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Gotham Central (Single Issues) #1-10
Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty
Collecting the first ten issues of the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series. Written by Ed Brubaker (Captain America) and Greg Rucka (52, DETECTIVE COMICS), this series pitted the detectives of Gotham City’s Special Crimes Unit against the city's greatest villains — in the shadow of Batman himself.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
202 people are currently reading
2788 people want to read
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,802 books3,042 followersEd 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 and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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 and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 405 reviews
January 28, 2012
This Eisner and Harvey Award-winning collection is truly impressive and demonstrates once again why Ed Brubaker is among the elite writers scribing comics today. Add to that a smart, well structured story by Greg Rucka and art that compliments the dark and dank emotional vibe of the plot and the result is a must read for fans of graphic novels and/or crime fiction.
The premise of the series is a street-level, "on the beat" look at the rampant criminal activity of Gotham City through the eyes of the cops and detectives working at Gotham City Police Department. Central to these stories are the relationships among the detectives and the tension and animosity that these working class peace officers have toward the exploits of the aloof vigilante known as the Batman.
Brubaker does a superb job of exploring this rift of philosophy and provides a wonderful fleshing of this relationship that has always been alluded to but never really given form in the Batman stories. I found this treatment to be compelling and added a much-needed dimension to the Batman mythos. Also impressive was the way Brubaker made the Dark Knight an ever "present" aspect of the stories despite the fact that he is rarely ever seen in these stories. It is quality story-telling from someone whose chops are well bloomed.
PLOT SUMMARY:
This Volume encompasses issues 1-10 of Gotham Central and includes the first 3 complete story arcs.
In the Line of Duty by Ed Brubaker (Issues 1 and 2). Marcus Lewis’ partner, Charlie Fields, is brutally killed by Mr. Freeze while the detectives are following up a lead on an unrelated case. Marcus takes the loss extremely hard and wants the department to bring Freeze in WITHOUT the Dark Knight’s help. This story wonderfully establishes the tone and direction of the stories and immerses the reader into the world beyond the heroes in skilled fashion.
Motive by Ed Brubaker (Issues 3-5). Marcus Lewis, still recovering from the loss of his partner in the previous story, works to solve the kidnapping/murder of a little girl while an arsonist runs amok in the streets of Gotham City. Crisp, evocative story-telling that continues to flesh out this cast of characters.
Half a Life by Greg Rucka (Issues 6-10). Detective Renee Montoya is “outed” as a lesbian and finds her personal and professional life turned upside down. To make matters worse, someone is trying to frame her for murder. Avoiding any sentimentality, Rucka does a marvelous job with this story and Montoya became an early favorite character of mine.
Each story is terrifically written, deftly told and peopled with genuine, well-drawn characters. In a word...outstanding.
4.0 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
July 9, 2012
Detective Driver's partner is killed and the department wants to apprehend the killer before Batman gets called in. Only the killer is Mr. Freeze. An arsonist plagues the city and Driver and his new partner have to catch him and a missing girl is found dead. Detective Renee Montoya is outed and framed. All in all, a normal week at the GCPD.
When enough of your friends give a book high praise, sooner or later you have to stop being a stubborn asshole and give it a try. In this case, Gotham Central is the book and the stubborn asshole is me.
The core concept behind Gotham Central is a fairly simple one. If Batman was patrolling your city, how would the cops deal with it? They'd probably resent and respect you simultaneously, as is repeatedly shown in the pages of Gotham Central.
There isn't a whole lot more I can mention about the plot without spoiling too much of it. It's basically a series of crime stories set in Gotham City, centering on the GCPD.
Brubaker and Rucka knocked the ball out of the park and into the river in this one. The writing is superb and at times I forgot I was reading something set in Gotham City. I cannot recommend this enough to fans of comic books and crime fiction.
When enough of your friends give a book high praise, sooner or later you have to stop being a stubborn asshole and give it a try. In this case, Gotham Central is the book and the stubborn asshole is me.
The core concept behind Gotham Central is a fairly simple one. If Batman was patrolling your city, how would the cops deal with it? They'd probably resent and respect you simultaneously, as is repeatedly shown in the pages of Gotham Central.
There isn't a whole lot more I can mention about the plot without spoiling too much of it. It's basically a series of crime stories set in Gotham City, centering on the GCPD.
Brubaker and Rucka knocked the ball out of the park and into the river in this one. The writing is superb and at times I forgot I was reading something set in Gotham City. I cannot recommend this enough to fans of comic books and crime fiction.
June 29, 2012
Being a cop isn’t easy, but the men and women of the Gotham City Police Department have it tougher than most. This is a town where the most routine call can leave an officer facing a crazy cold blooded scientist with his own freeze ray, or they may be targeted by a murderous former district attorney desperately in need of some plastic surgery. You know things are out of control when the cop’s best weapon is a psychologically scarred vigilante who dresses like a bat.
It seemed like an interesting idea to do a book from the point of view of the GCPD’s Major Crimes Unit, but I thought that this might be an idea only worthy of a story, not an entire series. I was wrong about that in a big way.
In the hands of Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka it’s already obvious that there’s a wealth of untold Gotham stories about a group of cops just trying to do their jobs in the face of batshit (Get it?) craziness.
For example, the first story centers on the horrible death of a detective at the hands of Mr. Freeze. Usually in a bat comic, we’d get the brutal murder and maybe a little bit of the department's anger and fear as a subplot while Batman goes after him. By focusing on the crime’s impact to the cops, it turns what could be a typical comic book beginning into a tragedy that makes you see the GCPD as more than just cannon fodder that routinely gets caught in the crossfire between Batman and his enemies.
I also liked the way that the cops have a love/hate thing with Batman because they recognize that they need him to deal with these threats, but there’s an undertone of anger that he may be causing half of their problems by inspiring super villains as well as resentment at the way that he’s taken it on himself to do their job.
In addition to the Mr. Freeze plot, there’s a mystery to solve as the detectives look into the murder of a teenage girl and deal with a costumed firebug. The final story that revolves around a closeted lesbian cop being outed as part of a scheme to destroy her life is an exceptionally heartbreaking piece of writing that I will be using in the future to refute anyone who wants to sneer at me for reading funny books.
Terrific concept and great story telling make this a must read for fans who will see a side of Gotham City that we never have before in the Batman titles.
