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Gotham Central, Book Two: Jokers and Madmen (Gotham Central #2)
by
Ed Brubaker,
Greg Rucka, Michael Lark , Duane Swierczynski (Goodreads Author)
Cops just don't have it easy in the city of the Bat. Not only do they have to deal with the violence and corruption of the world's most notoriously crime-infested city, catering to some of the most insane and homicidal criminals, but they also have to deal with a vigilante who's hellbent on playing by his own rules.
And to make things worse, the Joker is terrorizing the ci...more
And to make things worse, the Joker is terrorizing the ci...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
September 15th 2009
by DC Comics
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Gotham Central, written by the talented Mr. Ripley Mr. Brubaker, is the kind of graphic novel that you want to toss at those hoity-toity bookSNOBs when they float down from their pedestal atop Mount Elitist to bash on comics as being nothing but manky loads of provincial tripe. This book is your perfect rebuttal. It’s an “oh really, well take a gander at this” piece of argument that will leave them re-evaluating their close-mindedness.
The set up for this series as a whole is sublime. The city o...more
The set up for this series as a whole is sublime. The city o...more
The never ending battle between Batman and the villains of Gotham City continues, and the cops of the GCPD’s Major Crimes Unit are often caught in the crossfire.
The second collection of the comics finds the detectives trying to figure out the mystery of two murders that had an exotic poison as the weapon, and the suicide of a disturbed man leads to the cold case bombing of a high school baseball team. Oh, and the Joker terrorizes the city with a sniper rifle.
You know, just another day at the of...more
The second collection of the comics finds the detectives trying to figure out the mystery of two murders that had an exotic poison as the weapon, and the suicide of a disturbed man leads to the cold case bombing of a high school baseball team. Oh, and the Joker terrorizes the city with a sniper rifle.
You know, just another day at the of...more
17 likes · like · see review
It's Christmas in Gotham and the Joker is picking off victims one at a time with a sniper rifle. The girl whose job it is to turn on the Bat signal has a crush on Batman. Two women are poisoned. A cold case involving the murder of an entire high school baseball team draws the attention of the GCPD AND ex-cop Harvey F'n Bullock! All par for the course down at Gotham Central...
So, yeah. Gotham Central had to be the best written comic book produced during it's entire run. I didn't think it would be...more
So, yeah. Gotham Central had to be the best written comic book produced during it's entire run. I didn't think it would be...more
22 likes · like · see review
The second collection from the Brubaker/Rucka written series, Gotham Central, follows the much the same formula as the first.
While I liked this volume just as much as the first, it may pull ahead slightly thanks to the introduction of Joker to the series. His arc, Soft Targets is easily the best of the bunch. Terrorizing the citizens of Gotham during the holiday season, Joker begins eliminating city officials at a rapid rate even going so far as to present the public with an accessible countdown...more
While I liked this volume just as much as the first, it may pull ahead slightly thanks to the introduction of Joker to the series. His arc, Soft Targets is easily the best of the bunch. Terrorizing the citizens of Gotham during the holiday season, Joker begins eliminating city officials at a rapid rate even going so far as to present the public with an accessible countdown...more
6 likes · like · see review
Brubaker and Rucka continue to turn out solid stories about the GCPD. As the series takes shape, I appreciate that, although there is no overarching story, there is clear continuity, as the consequences of one case (often deadly consequences) can affect the next: not on a plot level but on a character level. We deal with romantic relationships, bureaucracy and politics, secrets between partners—you know, the kind of things you normally see in cop drama. Except now, bonus superheroes and supervil...more
Did you love the world of Batman? I love that world. It's a little city called Gotham. The only problem is Batman can't be everywhere at once. Gotham still needs a police force. In that police force they need a unit to investigate the super-powered criminals of Gotham. Welcome to Gotham Central. Brubaker and Rucka have written another amazing volume of this police unit. They interweave the characters and drama from the beginning of the series through out the entire book. Even after a case is clo...more
Though it may say Gotham on the book, this really has nothing to do with Batman except for a reference here and there and the criminals they are chasing may end up being villains like Joker or Mr. Freeze. As with the first book, he may show up for a page or two in all 280 pages. This is a crime series, which Brubacker and Rucka are probably the top of the current list of crime comic writers, and with them teaming up in this series, it has been great.
The whole series follows all of the major cri...more
The whole series follows all of the major cri...more
This hard cover volume collects the issues 11–22 of Gotham Central, DC's comic about the Gotham City Police Department's Major Crime Unit (mostly dealing with the kinds of crime that inevitably tends to involve "the Bat").
