Gotham Central Book 3: On the Freak Beat Paperback – October 25, 2011

This hardcover collects issues #23-31 of the "Gotham Central" series that follows two separate shifts of police officers working in the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department. Three of the four story arcs were written by Greg Rucka. "Corrigan" (#23-24) centers on partners Renee Montoya and Cris Allen and their suspicions of a corrupt crime scene investigator. The GCPD considers removing the Bat-signal in the one shot #25 "Lights Out". This is also the final issue with original series penciler Michael Lark (though he did provide the covers up to #30).Ed Brubaker wrote the two-part "On The Freak Beat" (#26-27) with pencils from Jason Alexander. In this arc, Catwoman is suspected of murdering a televangelist and Detective "Josie Mac" considers her unusual powers of prescience. Longtime series inker Stefan Gaudiano provides the pencils for Rucka's "Keystone Kops" story (#28-31) featuring Montoya and Allen again, this time needing help from a supervillian to save a colleague's life.Fans of the first two hardcovers should also enjoy this third volume. Though the "Gotham Central" series features some established characters from the DC Universe, new readers only need a general awareness of Batman rather than extensive familiarity with comic book minutia. Like most books from these writers, this excellent series is recommended for those who don't normally read comics as well as established fans of crime comics, police procedurals and/or DC's Bat-Verse.

Gotham Central is a revolutionary series: from its concept to its narrative, not forgetting Michael Lark's amazing bleak art, it is a prime example of how comics can be engaging and entertaining and still mantain a sense of art and authorship.While the best arcs belong in the first two TPB (my favourite one being Soft Targets, one of the best Joker stories ever written), this volume also has some great stories. The best one is Keystone Kops, in which Allen and Montoya have to deal with a supervillain and things don't go so well. There's also a great Catwoman story here.If you're a fan of crime procedural and superhero comics, then you should definitely buy this.

Being relatively new to the graphic novel genre, it took me a while to get used to the style provided in the artwork of this series. Flat, boxy, and simple, it reminds me of newsprint. By the third book, I understand it is the most appropriate style for tha dark stories being told.This third book provides three big stories and one small, one-issue vignette. The first story told, "Corrigan" focuses on Detecive Renee Montoya and her partner, Cris Allen. Chris is accused of firing his weapon unnecessarily, and the MCU is having trouble clearing him due to missing evidence. This is the start of an important story between Renee and Jim Corrigan, who she thinks is dirty. This story also reveals more about Cris and Renee's working relationship--they trust each other implicitly and are probably the closest partners in the entire MCU. 5 stars for this story."Lights Out," the one-issue vignette, is next. As a reaction to the "War Games" fiasco and public outcry, Commissioner Atkins orders the destruction of the Batsignal. Some MCU detectives are glad to see it go, others think it's a huge mistake. Montoya reveals that Batman is the reason she's a cop today. 5 stars for this storyline--the tension in the squad room is absolutely palpable."On the Freak Beat" is next, focusing on Detectives Driver and Josie Mac. Looks like a Catwoman case, but Josie Mac can't reconcile that with her gut feeling. She also struggles with whether to tell her partner that her "gut feelings" are actually more like psychic premonitions. 4 stars here.We end the book with "Keystone Kops," another Chris and Renee story. This one takes them into the Flash's universe for a bit, having them visit Keystone City to visit a prisoner who bears way too much resemblance to Hannibal Lecter. Important themes here include Renee's increasing attraction to violence and an important mended bridge in her family life. 2 stars for this; Dr Desmond actually uses lines from "Silence of the Lambs," and it is far too hokey.This book features no bonus material, which always disappoints me in a hardbound collection. But the stories collected here are definitely worthwhile--Rucka and Brubaker have created a dynamic and righteous squad room in possibly the darkest, most infested city in the world.

A more grounded take on the city of Gotham, this series is more like “NYPD Blue” than “The Dark Knight”, and this approach to the material really works to great effect. I’m a lifelong Batman fan in whatever medium I can get him, and this series (along with Batman: the Animated Series and the Arkham games) sits at the top of my recommendation list.

