Books: Gotham Central

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Gotham Central
Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty
Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka
Art by Michael Lark
2011



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
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Gotham Central
Vol. 2: Jokers and Madmen
Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka
Art by Michael Lark
2011



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
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Gotham Central 
Vol. 3: On The Freak Beat
Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka
Art by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano
2011



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
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Gotham Central 
Vol. 4: Corrigan
Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka
Art by Kano and Stefano Gaudiano
2012



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
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I'd say that everyone everywhere as at one point or another (even if it was only for a second at the back of their mind) entertained the idea that Batman was real.

Don't lie.

I mean - come on: wouldn't it be awesome? Some crazy dark mystery man stalking the city streets ("Batman? Nah - it's just an urban legend man - read what it says on snoops..."): avenging evil, scaring the bad guys and protecting the innocent and all that stuff? It would be great. Taking it apart: I guess that part of the reason is that it's a comforting idea: a guardian angel only without the flowery white robes and heavenly countenance: but coming instead from the shadows, dressed up in black, mean and vicious and completely unstoppable [1]. And also: I guess that there's a part of us that just gets off on the power-trip. I mean - even if it's not us that's actually doing all the Batmaning (that's a word right?) - it's still somehow makes the world better to make-believe that there could be someone out there who stood up against all the stuff that most of us end up passively accepting: because there's so much crud and bad things going on in the world that most of the time the only thing you can do is just to ignore it and just keep trundling on - but damn - what if there was someone out there who was big enough and brave enough and bold enough to make a stand and say: "no." [2]

Of course: the only problem is that well - (brace yourself) the idea of Batman is (yes) inherently ridiculous [3]. You want proof? Well - howabouts it's always the bits of the Christopher Nolan films when they start to focus on the idea of Batman himself (and his stupid growly voice) that the suspension of disbelief gets a little - well - suspended.

But don't worry: Gotham Central is here to save the day.

First published between 2003 and 2006 (and there are collected editions that came out around that time but it's been so popular that they've rereleased them (those are the ones you can see up above [4]) - which I guess must be some small comfort to the everyone on the Gotham Central creative team seeing how notorious it was on it's original release for its outstanding reviews, dedicated fanbase and poor sales (according to wikipedia it was - like - 120th place (?! ) in the comic sales charts (and me - I didn't even know that there could be 120 comics that all came out at the same time)). But then - hey - I guess that adds even more zest (zest?) to the claim that: it's like The Wire - only with Batman in it [6] (you know: ignored while it's been released and then everyone saying "oh my god - best thing ever" when it's no longer around).

Writers Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker - who (come on) both know a thing or two about making how to cook a comic hard boiled [7] - Gotham Central is a tasty little police procedural series about the ordinary men and women working in the extraordinary city of Gotham (namely: The Major Crimes Unit of the GCPD). Pay attention: this is what life is like in the shadow of the Bat. A slow burning comic that uses the Dark Knight's impressive gallery of rogues (or "freaks" as they're called here) - and a (few of it's own inventions [8]) - to spin out several cases of violent crime, murder and intrigue. Nowhere near as flashy as you might expect - with realistic characters, understated artwork and dynamic plots: this is what happens when the superhero genre grows out from it's comfort zone and out into fresh, new, exciting territories.

Of course - for most of us - up until you're into Gotham Central the only people of the Gotham City Police that you'd be able to name  would be Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara [10] and Harvey Bullock (from the Batman: Animated Series - no? Wore a tench coat? Always acting like a wise-guy?). But the series kicks off at a point where none of these guys are to be seen [11] and so it's straight into the deep end with the distinctly unglamorous day-to-day life of a whole bunch of unknowns (all of which seem to be expendable so (and this is a good thing) it's pretty hard to tell who's going to live and who's going to die): it's not like it's Tom Cruise and his action cops! More like - people who most of the time are looking forward to nothing more than going home to bed and who are more used to dealing with junkie snitches, sorting out their over time and fighting amongst themselves than they are taking on laughing sociopath in pancake make-up (and I like how - even tho it's densely layered with real clues hidden amongst all the red herrings - it still makes time to make have people talking about everyday rubbish: "Besides you're never gonna get Americans to use a currency that isn't dollar green. Just won't happen" / "No, sarge.. I'd bet we have a woman President before we have another one with a beard.").

