Gotham Central
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''Gotham Central'' is a
police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...
comic-book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
series that was published by
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
. It was written by
Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) 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 i ...
and
Greg Rucka Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) 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 ...
, with pencils initially by
Michael Lark Michael Lark (born 1966) is an American comics artist and colorist. Lark has provided pencils for DC Comics' ''Batman'', '' Terminal City'', '' Gotham Central'' and '' Legend of the Hawkman''. His work for Marvel Comics includes '' The Pulse'' a ...
. The story focused on the
Gotham City Police Department Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
and the difficulties of its officers living and working in
Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the cit ...
, home of
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
.


Publication history


Formation

Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker collaborated on the "Officer Down" Batman
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
. 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 A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...
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 A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vide ...
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. ''Gotham Centrals debut yielded
Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
nominations in 2003 for Best New Series, Best Writer (Rucka), Best Writer (Brubaker), and Best Penciller/Inker (Lark).


Sales problems

''Gotham Central'' repeatedly failed to break the top 100 comics in sales. Despite this,
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
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 "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, a ...
'' aftermath. It continued to have sales troubles through to the conclusion: issue #37 ranked 102nd place, and issue #38 ranked 120th place on the distributor's charts.


End of the series

Despite the sales, writer
Greg Rucka Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) 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 ...
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. 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''.


Cast of characters

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 Renee Maria Montoya is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The character was created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian for '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and was preemptively introduced into mainstre ...
,
Crispus Allen Crispus Allen is a fictional character in the DC Comics fictional universe, universe, mostly commonly depicted in association with Batman. The character appeared on the first season of ''Gotham (TV series), Gotham'' and was played by Andrew Stewar ...
and Josephine "Josie Mac" MacDonald. Their superiors, Commissioner Michael Akins, Captain Margaret "Maggie" Sawyer and Lieutenant Ron Probson also appeared prominently.
Jim Corrigan Jim Corrigan is the name of three fictional characters that have appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. The first Corrigan initially appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #52 (February 1940), a deceased cop acting as host to the cosm ...
, 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 Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
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.


Stories/story arcs


Characters after the series' end

* Michael Akins left the force under unknown circumstances during the one-year gap with James Gordon taking back the role of Police Commissioner. It is implied that Akins had either become corrupt himself, or had done nothing to curb corruption in the GCPD. * The deceased
Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...
became the
Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
during the events of ''
Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, a ...
''. He was briefly turned into a
Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fiction ...
before regaining the Spectre mantle. *
Renee Montoya Renee Maria Montoya is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The character was created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian for '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and was preemptively introduced into mainstre ...
became one of the major characters in '' 52'', a series dealing with the aftermath of ''Infinite Crisis''. During the series she takes up the guise of ''the Question''. * Josie Mac and Maggie Sawyer have also appeared in minor roles in '' 52'' and both have made sporadic appearances in Batman-related comic books, with Sawyer eventually becoming a prominent member of Kate Kane's supporting cast. Sawyer and Kane are currently engaged to be married. * Marcus Driver and Josh Azeveda appeared in the miniseries '' Tales of the Unexpected'', along with the Spectre (Crispus Allen). Romy Chandler and Stacy also made brief cameos. * Harvey Bullock is hired back onto the force under disciplinary probation during the "one-year gap"—the exact reasons are never expressly stated—with the understanding that he is not allowed to make a single mistake. He and Batman have set a "clean slate" for their new working relationship (see '' Batman: Face the Face'').


Awards

* Eisner Award – Best Serialized Story 2004 – ''Half a Life'' (''Gotham Central'' #6–10). * Harvey Award – Best Single Issue or Story 2004 – ''Half a Life'' (''Gotham Central'' #6–10). Tied with ''Love & Rockets'' #9. * Gaylactic Spectrum Award – Best Other Work 2004 – ''Half a Life'' (''Gotham Central'' #6–10). Tied with ''
Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for O ...
''.


Collected editions


Television series

In August 2006, Brubaker said that he was told that many people at
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
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". A television series titled '' Gotham'' was in development by Fox in 2013, following the career of Jim Gordon prior to the appearance of Batman. The series premise bears similarities to ''Gotham Central''. It premiered on September 22, 2014. To coincide with ''Gotham''s premiere, DC Comics issued a reprint of ''Gotham Central'' #1, at a special price of $1. An untitled police procedural TV series from
Matt Reeves Matt Reeves (born April 27, 1966) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He first gained recognition for the WB drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came t ...
was in development, to be set in the same continuity as the film ''
The Batman Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman or The Batman may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Characters * Batman (Terry McGinnis) * Batman (Thomas Wayne) * Batman (Earth-Two) * Batma ...
''. ''Gotham Central'' was being considered as a title for the series. The development of the show was revealed to not being moving forward and put on hold in March 2022.


See also

*
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
*
Gotham City Police Department Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
* '' Batman: GCPD'', a comic book series similar in theme to ''Gotham Central''.


References


External links

*
Editorial on ''Gotham Central'' at Indian Comic Review


{{Ed Brubaker 2002 comics debuts 2006 comics endings Crime comics Gotham City Police Department Eisner Award winners Harvey Award winners for Best Single Issue or Story Comics by Ed Brubaker Comics by Greg Rucka