Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Batman Confidential #1

Batman: Rules of Engagement

Rate this book
Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor compete for a defense contract, and when a Wayne Enterprises robot goes berserk and tries to kill Luthor, Batman attempts to find out what happened and thwart Luthor's evil plans.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2007

7 people are currently reading
752 people want to read

About the author

Andy Diggle

531 books170 followers
Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on The Losers,Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Adam Strange and Silent Dragon at DC Comics and for his run on Thunderbolts and Daredevil after his move to Marvel.

In 2013 Diggle left writing DC's Action Comics and began working with Dynamite Entertainment, writing a paranormal crime series Uncanny. He is also working on another crime series with his wife titled Control that is set to begin publishing in 2014.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
224 (24%)
4 stars
228 (25%)
3 stars
303 (33%)
2 stars
114 (12%)
1 star
37 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
Profile Image for Jon Nakapalau.
6,495 reviews1,020 followers
May 5, 2025
Bruce Wayne vs Lex Luthor - 'Starkian' questions about weapon systems, billionaires and MNC footprints left across the globe. Really nice examination of two DC characters that should really have a much deeper history: I can see Luthor and Wayne as corporate competitors - and totally see that competition 'bleeding' over into SH/SV territory time and time again!
Profile Image for Jeff .
912 reviews817 followers
May 5, 2015
Prepare to step into the Batman way back time machine, because this is a story that takes place early on in Batman’s crime fighting career. Before we venture back I warn you the flashback process might cause you to feel nausea, dizziness, a sense of ennui and maybe exasperation. Grab a retro-buddy’s hand.

Ready! Set! Go!

The room spins. Fellow travelers appear as if their faces are melting. Music and sound slows down. Everything goes black. Then, a thump.

Wow! That was unexpected and different! *goes to change underwear*

In this volume Batman goes up against his arch-villain, Lex Luthor. Wait. What? Too late! -suckers-

Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp (“The friendly face of tyranny!”) are vying for a Defense Department contract. Guess who’s not going to play by the rules and use subterfuge to get what they want? Guess who’s going to dress up like a flying rodent to cope? If you answered, Long John Silver and The Hulk, to those questions, you can click the “Home” button now.

This is a fairly solid, if unspectacular tale from Andy Diggle. The art, however, is just ugly. Whilce Portacio has a real issue with drawing faces. Sunken, shadowy eyes are the norm even if the character is, say, looking directly into the sun. Is that a grin or a sneer, a leer or a grimace? Does that character have some hidden agenda or is he just happy to be here?

“That will be all, Pennyworth.”

Profile Image for Dirk Grobbelaar.
860 reviews1,231 followers
February 6, 2014
Here’s my opinion: every fan of the Bat should at least read one Batman story where he goes up against giant robots. It isn’t something that comes along often, to be sure. And even if this kind of thing isn’t your idea of what a Batman story should be, you can always enjoy it for its novelty value.

Now, Rules of Engagement tosses a lot off the “rules” regarding the Dark Knight out of the window. You’d be forgiven if, at some point, you think you’re reading a Superman story. Heck, you’d be forgiven if, at some point, you think you’re reading the script for an Ironman movie.

Lex Luthor has come to Gotham. As we know, he has to make life miserable for The Man of Steel in Metropolis, so his particular brand of villainy may seem out of place in a Batman story, but it somehow works to a degree. Both Lex and Bruce Wayne are gadzillionaires, so they have that much in common. Rules of Engagement sees Lexcorp and Waynetech at odds in a defense contract tender. Lex, obviously, is willing to play dirty. This sets up a good old romp that is reminiscent of some of the more indulgent DC plots. In short: creative and crazy.

Despite being a rather dark story (it opens with a brutal murder), there are quite a few amusing moments. The time-line here is early Batman, and the idea behind this was to demonstrate how Batman got a lot of his more high-tech toys and how he learnt to come to a fight equipped for any eventuality. Also in Rules of Engagement: how Batman got the Batplane.

Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,204 followers
October 17, 2020
Starts off really interesting and I was on board...even if the art was awful. But by the end of issue 1 we go from Batman trying to do better as a hero and clean up the streets of Gotham to a huge battle with Lex and I really don't give two shits about this...booooooooooooooooooooring.
130 reviews226 followers
March 13, 2009
I was playing a D&D game over the internet a long long time a go… and some how me and my team decided to separate and look for the orcs raiding party that were terrorizing a village… long story short I see the hunting party returning… and there I am holding nothing but my kite shield and my puny short sword… I’m faced with 3 choices… I make a run for it and risk getting my back fill with arrows (not an option Feanor never runs!!!), fight against them and get my ass rape by a bunch of orcs or… I try to hide! I choose the last one but you see there was no where to hide… so I’m thinking maybe if I do something funny the DM will play funny too and let me get away with it… so I put my kite shield in front of me and started reciting this mighty words: I’m a mushroom, I’m a mushroom, nothing to worry about just a mushroom… to my surprise the DM (who was an asshole) didn’t tough of it funny… so I did got rape by a bunch of orcs. But why are you telling us this stupid nerdy story Alfonso? You may ask yourself… well today while I was reading this comic Mr. Greg comes to me and says: you know that chick that you like from the first floor? And I’m like yes, what about her? And he like: well she roaming around this floor right now! Quick what would The Penetrator do! and I’m freaking out inside my head 1, I want to say something like: The Penetrator aint here tonight, book Ni$$@# (that’s suppose to be funny cuz is a reference to The exorcist and that The Klassic Komic Klub book that he gave me) but I know that if I try that joke while freaking out I’m going to fuck it up and miss pronounce everything… and 2, OMG SHE HERE!!! Quick Alfonso what would YOU do? well I grabbed the comic covered my face and started saying (inside my head): I’m a mushroom, I’m a mushroom, nothing to worry about just a mushroom. Lucky me it worked this time, I don’t know if she walked next to me or not! Or I know is that if she did I was too busy being a mushroom to see her! No I’m done with my stupid story… but I feel like I’m forgetting something here… ahhh yes the book! Silly me! Yeah, is pretty much crap.. I thought it was going to be about batman kicking Luthor’s ass in the game of economics and shit… and it wasn’t… so I’ma give it a 3 even tho is a 2 it has batman on it so fuck it a 3!
Profile Image for Sam Quixote.
4,803 reviews13.4k followers
February 13, 2012
Lex Luthor steps into the Batman world as LexCorp and Wayne Industries both vie for a military contract to manufacture robot soldiers. Through some underhand dealings Luthor is able to win the contract but soon things start to go terribly wrong and soon not just Wayne Industries but the entire country will soon regret giving Luthor the upper hand…

I liked Andy Diggle’s “Green Arrow: Year One” but thought this book was too simplistic a story for Batman and kind of patronising. Lex is written as a one-dimensional Bond villain who wants to take over the world (really), while nobody seems to question Bruce Wayne’s public persona of non-caring playboy to suddenly becoming involved in presentations of complex scientific data to the military. The way Batman defeats Lex’s robots (who inevitably go evil – and by the way, robots, really?) is also very quick and easy making all the build-up kind of pointless. The artwork is really weird too, Batman doesn’t look like Batman, Lex’s eyes have way too much shadowing around them making him look like a racoon, and the batarangs look really odd too like giant discus’ rather than slim and sharp ninja style throwing daggers. And while I appreciate this is a Batman book, usually when Lex pulls this kind of stuff Superman shows up, so where was he this time? No mention of the man of steel, so kind of a plot hole.

Overall, a very weak Batman adventure that doesn’t really do justice to these great characters and felt like a third rate Bond adventure tailored to suit the Dark Knight. Diggle is a decent writer but this isn’t his strongest book by far. Fans only.
Profile Image for Scott.
2,257 reviews268 followers
November 20, 2017
My enjoyment of the Batman: Confidential comes to an end, not because this was a bad volume - it was probably my favorite of the series - but because my county's library system only carries five of the eight books. Such is life.

