What would it be like to be a Policeman in Gotham City, the home of Batman? To have to deal with the same costumed crooks and criminals that Batman deals with on a daily basis? To know that no matter how good you are or how well you do your job, that Batman will get the glory and you get to do the work in the aftermath? That's the central Theme of Gotham Central, which looks at the lives of Gotham's Policemen and women struggling to keep the city safe.
"Daydreams and Believers" shows us the cops who work in Gotham Central through the eyes of Stacey, the receptionist and secretary to the cops, who, because she isn't a city employee, is the only one who can turn on the Bat-Signal, and who, we learn, also happens to be in love with Batman.
"Soft Targets" shows us how the life of the Gotham Cops are affected when Joker starts one of his rampages in Gotham. He starts out by murdering the mayor in front of the police commissioner, using a sniper rifle from across the street, and soon after the cops begin investigating that crime, the Superintendent of Schools is shot, again with a sniper rifle, on a school playground, and during the course of the investigation, someone starts shooting at the cops. When they storm the room where the shots came from, they discover a laptop computer accessing a page called "Batty for Mayor", with a picture of Batman and according to the bottom of the page, paid for by "The Joke's on You" committee. As the murders continue across Gotham, they call in Batman with the Bat-Signal shortly before Joker shoots it out and opens fire on everyone on top of the building, but Batman shields them and gets them inside.
As the Gotham P.D. tracks down Joker's known associates and the gun used to shoot and kill the owner of the apartment where the shooter shot the Schools Superintendent, but even when the cops arrest the Joker, he still has another trick up his sleeve- one that could lead to many more cops getting killed.
"Life is Full of Disappointments" sees the second shift getting a new commander, and one of the cops is angry that he didn't get the promotion- they brought in someone from the outside. And it's the same day that they buried some of their own- the cops killed in the Joker case. Detectives Crowe and Sgt. Davies are assigned to the case of a dead girl found in a dumpster, but even though she is apparently killed by a cabdriver, it turns out she was poisoned by some very strange pharmaceuticals- and she used to work at a Pharmaceutical company. But can the P.D. discover who was really behind her death?
"Unresolved" Brings back Harvey Bullock, a former GPD officer let go from his job because of Brutality. When a crazed shooting suspect references a decades-old crime. the investigating detectives find that Harvey Bullock was the investigating officer on that case and go speak to him. Apparently, some members of a baseball team went crazy and attacked the others. Bullock suspected that the Penguin was to blame but couldn't prove it, and hates the Penguin to this day. Now that the case has been revived, and Bullock is no longer on the force, he feels free to act on his suspicions. But was the Penguin really behind the case, or was it another of Batman's Rogues Gallery?
I liked this graphic novel. It's thick, it's weighty. and you get an amazing amount of story for your money. And these are pretty interesting and deep stories. Unlike Metropolis, where the cops know that Superman is on their side all the time, Gotham P.D, has no such assurances, and are suspicious of Batman's motives. I know many people have compared Gotham to New York city, and Metropolis to some other city, but to me, they are both New York City- Metropolis is the better parts of the city, and all the best parts of its inhabitants, while Gotham is the worst parts of the city, and the people there are the dark side of New Yorkers- the Shadow side, if you will.
And Gotham's cops can take on the normal criminals of their city fairly well, even if they weren't overworked and underpaid for their time and effort, but for the most part, they aren't able to deal with the Super-powered criminals or Batman's Rogues Gallery. And they hate Batman that he has to exist in their city, and protect the people they can't. Despite that, the cops of Gotham PD are likeable, and run the gamut in terms of type. Here, we get to see the true face of the normally nameless cops and policemen that are usually faceless in most Batman stories, which is a welcome change, even if during a typical story involving one of Batman's foes, you are aware that Batman is also conducting an investigation behind the scenes of the story you are reading.
I liked the book, and I loved the stories, which i felt really captured what it would be like to be a cop in a city where there was a costumed crusader working behind the scenes, one whom the cops both feared and resented in equal measures. They may need him from time to time, but they never really welcome him with open arms. I highly recommend this book, and others in this same series. It's just too good to miss.
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