This intense new standalone Batman graphic novel stars one of the Dark Knight's most enigmatic adversaries: Ra's Al Ghul - the featured villain in the forthcoming movie Batman Begins! 600 years old, Ra's Al Ghul has spent his existence trying to wipe out humanity. But now, with his life draining away, Ra's turns to Batman, to help save him, whether to aid his ancient namesis, Batman's decision may be wrested from him when another party enters the fray with their own terrible agenda! Written by Greg Rucka (Gotham Central), with artwork by Klaus Janson (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns), Batman: Death and the Maidens is as cerebral as it is visceral!

Only Greg Rucka, the thriller genre's most fearless writer, would dare create a spy so edgy, so explosive, so extreme, she should be rated X.Tara Chace was once the most dangerous woman alive. And now that the international spy network thinks she's as good as dead, she's even more dangerous than ever.Only one thing could coax Tara back into the game: a chance to vindicate herself. The torture and execution of Dina Malikov has set off a cutthroat grab for power in strategically crucial Uzbekistan. Tara's job is to slip into the country and extract Dina's pro-Western husband and their young son before they are murdered--by his ruthless sister.But there are a couple of wild cards in the deck, including a missing mobile weapons system that can bring down a commercial airliner, not to mention powerful political careers. Now, as she vanishes into hostile territory with a man who may or may not be what he seems, Tara is going to find out that the war on terror is more terrifying than anyone knows. For in a battle where betrayal is a conventional weapon, loyalty is a weakness, and anyone--even a child--is a legitimate target: it's every spy, every woman, for herself.Combine a thriller that defies every expectation with a heroine for whom nothing is out of bounds, and the result is Private Wars, a suspense novel so explosively realistic, it should be classified --