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aches's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
philippmk's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Death, Murder, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Blood
asparkofc's review against another edition
4.0
I’m still loving this story. The characters are very fleshed out and fun to read about. There’s also such new fun perspective while reading this that I for sure didn’t think about reading Batman comics.
dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
Montoya and Allen tangle with the Black Spider and a crucial piece of evidence goes missing. A televangelist turns up dead and it looks like Catwoman is the killer. One of Dr. Alchemy's old experiments transforms a cop and Montoya and Allen have to team up with some Keystone City cops and Dr. Alchemy himself to try to cure him. Business as usual for the detectives down at Gotham Central...
Brubaker and Rucka have wowed me again. Even this far into Gotham Central's run, they continue to impress me. This volume is just as good as the previous two.
The cases involved more superhuman elements than the previous one, including more Batman than the previous two volumes put together. Corrigan and MacDonald developed quite a bit as characters in this volume. Allen and Montoya's partnership is growing stronger and watching the two of them in action is one of my favorite parts of the series. It could have used more Detective Driver but you can't have everything.
Renee Montoya is my favorite GCPD detective by light years. You wouldn't think I'd latch on to a Hispanic recently-outed lesbian detective so quickly but I have. In a way, I wish I didn't know what 52 has in store for her once Gotham Central ends.
The Catwoman case was my favorite plot-wise, but Dr. Alchemy as Hannibal Lecter was the best character. Other parts of the book that stand out are the taking down of the Bat Signal and one of the Keystone City cops mentioning Detective Allen had a good last name for a cop in their town.
Gotham Central continues to be a home run derby of a graphic novel series as far as I'm concerned. Five easy stars.
Brubaker and Rucka have wowed me again. Even this far into Gotham Central's run, they continue to impress me. This volume is just as good as the previous two.
The cases involved more superhuman elements than the previous one, including more Batman than the previous two volumes put together. Corrigan and MacDonald developed quite a bit as characters in this volume. Allen and Montoya's partnership is growing stronger and watching the two of them in action is one of my favorite parts of the series. It could have used more Detective Driver but you can't have everything.
Renee Montoya is my favorite GCPD detective by light years. You wouldn't think I'd latch on to a Hispanic recently-outed lesbian detective so quickly but I have. In a way, I wish I didn't know what 52 has in store for her once Gotham Central ends.
The Catwoman case was my favorite plot-wise, but Dr. Alchemy as Hannibal Lecter was the best character. Other parts of the book that stand out are the taking down of the Bat Signal and one of the Keystone City cops mentioning Detective Allen had a good last name for a cop in their town.
Gotham Central continues to be a home run derby of a graphic novel series as far as I'm concerned. Five easy stars.
rbreade's review against another edition
Contains the stories "Corrigan," "Lights Out," "On the Freak Beat," Keystone Kops."
caitcoy's review against another edition
3.0
Book Three is another hit or miss volume. Ultimately the great stories carry the mediocre ones but the artwork definitely hits a new low. Here are the main stories in the volume:
Corrigan by Greg Rucka
I’ve always liked the partnership between Detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya so this was another good one. Allen and Montoya end up walking in on a gang war between the Black Spider and some random Gotham gang. One of the random gang members gets hit in the crossfire and takes the opportunity to sue the city because he claims that Allen shot him while he was handcuffed. Unfortunately for Allen, the only evidence that would exonerate him ends up in the pocket of a corrupt crime scene investigator. With Allen on enforced leave, it’s up to Montoya and an Internal Affairs agent to discover the truth.
Seeing the lengths that Montoya would go to for her partner was awesome and the divisions between Major Crimes (who were handpicked by Gordon and therefore are mostly on the level) and the fairly corrupt regular beat cops and crime scene investigators were really interesting. The story itself doesn’t have much mystery (since you know what the problem is and who’s responsible pretty much from the beginning) but the other aspects make up for it. On the downside, the art takes a serious turn for the worse. I mean, I can’t throw too many stones since my artwork is limited to pathetic stick figures but bruises should not look like Montoya has smeared grape jelly on her face.
Batman vs Gotham Central by Greg Rucka
This moment has been coming since Batman refused to explain his actions in Soft Targets. He finally goes too far and in ignoring police procedure causes the deaths of numerous officers of the GCPD. In response, the Commissioner decides to make it clear to Batman that he won’t tolerate that and that Batman and the GCPD are no longer on speaking terms. The way the different officers (and bystanders) respond to this was really compelling. Especially the division between Montoya (who supports Batman as he has saved her life numerous times) and Allen (who didn’t grow up in Gotham and has never particularly liked the fact that Batman and the GCPD have worked together). Since they’re supposed to be the perfect cop partnership, it felt very real to see even them divided on the issue.
On the Freak Beat by Ed Brubaker
In this one, you finally find out what the hell makes Josie MacDonald such a spot-on detective and I have to admit that it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. The basic premise is that a prominent televangelist has been murdered and all the facts point to Catwoman as being responsible. Luckily for the cat burglar, Josie doesn’t buy this and when Catwoman overhears Josie’s secret, she blackmails the detective into proving it wasn’t Catwoman who committed the murder. It’s a generally well-written story if not one of Brubaker’s best.