September 5, 2011
Gotham Central tells the stories of the different police detectives in the GPD. Batman makes a few cameos, but really he has little to nothing to do with what goes on in this book.
This was not my cuppa. I thought the art was ugly, and I like a heavy dose of spandex-clad superheroes in my graphic novels, so I really doubt I'll be revisiting these books any time soon.
But.
Even though I don't care for this kind of crime drama story, it was really well written. If you enjoy reading stuff like Whiteout, then I have a feeling you would love Gotham Central.
This was not my cuppa. I thought the art was ugly, and I like a heavy dose of spandex-clad superheroes in my graphic novels, so I really doubt I'll be revisiting these books any time soon.
But.
Even though I don't care for this kind of crime drama story, it was really well written. If you enjoy reading stuff like Whiteout, then I have a feeling you would love Gotham Central.
February 4, 2022
A very raw and grounded portrayal of Gotham City which plays out more like a crime procedural than a Batman story. It touches on a lot of heavy themes such as racism and homophobia both inside and outside of the police force, as well as sprinkling in the much more universe specific effect Batman has on the Major Crimes Unit (M.C.U). A focus on members of the GCPD outside of Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock helps with further world building of a franchise that's already rich in characters and lore. The art perfectly fits the tone, with a scratchy texture and washed out colours. Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed it, bear in mind that it's not for everyone as it strays really far from what most people would expect from a book set in Batman's universe.
August 24, 2016
A police procedural set in the Batman universe? Pretty much a perfect concept. In Gotham Central, The focus is squarely on the city's Police Department, with its inner dynamics and challenges as a result of operating in a world where its sense of self-value and pride is constantly being undermined (not with malicious intent, of course) by the existence of a vigilante with seemingly supernatural powers. That sort of thing does tend to cramp one's style quite a bit.
Rucka and Brubaker both prove themselves to be avid students and skillful practitioners of detective fiction, and manage to blend those core elements in nicely with the overall Batman mythos. Batman himself hardly figures at all in this, which is a wise choice. This might be controversial to some, but the Batman character never was terribly interesting in and of itself. At least not to me. Once you get beyond his traumatic childhood, he assumes a far more symbolic meaning. He's more of a constant presence, a force of nature, not a character of flesh and blood you can invest in on an emotional level.
What has always been interesting though, is his effect on Gotham. The tragic, eccentric supervillains his mere existence has spawned and how he irrevocably altered all strata of its society among which most importantly the cops that have bled and died in service of Gotham for ages before he came along. Rucka and Brubaker understand this dynamic very well.
One can't praise the plotting of these tales enough, in my opinion. They move like a high-speed train, yet are never confusing. It's pure comic crack. Lark's understated, seemingly unspectacular, yet highly effective artwork (very reminiscent of David Mazzucchelli's on Batman - Year One) completes the package, making Gotham Central (even after having only read the first volume) one of the best DC series of the noughties.
Rucka and Brubaker both prove themselves to be avid students and skillful practitioners of detective fiction, and manage to blend those core elements in nicely with the overall Batman mythos. Batman himself hardly figures at all in this, which is a wise choice. This might be controversial to some, but the Batman character never was terribly interesting in and of itself. At least not to me. Once you get beyond his traumatic childhood, he assumes a far more symbolic meaning. He's more of a constant presence, a force of nature, not a character of flesh and blood you can invest in on an emotional level.
What has always been interesting though, is his effect on Gotham. The tragic, eccentric supervillains his mere existence has spawned and how he irrevocably altered all strata of its society among which most importantly the cops that have bled and died in service of Gotham for ages before he came along. Rucka and Brubaker understand this dynamic very well.
One can't praise the plotting of these tales enough, in my opinion. They move like a high-speed train, yet are never confusing. It's pure comic crack. Lark's understated, seemingly unspectacular, yet highly effective artwork (very reminiscent of David Mazzucchelli's on Batman - Year One) completes the package, making Gotham Central (even after having only read the first volume) one of the best DC series of the noughties.
November 26, 2017
This book provides a street level view of life in Gotham City from the point of view of police detectives. Batman very rarely appears, and when he does, he comes across as mysterious and a bit menacing. The detectives have a lot of personality, and it's interesting to see how they deal with super villains without powers (not very well at times). The writing is sharp, and the art style really suits the type of stories being told. I'm looking forward to reading more volumes of this.
May 8, 2012
There's very little reason this should work.
Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka want you to sit down, pick this up and become captivated by the stories of the Gotham City Police Department. A force that has become all but neutered by the exploits of The Dark Knight. Honestly, who wants the cops to come save you when Batman is on the prowl?
It had to be tough to try and write this without the reader asking the question, "Why not just flip the switch and let the bat-signal flood the sky?" The answer: this is their job, not his. The GCPD struggle with the fact that they're always overshadowed by The Caped Crusader and that they have a lot of resentment deep in their system. In fact, that's basically the subject of the first arc, In The Line of Duty.
Detective Lewis needs to capture Mr. Freeze following the brutal murder of his partner, Charlie Fields. Feeling guilt over Charlie's death, Lewis wants just this one victory without the help of Batman and refuses to let the beacon shine.
In The Line of Duty is important in establishing just why you should care about these people. It gets the reader right down to their level, sympathizing with their feelings of inadequacy in relation to Batman. After that connection is established, Rucka and Brubaker get the wheels going with some top-notch stuff.
The two arcs that follow are gripping stories, especially Half A Life. They do a good job setting the tone of where this series intends to go throwing red herrings all over the place, keeping the reader guessing until the big reveal.
This is the perfect example of why people should never write off comics as a storytelling medium. Even if you're not a fan of the superhero genre, this is a series that can fit snug on the bookshelf of any crime fiction aficionado.
Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka want you to sit down, pick this up and become captivated by the stories of the Gotham City Police Department. A force that has become all but neutered by the exploits of The Dark Knight. Honestly, who wants the cops to come save you when Batman is on the prowl?
It had to be tough to try and write this without the reader asking the question, "Why not just flip the switch and let the bat-signal flood the sky?" The answer: this is their job, not his. The GCPD struggle with the fact that they're always overshadowed by The Caped Crusader and that they have a lot of resentment deep in their system. In fact, that's basically the subject of the first arc, In The Line of Duty.
