Gotham Central: The Quick and the Dead

"Gotham Central", volume 5, spans issues #33-40 and (sadly) ends the series with a pair of fine stories... A tepid mystery involving the murder of two Robin lookalikes serves as the backdrop for the real drama -- inside the squadroom -- and in particular the descent of Detective Renee Montoya into a spiral of ragefulness and violence. The second story arc focusses entirely on Montoya and her partner, Crispus Allen, and closes out on a bleak, abrupt note. Fans of the series will be sad to see it end, but pleased to pick up this final volume, which is still one heckuva nice read. Several "Gotham Central" characters appear in later DC stories, but the original books are pretty special. Recommended! (ReadThatAgain!)

Another fine entry in this compelling series set in the gritty underbelly of Batman's Gotham City. The plot increasingly focusses on Det. Rene Montoya, which is fine by me (although I'm waiting for her partner, Crispus Allen, to come out of the box a bit more...) Author Greg Rucka's debt to HBO-TV's "The Wire" is increasingly obvious, but that's mighty fine source material. In this volume, a booby trap set by one of the Flash's foes, Mr. Alchemy, sets Montoya and Allen on a trip to Keystone City, where Alchemy pulls a "Silence Of The Lambs" taunt-the-cops number... Although the story gets more wrapped up in super-doings than earlier story arcs, Montoya's eventual beat-down of the bad guy, though emotionally satisfying, sets the stage for her to begin questioning her own attraction to extreme violence. I predict an even stronger, richer storyline further down the road. Great entry in a very strong series, compulsively readable from start to finish.

This entire series is excellent! Rucka & Brubaker are NOT my favorite people for Superhero books but they do EXCEL at crime stories. Gotham Central is an excellent "reality" approach at one of comic-dom's most famous cities. Not everything in a town like Gotham is about Mr Freeze or the Joker but even when they are, Batman isn't the only one working on it. Love this series and highly recommend it to ANYONE who likes Law & Order, Batman and maybe even The Untouchables.

Life isn't easy for Gotham City's finest; living is the shadow of the Dark Knight, and dealing with villains large and small. While investigating a kidnapping, Detective Marcus Driver sees his partner murdered right in front of him by Mister Freeze, and he is determined that these crimes won't be solved by Batman, but will be handled by good old-fashioned police work. But, there's more to this case than meets the eye. Tough times have a way of turning common people into heroes, and Detective Driver will need to be a hero before all of this is over. I must say that I was quite pleasantly surprised by this graphic novel. Batman appears in the story, but he is a very minor character. Instead, this is the story of a group of regular police officers doing their duty, and fighting crime the way that they police must. The illustration work is done in a style that took me back to the Golden Age comics, giving the story something of a timelessness that I did not expect. Overall, I found this to be a fascinating graphic novel, one with an interesting twist in the selection of heroes. I loved this book, and highly recommend it to you.

With Batman lurking on the fringes, Gotham Central is a darker Hill Street Blues, focusing on the rough-edged men and women of the Gotham City Police Department Major Crimes Unit who resent Batman's presence while often coming face to face with members of his gallery of rogues. This collection of the first 5 issues of the series features a brutal appearance by Mister Freeze (nothing like the abomination played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the resolution of two seemingly unconnected cases without Batman's help.Michael Lark's gritty and atmospheric art are a perfect complement to Brubaker and Rucka's taut plots and precise characters, making Gotham Central one of the most compelling comics currently being published.