RAd’s Page Turners | Gotham Central

DC’s Gotham Central is one of the comics from the big two publishers (the other being Marvel Comics) that I’ve read and collected from the beginning up to the very end.

Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka with art primarily by Michael Lark, later succeeded by Stefano Gaudiano and Kano, this series ran for just 40 issues to critical acclaim.

Several factors led me to digging this series big time. One is the comics having the same gritty, ground level feel with my favorite drama series NYPD Blue. Another is finding the silver lining from my disappointment with the Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Bruce Wayne: Fugitive storyline several months before Gotham Central hit the shelves. This storyline had me stumbling upon Detective Comics’ backup feature Lost Voices by Judd Winnick and Cliff Chiang.

This backup feature follows Josie MacDonald, a Gotham City cop who uses her superpowers in a more realistic manner despite the presence of Batman. These reasons, along with my evolving tastes in comics, convinced me to check out further the lives of the Gotham City Police Department Major Crimes Unit detectives in Gotham Central.

And boy, I wasn’t disappointed. There was so much in it that got me hooked like the dynamics between the detectives, the police procedure, the very solid art, I could go on and on showering this series with praises. I loved how the department has a very complicated relationship with Batman and that each detective has a different view of him.

Each case that the department had to solve had me rooting for the detectives and I sensed their frustration when they had to call on Batman for help. Or worse, when they got caught in the middle between the Bat and whichever super-powered villain he was up against with. Speaking of villains, Gotham Central probably has the creepiest comic panel featuring the Joker that I’ve ever seen.

I have the singles issues and the five trade paperbacks that were first released. These trades, namely In the Line of Duty, Half a Life, Unresolved Targets, The Quick and the Dead, and Dead Robin that are now out of print, do not include all of the issues. The initial plan with the trades was to collect only those drawn by Michael Lark and subsequently by Stefano Gaudiano and Kano. Although Half a Life included material that further explored the dynamics between Renee Montoya and Two-Face that weren’t part of the Gotham Central series but it looks like that this was a Greg Rucka decision.

The entire run was eventually reprinted in four hardcovers namely In the Line of Duty, Jokers and Madmen, On the Freak Beat, and Corrigan which were then released in trade paperbacks. A few years ago an omnibus collecting all 40 issues in one hardcover was released. The omnibus and the latter soft covers remain in print.

I am tempted to get these latter four trades since nothing beats having all the issues in book form. And also, Unresolved Targets also had a printing error that I hope was already corrected in Jokers and Madmen. But I somehow remain hesitant since I already have the five earlier ones with the first volume actually signed by Greg Rucka. It boils down to me choosing between a set of books having the complete run versus having a signed volume.

Finally, even though it is very unlikely, I also want to see the Josie Mac backup features Lost Voices and Trading Up from Detective Comics collected just for the sole reason that it features art by Cliff Chiang. An Italian edition has been published and I think I will settle for that if DC never reprints these stories.