Criminal: The Last of the Innocent

There is something about Brubaker's writing in this series that is just so silky smooth.  It feels effortless, perfect even.  Not being up on all the top crime writers I can't imagine that Brubaker isn't high among them.  He plays the noir genre like his instrument of choice and even though we know the rules of the game, he still delights us with his turns.  This volume is about a man who decides to murder his rich, cheating wife and pin it on another man.  Now we know that in the world of noir crime never pays, but Brubaker likes to take liberties with the rules, and he doesn't always make people pay in the way you'd expect…
And what they do in this particular story is telling a really fucked up version of Archie, really.  If you're familiar with that gang you'll see how each of those characters translates to the characters here and it's really quite well done - even down to the imitation art work used to show the flashbacks. 
I absolutely love this series and I hope that Brubaker has many many more of these in store.  I know that someone is currently adapting the first trade of Criminal into a film, but I'd love to see the whole world done up properly. 
If you're a fan of noir, crime fiction, or just solid writing in general, do yourself a favour and read this series.

Criminal: The Sinners

Ed Brubaker isn't a good writer. He's a great writer. He's the kind of writer you sit and read and are just in awe of. The kind of writer who makes you think you're wasting your time even trying to be in the same profession that he's in. And when he writes Criminal, he's flawless.

I love this series. It actually very well may be my favourite comic series, and I know that if I ever try to tackle the noir genre, this is going to be my first reference.

It's hard to tell if Brubaker is wrapping the series up with this instalment or if it's just another part of the world - a lot of shit goes down here, and if this is how it ends - it's not a bad way to go out. It's full of all the stuff we've come to expect from this series and noir in general, and it outdoes our expectations. If you have a sense of the rules of noir, you know how things are going to go down sooner or later, but what the great noir writers know is that it's the telling of the tale, that makes it all worth while.

I love this book about as much as anyone can love a book. Once I get through my stack I'm going to revisit this series. It's just so goddamn good.

Gotham Central: Dead Robin

And so it ends. And like expected, not with a bang, but a whimper - but at least the whimper was from someone unexpected...
So before I get into more specific details, let me just talk about the series as a whole. If I was to pitch this I would say it's "The Wire with Batman". Now I know it's not fair to compare things, especially in different mediums, but I think it's a fair assessment. Not in in the way that it examines the different sides of a city or even simply the law, it just sticks to the police really, but just in it's grittiness. If Gotham existed with all the insanity of the 'freaks' in it - this is what it would be like to be a cop there. So for those of you who are missing 'The Wire' this is about as close as you're going to get from the cop angle.
So this final book is called 'Dead Robin' but that's not even the story that's the most interesting, it's the final, brutal story which, thankfully, is Batman free. How ironic that I feel that way. I always enjoy when he pops in in this series, but I ALWAYS want the cops to solve the case before he does. And that's a huge accomplishment.
I don't want to give away specific details except to say that this is writing that just demands to be read. You can't put it down for very long - and that's a good thing. Brubaker only pulls half duty here - but I'll definitely read anything he's got his pen on. Can't wait to dig into more of his 'Criminal' work.
So I recommend this series about as highly as I can. It's wonderful. Please please please read it. But start from the beginning.

Gotham Central: The Quick & the Dead

I've lost the numbering structure of this series as the hardcover and trade numbers don't line up. Also I believe that there was a cross-over book that happened between this and the last in which Batman did something to piss off the G.C.P.D. and so when we enter here, they're taking down the Bat-Signal. The Cops and The Cape are not on speaking terms, and not everyone shares the opinion.
It would seem that Allen and Montoya are the lead characters of this series, if it has lead characters. They're the most interesting and most written about anyway. The last arc in this book was the most interesting to me, in particular because I know nothing of Doctor Alchemy and was really excited to see where they would take the storyline. It's a bit anti-climatic, but in a wonderful way. Again, I really enjoy when the cops triumph instead of Batman.
Looking forward to the next, and apparently, final volume in this series where the G.C.P.D. is after The Bat himself...

Gotham Central #2: Jokers & Madmen

You kind of have to wonder if the Nolan's didn't take some pieces of this and make it their own for The Dark Knight. Or perhaps the ideas were just surfacing around the same time. Regardless. There's some really great writing in this series (and a little 'meh' writing), but the good outweighs the 'meh'. And the 'meh' isn't even that bad - it's just not as amazing as the best of, in this case.
We get to see some characters fleshed out a bit more, the mystery of Bullock (who I just learned was apparently a big character in the 80's Batman comics). What I love about reading this the most is how much I want the cops to get to the villains before Batman does, I'm rooting for the average Joe over the Bat. Which is a testament to the fine writing.
This is a really clever and great series and would make a fantastic television show at some point if they found a way to make it work. Like The Wire but with superheroes and villains. It could work!