Detective Lewis needs to capture Mr. Freeze following the brutal murder of his partner, Charlie Fields. Feeling guilt over Charlie's death, Lewis wants just this one victory without the help of Batman and refuses to let the beacon shine.
In The Line of Duty is important in establishing just why you should care about these people. It gets the reader right down to their level, sympathizing with their feelings of inadequacy in relation to Batman. After that connection is established, Rucka and Brubaker get the wheels going with some top-notch stuff.
The two arcs that follow are gripping stories, especially Half A Life. They do a good job setting the tone of where this series intends to go throwing red herrings all over the place, keeping the reader guessing until the big reveal.
This is the perfect example of why people should never write off comics as a storytelling medium. Even if you're not a fan of the superhero genre, this is a series that can fit snug on the bookshelf of any crime fiction aficionado.
May 25, 2019
Pre-review:
Lawrence Block, famed novelist, a New Yorker through and through and my idol, wrote an introduction for this comic!!!! So, of course, I am in!
Aside from the dark and gritty Batman, we now have the overworked and gritty G.C.P.D cops!!!!!! and I'm loving it! The whole thing reads like a well-written crime noir and I really enjoy reading about how the G.C.P.D cops working on the ground level and solving their cases one footstep at a time.
By the way, the story about Renee Montoya, her girlfriend and the whole Renee getting framed for murder thingy reminds me one thing, as much as I'm always rooting for Commissioner Gordon and the G.C.P.D group, we all need to remember the golden rule about talking to cops when you are 'invited' to spend time with the blue boys:
DO NOT TALK TO COPS, DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING.
DO NOT TALK TO COPS, DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING.
DO NOT TALK TO COPS, DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING.
By the way, in my mind, there is no doubt that the fictional Gotham is New York. LOL
Lawrence Block, famed novelist, a New Yorker through and through and my idol, wrote an introduction for this comic!!!! So, of course, I am in!
Aside from the dark and gritty Batman, we now have the overworked and gritty G.C.P.D cops!!!!!! and I'm loving it! The whole thing reads like a well-written crime noir and I really enjoy reading about how the G.C.P.D cops working on the ground level and solving their cases one footstep at a time.
By the way, the story about Renee Montoya, her girlfriend and the whole Renee getting framed for murder thingy reminds me one thing, as much as I'm always rooting for Commissioner Gordon and the G.C.P.D group, we all need to remember the golden rule about talking to cops when you are 'invited' to spend time with the blue boys:
DO NOT TALK TO COPS, DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING.
DO NOT TALK TO COPS, DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING.
DO NOT TALK TO COPS, DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING.
By the way, in my mind, there is no doubt that the fictional Gotham is New York. LOL
February 1, 2018
"Whatever you do, remember . . . you're going to make a difference." - retired police commissioner Jim Gordon
My 'GR friends' (and thanks, Diz, for inadvertently bringing this series to my attention late last year) have already written well-composed reviews for Gotham Central so anything I attempt would pale in comparison or just sound damn repetitive. So I'll just leave it at this -- take David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (or its TV counterpart) and throw it headfirst into the daylight, plausible sections of Bruce Wayne's fictional hometown and you get the idea of what Brubaker & company were aiming for with this book, featuring Gotham PD's MCU investigators.
My 'GR friends' (and thanks, Diz, for inadvertently bringing this series to my attention late last year) have already written well-composed reviews for Gotham Central so anything I attempt would pale in comparison or just sound damn repetitive. So I'll just leave it at this -- take David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (or its TV counterpart) and throw it headfirst into the daylight, plausible sections of Bruce Wayne's fictional hometown and you get the idea of what Brubaker & company were aiming for with this book, featuring Gotham PD's MCU investigators.
October 27, 2014
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES
There are many graphic novels about superheroes and their world and how important it
is for them to save the regular mortals but rarely do we get a perspective of the mortals unless they're family or lovers. In this series we focus almost exclusively upon the detectives (morning and night shifts) of Gotham who sometimes resent “The Bat” for solving their cases. It's a fresh and interesting approach with Batman showing up less than 5% of all the tales.
BOOK ONE
Story focuses are upon two detectives discovering Mister Freeze in hiding and then the whole force trying to stop him from doing something sinister. There's another tale of a missing teenage girl while a villainous “Firefly” returns to Gotham and the last and longest tale is about the return of Two Face who proceeds to capture and torment Detective Montoya.
There's a lesbian detective who fears being disowned if her parents find out, another detective is guilt ridden that his partner died on his watch and a host of other personal stories. Truly is this about the characters. The “Sarge” is a great sub character who goes off on some interesting arguments here and there.
ARTWORK
I found the artwork hit or miss. Yes, it's dark and gritty looking but sometimes it feels like only 80% of the normal details are there in the artwork. Batman doesn't look terribly impressive though maybe that's intentional to add to the mundane setting. That alone didn't make me give it a “B” grade so much as my former reason.
STORY/PLOTTING: B plus; ARTWORK PRESENTATION: B; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B plus to A minus; WHEN READ: early June 2012; OVERALL GRADE: B plus.
There are many graphic novels about superheroes and their world and how important it
is for them to save the regular mortals but rarely do we get a perspective of the mortals unless they're family or lovers. In this series we focus almost exclusively upon the detectives (morning and night shifts) of Gotham who sometimes resent “The Bat” for solving their cases. It's a fresh and interesting approach with Batman showing up less than 5% of all the tales.
BOOK ONE
Story focuses are upon two detectives discovering Mister Freeze in hiding and then the whole force trying to stop him from doing something sinister. There's another tale of a missing teenage girl while a villainous “Firefly” returns to Gotham and the last and longest tale is about the return of Two Face who proceeds to capture and torment Detective Montoya.
There's a lesbian detective who fears being disowned if her parents find out, another detective is guilt ridden that his partner died on his watch and a host of other personal stories. Truly is this about the characters. The “Sarge” is a great sub character who goes off on some interesting arguments here and there.
ARTWORK
I found the artwork hit or miss. Yes, it's dark and gritty looking but sometimes it feels like only 80% of the normal details are there in the artwork. Batman doesn't look terribly impressive though maybe that's intentional to add to the mundane setting. That alone didn't make me give it a “B” grade so much as my former reason.
