Gotham Central | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Genre | |
Publication date | December 2002 – April 2006 |
No. of issues | 40 |
Main character(s) | Gotham City Police Department |
Creative team | |
Created by | Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark |
Collected editions | |
In the Line of Duty | ISBN 1-4012-0199-7 |
Half a Life | ISBN 1401204384 |
Unresolved Targets | ISBN 1563899957 |
The Quick and the Dead | ISBN 1401209122 |
Dead Robin | ISBN 1401213294 |
Gotham Central is a police procedural comic-book series that was published by DC Comics. It was written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, with pencils initially by Michael Lark. The story focused on the Gotham City Police Department and the difficulties of its officers living and working in Gotham City, home of Batman.
Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker collaborated on the "Officer Down" Batman crossover. They wanted to do a series about the police in Gotham City and finally obtained approval from DC executives. The writers wanted Michael Lark for pencils and waited nearly a year to get him onboard due to scheduling, but used the opportunity to plan out the storylines. They plotted out the new series' elements and decided to script the first story arc together, then split the lengthy cast into two shifts: Rucka would write the GCPD's day shift storylines, Brubaker would take the night shift, and Lark would pencil them both. [1] Gotham Central's debut yielded Eisner Award nominations in 2003 for Best New Series, Best Writer (Rucka), Best Writer (Brubaker), and Best Penciller/Inker (Lark). [2]
Gotham Central repeatedly failed to break the top 100 comics in sales. Despite this, DC Comics were encouraged by the improved sales of the trade paperback collected editions. In an interview, Ed Brubaker stated that the book sold pretty well and was never in danger of cancellation, outselling almost all of Vertigo's books at the time. Ultimately Lark and Brubaker moved on to other projects, and, after three years of publication, the series ended amid the Infinite Crisis aftermath. It continued to have sales troubles through to the conclusion: issue #37 ranked 102nd place, [3] and issue #38 ranked 120th place [4] on the distributor's charts. [5]
Despite the sales, writer Greg Rucka assured that DC would have continued publishing Gotham Central as long as he wanted to write it and that it was his decision to conclude the series. Rucka felt that the book was a co-creation between himself, Lark and Brubaker and when they left, with issue #25 and #37 respectively, it was time to move on. The year-long break provided by the Infinite Crisis event provided an opportune place to close out the main storylines. [6] At one point, Rucka was in talks to replace Gotham Central with a new series called Streets of Gotham, which would focus on Renee Montoya as a private investigator. Those plans were scrapped in favor of making Montoya a major character in the weekly series 52 , with Rucka as a co-writer. In 2009, DC released an unrelated series called Batman: Streets of Gotham that has been described as a mixture of Gotham Central and another canceled Batman series, Batman: Gotham Knights .
The Gotham Central cast was divided between the day and night shifts, with arcs alternating between both sets of characters. Main characters among the ranks of the detectives were Marcus Driver, Romy Chandler, Renee Montoya, Crispus Allen and Josephine "Josie Mac" MacDonald. Their superiors, Commissioner Michael Akins, Captain Margaret "Maggie" Sawyer and Lieutenant Ron Probson also appeared prominently. Jim Corrigan, a corrupt CSI, features near the end of the series.
The supporting cast was mainly pulled from the large roster of the Gotham City Police Department and some characters were subjects of their own story arcs. Long-time supporting characters of Batman, James Gordon and Harvey Bullock, also made recurring appearances. Batman himself, although not often seen, played a prominent role in the series.
