Gotham Central, Book 4: Corrigan (Gotham Central, 4)

Book Four collects the final nine issues of "Gotham Central." It has been hands-down one of my favorite DC books, and although it saw its ups and downs, it finished out very strong.We start with a one shot called "Nature," in which the MCU detectives take on the case of a murdered runaway. Looks like a dirty cop may be on the hook for the murder, but the girl was under the protection of Poison Ivy, who has her own horrifying sense of justice.Next up is "Dead Robin." In the wake of the gang wars that have taken Batman from hero to pariah, kids dressed as Robin are showing up murdered. Nearly the entire MCU is involved in this case, including Romy taking out her unresolved issues on Batman. Captain Maggie Sawyer's strongest scenes in the book are in this story.Then we get another one-shot: "Sunday Bloody Sunday." This is a tie-in to DC's Infinite Crisis event; Captain Marvel crashes from the sky, landing squarely on Allen and Montoya's squad car. The two make a cross-town journey on foot to make sure their loved ones are all right in the wake of what looks like Doomsday. Montoya's descent into darkness, which has been foreshadowed throughout this book, really starts to take shape here.The book end with "Corrigan II," the conclusion to the story began in  Gotham Central, Book 3: On the Freak Beat . Montoya feels helpless as her partner is murdered and she is not allowed to help bring down the man responsible. She faces a major turning point in her own life, in an intense and gut-wrenching finale.These stories come together to make an amazing conclusion to a really unique book. If you've already read the first three volumes, this one is a must-have. I see that these are once again being re-released in paperback form, but I do prefer the hardcover editions. This was the first time the entire book was collected, one-shots and all. Although there's no bonus material in the hardcover books, they're well worth having, because they are my most frequently-read graphic novels--if I had the TBPs, they'd be in pieces by now!

As I've mentioned in other reviews of Gotham Central, the book has received near-universal praise and, frankly, I think it deserves all of it. However, this book volume is typically treated as being a step back from the best stories in the series, but even if it is, that would still make it better than 90% of comics out there. So, short review: Must Buy. Longer discussion below.The stand alone story at the beginning takes a different approach than the rest of the books, telling the story of two corrupt cops who aren't actually involved with MCU. Some of the regular Gotham Central characters make appearances (particularly Corrigan) but it's focused on these new characters. Essentially, where Gotham Central is about the cops one step removed from Batman, this story is about the cops one step removed from them. It's an interesting story and has a pretty great pay-off.Then there's the dead Robin story, which I particularly enjoyed. It captures a lot of what makes this series special. In fact, the story I could have really skipped was the issue that takes place during Infinite Crisis. Now, depending on how you feel about Infinite Crisis, you may enjoy the issue more than I did (aside: I thought Infinite Crisis was pretty much a mess), but it really jumps away from the tone that I enjoyed in the series.Finally, there's the volume's namesake arc: Corrigan. This is where the book tails off in my opinion but, again, still better than almost 90% of the books out there. I can't recommend this series highly enough.

This final volume of Gotham Central was a hell of a ride. I read graphic novels slow, and it took me about a month to go through the whole story. When it was over there was quite a big void and I realized how much joy I got reading through it each day. I am sure there are those that have read much more trades than I have and have a larger sample size, but for me this is best I have read.My only issue with the book is that I would have liked to have seen some more development in the other sets of partners in the MCU(Major Crimes Unit). Outside of the main 2 sets that were featured, Jackson Davies and Nelson Crowe would have been great to flesh out for instance. Their constant 'debates' would have made for an awesome team to delve into deeper.Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka's writing on this series is top tier. The art, though not very detailed and going through 3 different artists or so, fits perfectly. The artists used a very 'gritty', noirish style which fits Gotham and the urban jungle that it is.If you are on the fence purchase this series. Any fan of crime and noir with a little sprinkling in of the 'freaks' will not be disappointed.

Man this was quite a ride. The final book in the series. I really enjoyed Gotham Central. It does get pretty heavy in the last arc of the book. It was quite a downer (In a good way). The writing was excellent and everything. Highly recommend this series.

the whole series is just great, as expected from these great writers. treat yourself and read it all... in one sitting :)

Mit Gotham Central ist Greg Rucka und Ed Brubaker eine großartige Serie gelungen, die in diesem Band ein würdiges Ende findet. Jeder, der Gotham City hört, denkt zuerst an den berühmtesten Sohn der Stadt, Batman bzw. sein ziviles alter ego Bruce Wayne. Batman kommt auch vor in Gotham Central, allerdings nicht als eine der Hauptpersonen, sondern als wiederkehrende Nebenrolle im Hintergrund - manchmal sogar in Situationen oder unter Umständen, in denen es nicht allen Hauptpersonen der Serie, Polizisten Gotham Citys, recht ist.Gotham Central ist mehr als nur eine Ergänzung für Batman-Fans, sondern eignet sich auch sehr gut als Lektüre für diejenigen, die mit Batman noch nie viel anfangen konnten.

scritto benissimo, questo volume ci porta alla conclusione (ahimè) delle vicende della polizia di gotham city.bello il fatto che batman sia solo parte del contesto in cui si muovono i nostri protagonisti e che, per una volta, il cavaliere oscuro sia visto con gli occhi di gente comune, con tutto ciò che ne consegue (nel bene e nel male).appassionante la vicenda di montoya... un consiglio: ovviamente prima di leggere questo conviene leggere i volumi precedenti, altrimenti non si capisce bene la storia!

Excellent set of comics. Blending police procedurals with the ever-present menace of costumed super villains, Gotham Central should be required reading for anyone who's ever knocked the graphic novel format.

Dans cette excellente série, la police de Gotham - plus spécialement la police criminelle - essaye de jouer son rôle entre super-villains, Bat-Man et les autres services de police de la ville (corrompus). Le commissaire Gordon est parti à la retraite, mais il a un successeur et ses équipes poursuivent leur tâche, digne de Sisyphe, contre le crime. Ce recueil, hélas le dernier de la série jusqu'à nouvel ordre, regroupe un one-shot écrit par Rucka, une histoire de "Robin Mort" en 4 épisodes co-écrite par Rucka et Brubaker, et l'histoire en 3 épisodes qui donne son titre au recueil, écrite par Rucka. Ces 3 "polars" sont de grande qualité, comme ceux des précédents recueils de Gotham Central avant eux. Il s'agit du dernier recueil parce que tout ne se termine pas très bien pour au moins un des principaux personnages de la série (pas de spoiler) et parce qu'avec les crossovers 'Infinite Crisis' et '52', le monde de Bat-Man a globalement beaucoup bougé. DC sera bien inspiré de revenir sur Gotham Central, sous réserve bien entendu de confier le projet à une équipe du niveau de celle qui était à la manoeuvre dans ce 1er cycle.