STORY/PLOTTING: B plus; ARTWORK PRESENTATION: B; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B plus to A minus; WHEN READ: early June 2012; OVERALL GRADE: B plus.
November 29, 2015
Line od duty: 3.5 stars
Motive: 4 stars
Half a life: 5 stars
Gotham police department, those poor guys who usually serve as canon fodder for Gotham's many crazies or play role od victims waiting to be rescued by batman, finally got the spotlight and chance to prove they are not always incompetent schmucks waiting for bats to do all the work.
Premise sounds interesting and with writing duo of Ed Brubaker, who's Criminal is one of my favorite graphic novels, and Greg Ruck, who's Lazarus also has place on my favorites shelf, my expectations couldn't have been higher.I can say they where mostly met although Gotham central doesn't reach as high as those two.
Because of it's weird premise this graphic novel is bit hard to classify but one thing is for sure, this isn't superhero comic and it isn't Batman comic although he also makes appearance.I think it's closest to crime noir and if you are looking for gloomy atmosphere found in Brubaker's and Rucka's best works look no further.
Motive: 4 stars
Half a life: 5 stars
Gotham police department, those poor guys who usually serve as canon fodder for Gotham's many crazies or play role od victims waiting to be rescued by batman, finally got the spotlight and chance to prove they are not always incompetent schmucks waiting for bats to do all the work.
Premise sounds interesting and with writing duo of Ed Brubaker, who's Criminal is one of my favorite graphic novels, and Greg Ruck, who's Lazarus also has place on my favorites shelf, my expectations couldn't have been higher.I can say they where mostly met although Gotham central doesn't reach as high as those two.
Because of it's weird premise this graphic novel is bit hard to classify but one thing is for sure, this isn't superhero comic and it isn't Batman comic although he also makes appearance.I think it's closest to crime noir and if you are looking for gloomy atmosphere found in Brubaker's and Rucka's best works look no further.
March 7, 2021
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Where there can be crime, there can also be law and justice. The relentless battle to establish an unobtrusive balance between both is an age-old conflict that has yet to be seen in many societies, often raising questions on the nature of the synergy. For Gotham City, crime, corruption, and power have never been properly managed by the elites. It has led its people to live in an environment prone to danger and to pursue a life filled with fear and anxiety. But even in the worse corners of the city, even amidst the dangerous crooks that have challenged Batman to the brink of death, there lie good-intentioned cops who would do anything for their city. With an introduction by Lawrence Block, critically-acclaimed writers Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka team up with artist Michael Lark to deliver the multiple award-winning series Gotham Central. This first volume collects the first ten issues and covers the “In the Line of Duty“, “Motive“, and “Half a Life” story arcs.
What is Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty? While Batman wages on his one-man war against crime, the law enforcers of the Gotham City Police Department work around the clock to protect their city from overflooding with crime committed by some of the most insane and homicidal criminals. Unfortunately, many of the cops don’t see eye-to-eye with the Dark Knight’s ways but it doesn’t stop them from serving justice the good old-fashioned way. With one of their recent partners falling to Mister Freeze, Gotham’s Finest finds themselves rushing to uncover a larger plan at play. The Major Crime Unit also has their hands full when they find themselves looking into an unsolved case that ties in with supervillain Firebug. But things don’t get any more complicated when Police Detective Renee Montoya also finds herself at the heart of a complex case that unravels her own personal life and sends her career straight to the sewers. The question she now faces leads to a traitorous whodunit: Who could be behind her frail situation?
How could I ever say no to the idea behind this series? It is everything I could ask for. The Wire in the form of a comic book series and set within Batman’s kingdom. And you got writers Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka working together with artist Michael Lark on it too? What more could one possibly ask for? What they achieve together is a formidable, episodic, and gritty noir fiction that fully embraces crime and mystery through grim and somber story-telling and character development. Through the former, the stories establish the GCPD in a down-to-earth reality that takes into consideration the existence of Batman’s war on crime without, however, allowing his adventures to affect their own individual day-to-day routine. Through the latter, this series explores the complex relationships they all have with one another while they struggle with their own personal issues, allowing readers to look into their coping mechanisms and their stress management skills.
Artist Michael Lark also fully participates in the success of this series with his impeccable artwork reminiscent of artist Sean Phillips’ own style. The grim qualities of his art brilliantly capture the tense atmosphere, often accentuating the darker emotions that are almost taken for granted because of the nature of these cops’ work and their tendency to live in bleak and terrifying conditions. Add in the perfectly adequate colouring accomplished by Noelle Giddings, Matt Hollingsworth, and Lee Loughridge, and you’ve got yourself a dark, sinister, and highly immersive world that sticks to its noir fiction premise and allows these usually-inconsequential characters to be front-and-center in crime-fighting duties on top of showcasing their human facets, whether it’s their most vulnerable selves or their most vice-hungry personas.
Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty is an outstanding crime procedural with noir overtones that explores the daily struggles of Gotham’s Finest amidst Batman’s crusade against ruthless criminals.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
May 18, 2021
For years I was told I had to check out Gotham Central. Especially as a huge fan of shows like The Wire, The Shield, Law and Order and so on. SO I decided to finally dive into my 4 part collection and...For the most part I really enjoyed it.
This is cop procedural 100%. If you like that, it is what they give you. I feel the weakest story is actually the first. Which involves two cops stumbling into an apartment with Mr. Freeze and facing the consequences. It is nice to see how villains Batman usually wipes the floor with can really hurt people but it was a paint by numbers okay story. The second story is a lot stronger, involving a poor teenager who was murdered and trying to find out why and who did it. The last revolves around Renee, and is also pretty story. The cop part of it is decent, but it's the drama of her dealing with coming out of the closet to both friends and family that works the best.
Overall, a dark and gritty look into Gotham police affairs. Not everything is solved so quickly with a quick punch from Batman. We get to see these poor people going through hell trying to protect such a fucked up city.
While not reinventing the wheel it gives a really great look into the life of the police force in Gotham and how they deal with villains. I overall enjoyed it a lot and while I wasn't completely blown away I will be reading more. A 4 out of 5.
This is cop procedural 100%. If you like that, it is what they give you. I feel the weakest story is actually the first. Which involves two cops stumbling into an apartment with Mr. Freeze and facing the consequences. It is nice to see how villains Batman usually wipes the floor with can really hurt people but it was a paint by numbers okay story. The second story is a lot stronger, involving a poor teenager who was murdered and trying to find out why and who did it. The last revolves around Renee, and is also pretty story. The cop part of it is decent, but it's the drama of her dealing with coming out of the closet to both friends and family that works the best.