This was so good. Awesome police/detective story, Gotham Central is a great gem of a story.

Thank you

Book is wonderful. Son loved it as he read it in one night over his Christmas vacation. Would highly reccommend it.

Phenomenal writing. A procedural drama with real heart. These characters, this setting it just works.

maybe not as good as the other volumes, but I consider it as one body of work, which is excellent.

A brutal gang war rages in Gotham City. After a tragic mistake, the police feels that they can no longer trust the Batman, so the Commissioner makes a fateful decision. With the Dark Knight now a wanted man and the famous Bat-Signal removed from the roof of headquarters, Gotham's finest are on their own. Once again, and as always with this great series, but now more than ever in need of some help by the Dark Knight.While everyone thinks of Batman first when they hear Gotham City and crime, Greg Rucka's and Ed Brubaker's highly acclaimed series focuses on those less likely to be in any spotlight, the Gotham City police. If you like reading Batman stories, this is a great bonus; if you're not into super hero novels, you still might enjoy this a great deal as one of the main issues in this series is the difficult situation good police officers might find themselves in living and working in a city vith a super vigilante. Definitely worth reading!

La série Gotham Central axe son propos sur la police de Gotham, passé le départ à la retraite de l'emblématique commissaire Gordon. Avec les nouveaux responsables de la police, la relation avec l'homme chauve-souris sont plus réservées. Dans ce volume, les ponts sont carrément coupés (pour des raisons probablement à rechercher dans la série Batman) et le fameux bat-projecteur cher au commissaire Gordon démonté sans grand soin. En conséquence, la police de Gotham doit se débrouiller seule avec les "freaks" qui sont habituellement le lot du sombre chevalier. Grave question, centrale : est-ce Batman qui suscite tous ces maniaques, ou ces maniaques qui ont engendré Batman ? Les scénaristes/dialoguistes (Brubaker er Rucka, rien de moins) s'attachent à dépeindre les différents policiers du commissariat central, et notamment, dans ce volume, la paire Montoya/Allen. Il revient aux dessinateurs Lark et Gaudino (sans oublier les coloristes !) d'enfoncer le clou posé par Brubaker et Rucka. Et le résultat est magnifique, à mi chemin entre le buddy movie, le polar, le roman noir et l'univers désaxé de Batman. Beaucoup de références, certes, mais le bouquin se lit d'une traite et au premier degré !

This book was a Christmas present for my son at his request,sure he was pleased with it.

The 'Gotham Central' series is a unique perspective on the Batman universe. The men and women of the GCPD who risk their lives on a daily basis are all too often overlooked due to the ominous shadow cast over them by Gotham's Dark Knight. This series takes the reader into a very believable and beautifully gritty reality that is the Major Crimes Unit of the GCPD. Ed Brubacker & Greg Rucka have created a wonderful series which I would strongly recommend to any 'Bat-fan'.Volume III: 'On the Freak Beat' follows the detectives of the GCPD on their latest encounters with the 'freaks' of Gotham. I was a little disappointed that there are events discussed in this volume which are not shown at any point in the series. It made identifying with the narrative a little difficult as the reader is altogether detatched from what happened and is a driving force in the story yet can only piece together from conversations, what actually happened. A prologue or even a retrospective epilogue would have been a nice and easy way to tie up the loose ends of the 'Lights Out' story in this regard.All in all, I felt that the stories contained within 'On the Freak Beat' were not as gripping as their predecessors, but were never the less are very well written and beautifully drawn 'Bat-fiction'. An excellent series that I will undoubtedly purchase all of, but 'On the Freak Beat' was just missing some of the flare, surprise and suspense that both 'Vol. I: In the Line of Duty' and 'Vol. II: Jokers & Madmen' delivered in spades.Well worth a read and still a strong book but just not quite of the same caliber as its forbears.