Book Three is another hit or miss volume. Ultimately the great stories carry the mediocre ones but the artwork definitely hits a new low. Here are the main stories in the volume:

Corrigan by Greg Rucka



I’ve always liked the partnership between Detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya so this was another good one. Allen and Montoya end up walking in on a gang war between the Black Spider and some random Gotham gang. One of the random gang members gets hit in the crossfire and takes the opportunity to sue the city because he claims that Allen shot him while he was handcuffed. Unfortunately for Allen, the only evidence that would exonerate him ends up in the pocket of a corrupt crime scene investigator. With Allen on enforced leave, it’s up to Montoya and an Internal Affairs agent to discover the truth.

Seeing the lengths that Montoya would go to for her partner was awesome and the divisions between Major Crimes (who were handpicked by Gordon and therefore are mostly on the level) and the fairly corrupt regular beat cops and crime scene investigators were really interesting. The story itself doesn’t have much mystery (since you know what the problem is and who’s responsible pretty much from the beginning) but the other aspects make up for it. On the downside, the art takes a serious turn for the worse. I mean, I can’t throw too many stones since my artwork is limited to pathetic stick figures but bruises should not look like Montoya has smeared grape jelly on her face.

Batman vs Gotham Central by Greg Rucka



This moment has been coming since Batman refused to explain his actions in Soft Targets. He finally goes too far and in ignoring police procedure causes the deaths of numerous officers of the GCPD. In response, the Commissioner decides to make it clear to Batman that he won’t tolerate that and that Batman and the GCPD are no longer on speaking terms. The way the different officers (and bystanders) respond to this was really compelling. Especially the division between Montoya (who supports Batman as he has saved her life numerous times) and Allen (who didn’t grow up in Gotham and has never particularly liked the fact that Batman and the GCPD have worked together). Since they’re supposed to be the perfect cop partnership, it felt very real to see even them divided on the issue.

On the Freak Beat by Ed Brubaker



In this one, you finally find out what the hell makes Josie MacDonald such a spot-on detective and I have to admit that it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s a little strange to have Josie be psychic-ish with items since the rest of the series tends to stay on the realistic side but since this is the same universe that has Superman and Green Lantern, it’s not too hard to swallow. The basic premise is that a prominent televangelist has been murdered and all the facts point to Catwoman as being responsible. Luckily for the cat burglar, Josie doesn’t buy this and when Catwoman overhears Josie’s secret, she blackmails the detective into proving it wasn’t Catwoman who committed the murder. It’s a generally well-written story if not one of Brubaker’s best.

Keystone Kops by Greg Rucka



Man, Greg Rucka’s stories are really hit or miss for me. This one is somewhere in the middle. The only thing that I really liked about it was Montoya’s personal growth. This story involves a villain I’ve never heard of, probably because he’s apparently one of Flash’s villains. In the process of helping some kids in a pretty rough neighborhood, one of the good, non-corrupt beat cops named Andrew Kelly gets infected by some pretty nasty chemicals. It turns out that this was the work of yet another psychotic villain, this time one who usually works out of Keystone. Since Montoya knows the neighborhood (the situation occurs right outside the shop that’s owned by her father) and was Kelly’s mentor when he first got started, she ends up going to Keystone to see if a cure can be found for the poor man. Things don’t go as planned, add a little Batman and a villain who is part chemist and part Riddler and you get a complicated situation for Montoya. It’s balanced out by her interactions with the father who had disowned her when she was outted as a lesbian, which is really the saving grace of the story. If you really like Montoya, it’s worth reading but otherwise nothing is lost by skipping it.

The stories are mostly well-written and interesting (nothing anywhere near as boring as that extremely forgettable one in Book Two) but the artwork is awful. I mean, not the worst I’ve ever seen but it’s bad. Which is really a shame since some of the stories are great, particularly Batman vs Gotham Central.

Overall, it’s still one I’d recommend if you like the series, just try and ignore the awfulness of the artwork.