Keystone Kops by Greg Rucka
Man, Greg Rucka’s stories are really hit or miss for me. This one is somewhere in the middle. The only thing that I really liked about it was Montoya’s personal growth. This story involves a villain I’ve never heard of, probably because he’s apparently one of Flash’s villains. In the process of helping some kids in a pretty rough neighborhood, one of the good, non-corrupt beat cops named Andrew Kelly gets infected by some pretty nasty chemicals. It turns out that this was the work of yet another psychotic villain, this time one who usually works out of Keystone. Since Montoya knows the neighborhood (the situation occurs right outside the shop that’s owned by her father) and was Kelly’s mentor when he first got started, she ends up going to Keystone to see if a cure can be found for the poor man. Things don’t go as planned, add a little Batman and a villain who is part chemist and part Riddler and you get a complicated situation for Montoya. It’s balanced out by her interactions with the father who had disowned her when she was outted as a lesbian, which is really the saving grace of the story. If you really like Montoya, it’s worth reading but otherwise nothing is lost by skipping it.
The stories are mostly well-written and interesting (nothing anywhere near as boring as that extremely forgettable one in Book Two) but the artwork is awful. I mean, not the worst I’ve ever seen but it’s bad. Which is really a shame since some of the stories are great, particularly Batman vs Gotham Central.
Overall, it’s still one I’d recommend if you like the series, just try and ignore the awfulness of the artwork.
Corrigan by Greg Rucka
I’ve always liked the partnership between Detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya so this was another good one. Allen and Montoya end up walking in on a gang war between the Black Spider and some random Gotham gang. One of the random gang members gets hit in the crossfire and takes the opportunity to sue the city because he claims that Allen shot him while he was handcuffed. Unfortunately for Allen, the only evidence that would exonerate him ends up in the pocket of a corrupt crime scene investigator. With Allen on enforced leave, it’s up to Montoya and an Internal Affairs agent to discover the truth.
Seeing the lengths that Montoya would go to for her partner was awesome and the divisions between Major Crimes (who were handpicked by Gordon and therefore are mostly on the level) and the fairly corrupt regular beat cops and crime scene investigators were really interesting. The story itself doesn’t have much mystery (since you know what the problem is and who’s responsible pretty much from the beginning) but the other aspects make up for it. On the downside, the art takes a serious turn for the worse. I mean, I can’t throw too many stones since my artwork is limited to pathetic stick figures but bruises should not look like Montoya has smeared grape jelly on her face.
Batman vs Gotham Central by Greg Rucka
This moment has been coming since Batman refused to explain his actions in Soft Targets. He finally goes too far and in ignoring police procedure causes the deaths of numerous officers of the GCPD. In response, the Commissioner decides to make it clear to Batman that he won’t tolerate that and that Batman and the GCPD are no longer on speaking terms. The way the different officers (and bystanders) respond to this was really compelling. Especially the division between Montoya (who supports Batman as he has saved her life numerous times) and Allen (who didn’t grow up in Gotham and has never particularly liked the fact that Batman and the GCPD have worked together). Since they’re supposed to be the perfect cop partnership, it felt very real to see even them divided on the issue.
On the Freak Beat by Ed Brubaker
In this one, you finally find out what the hell makes Josie MacDonald such a spot-on detective and I have to admit that it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.
Spoiler
It’s a little strange to have Josie be psychic-ish with items since the rest of the series tends to stay on the realistic side but since this is the same universe that has Superman and Green Lantern, it’s not too hard to swallow.Keystone Kops by Greg Rucka
Man, Greg Rucka’s stories are really hit or miss for me. This one is somewhere in the middle. The only thing that I really liked about it was Montoya’s personal growth. This story involves a villain I’ve never heard of, probably because he’s apparently one of Flash’s villains. In the process of helping some kids in a pretty rough neighborhood, one of the good, non-corrupt beat cops named Andrew Kelly gets infected by some pretty nasty chemicals. It turns out that this was the work of yet another psychotic villain, this time one who usually works out of Keystone. Since Montoya knows the neighborhood (the situation occurs right outside the shop that’s owned by her father) and was Kelly’s mentor when he first got started, she ends up going to Keystone to see if a cure can be found for the poor man. Things don’t go as planned, add a little Batman and a villain who is part chemist and part Riddler and you get a complicated situation for Montoya. It’s balanced out by her interactions with the father who had disowned her when she was outted as a lesbian, which is really the saving grace of the story. If you really like Montoya, it’s worth reading but otherwise nothing is lost by skipping it.
The stories are mostly well-written and interesting (nothing anywhere near as boring as that extremely forgettable one in Book Two) but the artwork is awful. I mean, not the worst I’ve ever seen but it’s bad. Which is really a shame since some of the stories are great, particularly Batman vs Gotham Central.
Overall, it’s still one I’d recommend if you like the series, just try and ignore the awfulness of the artwork.
stories_of_the_soul27's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
thopolok's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
godlizza's review against another edition
3.0
I wish they'd gone more into the weird relationship between the GCPD and batman, and some more fall out on taking down the bat signal. Like, if the cat woman plot had involved batman somehow and there was a question on where his loyalties lie? That kinda thing.
The best part of this book for me is Montoya. The dive into her character we see is great. How she's got a good heart but the Gotham grime has made her a violent person. Her starting to reconnect with her dad again was great too.
The best part of this book for me is Montoya. The dive into her character we see is great. How she's got a good heart but the Gotham grime has made her a violent person. Her starting to reconnect with her dad again was great too.
nkives's review against another edition
3.0
So far the weakest of the series and only cause where the others has long intricate stories, this was just 4-5 two chapter a piece stories. Not that theses were bad at all, just the rest was better.