Overall, a dark and gritty look into Gotham police affairs. Not everything is solved so quickly with a quick punch from Batman. We get to see these poor people going through hell trying to protect such a fucked up city.
While not reinventing the wheel it gives a really great look into the life of the police force in Gotham and how they deal with villains. I overall enjoyed it a lot and while I wasn't completely blown away I will be reading more. A 4 out of 5.
May 9, 2018
Wow! I can't believe it took me so long to get around to checking out this title. “Eisner and Harvey Award-Winning Series,” indeed.
Gotham Central focuses on the Gotham City Police Department. What's it like to go after colorful villains like Mr. Freeze and Two-Face? How does it feel to see Batman doing your job for you? Just what is the procedure for turning on the Bat signal anyway? Brubaker and Rucka take a police procedural approach to things. These cops are real people with hopes and dreams and lives and families. They do their jobs to the best of their abilities, fighting to make Gotham a safer place. It's a cop show that happens to be set in Gotham City.
The story arcs are well-written, and flow together nicely. An officer is killed in the line of duty by Mr. Freeze. Can the GCPD take him down without Batman’s help? A fourteen year-old girl is murdered, and it begins to look like Firebug is responsible, but things get complicated when bringing him in seems a little too easy. And a detective is framed for murder as her whole life comes crashing down, but just who is behind it all?
This is the Batman book I’ve been wanting to read my whole life. It's set very firmly in the real world. It takes lessons from Astro City and Top 10 and applies them to the DC Universe. I was caught up in the story to the point where the end of the third tale actually brought a tear to my eye. This is quality work. Highly recommended!
Gotham Central focuses on the Gotham City Police Department. What's it like to go after colorful villains like Mr. Freeze and Two-Face? How does it feel to see Batman doing your job for you? Just what is the procedure for turning on the Bat signal anyway? Brubaker and Rucka take a police procedural approach to things. These cops are real people with hopes and dreams and lives and families. They do their jobs to the best of their abilities, fighting to make Gotham a safer place. It's a cop show that happens to be set in Gotham City.
The story arcs are well-written, and flow together nicely. An officer is killed in the line of duty by Mr. Freeze. Can the GCPD take him down without Batman’s help? A fourteen year-old girl is murdered, and it begins to look like Firebug is responsible, but things get complicated when bringing him in seems a little too easy. And a detective is framed for murder as her whole life comes crashing down, but just who is behind it all?
This is the Batman book I’ve been wanting to read my whole life. It's set very firmly in the real world. It takes lessons from Astro City and Top 10 and applies them to the DC Universe. I was caught up in the story to the point where the end of the third tale actually brought a tear to my eye. This is quality work. Highly recommended!
June 24, 2025
(Zero spoiler review) 4.5/5
So, do the best batman stories hardly feature Batman. From the way Gotham Central kicks off, its certainly making a strong case for it.
Gotham Central is far more crime noir than your typical supe fare, despite being watered down enough to get passed DC editorial. There aren't any buxom femme fatales or bloody violence, although we are treated to a much more realistic, dark and gritty representation of Gotham than I've had the pleasure of reading thus fare. If there are similar Batman stories out there to this, then please, point me in their direction.
Let's be honest, when you have Brubaker and Rucka pulling story duty and Michael Lark on art, you pretty much have a guaranteed recipe for success. Brubaker with his well documented noir roots, and Rucka, who doesn't get the credit he deserves. This opening salvo sets the tone well, I'm sure, for what is to follow. If the remainder of the books continue on in this vein, than this will go down for me as one of the greatest runs in DC history. A bold claim, but an honest one, nonetheless 4.5/5
OmniBen.
So, do the best batman stories hardly feature Batman. From the way Gotham Central kicks off, its certainly making a strong case for it.
Gotham Central is far more crime noir than your typical supe fare, despite being watered down enough to get passed DC editorial. There aren't any buxom femme fatales or bloody violence, although we are treated to a much more realistic, dark and gritty representation of Gotham than I've had the pleasure of reading thus fare. If there are similar Batman stories out there to this, then please, point me in their direction.
Let's be honest, when you have Brubaker and Rucka pulling story duty and Michael Lark on art, you pretty much have a guaranteed recipe for success. Brubaker with his well documented noir roots, and Rucka, who doesn't get the credit he deserves. This opening salvo sets the tone well, I'm sure, for what is to follow. If the remainder of the books continue on in this vein, than this will go down for me as one of the greatest runs in DC history. A bold claim, but an honest one, nonetheless 4.5/5
OmniBen.
March 23, 2022
Gotham Central Book 1 In the Line of Duty collects issues 1-10 of the DC Comics series written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka with art by Michael Lark.
This series focuses on the detectives in Gotham City's Major Crime Unit as they try to solve cases without Batman's help. Storylines in this volume revolve around Mr. Freeze killing a detective in a failed bust, investigating the murder of a young teen by Firebug, and the classic story of Renee Montoya being framed for murder after she was publicly outed.
This was a fantastic start to this series with an interesting premise. Two of the best crime comic writers today did split duty on the book with Rucka writing stories involving the day shift and Brubaker covering the night shift. I thought the start was a bit slow, but quickly found it's stride and delivered powerful stories about corruption, gentrification, class priveledge, homophobia, and more. While the book takes place in Gotham and Batman's presence is around every corner, he is more of a set piece or plot point than a character. Fans of police procedurals and crime stories should give this a read.
This series focuses on the detectives in Gotham City's Major Crime Unit as they try to solve cases without Batman's help. Storylines in this volume revolve around Mr. Freeze killing a detective in a failed bust, investigating the murder of a young teen by Firebug, and the classic story of Renee Montoya being framed for murder after she was publicly outed.
This was a fantastic start to this series with an interesting premise. Two of the best crime comic writers today did split duty on the book with Rucka writing stories involving the day shift and Brubaker covering the night shift. I thought the start was a bit slow, but quickly found it's stride and delivered powerful stories about corruption, gentrification, class priveledge, homophobia, and more. While the book takes place in Gotham and Batman's presence is around every corner, he is more of a set piece or plot point than a character. Fans of police procedurals and crime stories should give this a read.