First out is the single issue story "Daydreams and Believers", written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Brian Hurtt. It is the story of receptionist Stacy, who is not technically employed by the police department and consequently the only person allowed, at the commissioner's reques...more
First out is the single issue story "Daydreams and Believers", written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Brian Hurtt. It is the story of receptionist Stacy, who is not technically employed by the police department and consequently the only person allowed, at the commissioner's reques...more
The only thing stopping me from giving this awesome book a perfect score was because of the Joker story-arc. I know from plenty of people, that story is considered to be the favorite and the best written throughout the entire series. But my problem was I had difficulty distinguishing which characters from who, and I had to do in plenty of occasions refer to the character introductions in the beginning of the novel to remember who the character was.
Don't get my wrong, I love Michael Lark, but his...more
Don't get my wrong, I love Michael Lark, but his...more
Gotham Central focuses on the lives of several of the GCPD's members, which immediately should determine whether you're interested in reading this or not. Despite taking place in Gotham City, the book is mostly rooted in the film noir detective genre as evidenced by the lovely art.
Being in Gotham, of course, supervillains are bound to show up as is Batman. These are handled really well and actually give some more teeth to the police force, which can often come across as useless until Batman swo...more
Being in Gotham, of course, supervillains are bound to show up as is Batman. These are handled really well and actually give some more teeth to the police force, which can often come across as useless until Batman swo...more
As with volume one, this is a really great police procedural, right up until the costumed crazies show up, then any sense of verisimilitude that Brubaker has managed to establish goes right out the window. I just don't think the gritty, realistic approach works when applied to superheroes, as the whole concept is just so inherently silly that any attempt to make it real just falls flat. Watchmen may be the only exception to that rule, and even then, it takes place firmly in its own sort of fanta...more
The second volume in this series was just as easy and enjoyable to read as the first one was. The art is dark, but it mostly suits the setting. My only complaint is that I STILL have a difficult time remembering characters' names/ who they are and keeping them separate. They're all likable enough. Just hard to tell apart. The darkness and lack of definition of the art even makes it harder to tell them apart, even by hair or skin color. Stacy is the only one that's easy to spot, for obvious reaso...more
This collection is about as good as the one before. The concept is still the same - Brubaker and Rucka write a police procedural about some hardworking detectives who are trying to solve crimes without Batman showing them up. This volume has some high points with a one-shot look at the girl who lights the signal and a story arc with the Joker terrorizing Gotham as a random sniper. I did not engage much with the story about the dead chemical company employees or the cold case story with the Mad H...more
Mar 20, 2012
Katie Adams
added it
i think it was okay i think it didn't rally think it was talking about joker and madmen because it sayed on the cover of the book book two jokers and madmen so i think it could talk more about madmen joker was only in the back of the book and madmen wasn't even talked about at all so i think it as weird and it din't make any senins for me but i need to read the first one and then it might make more senins for me so yeah um but it rally din't make any senins for me but if you want to read it go d...more
Reprints Gotham Central #11-22. The GCPD deals with an attack by the Joker and Harvey Bullock returns to try to solve one of his old cases. Gotham Central is a pretty good series that went the route of a Top Ten without superpowers. There is a huge cast of supporting characters that are sometimes hard to tell apart and sometimes due to the comic book format they could be missing for months. Gotham Central doesn't paint the same rose colored DC universe that often appears in their comics and even...more
In preparation for a class on graphic novels next summer I am trying hard to read as many of the central texts of just ONE superhero, and why not Batman, most people's favorite? But this series I discover is not so much about Batman as about the cops who work in his shadow solving crimes, and I thought the stories and noir artwork were great, and putting Batman in the background was a great idea. Tow great crime writers, Brubaker and Rucka, tell these tales. Worth a read, for sure. A must if you...more
Some more great stuff from this series.
We begin with a look inside the head of one of the civilian members of the MCU, Stacy, the one member of the team allowed to operate the Bat-Signal. This issue is a little daft at times, but is full of heart and a nice spotlight on a character we've not seen much of.
Next comes Soft Targets, the highlight of this volume, in which the Joker goes sniper crazy over Christmas. This storyline will have major effects on all the characters involved, and keeps you g...more
We begin with a look inside the head of one of the civilian members of the MCU, Stacy, the one member of the team allowed to operate the Bat-Signal. This issue is a little daft at times, but is full of heart and a nice spotlight on a character we've not seen much of.