This time around the Dark Knight steps into James Bond-ian / industrial espionage-style action-adventure where he matches wits (and bank accounts) with Lex Luthor and his merry band of killer robots. The only thing Luthor is missing in his villain role is the fluffy white cat on his lap.

There is a two-page spread in the climax where Batman charges his new Batcycle out of the cargo doors of a descending aircraft. It will speak to your inner ten year-old self. (Likewise, a scene where he is stuck knee-deep in a certain . . . substance . . . is good for a quick gross-out laugh.)

Lastly, there should be a drinking game for how many times Batman makes his 'war face' throughout the story.
Profile Image for Chrysa Chouliara.
Author 4 books20 followers
December 12, 2021
The plot is quite cool but the artist has something against drawing faces... Also the coloring is really tasteless. So I am giving a generous 2.5 :)
Profile Image for Chris.
777 reviews13 followers
October 6, 2019
The basic premise is Bruce Wayne's first real confrontation with Lex Luthor. It leads to some changes in the way Batman behaves as well as the way Bruce Wayne is portrayed on the world stage.

It's the first steps in changing the public "Bruce Wayne" persona from a sleazy, empty headed billionaire into a sleazy empty headed billionare who puts his money back into helping Gotham.

I feel like Lex Luthor went from regular evil businessman to James Bond levels of evil businessman who wants to take over the world way too quickly. It's also kind of weird to have those kind of stakes without Superman getting more than a token mention.

I didn't really like the art. Not that it was bad, just not a style that really appeals to me.
Profile Image for Blindzider.
969 reviews26 followers
July 8, 2017
Starts off okay, pitting Luthor and Wayne against each other bidding for a military contract, taking place about a year after Batman becomes active. The writing is a little sloppy though. Luthor's plan is a little too brazen, IMO and the second half seemed to be an excuse to have Batman go up against a bunch of robots with a rather cliche resolution. Also, in the dialogue, Batman says something that basically says he's Bruce Wayne right to Lex Luthor. Portacio's art has never been fantastic. His layouts aren't bad but sometimes his anatomy is way off and faces tend to look very gaunt. All of his designs and panels have straight lines at sharp angles or slopes. Strangely, the sketches in the back of the book looked better than his finished art.
Profile Image for Dan Hensley.
38 reviews6 followers
March 4, 2019
Story in this book is great but the art isnt really to my taste. The way faces specifically are drawn is ugly, however I like the way the batsuit looks in this. Thankfully, the writing is good enough that it doesn't detract that much. This story is about Bruce Waynes first battle against Lex Luthor and gives a bit of context about how his company gives him access to his awesome array of gadgets. I love that this book gives Lucius Fox, Gordon, and Alfred all time to shine and my favorite part of the book is when Batman creatively uses both his batplane and batcycle to break into a certain facility. Its epic! And without spoiling it, the Bruce Wayne ending is sweet in all senses of the word. This book has a bit of everything we love about this character and all in all I recommend it.
Profile Image for Danielle.
414 reviews22 followers
September 12, 2016
Read this review and more on my blog.

Batman Confidential Volume 1 collects issues #1 - #6 of Batman Confidential.

Set one year after Bruce Wayne takes up the mantle of The Dark Knight, Rules Of Engagement looks at how Gotham as reacted to the arrival of Batman and his continuing impact on the city.

The art style was reasonable. I loved the action scenes and how the majority of the characters looked. It very much complimented how the story was progressing.

The actual storyline was more complex than others I have read, although it was still relativity easy to follow. Both Batman and Bruce Wayne had roles to play with Lex Luthor wanting to take over the world as usual.

An interesting start to this series and I am curious as to how it will continue.
Profile Image for Jesse.
276 reviews118 followers
December 14, 2007
This book is not great literature. It was alot of fun to read though. Batman Vs. "World domination" bent Lex Luthro, sounds like a match made in heaven.

