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So I've been rereading BATMAN: NO MAN'S LAND, both the original comics and the novelization by one of the comics' leading writers, Greg Rucka.
What really struck me is how, unlike the vast majority of multi-title crossovers (especially one that ran for an entire year!), it was far more based in character than action and events. The only part that really feels like an EVENT is the finale, which feels shoehorned-in compared to the rest, right up to the gratuitous use of the Joker and the gratuitous death of a relatively major supporting character.
But much like THE DARK KNIGHT--another story with a large cast of Gotham citizens--the human core of the story is Commissioner Jim Gordon. Really, in the real of all-time great DC comic characters, I think Jimbo has to be in the top ten. He's perhaps the only life-sized character in Gotham City, as heroic as he is human.
(Personally, I thought it was a huge mistake to lose Gordon as a cast member. OFFICER DOWN was a good story, but what was the point in having GOTHAM CENTRAL without Commissioner Gordon? Or Harvey Bullock, for that matter! Bullock, Gordon, and Renee Montoya are the holy trifecta of Gotham Police awesomeness, and to lose 2/3rds really robbed GC of what it could/should have been. But that's another rant.)
But a key component with being human is to be tested, and for one's flaws to show through. And as this is Jim Gordon post-BATMAN: YEAR ONE--where he cheated on his pregnant wife with Lieutenant Sarah Essen--it's a hell of a character to throw in the middle of NO MAN'S LAND.
And while this is Two-Face Tuesday and Harvey features very prominently, I think the best way to kick off his series is to look at where Jim Gordon is psychologically and emotionally as NML kicks off... and where he finds himself before too long.
( We are two of a kind, Commissioner... )
Next week, Part 2: Gordon gives Renee Montoya a mission, Two-Face makes his move, and bonus extra scenes exclusive only to the NML novel where Harvey Dent and Renee are reunited. You do not know awkwardly cute until you have seen Two-Face with a crush.
What really struck me is how, unlike the vast majority of multi-title crossovers (especially one that ran for an entire year!), it was far more based in character than action and events. The only part that really feels like an EVENT is the finale, which feels shoehorned-in compared to the rest, right up to the gratuitous use of the Joker and the gratuitous death of a relatively major supporting character.
But much like THE DARK KNIGHT--another story with a large cast of Gotham citizens--the human core of the story is Commissioner Jim Gordon. Really, in the real of all-time great DC comic characters, I think Jimbo has to be in the top ten. He's perhaps the only life-sized character in Gotham City, as heroic as he is human.
(Personally, I thought it was a huge mistake to lose Gordon as a cast member. OFFICER DOWN was a good story, but what was the point in having GOTHAM CENTRAL without Commissioner Gordon? Or Harvey Bullock, for that matter! Bullock, Gordon, and Renee Montoya are the holy trifecta of Gotham Police awesomeness, and to lose 2/3rds really robbed GC of what it could/should have been. But that's another rant.)
But a key component with being human is to be tested, and for one's flaws to show through. And as this is Jim Gordon post-BATMAN: YEAR ONE--where he cheated on his pregnant wife with Lieutenant Sarah Essen--it's a hell of a character to throw in the middle of NO MAN'S LAND.
And while this is Two-Face Tuesday and Harvey features very prominently, I think the best way to kick off his series is to look at where Jim Gordon is psychologically and emotionally as NML kicks off... and where he finds himself before too long.
( We are two of a kind, Commissioner... )
Next week, Part 2: Gordon gives Renee Montoya a mission, Two-Face makes his move, and bonus extra scenes exclusive only to the NML novel where Harvey Dent and Renee are reunited. You do not know awkwardly cute until you have seen Two-Face with a crush.