July 29, 2015
So let's get something out of the way first: I have a deep love for anything Batman and I think Brubaker is in the top 3 noir comics writers. Glad that's off my chest.
This series has a great perspective, a cast of characters that tug at your senses and have some interesting tales to tell...and The Bats is only a peripheral spectre who, seemingly, has a foothold in the psyche of each GCPD officer on duty in one way or another.
My take away boils down to this: be mindful of the extensive ripples caused by each and every action you make. The ripples are far reaching and never quite expected. The Bats' single minded pursuit of justice, the co-dependence of GCPD and the individual officers perspective on our resident masked "vigilante" all form a seamless work of art.
BTW did I mention how fabulous I think Brubaker is...I did...well it's worth repeating...daily!
Strap in and on citizens, this series kicks ass!
This series has a great perspective, a cast of characters that tug at your senses and have some interesting tales to tell...and The Bats is only a peripheral spectre who, seemingly, has a foothold in the psyche of each GCPD officer on duty in one way or another.
My take away boils down to this: be mindful of the extensive ripples caused by each and every action you make. The ripples are far reaching and never quite expected. The Bats' single minded pursuit of justice, the co-dependence of GCPD and the individual officers perspective on our resident masked "vigilante" all form a seamless work of art.
BTW did I mention how fabulous I think Brubaker is...I did...well it's worth repeating...daily!
Strap in and on citizens, this series kicks ass!
March 25, 2019
Such a great book! I loved everything about it. The concept is genius, the creative team is incredible, it's very well written, art looks great and fits the story perfectly. But the best thing about this series is how detailed and lovingly written the characters are: they feel alive and real. And Renee Montoya is probably the best character in the whole DCU, to be honest.
5 stars, instant favourite. Easily one of the top 3 DC series I've read.
5 stars, instant favourite. Easily one of the top 3 DC series I've read.
September 1, 2017
I would give this an extra star if I could. The writing is great, the characterization is great, and above all the art is fantastic and this is so much fun to read. Great noir driven detective fiction
April 14, 2025
Man I loved this! Just finished Gotham Central: Book 1 and this was such a cool angle on the Batman universe. Instead of focusing on the Caped Crusader, it zeroes in on the regular cops trying to do their jobs in a city where a dude in a bat suit and literal supervillains roam the streets. It’s gritty, grounded, and honestly kind of heartbreaking at times. You really feel how tough it is for these detectives to operate in Batman’s shadow. The writing is sharp, the art matches the mood perfectly, and the tension—both in the precinct and out on the street—feels real. It’s like Law & Order got dropped into Gotham, and it totally works. Definitely worth picking up if you’re into crime dramas with a twist.
March 5, 2015
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka’s “Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty” is a collection of ten first issues of an award-winning comic book series “Gotham Central” with an introduction by Lawrence Block. “Gotham Central” offers a closer look at professional as well as personal lives of police officers from the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), who deal with vicious big-city criminals and homicidal super villains, racing to solve the crimes before Batman takes over.
“Gotham Central, Book One” consist of three story arcs: “In the Line of Duty” (issues #1-2), “Motive” (issues #3-5) and “Half a Life” (issues #6-10). In the first story, Mr. Freeze kills one of the GCPD’s officers, and the squad assumes the duty of hunting the villain down without Batman’s help. In “Motive,” Marcus Driver tries to solve the kidnapping/murder of a teenage girl while the rest of the team is after a costumed arsonist Firebug. The last story features detective Renee Montoya, who is outed as a lesbian, charged with a murder and kidnapped by Two-Face.
THUMBS UP:
1) Realistic and relatable.
Even though “Gotham Central, Book One” features super villains and Batman in fictional Gotham City, the story focuses on GCPD’s officers, and thus the plot details as well as characters, their actions and emotions are surprisingly realistic and relatable.
2) Action-packed mystery.
In addition to being very realistic, the plot in “Gotham Central, Book One” is dynamic, intriguing and well-thought-out. Although the end of “Motive” was a tiny bit predictable, I enjoyed the story nonetheless. In fact, “Motive” was my favorite out of all three story arcs.
3) Organic conversational flow.
I especially loved beginnings of individual episodes, which often start with fragments of random conversations. Most of these conversations are totally irrelevant but they set a natural flow for the rest of the dialogue.
4) Mood-reflecting artwork.
Although I’ve seen some criticism regarding the artwork in “Gotham Central, Book One”, I personally thought that rough lines and grim colors complement the dark vibe of the plot and suit the mood of the series perfectly. Besides, the looks and postures of the characters seem down-to-earth. However, I did notice that the same characters not always look the same in different scenes, even though they are all drawn by the same artist Michael Lark.
VERDICT: 4 out of 5
“Gotham Central, Book One” collects three realistic, dynamic and intriguing stories from GCPD with relatable characters, organic conversations and aptly grim artwork. It’s a great first installment in a cop series set in the superhero universe but told solely from the perspective of mortals.
Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka’s “Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty” is a collection of ten first issues of an award-winning comic book series “Gotham Central” with an introduction by Lawrence Block. “Gotham Central” offers a closer look at professional as well as personal lives of police officers from the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), who deal with vicious big-city criminals and homicidal super villains, racing to solve the crimes before Batman takes over.
“Gotham Central, Book One” consist of three story arcs: “In the Line of Duty” (issues #1-2), “Motive” (issues #3-5) and “Half a Life” (issues #6-10). In the first story, Mr. Freeze kills one of the GCPD’s officers, and the squad assumes the duty of hunting the villain down without Batman’s help. In “Motive,” Marcus Driver tries to solve the kidnapping/murder of a teenage girl while the rest of the team is after a costumed arsonist Firebug. The last story features detective Renee Montoya, who is outed as a lesbian, charged with a murder and kidnapped by Two-Face.
THUMBS UP:
1) Realistic and relatable.
Even though “Gotham Central, Book One” features super villains and Batman in fictional Gotham City, the story focuses on GCPD’s officers, and thus the plot details as well as characters, their actions and emotions are surprisingly realistic and relatable.
2) Action-packed mystery.
In addition to being very realistic, the plot in “Gotham Central, Book One” is dynamic, intriguing and well-thought-out. Although the end of “Motive” was a tiny bit predictable, I enjoyed the story nonetheless. In fact, “Motive” was my favorite out of all three story arcs.
