World Famous Comics: Gotham Central Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty (Batman)
Gotham Central Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty (Batman)
By: Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: May 01, 2004 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: May 01, 2004 Studio: DC Comics
Product Description: Working in the shadow of the Dark Knight, the detectives of Gotham City's police force are determined to prove that they can enforce the law in a city rife with criminals, with or without Batman's help.
In this latest volume of the Eisner award-winning series, the cops have what appears to be Robin's dead body in the Gotham Morgue and the evidence is pointing toward his mentor, the Dark Knight. With an uncooperative Batman, the only people the police can turn to for answers may be the Teen Titans.
Gotham Central Vol.1 (The Jokes on us) ^ Take any cop show and try and find an episode that was to bland to be aired on TV so they put it in as an extra in a box set and labeled it "never before seen episode" and you have Gotham Central. I've been reading graphic novels for 30 years and I received this book as a gift. I thought the concept was a great idea and I couldn't wait to open it up. I was incredibly disappointed. I kept reading, hoping the stories would produce some meat, anything at all! But it was second rate cop show bland. All they had to do was take one of the many great Batman stories and write about it from the police departments point of view. I can't imagine the people that wrote positive reviews actually read it.
Batman, super-villains and the insanity of life in Gotham from the point of view of the police ^ Ever wonder how Batman and his cronies seem to the cops? Ever wonder how cops deal with super-villains, super heroes and the insane amount of crime that Gotham City generates?
Gotham Central is a great twist on the Super hero tale. Told from the perspective of Gotham's Major Crime Unit, this series puts a different point of view on the super hero story. Besides that, many of these cops are involved in super heroics of their own. Imagine NYPD Blue or Law & Order SVU with the ocassional super villain and super hero and you've got the idea. Gritty, tough, action-packed and good.
Police Procedural in a Superworld ^ I have now read all five volumes of Gotham Central, and I can recommend this title with only a few reservations. First the good news...
Gotham Central is at its best when it focuses on the working stiffs of Gotham PD's major case unit. If you haven't picked up any issues of this book, try to imagine TV's "Law & Order" set in a world where a costumed vigilante routinely steals the PD's thunder. Now imagine a collection of diverse personalities trying to uphold law and order in this world. That's what you get when the book is at its best. Keep in mind that this is one of the most corrupt police organizations in the world. And because this book takes place (mostly) just after the "No Man's Land" episode in Gotham's history, most cops are ambivalent about Batman.
But that isn't always an issue. Some of the cops have faith (secret or otherwise) in Batman, and some wish he would just vanish, but the book tends to concentrate on what a normal detective unit would do in a world full of crazy supervillains. It also provides a much-needed reminder of the real-world, street-level consequences of supercrime. The sad fact is that most superhero titles focus on the knock-down-drag-out between the central protagonist and his super-nemesis; when bystanders enter into the picture at all, it's usually just long enough to be rescued by the guy in the cape. Gotham Central, however, is primarily about those bystanders. So when Mr. Freeze kills a random detective, we (as readers) feel the unfairness of it.
In other words, this book shines most brightly when it concentrates on the "little people" who occupy all the negative spaces of a superpowered world.
Now the bad news...
Renee Montoya is not a terribly convincing character, and she's our POV character more often than not. As a female detective who is also a lesbian prone to public violence, she seems more like a "message" character than a character drawn from real life. To the extent that she is the central protagonist in a story, the story suffers. It isn't that I don't sympathize with her; I do. It's that I didn't believe in her. Perhaps in a world where the cosmic axis has tilted wildly toward liberal wish-fulfillment, Det. Montoya might be a perfectly normal character. But Gotham Central's strength, usually, is that it makes the world of Batman more realistic -- more like our own world. And I'm sorry to say this, but in the real world, Det. Montoya would be directing traffic or working private security at a mall faster than she could say "violation of Miranda" or "Don't ask, don't tell."
The series is sequential, so if you're going to buy Gotham Central, just buy the whole thing, all five volumes. They're inexpensive, and they're a treat, even when they aren't firing on all cylinders. But some volumes are certainly stronger than others. Volume 1 set up expectations that Vol. 2 failed to live up to, but then Vol. 3 came back with a truly impressive strength. Volumes 4 and 5 make me wonder why the series was ever canceled -- not as strong as Vol. 3, but surely stronger than -- for example -- JSA or JLA or, well, much of DC's mainstream material.
If this title is ever revived by DC, it will be because fans buy the TPBs. And if it is ever revived, I have a suggestion: Swing the POV. Seriously, you'll find yourself caring about characters in this title who show up once or twice, only to vanish. I'd love to see that become a standard feature of this book, if it ever comes back. I found myself wanting to know more about some of the walk-ons; instead, I got more Renee Montoya. If this title is ever revived, I'd love to see each arc told from a different detective's POV.
If you like police procedural, and if you've wondered what goes on behind the scenes at Gotham PD, then you should certainly pick up these five slim volumes. Not everything works, but the writing and art are solid enough that you'll be glad you shelled out the shekels.
The series ends with a bang ^ "Gotham Central", volume 5, spans issues #33-40 and (sadly) ends the series with a pair of fine stories... A tepid mystery involving the murder of two Robin lookalikes serves as the backdrop for the real drama -- inside the squadroom -- and in particular the descent of Detective Renee Montoya into a spiral of ragefulness and violence. The second story arc focusses entirely on Montoya and her partner, Crispus Allen, and closes out on a bleak, abrupt note. Fans of the series will be sad to see it end, but pleased to pick up this final volume, which is still one heckuva nice read. Several "Gotham Central" characters appear in later DC stories, but the original books are pretty special. Recommended! (ReadThatAgain!)
Fantastic! ^ Not so much a mystery as a pure crime book, this was great! The ending took me by surprise, but this book is fantastic. It's Homocide: Life on the Streets, with Batman.
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