The art is very good. The artist really made Luthro look crazy and dangerous at times. At the same time the jet, batman, and the robots were cool looking too. So well done sir.

The story is interesting as well as it would seem to be another Batman storyline set early in Batman's career. It seems to be the timeframe of choice for alot of writers of Batman storylines. Still I enjoyed it alot. Batman had at least 2 "Die Hard" momments in this story, and those are always enjoyable. So it gets 3 stars for being fun, but not terribly original. I'm hoping future volumes are forthcoming and will be even more impressive.
Profile Image for Mike.
1,586 reviews149 followers
October 4, 2009
Top-notch writing brings Andy Diggle to the top of my "must-watch" list of comic book authors. The wicked pacing and judicious dialogue makes most books seem like they're wading through putrifying molasses.
Profile Image for Dan.
2,235 reviews66 followers
October 28, 2014
Batman vs. Lex Luthor. One of the worst Batman stories I have ever read.
Profile Image for Adam Stone.
2,052 reviews33 followers
May 18, 2018
A few years ago, I made a chronology for how to read modern Batman. I was focused quite a bit on creating the order, as opposed to just reading the books for enjoyment, so now I'm going back to see how the chronology holds up.

I forgot how terrible this book was when I picked it up off the shelf. Upon my first reading, I wrote the following review:

In 2009, Chris Claremont began the odd alternate timeline series in the Marvel Universe called X-Men Forever: Réquiem. The series picks up from Claremont's 1991 X-Men run, and presents the timeline as he would have written it, had he not jumped ship to Image comics. While it's completely ridiculous, it's a focused examination of the X-Men by one of the series's premiere writers. Batman Confidential is a DC series that focuses on stories from early on in Batman's career. It's written by several long-time DC writers like Peter Milligan, Sam Kieth, and Royal McGraw. I included one of the story arcs, Batman Confidential, Vol. 2: Lovers and Madmen in a previous entry, but Rules Of Engagement helped clinch my decision to not include any more of the Batman Confidential series as part of this project. If something contradicts the chronology it needs to be at least fun, and this series seems more an exercise in frustration.

Rules Of Engagement is about Bruce Wayne/Batman's first encounter with Superman's nemesis, Lex Luthor. The plot outline: Lex Luthor sets up WayneTech to look dangerously inept in front of a group of defense contractors, all in the name of world domination! The evil, hand rubbing, mwa-ha-ha-ing bald guy attempts to take over the world because he doesn't like superheroes. Batman, of course, takes him down in the end. While the story is fun, the dialog is...questionable, and Whilce Portacio's art is trapped forever in 1991. This was the first book that I had to struggle to finish.

Story: 2/5, Art: 2/5

****

If anything, I think that review is too glowing for this book. I got one issue in, and decided it wasn't worth ever having to read this again.

I only recommend it for Batman completists, and people desperate for a Bruce Wayne/Lex Luthor battle of wills.
5,870 reviews146 followers
November 24, 2019
Batman Confidential is an on-going series published by DC Comics and features Bruce Wayne as Batman and explores the adventures of his early vigilante career. Batman Confidential: Rules of Engagement collect the first six issues of the 2006 on-going series and cover one storyline: "Rules of Engagement".

"Rules of Engagement" is a six-issue storyline (Batman Confidential #1–6) has Bruce Wayne as Batman, roughly a year after he started fighting crime, in his first encounter with Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor with and without the cowl as Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor become competitors for a military contract – O.G.R.E. for the respective companies.

Andy Diggle penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it is written somewhat well, it is an intriguing premise of Bruce Wayne as Batman’s first encounter with Lex Luthor as Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprises and Batman, the Dark Knight. It is a rather solid, albeit a tad boring and unforgettable.

Whilce Portacio penciled the entire trade paperback. Since he was the main penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I enjoyed his penciling style. However, how he draws faces is much to be desired – at least in my opinion.

