Gotham Central Book 1: In the Line of Duty

I loved this book. I'm a huge Batman fan, but had been warned not to expect too much of the Bat in this volume. Yet he was all over it. His shadow stalked almost every page, with the cops wondering about turning on the Bat signal, thinking about not turning it on, or what was the procedure for doing so anyway? Trying to keep the Bat away from the investigation, determined to clear it up themselves...I thought that this would be me, if I was one of those cops. Gotham's finest, going about their mundane daily investigative tasks, finding stray cats, writing car theft reports and more paperwork- while the Bat hoovered up anything heavy duty or bizarre that came along. Why wouldn't they resent him?I come from a family of cops, my Grandad, my uncles, my Dad- even my Mum worked as a cop before she met my Dad...so I know that the majority of police work is dull routine slogging. Cops often don't have time to dig into cases because they are overworked, underfunded, constrained by resource managers...that's even before you factor in the rare lazy or corrupt ones. Yet we have a fixation with the idea of detection in so many (excellent) comics and TV series. We've turned it into a genre, an art form- and I love that. I've bought into it, hook line and sinker. That's what made this title so attractive. You have these stock characters looking like like cops from central casting, cleverly drawn with a grubby, noir Kojak style, wisecracking and then getting all fussed because one of their number is outed as gay. I thought we were over all that, and could accept people for what they are, but apparently Rucka and Brubaker think not. But apart from that one hiccup, the whole thing works so well. I don't know, maybe I was reading it ironically, but I loved the book. I was even slightly disappointed when things got a bit "superhero" in the last story. I wanted the cops to solve this one without my beloved Bats, and for a while, it seemed like they just might. Montoya was in a hopeless situation, framed up in the best Frank Cannon style but eventually the Bats takes over and makes it all look so simple.I loved the interplay between the cops and the implied presence of Batman, which somehow made him seem all the more awesome and mysterious.I can't wait to read the next in the series. Incidentally, I know a couple of folks have dissed the artwork in this book, but for me, it was brilliant. A definite five out of five.

Well i wasn't sure about this novel but for me anything batman is a plus it's the start of a series and im only half way through it but so far very impressed a look at how the police want to do things without the aid of batman overall from what ive read so far very good and look forward to getting book 2

another in the set my daughter is asking for. book arrived safely and quickly and was as usual well packaged,

Great read

If you like James Gordon it's a mus buy😆

I got this on a recommendation. I have always found comics like Joker and some of the batgirl ones very interesting because they show you how everyone else sees Batman. This is quite obviously about the cops of Gotham and Batman is only in this for a few panels out of the entire volume. He is this omnipotent but nearly never present character, capable of solving any crime but out of reach either due to bureaucracy, pride or just a lack of evidence and the fear of what he would do if they wasted his time.With Batman most out of the picture then the comic takes a very different turn. This is like watching Law and Order in the worst city in the world. Why anyone would live in Gotham is utterly beyond me. In this comic you will see murder, thief, torture, kidnapping, blackmail... the list just goes on and the cops come across as real people (slightly caricatured maybe but never to breaking point). It looks at very serious issue about their integrity, their personal lives and the need to be fearless in a city where any door you break down could have the Joker behind it and we all know how that is going to end.I only gave it four stars because it lacks a certain je ne sais que in the quality of the writing. It is never a deal breaking and I'm being petty but my bookcase has the Long Halloween, Hush and The Red Hood so you notice it.

I am very happy with this purchase. It was a gift and I may buy another for myself. And it arrived earlier than expected too.