3) Organic conversational flow.
I especially loved beginnings of individual episodes, which often start with fragments of random conversations. Most of these conversations are totally irrelevant but they set a natural flow for the rest of the dialogue.
4) Mood-reflecting artwork.
Although I’ve seen some criticism regarding the artwork in “Gotham Central, Book One”, I personally thought that rough lines and grim colors complement the dark vibe of the plot and suit the mood of the series perfectly. Besides, the looks and postures of the characters seem down-to-earth. However, I did notice that the same characters not always look the same in different scenes, even though they are all drawn by the same artist Michael Lark.
VERDICT: 4 out of 5
“Gotham Central, Book One” collects three realistic, dynamic and intriguing stories from GCPD with relatable characters, organic conversations and aptly grim artwork. It’s a great first installment in a cop series set in the superhero universe but told solely from the perspective of mortals.
July 9, 2020
Kuten ennenkin todettua, supersankarisarjakuvat eivät ole kovin mielestäni kovin kummoisia. Ed Brubakerin ja Greg Ruckan käsikirjoittama "Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty" (DC Comics, 2008) muodostaa kuitenkin poikkeuksen - tosin kyseessä ei olekaan ihan tavanomainen trikoojumppa, sillä kolmessa tarinassa seurataan Gotham Cityn rikospoliisin arkea. Lepakkomies vilahtaa tarinassa yleensä vain ohimennen. Sarjakuva on hyvin käsikirjoitettu ja siinä on kiinnostava henkilögalleria. Michael Larkin piirrosjälki miellytti myös minun silmääni. Ei voi siis muuta kuin todeta, että "Gotham Central" on aika lähellä parasta lukemaani supersankarisarjakuvaa. Sarjan lukemista onkin jatkettava heti ensi tilassa!
February 14, 2014
I guess I kind of expected this to be a kind of Garfield minus Garfield for Batman, but found it to be more like The Wire with Superheroes/villains. It was also reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress in that it was told from the point of view of the lower class (in this case the police officers instead of the superheroes/villains, in that case the peasants instead of the feudal lords).
The Gotham City Police Department was weaved seamlessly into the mythos of the Gotham that readers know from Batman's point-of-view. A lot of time was taken to flesh out the detectives on the force; their motivations, fears, prejudices and jealousies -- first and foremost having to work in the shadow of the Bat Signal, a daunting monument on their roof. The opening story with Mr. Freeze set the tone of the series, although it was objectively the weakest of the three plot arcs. The strongest was the last, with a female detective being outed by Two-Face.
Overall, the entire book was solid, with flashes of greatness. I look forward to continuing this series -- I especially hope to see the GCPD take on the Joker. My only real complaint is that the series isn't available digitally on my Kindle.
The Gotham City Police Department was weaved seamlessly into the mythos of the Gotham that readers know from Batman's point-of-view. A lot of time was taken to flesh out the detectives on the force; their motivations, fears, prejudices and jealousies -- first and foremost having to work in the shadow of the Bat Signal, a daunting monument on their roof. The opening story with Mr. Freeze set the tone of the series, although it was objectively the weakest of the three plot arcs. The strongest was the last, with a female detective being outed by Two-Face.
Overall, the entire book was solid, with flashes of greatness. I look forward to continuing this series -- I especially hope to see the GCPD take on the Joker. My only real complaint is that the series isn't available digitally on my Kindle.
February 4, 2022
Overall, a great story with barely any Batman in it. The only thing that keeps this from being more than three stars is the political message they beat you over the head with. It's a shame.
February 3, 2013
Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka draw focus from Batman to the men and women of the Gotham City Police Department in “Gotham Central”. In a city watched over by a Dark Knight filled with colourful villains running amok, how do ordinary police fare against such an outlandish backdrop?
As a huge Batman fan, I think it’s an interesting idea to see the goings on in Batman stories from the perspective of the characters who’re always in the background, looking on as a guy dressed as a bat does their job for them. Having read this first volume though, I’m less convinced of the GCPD’s abilities or the appeal of the series.
The first story features Mr Freeze who’s doing his usual thing (ie. freezing stuff). The difference is we see the GCPD attempt to apprehend him rather than Batman - and they fail. Freeze’s tech kills one of the characters and the detective’s death affects the department as we see his surviving partner deal with the psychological trauma, guilt etc. and then search out the clues and figure out Freeze’s plan. Which is kind of interesting if you enjoy police procedurals - but I don’t. Also, the GCPD completely fail to take Freeze down. Batman shows up at the end and apprehends him, leaving him for the cops. Great, so they’re pretty incompetent.
The second story is again mostly procedural as the detectives set out to solve a homicide, a topic that’s fairly commonplace for crime stories. This one involves Firebug, one of Batman’s D-list Rogues, but only briefly after many pages of detectives doing the usual police work of gathering evidence, speaking to witnesses, etc. On the plus side, the GCPD do manage to take down Firebug on their own even if he is without his equipment.
The third and final story features Renee Montoya (the only recognisable cop on the GCPD as Gordon’s retired and Bullock’s been fired for corruption) as she becomes framed for the homicide of a disgraced colleague. Again, kind of your run of the mill police story with a lot of character work for Renee, if you like her character, but once again Batman, standing in the wings like in the Freeze story, swoops in to save the day at the end. Good job, GCPD!
The biggest problem, besides the seeming uselessness of the GCPD to capture the villains themselves, is the cast. None of the characters are particularly interesting. They’re the kind of usual cop characters you’d expect to see if you’ve seen cop shows like “The Wire” or “CSI” or “Law and Order”. The blandness of the characters isn’t helped by Michael Lark’s artwork who draws all of the male characters in a similar way. They’re all in their 30s-40s, white, average build, short hair, and wear shirts, jackets and slacks, some with ties, some not. They all look alike and their expressions are pretty much neutral whatever the situation - Lark can’t convey much emotion with his characters so they have the same look whether they’ve lost a colleague or are drinking a cup of coffee. The lack of visual variety adds confusion to the story as there are at least a dozen of these guys wandering around and it’s hard to keep track of who they are and what their stories are.
