Batman: No Man's Land Secret Files and Origins #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of December, 1999.
Synopsis for "The Message"
A man called Jason Braun begins hearing voices after a bat bit him. The bat got inside his house after the earthquake and Jason was determined to leave Gotham City when the United States Government declared it No Man's Land. However, when he tried to leave, the voice in his head told him not to go.
The voice in Jason's head is Gotham talking to him. The city tells him to deliver a message before midnight, when the bridges are going to be destroyed. The voice guides Jason to Oracle and asks her for the city's guardian angel. Before leaving, Jason tells Oracle that the city has a message for her; that she has served the city in that way more than ever before.
On his way to the guardian angel, Jason comes across Penguin and his thugs. They try to steal from Jason but he runs away. A couple of Penguin's thugs follows him to Robinson Park. In the park, Jason stumbles into some branches and the thugs are about to catch him, when out of nowhere, Poison Ivy appears and kills the Penguin's henchmen. Jason sees the magnificent figure of Ivy and before she can harm him, he leaves the park.
Jason is feeling bad and his vision becomes blurry. He arrives at the courthouse as Oracle told him. Two-Face reaches Jason and asks him what he was doing. Jason tells him that he is looking for the cemetery near the courthouse. Two-Face takes the man to the cemetery and Jason finally finds the crouching angel statue in the cemetery. He goes to it, but his condition worsens. Two-Face tosses his coin and is about to kill Jason when Huntress appears and stops him. Jason reaches the angel, but he is in a terrible state. Huntress approaches Jason to see if he is alright, but Jason sees Batman instead of Huntress. The voice in Jason's head then tells him that the city needs him and that he must not leave yet. Jason speaks those words to Huntress who got the message. After a while, Huntress asks Jason if he was bitten by an animal and Jason remembers the bat. Jason dies, but instead of leaving the city, his spirit joins the guardian angels of the city: thousands of shining bats.
Appearing in "The Message"
Featured Characters:
- Jason Braun (Only appearance; dies)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- False Face Society (Flashback only)
- Penguin
- Quentin (Only appearance; dies)
- Peabody (Only appearance; dies)
- Poison Ivy
- "Trickster" (Flashback only)
- Two-Face
Other Characters:
- Batman (Hallucination)
- LoBoys
- False Face Society (Flashback only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Batcaves"
A brief tour through the many Batcaves around Gotham City for Batman and his Batsquad to gather and plan their next moves. These Batcaves where placed by Bruce Wayne during the time he was out of Gotham.
Appearing in "Batcaves"
Locations:
- Batcaves
- Central Batcave
- Batcave East
- Batcave South
Synopsis for "Day in the Life"
The chief editor of the National Inquisitor sent one of his employees to find and get an interview with Bruce Wayne after the closing of Gotham City. The girl looked for Bruce Wayne all around the world but in the end she was unable to find him. The National Inquisitor published a story about how Bruce Wayne was abducted by aliens.
Appearing in "Day in the Life"
Featured Characters:
- National Inquisitor
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Australia
- France
- Cannes
- Paris
- Japan
- United Kingdom
- Brandywine
- London
- United States of America
- National Inquisitor's office
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "No Man's Land: The Animated Series"
Batman and Batgirl spot a suspicious man with a violin case in No Man's Land. The man is walking alone when he comes across some street gangs. They try to steal whatever is inside the case, but when the man opens it, there is just a violin. The thugs ask him to play some music for them and they are all delighted to listen to real music in such a long time. Batman and Batgirl are left speechless.
Suddenly, a woman turns off the TV and tells her son to go out and exercise. The kid says that he would rather practice the piano. The mother is so surprised that she says that she would have expected Metropolis to become a No Man's Land instead of listening to her son speaking that way.
Appearing in "No Man's Land: The Animated Series"
Featured Characters:
- Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) (Fictional character)
- Batman (Fictional character)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Vincent Enzo (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Top 10 Reasons to Stay in Gotham"
A list of ten points that make No Man's Land Gotham, a good place to stay.
Appearing in "Top 10 Reasons to Stay in Gotham"
Featured Characters:
- Killer Croc (Mentioned only)
- Joker (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Gotham City (Mentioned only)
Synopsis for "Senate No Man's Land Notes"
A folder with all the important files regarding Gotham City and the No Man's Land declaration.
Appearing in "Senate No Man's Land Notes"
Featured Characters:
- Tim Drake (In picture only)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Lois Lane (Mentioned only)
- Summer Gleeson (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
- Blüdhaven Gazette
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Timeline"
A description of the events of No Man's Land from January to December, in order.
Appearing in "Timeline"
Featured Characters:
- All Characters (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Gotham City (Mentioned only)
Synopsis for "Profile Pages"
Basic information of many important characters during the No Man's Land Crossover and pictures of them.
Appearing in "Profile Pages"
Featured Characters:
- Batsquad
- Blue Boys
- Cain
- Echo
- Harley Queen
- Leslie Thompkins
- "Outside Interest"
- Bane
- Lex Luthor (Behind the scenes)
- Mercy Graves
- Penguin
- Poison Ivy
- Scratch
Other Characters:
- Martha Wayne (In picture only)
- Thomas Wayne (In picture only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This Batman: No Man's Land tie-in, has no relation with the main storyline and thus can be read in any order.
- "The Message" is reprinted in Batman: No Man's Land (2011/2012 Edition) Vol 3.
- "Day in the Life (Assignment: Bruce Wayne)", "No Man's Land: The Animated Series" and the profile pages are reprinted in Batman: Road to No Man's Land Vol. 2.
Trivia
- In the second story, Batcaves, the places showcased appeared in the following comics:
- Central Batcave in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #88
- Batcave South in Detective Comics #730 and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #118
- Northwest Batcave in Detective Comics #731
- Batcave East in Batman #565
- The fourth story, Animated Series is written as if real people were watching the New Batman Adventures on the TV. However, this story is not canon to the DCAU. There is also a reference to the folk song Danny Boy.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Batman Recommended Reading
- Batman (Volume 1)
- Batman (Volume 2)
- Batman (Volume 3)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 1)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 2)
- Batman Confidential (Volume 1)
- Batman: Gotham Knights (Volume 1)
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (Volume 1)
- Batman: Shadow of the Bat (Volume 1)
- Batman: Streets of Gotham (Volume 1)
- Batman Incorporated (Volume 1)
- Batman Incorporated (Volume 2)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 1)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 2)
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 1)
- Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 2)
- The Brave and the Bold (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 2)
- Superman/Batman (Volume 1)
- World's Finest (Volume 1)
