Hello and welcome to the World of Bats, the Batman Book Club!
This week we’re heading back to the beat and taking our shift at Gotham Central, reading issues 16-22, written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, with art by Greg Scott and Michael Lark.
In the wake of the Joker’s brutal killing spree, Sarge and Crowe deal with the fallout in the stationhouse and try to solve the murder of a girl found in a dumpster. Then, Detective Driver finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation that quickly turns deadly, and the resulting investigation reveals a link to a ten-year-old mass-murder case and a disgraced detective not seen in the Bat-books in years: Harvey Bullock!
LINKS:
Gotham Central #16
Gotham Central #17
Gotham Central #18
Gotham Central #19
Gotham Central #20
Gotham Central #21
Gotham Central #22
Reading will go from 2022-07-16T05:00:00Z→2022-07-22T05:00:00Z, but if you’re occupied with a very important tea party, you can always come back later!
Looking forward to discussing these books with you all! 
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This is Brubaker’s wheelhouse and Rucka always seems to be pretty good. Both mysteries were pretty satisfying and, despite there being so many of them, I thought the characters were balanced pretty well. Everyone seemed to get something meaningful to do.
Bullock’s story here was definitely tragic, but I found it compelling. It was a sad turn for a character that has basically been a good guy despite his rough edges. I don’t want to get too far off topic, but the idea of cops looking out for other cops kinda hits a little differently today than it might have 18 years ago.
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Yeah, I can definitely see that. It’s interesting, just today they announced a new GCPD series, and it’s specifically about Renee Montoya reforming the police system in Gotham, not mentioning anything about any deeper mysteries, and I think that was intentional.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 
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In case anyone needs some music to accompany their reading…
(I tried the NYPD Blue theme, but that was far too distracting!)
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The plot definitely wouldn’t feel out of place in a police procedural 
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