Gotham Central Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty
Writers: Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka
Artist: Michael Lark
Tough being a cop in Gotham City
Ranking: 2 stars
For the past month or so, the comic books I've read haven't been as intriguing as ones I've read in the past. I'm not saying that I hated them, but they didn't match the grandeur, and sensation of the ones that I viewed as great reads. It can be pretty disappointing when a book doesn't meet your expectations, and I was hoping to find a great story in the first of the GOTHAM CENTRAL graphic novels. I faced a similar scenario with Grant Morrison's ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, but I felt more disappointed with GOTHAM CENTRAL, as I had been looking forward to reading this for quite sometime. I can't say my review will be 100% valid, as I haven't finished the book yet, but I don't want to experience more dissatisfaction with a book I expected to be an astonishing read. In short, my review will only discuss the portions of the book I have read.
The Eisner (the Oscars of comics) and Harvey award winning series by Ed Brubaker (BATMAN: THE MAN WHO LAUGHS) and Greg Rucka (BATMAN: NO MAN'S LAND), Gotham Central is a unique series among the Batman comics. Instead of focusing on the dark knight, Batman is rarely seen in this book as it's a series solely about the cops of Gotham City. The GCPD was infamous for being a cesspool of corruption in the caped crusader's early crime fighting years (most famously portrayed in BATMAN: YEAR ONE), but in present times, the police department is more virtuous and noble. Although Jim Gordon is not commissioner in this series, the main cast of cops (Renee Montoya, Marcus Driver, Crispus Allen, Charlie Fields, Romy Chandler, Margret Sawyer) were interesting characters, but they weren't as interesting as I hoped. I'm not that familiar with the entire GCPD register (officers I knew beforehand were Gordon, Sarah Essen, and Harvey Bullock), so it felt like too many new characters were being introduced at a pace I couldn't handle. I found it to be distracting for the story, as I had a hard time following the cases the GCPD were trying to solve. As each cop discovered a new component of a case or began a conversation with someone, their dialogue begins midway, which I felt introduced unnecessary topics that were distracting from the overall story. In each story arc, multiple cases took place at once, which was off-putting as I easily forgot the clues from one case while I had to figure out those of another one. I know that the writers were trying to depict how work in the police force is in real life, which I appreciate, but I don't think the setting was appropriate for a comic book. I don't have extensive knowledge of the terms officers use in the force, so I couldn't understand what characters were referring to at certain points. Both Brubaker wrote the first story arc, IN THE LINE OF DUTY, and Rucka, which I felt held back the arc's potential. Excluding BATMAN KNIGHTFALL and THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN (two of my all-time favorites), I personally feel that comic books need a single writer per story, as multiple writers can easily ruin a story when they introduce themes that contradict the original purpose of the story. I hoped that the next two story arcs would be better, as their written solo, but they still didn't bring justice to the dissatisfaction I felt in the first story. Despite my criticisms, I feel that the stories in the book had the probability to be ones that were highly entertaining, but I feel that they were told through the wrong medium. GOTHAM CENTRAL would work better as a TV show on HBO (a good number of people mentioned the series would make a great TV adaptation), than a comic book in my opinion.
Reflecting off of the words of late film critic Roger Ebert, from his review of BATMAN RETURNS, I give the book a negative review, but I didn't think it was a bad comic. In my personal opinion, it was more of a misguided one. The book definitely had the potential to be an entertaining story, but it went in the wrong direction. Maybe not for all readers, but it did for me. I'm not discouraging customers from checking this book out, as it's a unique comic that takes place in Batman's universe, but isn't about Batman. The book certainly deserved the rewards it received, but even award winning books don't work for everyone. It's worth taking a look at, and other readers are likely to view it as a classic masterpiece, but it wasn't one for me. The book wasn't awful, but there just wasn't enough to keep me interested as I had hoped there would be, which was a disappointing turnout. I feel like a jerk for being the only person to give this volume of GOTHAM CENTRAL a negative review (due to its popularity), but it just wasn't for me. I guess I don't have what it takes to be part of the GCPD.
Since I didn't finish the book, from this point onward I have the right to remain silent.
