As a one time huge Batman comic fan I used to collect all the titles, but DC lost control, and it all got silly and out of hand. So I decided to cancel them ALL.
I see now there is a DC title called Gotham Central.
I'm into Police drama, and am fond of Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka's work. I'm also a huge fan of Michale Lark's artwork. So for me this title would seem an excellent choice.
But how much is it tied into the Batman mythos, and is it likely to become included into Batman crossovers in the future (probably is my guess)?
Does anyone read this comic, would they recommend it or should I steer clear?
Cheers
Daney
I highly recommend it. You don't need to be reading the other Bat titles to enjoy it. I'm not sure about future crossovers but at the moment it's a comic you can follow and enjoy on its own. The best Bat book at the moment though IMO is Batgirl (although there's a new creative team so time will tell if it continues its excellent run). Catwoman's good at the moment too.
I've been getting the other Ed Brubaker 'Bat' title - Catwoman - which is amazingly good at the moment.
I havent tried 'Gotham Central' purely because I don't wanna spend too much on comics at the moment, but Brubakers a great writer.
Tharg, get him to do a JD one-off sometime eh ?
Serendipitously (is that a word?) there is an excellent new interview with Brubaker that I just came across on the link below.
Link: Ed Brubaker Interview
If you haven't tried it yet, definitely check out Gotham central, it's a cracking multi-protagonist police procedural type thing, think Hill Street Blues or NYPD Blue set in Gotham City, with only an occasional appearance by a Batman who's disliked by many of the cops anyway. And the understated art from Michael Lark's cracking too.
'S what I figured (yeah, love Lark's artwork) Just hope there isn't too much Batman. As I stated above, I dropped all the Bat titles, and I don't really want to get into the habit of buying them again (although I hear good things about both Catwoman, and Detective nowadays) Is L.O.T.D.K. still good? That's was the bat title that got me started on American comics.
++Is L.O.T.D.K. still good?++
NO! Pants, pants, pants. I think that apart from the occasional good story it's mostly used as a try-out, or future shock if you will, title but without anyone particualarly talented ever having a crack. Certainly not worth 2 quid.
The only ones worth paying actual cash for are Gotham Central, Detective and Catwoman, and maybe Batman.
mat
I get LOTDK (gift sub) and it's not great.
I won't be renewing it.
- Trout
Read Issue 1 & 2.
This title would have benefited from beu?ng a mature reader title.
Also, I'd like it if they try to keep Bats and the "super-villains" out of it as much as possible, and insyead focus more on the human crime element of Gotham.
Dunno, I really like it when Bats turns up for a panel or two and gets dirty looks from most of the regular cops, it's a nice touch. The mature readers bit'd be good tho'.
Ok, I've read number 3 now too, and I think I can see how they are approaching the whole Bat idea. And so far it does wwork for me.
The point about the mature reader line is two fold.
1) All the swearing using #@!* Irritates the hell out of me. Either swear, or don't (and in this case, I think it would be better if they did swear)!
2) In issue 1, the cops shaattered body seemed to me, to be fairly "obvious" on the gore front. How can they justify showing that when they can't even say "shit" ("$#!*"- I believe is what they use). It just seems a little inconsistant. If this were a mature reader comic, it would improve it just that little.
I thought the comic as a whole, was very well written, and easy to read. (By that I mean the text flowed, and I didn't need to reread at any point). The artwork was great, and suits the comic theme to a T. This is the comic I expected to get from the team that brought us "Scene Of The Crime". Great stuff.
Any chance of getting Brubaker and Lark to do a Dredd tale in the Meg?
Hmm, the thing with the gore as opposed to swearing is fair enough, but as DC kowtow to the comics code, all thgeir rules on suitability are imposed externally, so any maneuvering they can do to get more 'mature' stuff in under the radar has got to be worthwhile even if they're not allowed to swear.
Just read the latest issue of 'Catwoman' and its bloody brilliant. Best run on a comic I've read in absolutely years.
SPOILER
I mean u just don't expect to see someone getting force-fed her boyfriend's eyeball in a mainstream comic, now do you ? Er, well I don't.