Of course I realise that maybe that makes it sound like it could be deathly boring (as if the whole series is nothing but people filling out paperwork - and the only tinge of the fantastic is that it says "Gotham" on the letterheads instead of "New York"): but the excitement comes from the way that the crazy and bizarre world of Batman interacts and cuts into typical police normality [12] (and oh: must say - I really liked the way that they make it into a spoken rule that the Batman only comes out to play after dark: "This isn't Metropolis Captain, and not just because our guy works at night."). If you read a Batman comic then you know (and expect) supervillain craziness to explode upon the scene at any given second - but with Gotham Central most of the time you'll find yourself hoping that all the characters that you'll come to know and love [13] won't have to bump uglies with the like of Mr Freeze, The Mad Hatter and the Joker. And then: as opposed to following the usual trails and showing us things that we've all already seen a million times before (Climbing clocktowers! Fighting on rooftops! Hanging off bridges!) it takes us to places that we haven't seen before - the bloody aftermath of crime scenes where people have been killed by science-fiction-level technology and the way turning on the Bat Signal [14] can make someone feel (yeah - I know that sounds kinda stupid - but read the books and we'll talk afterwards) instead of relying upon the bad guys leaving obvious clues (or you know - riddles [15]) there's a strong reliance upon - well - old-fashioned detective work - that (for me anyway) is endlessly thrilling in it's own special way (oh boy - can they crack the case in time? Get all the clues? And all that stuff).

Before I started writing this I thought that maybe I would just refresh myself by rereading Vol 3 - I got about 5 pages into it before I realised that actually it would be much more fun to start from the beginning because - well - yeah: although it might seem like you can just dip in from any point and work your way through (it's all just different cases right? So you can just start anywhere...) - one of the pleasures of going through from the beginning is seeing how there loads of small references to things ("Someone in evidence control lost the knife" / "Aw, no way! That's the first place you look?") that bubble up and reappear at a later point... (Kinda like the stuff that Alan Moore used to do with stuff like Halo Jones and things like that [16]) and watching the way that everyone's relationships build up (and collapse) over time - on the opening page of Vol 3 it has the little "Previously in Gotham Central" bit ("What started as mutual respect between the two has matured into a genuine friendship that has thus far survived every test Gotham has thrown at them") and I just thought to myself - hell: that sounds like much more to read rather than just read about - you know? With Gotham always chewing people up and spitting them back out (so you know: happy endings are in pretty short supply here) a lot of the fun comes from watching the way that the characters weather the storms and then - after the worst is over -seeing how (depending on who it is) things can pick up or (oh yeah - sorry) get even worse. So basically: if you're interested and you're thinking of joining the party- my advice would be to definitely start at the start - it's all just so much better that way.

And yeah - Michael Lark who's the main artist across pretty much the whole series (and I won't lie - I did tend to miss him when he wasn't there - altho Greg Scott does a fairly good impression in Vol 2 [17] and (ha) Stefano Gaudiano is so convincing that it wasn't until I got to Part Two of Keystone Kops that I realised they had switched artists... but maybe that's just me being slow on the uptake) is just the right person to bring the Rucka and Brubaker's grim world to life: he's not really comic-booky in any big way - and his dark shadows and simple non-fussy lines gives the whole a level of sober seriousness that means that there's no problem taking things seriously - and I like the way he draws people: it always looks like everyone is constantly frowning (it's just a shame that his Joker looks more like Cesar Romero than Heath Ledger - but then - hey - The Dark Knight didn't come out until 2008... so) [18].

