Gotham Central Vol. 2: Jokers and Madmen

The penultimate read of my recent holiday I went back and forth on which trade I would go through. It was a toss up between the second volume of Gotham Central or something else, most likely the third volume of Locke and Key.

Well, fortunately, I decided to stick my original plan and read Gotham Central volume 2: Jokers and Madmen and see if this could be a better book than its predecessor.

In volume two of Gotham Central, entitled Jokers and Madmen, Brubaker, Rucka and (for the most part) Lark continue to tell the stories of the officers who work in Gotham police's Major Crimes Unit. This time round, the book starts with an overview of the team and the detectives who work within it by Stacy, the civilian administrator. This is then followed by a Christmas case where a crazed sniper grips the city in fear by going on a killing spree, leaving Montoya, Allen and co. on a race against time. Then comes a case with most the team getting involved to investigate a couple of murders relating to a drug company and maybe even the mob. Finally, the book finishes with a cold case picked up by Driver and MacDonald about the bombing of a baseball team which is going nowhere until new evidence comes to light. However, to move forward, the duo will have to speak with the original case officer, former cop Harvey Bullock.

So, all in all, an incredibly full trade in my opinion, which may have been due to it being eleven issues (I think) and not ten like the last trade. However, while it may have been longer, I don't think that this volume exceeded the previous one in terms of my enjoyment.

That's not to say it wasn't enjoyable because, once again, I did really enjoy this collection. Brubaker and Rucka have created some incredibly compelling characters, all of whom having fantastic character traits which make me route for them even when they feel like jackasses. This is a testament to these two creators as every character within this cast really feels like an essential part to me and every loss feels brutal and heartbreaking.

For me this is enough to make me enjoy it, although the only reason this trade doesn't beat out volume 1 is because the stories feel overly long, whereas I enjoyed the stories (particularly the first couple) previously. However, that's not to say these cases are bad because they aren't, especially the Driver/MacDonald case, but it's just a case of preference.

The art is much he same on this volume as Michael Lark once again gives me fantastically beautiful art to gaze at. One page in particular, an eight panel page showing all the different partnerships, is absolutely incredible and makes all invite be future changes to the roster hard for me deal with (I struggle with change). It also makes me want to blow up the page and make a poster out of it.

However, I did struggle with the opening issue which, having not been drawn by Michael Lark but by Brian Hurtt, does not look the same  the rest of the series (obviously). That said, the style isn't a bad style and it is softer than Larks but it's just that, by this point, I'm more than happy with what Lark has done to give Gotham Central and signature style and so am not really feeling a difference.

But this problems are not really problems at all, just my own personal issues, and they don't change the fact that Gotham Central is an awesome series and one I need to get to the end of (although, given how I read Final Crisis: Revelations, I fear I may already know what that'll be).

Anyway, enough about that, on to the final book from my holiday; Locke and Key volume 3; Crown of Shadows.