Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty
by Ed Brubaker, Greg
Rucka and Michael Lark
(DC Comics, $9.95, 128 pages, trade paperback; published in April
2004.)
 Gotham
City is Batman's famous fictional stomping ground: a postmodern gothic
nightmare of urban violence, homicidal psychopaths, and high-tech supervillains.
In the monthtly comic book Gotham Central, crime writers Ed Brubaker
and Greg Rucka explore this setting from the perspective of the police
officers who work in the shadow of the world's greatest crimefighter.
The first storyline has been collected as In the Line of Duty.
It opens with Mr. Freeze -- a criminally insane scientist who must remain
encased in a subzero bodysuit to stay alive -- killing a police detective
with his trademark freeze gun. The police want to take care of their
own and resent Batman's inevitable interference. In the wake of the
ensuing tense manhunt, another high-tech criminal emerges, Firebug.
Batman's appearances are kept to a minimum: they are sudden, violent,
disruptive, and scary. The large cast of Gotham Central is composed
of the detectives of the Major Crimes Unit, who investigate the extremely
brutal and weird crimes that plague the city.
The writers populate this series with a diverse array of complex and
engaging protagonists. The mood is dark, almost oppressive, perfectly
reflecting the constant pressure faced by the detectives. Brubaker and
Rucka do a great job of imagining life in the bizarre and terrifying
Gotham City.
Rounding out the creative team is illustrator Michael Lark, who combines
an elegant, almost minimalist, noirish esthetic with detailed urban
backgrounds. Lark's storytelling moves along classic lines: a slow but
steady progression of clearly delineated panels that build up a quiet,
moody suspense.
Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty is a great start to a fascinating
comics series: a police procedural taking place on the edges of the
superhero genre, skilfully blending the grittiness of crime fiction
with the technology and social speculation of science fiction.
Originally published in slightly different form in
The Montreal Gazette, Saturday, 26 June 2004.
Claude Lalumière's Fantastic Fiction
is a series of
capsule reviews first published in the Saturday Books
section of The Montreal Gazette.
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