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December 13, 2004
Subway Reading - Gotham Central
The end of a weekend is always sad. That Sunday night dread has been with me since childhood, dropping in every seven days to taunt me. There is a silver lining to the start of another work week, though. Going to work means riding the subway. And riding the subway means... comic books!
Gotham Central #26 - Welcome to the post-Michael Lark era. Jason Alexander (who must be very tired of hearing George Costanza jokes, and therefore I am going to resist the temptation) takes over the artistic chores with this issue. Alexander has a history with co-writer Greg Rucka; the artist worked on an arc of Queen and Country a year or two back. At the time, I liked his idiosyncratic style and gentle touch, but I felt that he needed to reign in the expressive brush work. The heavy black marks tended to obscure the action. It seems that in the intervening months he received my unsolicited telepathic advice, and the results are very pleasing. Alexander seems to have embraced negative space. His layouts are direct, dramatic, and designed beautifully. The empty areas enhance the effectiveness of his sensitive line work; the eye is drawn to it rather than distracted by black shadows and scribbly textures. One of the more satisfying aspects about reading comics is watching the development of an artist, and such a progression is on display here.
Ed Brubaker's story is tight and engaging, setting up both a two-issue mystery and a possibly longer-reaching subplot featuring a member of the G.C.P.D. Imagine that, a storyline that is wrapped up in two issues! In this day and age of bloated six-issue trade-ready snooze-a-thons, it's refreshing to see the needs of the story dictate its length rather than the needs of the marketplace. But I digress. Brubaker has often displayed a skill for creating sympathetic characters, setting up a moral quandary for them, and then dropping them into a compelling plot. He goes 3 for 3 in this issue. All in all this title continues its steady rise to the top of my favorites. 4 stars.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at December 13, 2004 10:43 AM