Title | Issues | Writer | Artist | Synopsis/Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
"In The Line of Duty" | #1–2 | Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka | Michael Lark | Marcus Driver's partner Charlie is killed by Mr. Freeze while the pair are investigating a lead, making the MCU (Major Crimes Unit) aware of a bigger plot by Freeze. |
"Motive" | #3–5 | Brubaker | Lark | The MCU investigate the late Charlie Fields' unsolved case, involving the murder of a teenage girl and the villain Firebug. |
"Half a Life" | #6–10 | Rucka | Lark | Renee Montoya is outed at the station as a lesbian and finds her work environment and personal life turned upside down. The Batman villain Two-Face appears in this arc, having fallen in love with Montoya and kidnapped her. This is probably the most famous Gotham Central story, having won a number of awards. |
"Daydreams and believers" | #11 | Brubaker | Brian Hurtt | A story told from the point of view of MCU temp Stacy as she writes to her friend Meg about her life in the MCU and her fantasies (including romantic fantasies about Batman). |
"Soft Targets" | #12–15 | Brubaker, Rucka | Lark, Stefano Gaudiano | The cops of Gotham find themselves literally under fire from the Joker, as he begins sniping both police and civilians in his murderous campaign. Every second becomes valuable; as to further the damage, the Joker has made a website featuring streaming webcam footage from his next position. |
"Life is Full of Disappointments" | #16–18 | Greg Scott | A murder investigation is passed between three different sets of detectives across the three issues, allowing a glimpse into the various lives of the detectives. This story also features the Huntress. | |
"Unresolved" | #19–22 | Brubaker | Lark, Gaudiano | An old murder case involving the Mad Hatter is reopened, but the now-disgraced Harvey Bullock suspects that the Penguin is involved. |
"Corrigan" | #23–24 | Rucka | Lark, Gaudiano | Crispus Allen's job is threatened after corrupt Jim Corrigan removes evidence from a scene. This story also features the death of Batman villain the Black Spider and ties into the Batman War Games crossover. |
"Lights Out" | #25 | At Akins' orders, the Bat-Signal is removed from Gotham Central after the events of War Games , which lead the MCU to (further) distrust Batman. | ||
"On The Freak Beat" | #26–27 | Brubaker | Jason Alexander | A murder investigation in which Catwoman is a suspect is further complicated when Catwoman learns about Detective Josie Mac's psychic powers, a secret she has kept from the others at the MCU. This story also features Slam Bradley. |
"Keystone Kops" | #28–31 | Rucka | Gaudiano, Kano | An officer is transformed into a monster after an accident involving an old laboratory belonging to the Flash villain Doctor Alchemy. Dr. Alchemy later changes the composition of Renee Montoya's necklace, causing it to permanently scar her chest with the dual venus symbol. |
"Nature" | #32 | Steve Lieber | A story told from the perspective of one of the many corrupt police officers of Gotham City. This story features the character Poison Ivy. | |
"Dead Robin" | #33–36 | Brubaker, Rucka | Kano, Gaudiano | A boy's body is found, wearing a Robin costume. The MCU must assume that the boy really is Robin, and Batman becomes a major suspect. This story also features the Teen Titans. |
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" | #37 | Rucka | Lieber | Tying into the events of Infinite Crisis , this story features Crispus Allen trying to get home to his family in a disaster-stricken Gotham City. This issue also features Captain Marvel and the death of the Fisherman. |
"Corrigan II" | #38–40 | Kano, Gaudiano | Allen goes after the corrupt Jim Corrigan, only to be killed. Corrigan uses his connections and well-placed lies to get off clean, persuading a disgusted Montoya to leave the force. |
Title | Material collected | ISBN |
---|---|---|
Gotham Central Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty | Gotham Central #1–5 | ISBN 1-4012-0199-7 |
Gotham Central Vol. 2: Half a Life | Gotham Central #6–10, Batman Chronicles #16, Detective Comics #747 | ISBN 1-4012-0438-4 |
Gotham Central Vol. 3: Unresolved Targets | Gotham Central #12–15, 19–22 | ISBN 1-56389-995-7 |
Gotham Central Vol. 4: The Quick and the Dead | Gotham Central #23–25, 28–31 | ISBN 1-4012-0912-2 |
Gotham Central Vol. 5: Dead Robin | Gotham Central #33–40 | ISBN 1-4012-1329-4 |
Gotham Central Book One: In the Line of Duty | Gotham Central #1–10 | ISBN 1-4012-1923-3 |
Gotham Central Book Two: Jokers and Madmen | Gotham Central #11–22 | ISBN 1-4012-2521-7 |
Gotham Central Book Three: On the Freak Beat | Gotham Central #23–31 | ISBN 978-1-4012-2754-8 |
Gotham Central Book Four: Corrigan | Gotham Central #32–40 | ISBN 978-1-4012-3003-6 |
Gotham Central Omnibus | Gotham Central #1–40 | ISBN 978-1-4012-6192-4 |
In August 2006, Brubaker said that he was told that many people at Warner Bros. loved the comic, and that if they had not had a moratorium on Batman television shows, they "could have set up Gotham Central at WB in a heartbeat". [7]
A television series titled Gotham was in development by Fox in 2013, following the career of Jim Gordon prior to the appearance of Batman. [8] The series premise bears similarities to Gotham Central. It premiered on September 22, 2014. [9] To coincide with Gotham's premiere, DC Comics issued a reprint of Gotham Central #1, at a special price of $1. [10] [11]
An untitled police procedural TV series from Matt Reeves was in development, to be set in the same continuity as the film The Batman . Gotham Central was being considered as a title for the series. [12] The development of the show was revealed to not being moving forward and put on hold in March 2022.
Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Kane, and first appeared in Detective Comics #66. He has become one of the superhero Batman's most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
Ed Brubaker is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series Lowlife and a number of serials in the Dark Horse Presents anthology, before achieving industry-wide acclaim with the Vertigo series Scene of the Crime and moving to the superhero comics such as Batman, Catwoman, The Authority, Captain America, Daredevil and Uncanny X-Men. Brubaker is best known for his long-standing collaboration with British artist Sean Phillips, starting with their Elseworlds one-shot Batman: Gotham Noir in 2001 and continuing with a number of creator-owned series such as Criminal, Incognito, Fatale, The Fade Out and Kill or Be Killed.
