Geekshow

Review: Gotham Central Book One – In The Line Of Duty (DC Comics)

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

True Believers – Book of the Month – October 2008

GOTHAM CENTRAL BOOK ONE – IN THE LINE OF DUTY

Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka

Artwork by Michael Lark

Published by DC Comics

A Review by Scott Carelli

I’ve been an avid comic reader for quite a while. Not as long as others, mind you, but long enough that I’ve had the chance to read a lot of the usual suspects on the thousands of “must read” lists, and I consider myself to be pretty well-versed. Before I started reading, I loved comic book movies and always looked forward to them coming out even if I gathered most of my knowledge from their respective animated series. Before the superhero movie renaissance, I had the toys, I watched the cartoons, and I regularly ran around my house with a towel attached to my back. I’ve always been a comic fan, even before I really knew what that meant, and there’s always been one question that I’ve thought about time and time again:

What would it be like to live in Gotham City?

Now, maybe it wasn’t always Gotham specifically, but just the idea of living in a city that larger than life heroes protect and call home. Whether it’s Metropolis, home of the big blue Boy Scout, or the Marvel U’s New York City, what would life be like in a city where superheroes and villains run amuck. I mean, sure, you get a good idea of what life is like for the heroes, but what about that guy on the street who’s pointing from the street shouting “Look! Up in the sky!” or the millions of people just like him? How do you go about your everyday life knowing that at any time you could be taken hostage by a supervillain? This is something I’ve always wondered, and finally, I have my answer in the form of Gotham Central.

Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, Gotham Central follows the lives of Gotham City’s Finest (and not so finest) as they work in a city overrun with the most colorful and violent criminals in the world and where a vigilante wages a one-man war against crime dressed as a bat. The idea of being a cop in a city like Gotham has always been an interesting one to me, where a routine murder investigation can end with a surprise run in with The Joker. It’s just so fascinating. How do these seemingly average people deal with such extraordinary circumstances?

While no one in this book has superpowers, I’d be lying if I said it was filled with “Joe Schmo Nobodies” as the characters in this series are anything but average. To be a cop in a city like Gotham, thought, wouldn’t you have to be a little exceptional? This is a story about the men and women who put their lives on the line every single day in one of the most dangerous cities in the country, but they never get any credit. Why would they when Batman is so much more interesting? The stark reality is that, to be a cop in Gotham, you have to believe in what you’re doing enough that you never need any acknowledgement or praise, and that is remarkable.

The characters in this book are very well-rounded, and only get stronger as the series goes on. This first volume collects the first three story arcs with each writer concentrating on a particular shift at Gotham City Police Department. Brubaker focuses on second shifter Marcus Driver dealing with the murder of his partner at the hands of Mister Freeze, right before his eyes. He becomes driven to bring Freeze to justice, and investigate the unsolved case of his dead partner, without the help of the Dark Knight.

The real gem here, though, is “Half a Life” by Greg Rucka. This five issue story is about Detective Renee Montoya being “outed” as a lesbian to her coworkers and family while at the same time being framed for murder. Not only is “Half a Life” one of the best examples of comic storytelling I’ve come across in a long time, but the character of Renee Montoya, as written here, is one of the strongest and realistic portrayals of a gay character I’ve ever come across in any medium. She struggles with her desire to be happy and free to be the person she truly is, and her fear of being disowned when her devout Catholic family learns the truth. It’s a heart wrenching journey that I couldn’t put down, and I’m not the only one. It won a number of awards, including an Eisner in 2004 for Best Serialized Story.

I think my favorite part of this series is it’s depiction of Gotham City’s villains. Batman’s rogues’ gallery never really seemed that scary most of the time, but it wasn’t until I read this that I realized why. They can’t be so long as Batman’s around. It’s understood that he’ll always save you, and so no matter what, if Batman’s in the room, his villains are never at full strength. You never get to see them through the eyes of their victims, but within the first six pages of Gotham Central, that all changes. I’ve never been more terrified of a man with a freeze gun before reading this book. This series does a phenomenal job at opening your eyes to the fact that you would never want to come across these guys in a dark alley. No matter how ridiculous they might look, Gotham’s rogues are scary. While I’ve gushed about the writing, I think that a lot of the credit for this has to go to the artwork.

Artist Michael Lark is the cog that makes the whole series work. He has a knack for giving life to even the most ludicrous of villains and giving grit and realism to a city that so justly deserves it. Gotham is dirty and corrupt and you can see it smeared across every page. Some would say that his pencils have improved since his work on Gotham Central, but there’s a magic to this series that hasn’t been matched since. These three have reunited recently in the pages of Daredevil, and while it’s good, it just doesn’t compare.

So if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live in Gotham, look no further. Gotham Central allows you to visit a city that you never thought you could.

Welcome to Gotham City. Enjoy the trip.