Next comes Soft Targets, the highlight of this volume, in which the Joker goes sniper crazy over Christmas. This storyline will have major effects on all the characters involved, and keeps you g...more
Brubaker and Rucka's second go at the Gotham Central premise is just as good as -- possibly even better than -- their first.
"Daydreams and Believers" is a fun little character one-shot about Stacy, the MCU secretary in charge of operating the Bat-Signal, and is a nice, surprising bright spot in the collection.
"Soft Targets", the first arc in the book, is just incredible -- my favorite Gotham Central story so far, and probably one of my favorite Joker stories. I don't want to give away too much (...more
"Daydreams and Believers" is a fun little character one-shot about Stacy, the MCU secretary in charge of operating the Bat-Signal, and is a nice, surprising bright spot in the collection.
"Soft Targets", the first arc in the book, is just incredible -- my favorite Gotham Central story so far, and probably one of my favorite Joker stories. I don't want to give away too much (...more
Second in the Eisner award winning series. Brubaker and Rucka pull off another great story centered on the Gotham police department. Batman makes fewer appearances in this book than the previous one and yet because of that drives the suspense to a higher level. What is it like for a city to be stuck inbetween a costumed hero and the super villains that battle against them. The themes brought out in this series are great and really push against the "comic book" genre into real life issues. Kudos...more
- This must be one of the greatest comic series available in graphic novels. Can't get enough of it. It's like Jimmy McNulty and the boys set up shop in Gotham City.
- In this issue, we see the results of what would happen if the Joker got his hands on a high-powered sniper rifle and started taking random people out during the Xmas shopping season. Brubaker's Joker might be the most enjoyable I've ever read.
- In this issue, we see the results of what would happen if the Joker got his hands on a high-powered sniper rifle and started taking random people out during the Xmas shopping season. Brubaker's Joker might be the most enjoyable I've ever read.
Amazing stuff. Think "Homicide: Life on the Street" and about half a dozen other cop shows (none of that Crime Scene/Cold Case BS shows, the ones about cops that aren't for twats) set in the city of Batman. I love this series and this book has some really great self contained cases a long with some nice fleshing out of our cast of characters. My personal two favorites involve the temp who is permanently on staff mostly to turn the Bat signal on, and the story of Harvey Bullock and where he's at...more
A series that keeps getting better and better. There are some clues as to future stories and the build up of the characters is so amazing. You start to feel for them as if they were real people. This whole series is one of the best comics I have ever read. This book in particular puts you right in the middle of police work in Gotham. With new cases and some cold ones.
These writers with Michael Lark on the art? This book is even better than the sum of its parts: "Gotham Central" is like the Law & Order cops (though more full-fledged as characters) not realizing until the last 5 minutes that they've been looking for the Joker all along, then getting a shadowy glimpse of Batman just before the credits roll. I really can't imagine a better comic. Half the protagonists are female!
Only downside is that the series only ran for 40 issues. I wish it had run for...more
Only downside is that the series only ran for 40 issues. I wish it had run for...more
Jun 23, 2012
Maxwell Heath
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
comics,
superheroes
A lot of interesting stories here. The first and last were definitely my favorites, and as with many comics I've been reading recently, I've realized I should read more Batman comics, because I want to see more stuff with the police and find out more about some of the backstory touched on here.
Maybe this is technically a superhero title, but really it's a noir/crime story and will appeal to readers of such or anyone who loves Gotham City itself as a character. I love the ensemble cast (full of awesome women, btw). Makes me a bit nostalgic for some of the old DCU.
Dec 23, 2012
Michael Alexander Henke
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
graphic-novel
The second volume of Gotham Central is just as good as the first. There's a Joker story arc that's very well done and fits his character nicely. There's also a story arc not involving super villains at all, just a murder mystery. On to volume 3!
The Joker sends The Bat a Christmas present and the officers of Gotham City PD get in the way. Lark is still doing art on this volume and everything is flying smooth out of the first volume. Same compliments apply here.
This would have been 4 stars, but the final story in this collection, "Unresolved", by Ed Brubaker pushed it up to 5.
I wrote a brief little thing about this series in the entry for volume 1.
Really enjoying this series. Dark, complex and hard to put down.
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Ed Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central, Sleeper, Uncanny X-Men and X-Men: Deadly Genesis, and The Authority, and for helping...more
More about Ed Brubaker...
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central, Sleeper, Uncanny X-Men and X-Men: Deadly Genesis, and The Authority, and for helping...more
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Nov 17, 2011 10:30am
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