Gotham Central, Book 3: On the Freak Beat
Gotham Central depicts crime fighting in Gotham City from the standpoint of the police force, relegating Batman and the other costumed heroes and villains to the background. Unsurprisingly, it underperformed the more conventional Batman titles saleswise and lasted only slightly more than three years. In these story arcs, Detective Renee Montoya searches for a missing bullet that will clear her partner in a shooting, and the team investigates the mutation of a fellow officer at the hands of the criminal scientist Doctor Alchemy. Stefano Gaudiano, who replaces original artist Michael Lark late in this volume, admirably continues the atmospheric, muted visual approach that was the series’ hallmark. --Gordon Flagg