The story architecture for "No Man's Land" and the outline of all the Batman continuity titles for 1999 were written by cartoonist Jordan B. Gorfinkel.

This was followed by the storylines Aftershock and then Road to No Man's Land, which resulted in the U.S. government officially evacuating Gotham and then abandoning and isolating those who chose to remain in the city.

In all, "No Man's Land" encompassed 80 regular monthly issues, four specials, and the Batman: Harley Quinn graphic novel.

In response, the US government evacuates most of the civilian population, then declares Gotham a "no man's land", destroys all bridges leading to the island, and sets up a military blockade to prevent people from entering or exiting.

The city's police's commissioner, James Gordon, and several members of his department, who dub their gang the Blue Boys stay behind to protect civilians.

[2] Before the Street Demonz can kill Commissioner Gordon and the police officers with him, they are saved by SWAT Lieutenant William "Billy" Pettit.

[4] When Huntress fails to hold off Two-Face and his army of men and loses Batman's territory, she abandons the Batgirl costume.

[9] A simultaneous story in JLA reveals that the Justice League keeps an eye on Gotham during this time by preventing various villains from claiming the territory for themselves.

Police officer Renee Montoya reaches out to Two-Face's Harvey Dent persona, whose defense leads to Gordon's acquittal.

Through the efforts of Lucius Fox, Batman succeeds in getting the attention of Lex Luthor, who arrives in Gotham with plans to completely rebuild the city.

Bane, who has been causing trouble in No Man's Land before, is looking to get revenge on Batman, who convinces him to leave and claim his payment before Luthor reneges on their deal.

Bowing to intense pressure from the people and the media, the government reverses the No Man's Land order and allows Gotham to rejoin the United States.

[10] Luthor's philanthropy is revealed to be a cover for his true intentions: to destroy the deeds to much of the property in Gotham and claim it for himself under false names.

Luthor, feigning ignorance, attempts to kill Fox, but Batman intervenes and reveals that he is the one who anonymously tipped the Wayne Enterprises' CEO.

To regain his trust, Batman removes his cowl, only to find Gordon has turned away, insisting that he put the mask back on.

The second act of the 2012 live-action film The Dark Knight Rises is inspired by "No Man's Land", which depicts Gotham City being cut off from the rest of the world and placed under criminal control due to the efforts of the League of Shadows, led by Bane and Talia al Ghul.

GraphicAudio produced an audiobook of the novelization which spans two volumes and features a full cast, music and sound effects.