It may be hard to believe, but one of Batman’s best stories hardly features the Dark Knight. The 2002 series Gotham Central remains one of the best comics to come out of DC's larger Batman line, showcasing Gotham City in a completely different light. Additionally, the comic manages to stand on its own as a wonderful piece of crime fiction, adding to the franchise and using the Caped Crusader’s lack of a role to its benefit.

Gotham Central, written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka with art by Michael Lark, follows the Major Crimes Unit of the GD and their work in solving the difficult cases of Gotham City. Though the series takes place in Gotham, it’s notable for rarely featuring Batman.

Instead, the officers of the GD are living in his shadow and forced to not just contend with the corruption within the GD, but also the many costumed villains that Batman faces, such as Mr. Freeze or the Joker, all while grappling with their own personal problems.

Gotham Central Grounds Batman's World in the Perspective of Ordinary People

Gotham Central #1 by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Noelle Giddings, Digital Chameleon, and Willie Schubert

The main Batman series lives in the world of the fantastical. Many of the central characters associated with the franchise wear colorful costumes and use tools beyond what is feasibly possible. However, the perspective offered by most Batman comics is usually the perspective of Batman himself, or another costumed character. As such, the more fantastical elements of that world are ordinary to them, because that’s what these characters are used to dealing with. Stopping someone like Joker or Two-Face is just another day on the job for them.

This more grounded, street-level perspective on Batman and his world also helps to keep the fantastical feeling fresh and unique.

Gotham Central doesn’t seek to demystify the fantastical or ground it in realism, but to instead give it new context through the eyes of regular people. Characters like Renee Montoya and Cris Allen aren’t superhuman. They don’t have the same resources that Batman does, and that makes their jobs within the Major Crimes Unit more difficult. What’s more is that every member of the cast is keenly aware of this and bears some level of resentment towards Batman for this fact.

This more grounded, street-level perspective on Batman and his world also helps to keep the fantastical feeling fresh and unique. Gotham Central does so by also showcasing how harrowing it would be to deal with Batman’s rogues gallery as an average person. The first arc of the book features the Major Crimes Unit having to stop Mr. Freeze after he kills an officer, first trying to solve the case without Batman but eventually having to call him in because it’s gotten too big for them to handle on their own.

Gotham Central Embraces Its Place as DC's Premier Crime Comic

Brubaker, Rucka, and Lark Fire on All Cylinders

Beyond the shift in perspective that Gotham Central offers, the comic also serves as a wonderful crime comic. Series writers Brubaker and Rucka worked together on the first arc, before alternating between different shifts. Brubaker’s stories cover the night shift while Rucka’s are about the day shift. This approach to the cast of Gotham Central does a lot for the feel and tone of the book, making its world feel like a fully lived-in, inhabited place.

Though Renee Montoya plays a large role as a "regular person" in the cast of Gotham Central, she also later takes on the superhero identity of the Question. Fans can check out what Renee is up to as a member of the Justice League in The Question: All Along the Watchtower by Alex Segura and Cian Tormey, which is available now from DC Comics.

Additionally, both writers excel in the genre of crime comics. Gotham Central’s version of Gotham City is a dark and seedy place. Brubaker and Rucka craft cases and stories for the Major Crimes Unit that reflect the city. Even when the cases are solved, they rarely come with happy endings. Lark’s artwork for most of the series accentuates this attitude, casting most of the city in shadows and shining a light on the grittiest details of the street. It’s a dirty, thankless job, and the corruption within the GD, as well as working under Batman’s shadow, makes it worse.

Batman's Regular Cast Still Shines in the Grounded World of Gotham Central

Gotham City Is Home to Some of DC's Most Iconic Characters

While the book is fundamentally a crime comic, it never forgets that it’s set within Gotham City and the larger DC Universe. It uses iconic Batman characters to its benefit, showing just how out of their depth the Major Crimes Unit can be when handling the worst of the city. The police procedural elements don’t detract from the fantastical elements, nor is the reverse true. Both add to the other, creating a book within the Batman line that feels unlike anything else that’s come from it.

Gotham Central, despite and possibly because of Batman hardly featuring within its pages, remains one of the best comics to come from the franchise. Its take on Gotham City from the perspective of ordinary police officers gives the book a unique tone and feeling among Batman’s storied history, and it also succeeds on its own merits as a crime comic. While there have been other great comics that focus more on Gotham City and the people who live in it, none have ever hit the highs of Gotham Central.

Gotham Central is available now from DC Comics.