Criminal: Bad Night

God damn it do I love this book. I read it practically in one sitting. Brubaker knows how to weave a tail and put you right into the skin of his characters. The way he'll weave into other characters P.O.V.'s for a moment or two, just so you can see where they're coming from - even if they are a damaged and deranged bastard. I can't think of a better noir series, not that I'm a big noir expert, but this just soars high above any other crime fiction I've read just for it's purity and grittiness. No one walks away without being punished. I'd love to write in this genre one day. Mine would be more a mixture of this and Damon Runyon combined though I think. Not sure I could go quite as serious and dark as Brubaker, but I'd like to think I could. What a lovely world to play in. I need to pick up my Chandler novels again and start reading them.

Gotham Central #1: In the Line of Duty

So to start off, this book is by the same writer as Criminal, that noir comic that I was gushing about below. So you've got a great crime writer taking on Batman in a Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead sort of way and what happens as a result is "Batman meets The Wire'.
So the premise is that we're following the Gotham Police Department, the men and women that work in one of the most crime infested cities in the world, and not only do they have to deal with the criminal element but also on a masked vigilante hell-bent on defeating crime themselves. The writing is fantastic. The characters excellent. Relevant. Smart. It keeps you guessing and wondering yourself. You've got one side of the force who sees Batman as one of them, but off the books, and another side who becomes insanely happy when they can solve a crime without the Bat's help at all. I've never really read much of Batman in comic form, but if there is a Batman book that's better than this one, please let me know ASAP.
Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to the rest of this series.

Criminal: The Dead & The Dying

Goddamn can Brubaker write noir. It's insane how good these are. What we've got here is a fractured story from three points of view. Nothing new, but he plays in this structure with the finesse of a master. Each story brings you deeper into characters that were merely background performers in the previous books and we start to see just how deep and rich this world really is. The stories are endless, and that's kind of the fun - this can go on as long as Brubaker has ideas and the desire to do so. There is a great television or film series within these books and there would be a lot of fun to figure out what that would be. Been borrowing these books right now, but I can't wait to get my own copies. Beautiful art work, great character work. For any fan of crime fiction, especially noir, this is hard to beat.

Criminal: Lawless

This series just continues to get better. Each trade is a stand alone story with a few returning characters sprinkled in just to let us know that this world has a continuity. Glad to see Leo still kicking around, and Angie working at the Undertow. This book centred on the the theme of revenge and what it means - does it exist? And it's got some interesting answers, or I suppose technically non-answers.

The writing is tight and playful within the world of noir. I imagine that the Sin City series is similar to this regard. I've been borrowing this series but I can see it as something that I might want to have on my shelf one day. If you're a fan of crime fiction, this is a solid series with good characters, themes, and plots.

Criminal: Coward

I'm late to Brubaker's stuff, but glad to be here now. This one popped so much more for me than the other book of his that I read recently. He's got the noir down pat, and also the criminal mind in terms of the worries, concerns, fears, and troubles that I'm sure plague them. I'm not sure how this series is going to work, but it's intriguing so far. It reads more like a film structure, which is fine by me. It's filled with great characters as well as really clever story and plotting. Highly highly recommend this book.

Incognito

This is my first venture into the world of Ed Brubaker. I have to say, I was 'meh' for a lot of this. It's a big world with a lot of characters, and I'm not sure what to think or care as I'm going along. The art work doesn't do anything for me, really. I'm not sure what it is about it, I think I just wanted them to go a little further with the idea of the noir. Feels like photoshop filters on top of photos. Maybe it'll grow on me. I'm not trying to say that they aren't artistic, but to me they just aren't effective. The covers are really wonderful though.
The characters are interesting. Essentially it's about a super-villian in some kind of a witness protection program following the death of his twin brother. It's interesting enough. I mean, I think it would make a hell of a film. By the end of it I was into it and I'll gladly read more (which is rumoured to be coming). Although it felt like they burned through a lot of characters in this book. I'm sure that there's more where that came from. At any rate I'm intrigued enough to look into more of Brubaker's stuff - I'm especially intrigued by "Sleeper" & "Gotham Central". I quite liked Incognito - but I didn't absolutely love it.