Slow to start. By the end of the book I was engaged and ready to read book two. ( )

Brubaker and Rucka doing what they do best! ( )

Gotham Central has been sadly hard to find for a long time, but these new reprinted editions are great stuff. The praise for this series is nigh-universal, and it's obvious why. The premise is slap-your-forehead, why-didn't-I-tihnk-of-that good: police procedurals in Gotham City, with time constantly running out before the Batman takes over. (How this got passed over for a series, I'll never know.)

In The Line of Duty collects three arcs, and they're all great:

- The title arc introduces the team and does a great job of setting up the tension between the police and Batman. I don't want to say too much as there's a spectacular surprise in the first few pages.

- Motive is a great Firefly story that reminded me a bit of early CSI episodes.

- Finally, Half a Life is a spectacular close to the collection -- it deals with long-time (okay, at least fan favorite) Batman supporting cast member Renee Montoya being outed as a lesbian, and it is just well-written from start to finish.

My biggest quibble is that Rucka's art can make it hard to tell some officers apart, but that does't change the fact that this is a great premise, well-executed. Get on this. ( )

Collects the first 10 issues of the series with two excellent arcs. This is McBain-style police procedural with all the banter, obsessive detective work and intense partnerships you would expect in a precinct where the cops are keen to close a case before Batman swoops in and closed it for them. Renee Montoya makes an excellent lead and I know things take a spooky turn for her partner Crispus Allen, but I really want to get the rest of these as soon as possible. ( )

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka’s “Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty” is a collection of ten first issues of an award-winning comic book series “Gotham Central” with an introduction by Lawrence Block. “Gotham Central” offers a closer look at professional as well as personal lives of police officers from the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), who deal with vicious big-city criminals and homicidal super villains, racing to solve the crimes before Batman takes over.

“Gotham Central, Book One” consist of three story arcs: “In the Line of Duty” (issues #1-2), “Motive” (issues #3-5) and “Half a Life” (issues #6-10). In the first story, Mr. Freeze kills one of the GCPD’s officers, and the squad assumes the duty of hunting the villain down without Batman’s help. In “Motive,” Marcus Driver tries to solve the kidnapping/murder of a teenage girl while the rest of the team is after a costumed arsonist Firebug. The last story features detective Renee Montoya, who is outed as a lesbian, charged with a murder and kidnapped by Two-Face.

THUMBS UP:

1) Realistic and relatable.
Even though “Gotham Central, Book One” features super villains and Batman in fictional Gotham City, the story focuses on GCPD’s officers, and thus the plot details as well as characters, their actions and emotions are surprisingly realistic and relatable.

2) Action-packed mystery.
In addition to being very realistic, the plot in “Gotham Central, Book One” is dynamic, intriguing and well-thought-out. Although the end of “Motive” was a tiny bit predictable, I enjoyed the story nonetheless. In fact, “Motive” was my favorite out of all three story arcs.

3) Organic conversational flow.
I especially loved beginnings of individual episodes, which often start with fragments of random conversations. Most of these conversations are totally irrelevant but they set a natural flow for the rest of the dialogue.

4) Mood-reflecting artwork.
Although I’ve seen some criticism regarding the artwork in “Gotham Central, Book One”, I personally thought that rough lines and grim colors complement the dark vibe of the plot and suit the mood of the series perfectly. Besides, the looks and postures of the characters seem down-to-earth. However, I did notice that the same characters not always look the same in different scenes, even though they are all drawn by the same artist Michael Lark.

VERDICT: 4 out of 5

“Gotham Central, Book One” collects three realistic, dynamic and intriguing stories from GCPD with relatable characters, organic conversations and aptly grim artwork. It’s a great first installment in a cop series set in the superhero universe but told solely from the perspective of mortals. ( )