For the last book - Vol 4 - it's all Kano (no - not the rapper - at least - I don't think so...) and (the previously mentioned) Stefano Gaudiano - who together (and I wish I knew how they split up their art chores) manage to create a strange kinda hybrid of Sean Phillips and Darwyn Cooke - which is especially effective for the final story Corrigan II - where all the wheels come off and the series comes spluttering to a halt (I just finished reading it and I can't really tell if I liked it or - I mean - technically - it's really impressive and does loads of cutting across scenes from panel to panel in a way that you don't normally see - and it very much left me shook up emotionally: but I dunno part of me feels that maybe it was a bit too overblown as a climax - I dunno...)

But - yeah - talking about the whole thing overall: it's nice how faithful it is to all the mainstream Batman comics - not only is there loads of insider fan references to all sorts of stuff like No Man's Land (but then I guess that may be because Greg Rucka was one of the writers who worked on it) - but they also pay respect to famous predecessors through the names of the streets ("Traffic backed-up on the Kane all the way to 203rd" / "No the one on Finger, not Cuttler." [19]). Although in Sunday Bloody Sunday they get drawn into some Infinite Crisis stuff - which - for me at least - cracked the veneer of realism that had been so carefully built up over the past three books (Captain Marvel will do that to you I guess...): but that's the only real serious misstep (and I'm guessing that maybe the writers didn't have that much choice in the matter - seeing how it's one of those company wide crossovers that every book has to take part in).

Still: snuggly fitting between the two taste extremes of people who like their superheroes and people who like their serious comics - I mean - judging from the response that these books have got from the good folks at the Islington Comic Forum (one reader - who normally only really likes Mark Millar comics - returned Gotham Central by dropping them loudly on the table and announcing to everyone: "Best. Comic. Ever.").  And if that isn't enough to make you want to read it - then I'm not really sure what will.

Also: because Batman is always kept at a distant remove (hiding in the shadows, wearing disguises ("You going to turn on that damn light...?")): it's the most realistic Gotham City reading experience out there. `And once you're between it's covers - you will believe in a man dressed as a bat.

And what more could anyone possibly want from anything - right? 

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[1] From the Justice League TV series: Doctor Destiny: "You know, I could let you go. You're a distraction now. And as the others who have the real problems. We're like insects to them. They step on us, ruin our lives. And they don't even realise it. But you're different. You don't have any special powers." Batman: "Oh, I have one, Johnny: I never give up."

[2] Good example - My literary flatmate forwarded this to me: OH MY GOD. I JUST WITNESSED THE SINGLE GREATEST MOMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY. "On a bus, heading home from the city I am greeted by an incredibly nice Russian-sounding bus driver with a smile on his face. About 4 stops later (in the valley, of course) a bogan hops on with his skanky (I assume) girlfriend. (May have been sister. May have been both.) Naturally, he does not have the money for a bus, so of course The Bogan (Henceforth referred to as Shit-Skull) blames the bus driver. Using all manner of racial slurs, loud profanities and general offensive douchbagery, Shit-Skull proceeds to be a asshole and make the entire bus shuffle uncomfortably in their seats. All except one man. Ah, this man. I wish I could BE this man, this average looking hero that stepped up to defend the poor bus driver.“Look mate, he’s just doing his job. How’s about you calm down and leave the driver alone. It’s not his fault you can’t pay.” The logic of the situation made a slight whistling noise as it passed over Shit-Skull’s head. We could see the Tonka Truck gears clunk and grind in this mans underdeveloped cranium. Calm…down? It must be a challenge!“Are you try’na start me c**t? You wanna go me you f**king c**t? You wanna f**ing go me?” Ah, truly the words of a poet. But not even Oscar Wilde himself could have predict the Batman-esque reaction of: “Yeah, actually. Let’s do this. Off the bus.” You could hear a penny drop as the 256mb brain inside Shit-Skull’s shitty little skull ticked over. Finally, the judging eyes of the bus coupled with the high-pitched, slurring voice of his sister-daughter telling him to “take him” and (quoting directly) “don’t take none that shit babe” convince them both to step off the bus ready to fight.Calmer than a monk on morphine, our hero turns to the bus driver, simply says “shut the door mate”,  AND WALKS BACK TO HIS MOTHERFUCKING SEAT. The bus driver shut the door, drove away, and the entire bus ERUPTED. We were clapping, we were cheering, I gave Shit-Skull the finger out the window and I’m pretty sure people hugged. Tl;dr: Thank you stranger, for making humans okay in my book."

