INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIESThere are many graphic novels about superheroes and their world and how important it is for them to save the regular mortals but rarely do we get a perspective of the mortals unless they're family or lovers. In this series we focus almost exclusively upon the detectives (morning and night shifts) of Gotham who sometimes resent “The Bat” for solving their cases. It's a fresh and interesting approach with Batman showing up less than 5% of all the tales.BOOK ONEStory focus...

This Eisner and Harvey Award-winning collection is truly impressive and demonstrates once again why Ed Brubaker is among the elite writers scribing comics today. Add to that a smart, well structured story by Greg Rucka and art that compliments the dark and dank emotional vibe of the plot and the result is a must read for fans of graphic novels and/or crime fiction. The premise of the series is a street-level, "on the beat" look at the rampant criminal activity of Gotham City through the eyes

I would give this an extra star if I could. The writing is great, the characterization is great, and above all the art is fantastic and this is so much fun to read. Great noir driven detective fiction

This book provides a street level view of life in Gotham City from the point of view of police detectives. Batman very rarely appears, and when he does, he comes across as mysterious and a bit menacing. The detectives have a lot of personality, and it's interesting to see how they deal with super villains without powers (not very well at times). The writing is sharp, and the art style really suits the type of stories being told. I'm looking forward to reading more volumes of this.

For years I was told I had to check out Gotham Central. Especially as a huge fan of shows like The Wire, The Shield, Law and Order and so on. SO I decided to finally dive into my 4 part collection and...For the most part I really enjoyed it. This is cop procedural 100%. If you like that, it is what they give you. I feel the weakest story is actually the first. Which involves two cops stumbling into an apartment with Mr. Freeze and facing the consequences. It is nice to see how villains Batman us...

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.Where there can be crime, there can also be law and justice. The relentless battle to establish an unobtrusive balance between both is an age-old conflict that has yet to be seen in many societies, often raising questions on the nature of the synergy. For Gotham City, crime, corruption, and power have never been properly managed by the elites. It has led its people to live in an environment prone to danger and to pursue a life filled with fear a...

Being a cop isn’t easy, but the men and women of the Gotham City Police Department have it tougher than most. This is a town where the most routine call can leave an officer facing a crazy cold blooded scientist with his own freeze ray, or they may be targeted by a murderous former district attorney desperately in need of some plastic surgery. You know things are out of control when the cop’s best weapon is a psychologically scarred vigilante who dresses like a bat.It seemed like an interesting

Wow! I can't believe it took me so long to get around to checking out this title. “Eisner and Harvey Award-Winning Series,” indeed.Gotham Central focuses on the Gotham City Police Department. What's it like to go after colorful villains like Mr. Freeze and Two-Face? How does it feel to see Batman doing your job for you? Just what is the procedure for turning on the Bat signal anyway? Brubaker and Rucka take a police procedural approach to things. These cops are real people with hopes and dreams

Line od duty: 3.5 starsMotive: 4 starsHalf a life: 5 starsGotham police department, those poor guys who usually serve as canon fodder for Gotham's many crazies or play role od victims waiting to be rescued by batman, finally got the spotlight and chance to prove they are not always incompetent schmucks waiting for bats to do all the work.Premise sounds interesting and with writing duo of Ed Brubaker, who's Criminal is one of my favorite graphic novels, and Greg Ruck, who's Lazarus also has place...

Gotham Central Book 1 In the Line of Duty collects issues 1-10 of the DC Comics series written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka with art by Michael Lark. This series focuses on the detectives in Gotham City's Major Crime Unit as they try to solve cases without Batman's help. Storylines in this volume revolve around Mr. Freeze killing a detective in a failed bust, investigating the murder of a young teen by Firebug, and the classic story of Renee Montoya being framed for murder after she was publicl...

Pre-review:Lawrence Block, famed novelist, a New Yorker through and through and my idol, wrote an introduction for this comic!!!! So, of course, I am in!Aside from the dark and gritty Batman, we now have the overworked and gritty G.C.P.D cops!!!!!! and I'm loving it! The whole thing reads like a well-written crime noir and I really enjoy reading about how the G.C.P.D cops working on the ground level and solving their cases one footstep at a time.By the way, the story about Renee Montoya, her gir...

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka’s “Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty” is a collection of ten first issues of an award-winning comic book series “Gotham Central” with an introduction by Lawrence Block. “Gotham Central” offers a closer look at professional as well as personal lives of police officers from the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), who deal with vicious big-city criminals and homicidal super villains, racing to solve the crimes before Batman takes over.“Gotha...

Detective Driver's partner is killed and the department wants to apprehend the killer before Batman gets called in. Only the killer is Mr. Freeze. An arsonist plagues the city and Driver and his new partner have to catch him and a missing girl is found dead. Detective Renee Montoya is outed and framed. All in all, a normal week at the GCPD.When enough of your friends give a book high praise, sooner or later you have to stop being a stubborn asshole and give it a try. In this case, Gotham Central...

There's very little reason this should work.Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka want you to sit down, pick this up and become captivated by the stories of the Gotham City Police Department. A force that has become all but neutered by the exploits of The Dark Knight. Honestly, who wants the cops to come save you when Batman is on the prowl?It had to be tough to try and write this without the reader asking the question, "Why not just flip the switch and let the bat-signal flood the sky?" The answer: this i...

A police procedural set in the Batman universe? Pretty much a perfect concept. In Gotham Central, The focus is squarely on the city's Police Department, with its inner dynamics and challenges as a result of operating in a world where its sense of self-value and pride is constantly being undermined (not with malicious intent, of course) by the existence of a vigilante with seemingly supernatural powers. That sort of thing does tend to cramp one's style quite a bit. Rucka and Brubaker both prove t...

"Whatever you do, remember . . . you're going to make a difference." - retired police commissioner Jim GordonMy 'GR friends' (and thanks, Diz, for inadvertently bringing this series to my attention late last year) have already written well-composed reviews for Gotham Central so anything I attempt would pale in comparison or just sound damn repetitive. So I'll just leave it at this -- take David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (or its TV counterpart) and throw it headfirst into th...

Such a great book! I loved everything about it. The concept is genius, the creative team is incredible, it's very well written, art looks great and fits the story perfectly. But the best thing about this series is how detailed and lovingly written the characters are: they feel alive and real. And Renee Montoya is probably the best character in the whole DCU, to be honest.5 stars, instant favourite. Easily one of the top 3 DC series I've read.

So let's get something out of the way first: I have a deep love for anything Batman and I think Brubaker is in the top 3 noir comics writers. Glad that's off my chest.This series has a great perspective, a cast of characters that tug at your senses and have some interesting tales to tell...and The Bats is only a peripheral spectre who, seemingly, has a foothold in the psyche of each GCPD officer on duty in one way or another.My take away boils down to this: be mindful of the extensive ripples ca...

A very raw and grounded portrayal of Gotham City which plays out more like a crime procedural than a Batman story. It touches on a lot of heavy themes such as racism and homophobia both inside and outside of the police force, as well as sprinkling in the much more universe specific effect Batman has on the Major Crimes Unit (M.C.U). A focus on members of the GCPD outside of Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock helps with further world building of a franchise that's already rich in characters and lore.

I guess I kind of expected this to be a kind of Garfield minus Garfield for Batman, but found it to be more like The Wire with Superheroes/villains. It was also reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress in that it was told from the point of view of the lower class (in this case the police officers instead of the superheroes/villains, in that case the peasants instead of the feudal lords).The Gotham City Police Department was weaved seamlessly into the mythos of the Gotham that readers