All in all, Batman Confidential: Rules of Engagement is somewhat a good start to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.
Profile Image for Sotofunkdamental.
683 reviews4 followers
May 27, 2022
Historia que tiene lugar en los primeros años de Bruce Wayne como Batman, en los que relata su primer enfrentamiento con Lex Luthor. Argumento: "Como dos caras de una misma moneda, Bruce Wayne y Lex Luthor son deslumbrantes multimillonarios con tenebrosos secretos: uno es un genio del crimen, mientras que el otro consagra su vida a combatirlo como el Caballero Oscuro... Batman. Pero cuando ambos pretenden obtener el mismo contrato militar gubernamental descubren que, además de todo eso, comparten un enemigo: ¡un robot asesino diseñado por Empresas Wayne! ¿Cómo es posible que una de las creaciones de Batman se haya vuelto en su contra? Para resolver ese misterio, el mejor detective del mundo se adentra en un mundo de manipulaciones políticas, asesinato y espionaje industrial a escala planetaria mientras descubre un intento de llevar a cabo un golpe de estado en los mismísimos EE.UU. ¿Sobrevivirá Batman al enfrentamiento con una mente tan lúcida y endemoniada como la suya?"
Profile Image for Amna.
145 reviews
March 26, 2024
There are certain things I enjoyed, like the origins of the Batplane, the Wayne Foundation, watching Batman go toe-to-toe with Lex Luthor.

Then there are things I didn't like. The art (not always bad, but definitely some weird design choices), a little too much sci-fi jargon I ended up skimming over, and the plot holes. Like, where is Superman? Lex is in Gotham, trying to literally take over the world, and Superman isn't even mentioned (just vaguely referenced by Lex a couple times in the "wow I hate superheroes" kind of way).
Profile Image for Steve.
Author 8 books10 followers
January 18, 2018
This is the Batman I know. He stands up for the people who can't defend themselves. Also, he's not completely nuts. Given the Batman of the last 15 years, that's a good change of pace. This book was more fable and less psycho-drama, The art work was just fine as well. Brighter but just as shadowy. I will look for more Diggle.
Profile Image for Simon.
72 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2018
The "rules" of engagement should be consistency in story & art. Started off well, Batman investigating an murder and the conspiracy behind it. Then sometimes descended into cartoonish silliness (fighting robots!?) The art can be weird and distracting (dark sinister lines on faces & under eyes made Bruce look like creepy villian) Was OK.
Profile Image for Eli Seibert.
Author 3 books9 followers
January 19, 2020
The art on this one was really not my cup, but the story was still very enjoyable. It pits the dark knight against Lex Luthor, which really works, since they are similar in a lot of ways. They are two of the most strategic and secretive minds on the planet, so I always want to make popcorn whenever they're about to butt heads.
1 review
April 13, 2025
The first time Batman fights Lex Luthor. Good idea, terrible execution. I thought it would just be Lex Luthor trying to take over Wayne Enterprises or do some business thing, but instead he tries to take over the world with robots and then at the end it turns out he is a robot too and he explodes. Not very good.
Profile Image for Lana.
222 reviews
July 7, 2019
Didn't really grab my interest as much as I would have hoped. If you like giant robots fights then it's probably great for you
Profile Image for Emilce.
159 reviews23 followers
August 18, 2019
I have been wanting to read a story of Batman vs Lex Luthor for a very long time. This one was quite interesting, but I wasn't a fan of the art.
Profile Image for Raül.
682 reviews31 followers
November 12, 2020
Una història diferent a les habituals, amb un toc de ciència ficció i espionatge industrial entremig, i amb Lex Luthor com a enemic. Llàstima del dibuix.
Profile Image for Crossbreaker96.
124 reviews41 followers
November 20, 2021
Creo que oficialmente es la primer novela grafica de Batman que no me gusta...esos robots gigantes no pegan para nada con el universo de Batman en mi opinión.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.