[3]  As the always wonderful xkcd has so helpfully reminded us: it's a man dressed a bat.

[4] If you're trying to match up the different collected editions with each other then (here you go): Vol 1 In The Line of Duty = In The Line of Duty, Motive and Half a Life; Vol 2 Jokers and Madmen = Daydreams and Believers, Soft Targets, Life is Full of Disappointments and Unresolved; Vol 3 On The Freak Beat = Corrigan, Lights Out, On The Freak Beat, Keystone Kops [5] and Vol 4 Corrigan = Nature, Dead Robin, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Corrigan II.

[5] Fun fact: The Keystone Cops were fictional incompetent policemen, featured in silent film comedies in the early 20th century. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917.

[6] Brief tangent: I was going to start off this little post by confessing that I'm not really much of a Wire fan (before I decided that the whole "what if Batman was real"? was a much stronger way to go). Obviously I realise that in polite company saying that you don't much care for The Wire is like saying that you think that Hitler had some good ideas or that you've always felt that Simon Cowell is a very attractive-looking man but whatever I'm just gonna go for it: for something that's been held up as a shining example of how to make an intelligent cop show that doesn't treat the audience like they're children - it sure does get pretty cartoony at times. Brother Mouzone being the best example of this - I mean: he's played like a Batman villain and completely undercuts the realism of the rest of the characters (he's like a refuge from a Coen Brothers film: a character that maybe got cut out after the first draft and managed to escape to David Simon's house or something). And Omar Little - as fun as things can get when he shows up on screen - is actually only a few steps from just being Batman. I mean: give him a mask and a cape and he is the Dark Knight (not that I'm the first person to think this).

[7] Greg Rucka with the James Bond but played for real (and also way more depressing): Queen & Country (it's like Spooks but for grown-ups): plus the total amazing Batwoman: Elegy (that you should just go ahead and read already) and Ed Brubaker with - well - where do you wanna start? Sleeper, Incognito and Criminal: are all sorts of excellent. Sleeper and Incognito mixing up superheroes with gritty crime noir thrills and Criminal just serving it up straight.

[8] Actually - reading back through this books a second time (after having read Batman: Knightfall) - I know realise that Firefly (oops - sorry Firebug [9]) is actually part of the Batman canon rather than a Rucka and Brubaker invention - oh well (can you blame me tho? It does seem like a bit of a one-note idea: I mean - Firebug? Really? That seems like something that would have taken all of like 5 seconds to come up with... (and it's almost worst that there are two Batman villains with the same gimmick - what's next? The Evil Clown? Umbrella Bird Man? Double Face?). Also - that Black Spider guy in Vol 3? Turns out he's also got previous.

[9] I had started to write this up before I had actually reread the books and (after doing a quick google to double-check that I had the name right: "batman villain firefly") and so then when the book got around to Firebug I just sorta assumed that the writers were making a snide joke about how in the insular world of the Batman comics everyone calls him Firefly - but to everyone else - he's Firebug (no? Not that funny? Ok then - whatever): but then someone does make a crack about it later in the comic - so what the hey...

[10] You know - the fat-faced Irish guy from the Adam West Batman TV series.

