
- Batman: War Drums
Collects Detective Comics #790-796 and Robin #126-128 - Batman: War Games, Act One – Outbreak
Collects Batman: The 12-Cent Adventure, Detective Comics #797, Batman #631, Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight #182, Nightwing #96, Batman: Gotham Knights #56, Robin #129, Batgirl #55 And Catwoman #34 - Batman: War Games, Act Two – Tides
Collects Detective Comics #798, Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight #183, Nightwing #97, Batman: Gotham Knights #57, Robin #130, Batgirl #56, Catwoman #35 and Batman #632. - Batman: War Games, Act Three – Endgame
Collects Batman #633, Batgirl #57, Catwoman #36, Robin #131, Batman: Gotham Knights #58. - Batman: War Crimes
Collects Batman #643-644, Batman Allies Secret Files and Origins 2005 #1, Batman Villains Secret Files & Origins 2005 #1, Detective Comics #809-810
Collected in the new edition, Batgirl #53, Solo #10, Batman #634, Batman #642 and Detective Comics #800 are not part of this original trade paperback release.
Batman: War Games Reading Order: Issue by Issue
War Drums
- Detective Comics #790-796
- Robin (vol. 4) #126
- Batgirl #53
- Solo #10
- Robin (vol. 4) #127-128
War Games: Act One – Outbreak:
- Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure #1
- Detective Comics #797
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182
- Nightwing #96
- Batman: Gotham Knights #56
- Robin (vol. 4) #129
- Batgirl #55
- Catwoman (vol. 3) #34
- Batman #631
War Games: Act Two – Tides:
- Detective Comics #798
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #183
- Nightwing #97
- Batman: Gotham Knights #57
- Robin (vol. 4) #130
- Batgirl #56
- Catwoman (vol. 3) #35
- Batman #632
War Games: Act Three – Endgame:
- Detective Comics #799
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #184
- Nightwing #98
- Robin (vol. 4) #131
- Batman: Gotham Knights #58
- Batgirl #57
- Catwoman (vol. 3) #36
- Batman #633
- Detective Comics #800
- Batman #634
War Crimes – Sequel to War Games:
- Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins 2005
- Batman #642
- Batman Allies Secret Files and Origins 2005
- Detective Comics #809
- Batman #643
- Detective Comics #810
- Batman #644
What to read after Batman: War Games?
- Gotham Central #25 is considered an unofficial issue dealing with the aftermath of War Games, an issue collected in the Gotham Central omnibus or in Gotham Central Book 3: On the Freak Bat
- As always, times are tough for Batman, and not long after War Games, he must face a long-dead character in Batman: Under the Red Hood.
- Robin and Batgirl deal with the aftermath in their own series, the issues are collected in Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood
- For more Batman stories following War Games, check out our Batman Reading order: The Modern Age.