That said, these are fairly well written stories and they held my attention. It’s just the effect, once I put the book down, was very underwhelming though, despite some problems with the stories, I can see why people like them. They’re as realistic as you can get for a cop series set in Gotham. But the problem is when you set a story in Gotham, I don’t want realism. I want to read about Batman, not the boring cops who sit around whining about how Batman’s undermining their public rep. So every time Batman showed up in the series (about once or twice per story), I kept wondering where he was going and wanting the story to follow him instead of sticking with Cop#1 and Cop#2 as they struggle to keep up.
While “Gotham Central” is a decent cop series, I’m just not into police procedurals so wasn’t as impressed with the book as a lot others have been. I’m glad I saw Gotham City from another angle but I don’t think I’ll be returning for Book 2.
As a huge Batman fan, I think it’s an interesting idea to see the goings on in Batman stories from the perspective of the characters who’re always in the background, looking on as a guy dressed as a bat does their job for them. Having read this first volume though, I’m less convinced of the GCPD’s abilities or the appeal of the series.
The first story features Mr Freeze who’s doing his usual thing (ie. freezing stuff). The difference is we see the GCPD attempt to apprehend him rather than Batman - and they fail. Freeze’s tech kills one of the characters and the detective’s death affects the department as we see his surviving partner deal with the psychological trauma, guilt etc. and then search out the clues and figure out Freeze’s plan. Which is kind of interesting if you enjoy police procedurals - but I don’t. Also, the GCPD completely fail to take Freeze down. Batman shows up at the end and apprehends him, leaving him for the cops. Great, so they’re pretty incompetent.
The second story is again mostly procedural as the detectives set out to solve a homicide, a topic that’s fairly commonplace for crime stories. This one involves Firebug, one of Batman’s D-list Rogues, but only briefly after many pages of detectives doing the usual police work of gathering evidence, speaking to witnesses, etc. On the plus side, the GCPD do manage to take down Firebug on their own even if he is without his equipment.
The third and final story features Renee Montoya (the only recognisable cop on the GCPD as Gordon’s retired and Bullock’s been fired for corruption) as she becomes framed for the homicide of a disgraced colleague. Again, kind of your run of the mill police story with a lot of character work for Renee, if you like her character, but once again Batman, standing in the wings like in the Freeze story, swoops in to save the day at the end. Good job, GCPD!
The biggest problem, besides the seeming uselessness of the GCPD to capture the villains themselves, is the cast. None of the characters are particularly interesting. They’re the kind of usual cop characters you’d expect to see if you’ve seen cop shows like “The Wire” or “CSI” or “Law and Order”. The blandness of the characters isn’t helped by Michael Lark’s artwork who draws all of the male characters in a similar way. They’re all in their 30s-40s, white, average build, short hair, and wear shirts, jackets and slacks, some with ties, some not. They all look alike and their expressions are pretty much neutral whatever the situation - Lark can’t convey much emotion with his characters so they have the same look whether they’ve lost a colleague or are drinking a cup of coffee. The lack of visual variety adds confusion to the story as there are at least a dozen of these guys wandering around and it’s hard to keep track of who they are and what their stories are.
That said, these are fairly well written stories and they held my attention. It’s just the effect, once I put the book down, was very underwhelming though, despite some problems with the stories, I can see why people like them. They’re as realistic as you can get for a cop series set in Gotham. But the problem is when you set a story in Gotham, I don’t want realism. I want to read about Batman, not the boring cops who sit around whining about how Batman’s undermining their public rep. So every time Batman showed up in the series (about once or twice per story), I kept wondering where he was going and wanting the story to follow him instead of sticking with Cop#1 and Cop#2 as they struggle to keep up.
While “Gotham Central” is a decent cop series, I’m just not into police procedurals so wasn’t as impressed with the book as a lot others have been. I’m glad I saw Gotham City from another angle but I don’t think I’ll be returning for Book 2.
February 26, 2022
The book starts strong with the whole Police trying to survive in the city Batman and all the heroes can not tame. There are some strong stereotypical police stories where even the "good" cops beat up perps for reasons.
But then we get to the next major arc and maybe having an old white man writing a story centered on the unjust persecution of a Lesbian is not the best idea. It is a horrible idea. It is terribly written story, it is horribly sexist, it is horribly homophobic. All her co-workers are out to get her because she is gay so no help from them. It looks like only a straight "MAN" can save the Lesbian from evil. Considering the positive reputation this book has I expected better.
But then we get to the next major arc and maybe having an old white man writing a story centered on the unjust persecution of a Lesbian is not the best idea. It is a horrible idea. It is terribly written story, it is horribly sexist, it is horribly homophobic. All her co-workers are out to get her because she is gay so no help from them. It looks like only a straight "MAN" can save the Lesbian from evil. Considering the positive reputation this book has I expected better.
March 9, 2015
Also reviewed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfbR1...
A fun read! So if you watch Gotham, than this is 10x better! This knows what it wants to be: a cop comic with one or two cameos from Batman and some of his villains! This book has three case stories: one with Mr. Freeze, one with Firefly and a standard homicide you would see on any cop show! What surprised me is how they were all connected in the end! This is a great read for any cop show fan, you don't have to be into batman to like this!
A fun read! So if you watch Gotham, than this is 10x better! This knows what it wants to be: a cop comic with one or two cameos from Batman and some of his villains! This book has three case stories: one with Mr. Freeze, one with Firefly and a standard homicide you would see on any cop show! What surprised me is how they were all connected in the end! This is a great read for any cop show fan, you don't have to be into batman to like this!
May 27, 2016
El tomo me parecía entretenido hasta que llegué a la última historia, la de Renee Montoya y su salida del armario, que le ha sumado puntos al tomo y ha hecho que me deje con ganas de seguir leyendo más acerca de la vida diaria de los policías de Gotham. Recomendado si queréis alejaros un poco de Batman y descubrir aquello a lo que se enfrentan cada día los agentes de la central de Gotham cuando el murciélago se esconde de la luz del sol.
February 23, 2019
Collects the first 10 issues of the series with two excellent arcs. This is McBain-style police procedural with all the banter, obsessive detective work and intense partnerships you would expect in a precinct where the cops are keen to close a case before Batman swoops in and closed it for them. Renee Montoya makes an excellent lead and I know things take a spooky turn for her partner Crispus Allen, but I really want to get the rest of these as soon as possible.
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