[11] When Gotham Central came out both James Gordon and Harvey Bullock were off the force (which kinda adds to the feeling of realism: seeing how both of them are pretty pervasive elsewhere in the movies and cartoons and other comics and stuff - so it's nice that the series gets a chance to find it's feet without them - plus they've both been going for so long - it makes sense that they would be retired) but - DC comics being what they are - (according to wikipedia anyway - home of all my comics news) both have since been reinstated into GCPD (Yay!).

[12] Plus - there's a burst of action towards the end of Vol 1 that's a just little like that Armoured Car Robbery scene in Michael Mann's Heat (or - hell - may as well say it: The Dark Knight film too).

[13] It's a series that doesn't exactly play coy about getting you mixed up with the personal lives of the detectives - which just makes it all better. So it doesn't just feel like cardboard cut-out stand-ins investing Bat-crimes (CSI: Gotham?) - more like messy humans with messy lives that spill out in their professional lives in all sorts of unexpected ways...

[14] "The G.C.P.D. can’t officially touch the Bat-Signal, or in any way acknowledge the existence of Batman."

[15] This article from the Hurting: "Seeing that Batman is - or at least was once - the "World's Greatest Detective," it makes sense that he would have an arch-nemesis devoted exclusively to the creation of mysteries. Nowadays, the most detecting Batman ever does is call in a question for Oracle or one of his other assistants. It doesn't help that few Batman writers seem able to write a genuine mystery to save their lives. But how about a Batman villain who isn't a psycho, who isn't necessarily even a violent criminal - just, say, a man with a mania - some might even say an obsession - for making things fit, for putting together all the pieces to puzzles that other people don't even perceive. And of course, when he figures things out, he isn't content just to enjoy his own private knowledge, he has to share - or at least, he has to leave the clues there for anyone with the brains necessary to follow his formidable train of thought. Batman has psychotic killers, megalomaniacal world-beaters, tragic monsters and even alien despots in his rogues' gallery, but the one thing he doesn't really have is a purely cerebral foe, someone who can match the Detective wit-for-wit, someone whose most basic metier is designing the perfect crimes. The Riddler has been a joke for over twenty years, but he doesn't have to be. What Batman needs is his very own Professor Moriarty. Thankfully, he already has one, sitting in the corner and slightly dusty from disuse, but a very sturdy concept nonetheless."

[16] There's a point in Vol 2 where Jim Gordon makes a brief cameo and drops this little nugget of wisdom: ""What you'll realize over time is that a lot of criminals aren't really all that bad at heart... They just don't think through all the ramifications of their actions. They want something, or they're on drugs, so they do things without ever thinking about the damage they're going to cause... In a way, people like that bother me more than the true freaks. There's just - there's no excuse for that kind of mindless ignorance when you live in a society." And I guess what makes Gotham Central such a treasure is the way that Rucka and Brubaker think through the ramifications of everyone's actions and the way that one bad decision all the way over there can end up affecting a whole bunch of other people all the way over here.

[17] And I do like how he draws Vincent Del Arrazio so that he looks like Joe Pantoliano (better known as Ralphie Cifaretto‎ from The Sopranos).

[18] And at the big conclusion of the Half a Life storyline - it really adds a lot to the atmosphere the way he bends the lines of the panels so that they end up looking like fun house mirrors...

[19] Although - hell - maybe they do that in all the Batman comics - I dunno. (In fact - now that I think of it - I'm pretty sure that Frank Miller did the same kind of thing in The Dark Knight Returns - so huh - whatever I guess...).

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Links: Comics Alliance Article: Gotham Central: The DCU Police Drama Everyone Should Have Read.

Further reading: Powers, Top Ten, Marvels, Batwoman: Elegy, Incognito, Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, Queen & Country, Hitman, Batman: Knightfall, Sleeper, Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles / A Study in Scarlet / The Sign of the Four / The Valley of Fear, The Punisher: The Punisher MAX.

Profiles: Ed Brubaker.

All comments welcome.