Gotham Central is by far, my
favorite complete comic/graphic novel series I've read to date (However, Locke and Key isn't finished yet and that's nipping at it's heels).
With the exception of that strange
Infinite Crisis story line imposed within the middle of this collection, this was a perfect finale to a great series. I can't even give it less than five stars due to how excellent the
Corrigan and
Die! Robin, Die! stories were.
The Robin story line was one of my favorites in the series, especially when it came down to it's conclusion When Batman confront's the man behind the deaths, he turns up the intensity and intimidation to eleven. I loved that he told them to kill the lights, cameras and recordings as he just threatened, beat and terrified the criminal until he got what he wanted!. The Corrigan story was excellent as well, he was written like a real scumbag; a dirty cop you love to
hate.
I didn't realize that this had been the end of the series and when I realized that my experience within the Gotham City Police Department was effectively ending, the ending became that much more heartbreaking. My God, Montoya has to be one of the most tragic characters I've read in quite sometime. Just when you think she's finally reached bottom, Brubaker and Rucka just keep taking from her until she becomes the broken mess we're left with.
This series is criminally under rated and the fact that it needed to fight to get a full 40 issue run is mind blowing. DC struck gold with this series but finishing out as strong as it did is certainly a rarity in today's world. So, at least there's that. I guess.