Gregory Rucka is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series Whiteout, Queen & Country, Stumptown and Lazarus, as well as lengthy runs on such titles as Detective Comics, Wonder Woman and Gotham Central for DC Comics, and Elektra, Wolverine and The Punisher for Marvel. He has written a substantial amount of supplemental material for a number of DC Comics' line-wide and inter-title crossovers, including "No Man's Land", "Infinite Crisis" and "New Krypton".
Margaret Ellen Sawyer is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Comics, primarily in association with Superman. She is a member of the Metropolis police and handles crimes when Superman is unavailable.
Rick Burchett is an American comic book artist known for his work on such characters as Batman and Superman.
Renee Maria Montoya is a character appearing in media of DC Comics. The character was created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian for Batman: The Animated Series and was preemptively introduced into mainstream comics before the airing of her animated debut in 1992 in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) series Batman: The Animated Series, voiced by Ingrid Oliu, and later Liane Schirmer.
Harvey Bullock is a fictional detective appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #441 and was created by Archie Goodwin and Howard Chaykin. In animation, he appeared throughout the DC Animated Universe, voiced by Robert Costanzo. He debuted in live-action in 2014 on Fox's television series Gotham, portrayed by Donal Logue.
James H. Williams III, usually credited as J. H. Williams III, is an American comics artist and penciller. He is known for his work on titles such as Chase, Promethea, Desolation Jones,Batwoman, and The Sandman: Overture.
Batman is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero Batman as its protagonist. The character, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, first appeared in Detective Comics #27. Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication with a cover date of spring 1940. It was first advertised in early April 1940, one month after the first appearance of his new sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder. Batman comics have proven to be popular since the 1940s.
Michael Lark is an American Harvey and Eisner Award-winning comic book artist and colorist.
Crispus Allen is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe, mostly commonly depicted in association with Batman.
Steve Lieber is an American comic book illustrator known for his work on books such as Detective Comics and Hawkman, and the critically acclaimed miniseries Whiteout, which was adapted into a 2009 feature film starring Kate Beckinsale. His other works include the Eisner Award-winning sequel Whiteout: Melt, and the thrillers Shooters and Underground. With writer Nat Gertler, he co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel.
Leandro Fernández was born in Casilda, Argentina, in 1973. He is an Argentine comic book artist, known for his work on various Marvel, Image, and Vertigo comic book titles.
Catwoman is an American comic book series featuring the DC Comics character Catwoman as its protagonist. The title was first released in 1989 as a limited series written by Mindy Newell, and was since published as an ongoing series starting in 1993 with its second volume.
Final Crisis: Revelations is a five-issue comic book limited series written by Greg Rucka, with art by Philip Tan, Jeff De Los Santos, and Jonathan Glapion.
Batwoman is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writers Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and artist Alex Ross, Kane is a wealthy heiress who becomes inspired by the superhero Batman and chooses, like him, to put her wealth and resources toward a campaign to fight crime as a masked vigilante in her home of Gotham City as Batwoman.
Elegy is a 2009-2010 comic book story arc that ran in the main feature of DC Comics' flagship title, Detective Comics, from issues #854-860. It is written by Greg Rucka with artwork by J.H. Williams III, with colors by Dave Stewart.
Lazarus is an American dystopian science fiction comic book series created by writer Greg Rucka and artist Michael Lark. The two began developing the idea in 2012 and partnered with colorist Santi Arcas to finish the art. Image Comics has been publishing the book since the first issue was released on June 23, 2013. Other creators were brought in later to assist with lettering and inking. A six-issue spin-off limited series, Lazarus: X+66, was released monthly in 2017 between issues 26 and 27 of the regular series. Rucka initially said the series could run for up to 150 issues, but later reduced the estimate by half. Lazarus is being collected into paperback and hardcover editions, which sell better than the monthly issues.
Batwoman is a name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies of Batman similarly to Batgirl. The original version of the character, Kathy Kane, was first created by writer Edmond Hamilton and artist Sheldon Moldoff under the direction of editor Jack Schiff as a love interest in an attempt to combat allegations of Batman's homosexuality arising from the controversial book, Seduction of the Innocent.
Greg Rucka is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series Whiteout, Queen & Country, Stumptown and Lazarus, as well as lengthy runs on such titles as Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, Elektra and Wolverine. Rucka has written a substantial amount of supplemental material for a number of DC Comics' line-wide and inter-title crossovers, including "No Man's Land", "Infinite Crisis" and "New Krypton". Rucka has also co-created, along with writer Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark, the acclaimed comic book series Gotham Central, which takes the perspective of ordinary policemen working in Gotham City.