Comic Book Review: Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets edited by Matt Idelson
Being a cop in Gotham City is rough. In addition to the long hours, hostile population and dangerous streets that come with the police officer’s job in any large city, Gotham City has one of the highest corruption rates of a police department in the United States. None of your fellow officers can be fully trusted. Worse yet, Gotham City is home to some of the most bizarre and sometimes lethal criminals in the world. Sure, Batman helps, but is he also attracting these costumed lunatics?
This police drama comic book series was created by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, collaborating or taking turns on the writing, with art by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano. It ran from 2002-2006, with forty issues. Many of the characters had previously appeared in DC Comics over the long history of Batman and other superheroes. Longtime Police Commissioner James Gordon had retired after a criminal’s attack nearly killed him, and he was replaced by Michael Akins, even less trusted by the officers, and more hostile to caped vigilantes.
This trade paperback collects two of the storylines. “Soft Targets” appeared in issues 12-15.
Commissioner Akins is having a discussion with Mayor Dickerson. Due to budget woes, the mayor wants to cut expenses by refusing overtime payments to police officers. He thinks the cops have been padding their paychecks by not clocking out when they should. If they can’t finish their cases on time, detectives should just let the next shift handle it. While there is doubtless some featherbedding going on, the mayor also clearly does not understand how police departments work. The argument is cut short when the mayor is shot dead by a sniper.
This high-profile case activates an investigation by the Major Crimes Unit, led by Detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya. Also on scene are Captain Maggie Sawyer (formerly of Metropolis) and crime scene investigator Jim Corrigan (who may have light fingers.) Just as they realize they’re all on overtime, a call comes in. The sniper has struck again, this time killing a school superintendent.
Just as that crime scene is being wrapped up, the sniper shoots several police officers. It turns out that the sniper is in fact the Joker, who is playing one of his sick games to match wits with Batman, using Gotham City’s government workers as pawns. And the fact that it’s almost Christmas factors into his plans.
It’s interesting to see Batman pop in and out of the story as he also attempts to find the Joker before he can kill again. Unfortunately, even this hero can’t save everyone.
“Unresolved” collects issues #19-22. Detective Marcus Driver is called to a hostage situation at a McBurgers fast food restaurant. The perpetrator has asked for him in specific. Kenny Booker used to be the best friend of Driver’s little brother when they were younger. Booker was an athlete, and a member of the Gotham High Hawks baseball team. Until a pipe bomb killed most of them, leaving Booker as one of two survivors. Booker rants about a “man in my head” telling him what to do before committing suicide.
The Hawks bombing was unresolved, and Driver convinces his manager to let him look into this cold case. The case files are missing, and the evidence boxes have been misplaced over the years. Driver’s partner Josie Mac “luckily” finds the right box (she has her own subplot involving being able to find clues way more than is likely), and Kenny Booker’s old cap–which has a previously overlooked slip of paper inside.
The case files were taken home by disgraced former detective Harvey Bullock, who may have arranged for an “untouchable” suspect to be murdered by the mob. He’s taken to drinking even more heavily since being dismissed. Bullock agrees that the evidence shows the involvement of Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, who has a thing for mind-control headwear. But why would he murder a high school sports team? The two leads Bullock had at the time were that two bullied nerds had cheered instead of mourned at the memorial service–and there were rumors of gambling tied to Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin.
Investigation is complicated by the fact that Tetch’s mental state has deteriorated over the years. Driver and Mac visit him in Arkham Asylum, and get some ramblings that might lead back to the former nerds, who were living in the same boarding house as him before he turned criminal. Meanwhile, Bullock decides that the Penguin angle is the one that’s most promising, and acts all hard-boiled detective about it.
There are twists and turns, and a surprise perpetrator. The Penguin gets beat up, but for one of the few things he didn’t do, and now Bullock will have to deal with his latest mistake.
There’s also other subplots going on. This isn’t the kind of city where only one case at a time is happening.
The art team gives this series a distinctive heavily shadowed look, suitable for the dark, gritty tales this series is telling. Sometimes it’s a little hard to tell characters apart if they’re not named in a scene. And with two experienced crime writers working with a strong cast, the stories are excellent.
On the other hand, I would not recommend this as anyone’s first Batman-related comic book, as it does rely heavily on a knowledge of past events and who the characters are based on previous series. (The Jim Corrigan character is specifically named to evoke another character’s history.) It’s also got a pretty depressing vibe that may not sit well with those who like their comics upbeat.
Content notes: Lethal violence, gory corpses. Attempted and successful suicide. Homophobia. Demeaning words for women. References to extramarital sex. Alcohol abuse. Older teens should be able to handle it if they like the grittier cop shows.
This volume skips over a story in the middle; you might be better served by the later collections that each have ten issues. Check your local library, or if you’re a big Batman fan, they should be available at comic book stores.
