colophonphile 's review for:

Gotham Central, Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty by Ed Brubaker

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Been planning to read this series straight through, starting with the couple of volumes I already had read. I am, just to cut to the chase, sad this series didn't catch on. To me, it is one of the best Batman series, if not the best Batman series, since Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. It is Gotham as seen from the point of view of cops, and not just cops, but very much the sort of cops we recognize from TV serials. And that's a compliment. This is as engaging as the best cop dramas -- from NYPD Blue to The Shield -- and the way it employs Batman is truer to the character than most contemporary renderings. Most Batman comics make much of how remote a figure Batman is, yet keep him front and center -- they try to have it both ways, and fail at both. Gotham Central treats him as a truly unusual presence. Issues go by during which he isn't even seen, and the cops, embarrassed that they depend on him to solve the tough cases, do their best not to mention him. Brubaker and Rucka are very different writers, yet they seem so sold, themselves, on the series' unique conceit that their tales really do meld together, much as TV series like Lost and The Wire have managed to have known writers on board who, despite their seasoned voices, put ego aside and serve the overarching story.