Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty [Hardcover]

Ed Brubaker (Author), Greg Rucka (Author), Michael Lark (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 16, 2008

The first ten issues of the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series is collected in hardcover for the first time! Written by Ed Brubaker (Captain America) and Greg Rucka (Detective Comics, 52), this series pitted the detectives of Gotham City's Special Crimes Unit against the city's greatest villains – in the shadow of Batman himself.
This volume collects two cases of the Gotham Special Crimes Unit. In the first, a cop is killed by Mister Freeze, and the squad is in a race against time to bring him in without the help of the Dark Knight. In the second story–the acclaimed, award-winning “Half a Life”–Detective Renee Montoya is outed as a lesbian and finds her work environment and personal life turned upside down. Things only become more complicated when she’s kidnapped by Two-Face. This debut volume features an introduction by acclaimed mystery author Lawrence Block.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics; First Edition edition (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401219233
• ISBN-13: 978-1401219239
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.6 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gotham Central - Read This Now! August 18, 2010

By Matthew L. Brown

Format:Hardcover

Length: 2:21 Mins

I love just about every single thing about this book. It's written by two of my all-time favorite writers, Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker. It's drawn fantastically by Michael Lark. It's a police procedural. It's set in Gotham City. When factors like these combine to create a comic as incredible as this, it's as if the stars in the heavens above have aligned. Seriously though, Gotham Central is the most unique take on life in Gotham City that I've ever seen, and you'd be remiss in not checking it out.

So we hear you're looking for something to read. That's great because we've got a ton of recommendations on what comics you should be checking out. Every week we'll pick out one gem from the longboxes or trade shelves that you absolutely cannot miss. We're talking mainstream, indie, full storylines, single issues, and beyond. If there's a comic we enjoy that we think you will too, you'll hear all about it on Read This Now!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Police Drama in the World of Costumed Vigilantes October 28, 2008

By David Suiter

Format:Hardcover

Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker team up to write a stellar police drama set in Batman's home, Gotham City. Michael Lark provides the outstanding art work for this crime drama.

There are three stories contained in this great collection. The first has the writers co-writing a plot introducing us to the night and day shifts of GCPD and the Major Crimes Unit as they take on Mr. Freeze.

Brubaker then tackles the mystery of a kidnapping and murder. With plenty of plots and twists to keep an mystery fan jumping for more.

Rucka takes a more personal look at one of Gotham's Finest, Renee Montoya, as she deals with personal issues and the revenge of a twisted perp she arrested who was released on a technicality.

One of the strongest highlights was seeing how these police officers deal with a city that is protected by the Batman. The spectre of the Batman looms over each story but Batman only makes brief appearances. Brilliant handling by the writers to ground a real world story in the world of costumed vigilantes.

I can't wait for the next volume.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This would make a great TV show on HBO November 3, 2008

By Matt Tomerlin

Format:Hardcover

A great read for adult Batman fans. There's not much of the Bat, but I found that refreshing. It focuses on the cops, and their resentment toward Batman for solving the crimes they cannot. I really started empathizing with each of the characters. The art is also very nice, and evokes a Year One quality. Highly recommended. I'd love to see this made into a TV show on HBO.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Edition April 2, 2009

By SB

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

For all those that have read and enjoyed these issues in single-issue or TPB format, this book is totally beautiful and well worth upgrading to. The color is the major improvement here, and reveals this stunning artwork in a way that those gray-looking pages of the TPB just could not. The use of dead black throughout the book is unique and evocative.
The artwork takes me back to the work of David Mazzucchelli from the Year One story.
A very well done hardcover collection of a fantastic comic book series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars As far as great journeys in comics go, you can't do much better than Gotham Central November 4, 2011

By GraphicNovelReporter.com TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Written by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker, both fans and writers of crime fiction, Gotham Central offers a glimpse into the world of Gotham City that we've usually only seen from one perspective. It's one thing to follow the adventures of the Caped Crusader month after month, where the police officers are just minor players. But Rucka and Brubaker's book explores some pretty rich territory. What's it like for cops trying to do their job when they've got a weirdo dressed as a bat taking justice into his own hands? Do you appreciate what he does--or resent him for making you look ineffective?

The characters ask themselves these and other questions throughout the 40 issues that make up the Gotham Central series, which are available in four newly reprinted trade-paperbacks. The whole thing starts with one of the most dramatic experiences one can have while working the Major Crimes Unit in Gotham City: While following up a tip on a kidnapping case, a detective loses his partner in the worst way, after accidentally stumbling upon a hideout of Mr. Freeze.

What's great about the book is that the writers take an absolutely serious and realistic view of what's usually regarded as a ridiculous situation. A guy kills a cop with a freeze gun? Someone named Doctor Alchemy sets up booby-trapped laboratories throughout the city? By treating these outlandish villains with the kind of fearful respect and menace that they earn in the superhero comics that share this book's universe, Gotham Central manages to breathe new life into both the cop-drama and superhero genres.

The art, handled mainly by Michael Lark, is gritty and noir-ish.... The visuals bring to mind great police films and television over the last several decades, looking and feeling as though it's taking place in a real city, with real people, going through real conflicts. However, one of the drawbacks of the artistic style, combined with the huge cast of characters (over 20, spanning the day and night shifts in the Major Crimes Unit), is that it can be something of a chore to tell each character apart, as well as to keep track of who is who, and what their relationships are. The difficulty of repeatedly drawing distinct-looking everyday people may be one of the reasons that comics tend to gravitate toward iconic (and sometimes a little garish) costumes filled with distinct patterns and colors--it makes telling each character apart at a glance much easier. But to their credit, the creative team on these books manages to establish relatively different visual characteristics for each player.

The other main drawback of the series comes from a circumstance of its existence: It was unceremoniously canceled for poor sales around issue 40, meaning that the ending is somewhat abrupt and doesn't offer much in the way of closure. Still, sometimes it's not about the destination but rather the journey. And as far as great journeys in comics go, you can't do much better than Gotham Central.

Reviewed by Brian P. Rubin Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Series in a Beautiful Format July 12, 2010

By Simon

Format:Hardcover

Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty collects issues #1-10 from Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker's highly acclaimed Batman spin-off title, which had a short-lived run of 40 issues from 2003-2006. The book focuses on Renee Montoya, Crispus Allen and the detectives working GCPD's Major Crimes Unit as they solve cases in a city where Batman's presence is as much a liability as an asset.

If any series ever deserved the hardcover reprint treatment, Gotham Central is it. The book is as good as any police procedural on television, giving names and personalities to the Gotham police force that up until that point had been relegated to minor background characters and cannon fodder for Joker, Two-Face and the like. A tragic run-in with Mr. Freeze in the opening pages is enough to suck readers in, and Rucka and Brubaker continually drive home the cost of being a good cop in a city that relies on Batman for protection. Honestly, Batman's portrayal during this era of comics was never great, often crossing the line from being edgy and gritty into just being unlikable. Gotham Central really puts this in perspective with the cops only asking for assistance from Batman as an absolute last resort (a theme that intensifies in the next volume). Also spotlighted this volume is the relationship between Renee Montoya and Two-Face, which Rucka had been steadily building since Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 2.

This hardcover edition features the best presentation of Michael Lark's gorgeous artwork, and it's great to have Gotham Central in a format that will include the entire run (as opposed to the earlier trades, which omitted select issues).... Two supplemental stores that fill in the Montoya/Two-Face history from the original "Half a Life" trade paperback are not reprinted here - one of them can be found in the aforementioned No Man's Land volume, while the other was also collected in Batman: Evolution (No Man's Land). Readers may also be interested in Batman: Officer Down (New Gotham 2), which shows Gordon's retirement from the force and leads to the status quo presented here.

Haven't read this series yet? You're missing out. One of DC's best offerings of the decade. Read more ›