The Best TV Show Never Made - Gotham Central

Imagine a television series that took place in Gotham City. Oh wait, that already happened. It was called Birds of Prey and focused on Oracle, Black Canary and Huntress. It came and went quietly. But imagine that it was done RIGHT, by making it in the Chris Nolan age where realism, grit and epic storytelling were the main themes.

Gotham Central started off as an experiment in 2003 by the best crime writers in the comics genre - Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, two guys who know how to write genuine detective stories as well as police procedurals. Their idea was to do crime stories set in the city of Batman but with the costumed freaks firmly in the background. The main characters were formerly supporting ones themselves - Maggie Sawyer who previously was the head of Metropolis' Major Crimes Unit now transferred to Gotham, Crispus Allen from Detective Comics and the animated DVD Batman: Gotham Knight, Renee Montoya from Bruce Timm's Batman Animated and Marcus Driver, an entirely new character. Their stories focused on solid police procedurals that sometimes involved supervillains, sometimes not - and Batman's presence (if not the man himself) shadowing in the background. Many of the characters, of which there are almost 20 officers, look down upon their supposed need to always contact Batman to solve their cases. And while most refuse to accept his help when they hedge their own abilities to solve crimes, they do understand his necessity in taking down some of the supervillains when their own firepower isn't enough.

So combining top-notch storytelling and clever cameos by Batman and his Rogues Gallery (plus some cameos from the Titans and Flash's Rogues), what do you get? Eisner and Harvey Award attention in the first year for writing, series and inking. You had serious DC character development unmatched in other series, Montoya (who most of us remember as the plucky detective alongside Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon in the DCAU) becomes a lesbian and starts her path into leaving the GCPD and turning into the next Question, and Crispus Allen is on his way into becoming the next Spectre. And it was a thrill to see how seemingly regular crimes ended up involving characters like The Joker, Mad Hatter, Two Face or Catwoman. Or vice versa, where you would think costume freaks are involved but you are not sure. Maybe not.

But funny enough, the series was a commercial failure. It was like a critically acclaimed art house movie that wins top honors at all the film festivals and yet never finds its audience. It ran for 40 issues before the writers could no longer justify its existence despite continually racking up awards.

And end footnote was that, ironically, TV execs at Warner Bros (owners of DC and producers of the Nolan films) LOVED the comic series. Although they were nonplussed with Birds of Prey's failure, their confidence in the quality of writing and character development (imagine Hill Street Blues or CSI, but with Batman in it!) would make it a reality if not for the fact that there is a moratorium on all Batman TV shows as long as the film saga will keep going. So we got that.

Paul Dini's Fetish

Paul Dini is probably most famous for being one of the original producers and writers for Batman The Animated Series, and for having helped launched the DC Animated Universe, itself having the nickname of "Diniverse". Today he is still active in the comic world for being the current writer for Gotham City Sirens and Batman: Streets of Gotham. He just penned the script for the game Batman: Arkham Asylum (although the original concept was done over a decade ago by Grant Morrison in the now classic Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth). His writing style can best be described as solid, compelling, and knows when to take light and serious steps in his writing, anchored by strong characterizations in his dramatis personae. IMHO, the only other writer of similar ability is James Robinson.

What he is not as known for is his eternal appreciation for sexy, garter belt-armed magician women. Being himself a bit of an amateur illusionist, no doubt being in the circles of performing magicians led to a relatively healthy fascination with said type of fine women. Starting with an infatuation with DC Comics' homo magi character Zatanna Zatara, he no-doubt coincidentally eventually married a magician by the name of Misty Lee, who then took on some of the trappings of Zatanna (or vice versa, well Zatanna was chronologically around longer). He then wrote his own creator-owned comic series called Madame Mirage on Top Cow Comics, about a vengeance-fueled illusionist superheroine which coincidentally and admittedly was based on his wife.

I include pictures, in order, of: 1) DC's Zatanna, 2) Zatanna as portrayed by the actress/model Serinda Swan in Smallville, 3) Misty Lee, Paul Dini's wife, and 4) Paul Dini's Madame Mirage. See the resemblance?

Analyzing the DC Universe Original Animated Movies

Since most, if not all, of these were direct to DVD (and hence an automatic stigma gets attached to that), a lot of these didn't receive a lot of publicity when they came out. Which is a shame, as critical response has been amazing - in fact a lot better than most of the animated movies which actually make it to the theatre. I would guess DC does it for cost reasons, DVD sales can be pretty brisk as is, and the marketing budgets needed to launch a movie are cost-prohibitive. But at any case, let's take a closer look at the DC Originals.

1. Justice League: The New Frontier. Based on Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel, this is a storyline that takes place in the McCarthy era. The JSA has been broken up and heroes are not well-received by the government and the people. It's about the rise of the JLA as told through mainly Green Lantern (Hal Jordan version) and the Martian Manhunter. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are secondary characters. The Flash (Barry Allen version), Will Magnus, Kyle Morgan (Challengers of the Unknown), Rick Flagg, The Atom, Green Arrow, King Faraday, and Adam Strange also make appearances. There are plenty of villainous cameos and the main villain is The Center, otherwise known as Dinosaur Island. Some great writing here, and even if you're not a big fan of the Silver Age of comics, this is still impressive. Rating PG-13.

Comparison: animated series such as The Superfriends, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.

How does it stack up? It's on par with the latter two series although the era that its set in adds a definite Cold War feel on par with the Watchmen. With no live movie to compare to (not including that 1970s crap with Ed McMahon), this is now the standard. The artwork is wonderfully done in a Max Fleischer-style, and feels right for a Justice Society-timeframe look. Voice-wise, I just didn't buy into Jeremy Sisto as Bruce Wayne.

Best parts: David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan and Neil Patrick Harris as Barry Allen. The speech by John F Kennedy at the end to a montage of everything coming in the JLA history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League:_The_New_Frontier

2. Superman: Doomsday. Based on the Death of Superman series that was a ploy to rise profits on the Superman title when things weren't going so well for DC, with the character of Doomsday being a pure plot device rather than a real foil with any justifications for wiping out the Man of Steel. This movie adaptation streamlined that narrative and eliminates many of the new characters like Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw), John Henry Irons, Eradicator and Connor Kent. Instead they are all replaced by Bizarro, which kind of makes sense when you think about it.

How does it stack up? In truth, the only animated comparison is the Justice League episode Hereafter, which itself took elements of the Funeral for a Friend storyline from the comics. I suppose the only thing that can be compared to it is the Superman Returns live movie by Brian Singer. And if we're going to do it that way, then the animated movie actually wins. Superman Returns had far too many flaws to bring it to bear.

Best parts: James Marsters as Lex Luthor, and Adam Baldwin as Superman. I would think that Tim Daly and Clancy Brown would have been better, but Marsters and Baldwin were serviceable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Doomsday

3. Batman: Gotham Knight. This was a companion DVD in preparation to the theatrical release of Nolan's Dark Knight. It was six different films done by six different Japanese animation companies, much in the same way as the Animatrix. In fact, the same companies that worked on the Animatrix were the contributors to Gotham Knight. These stories are set between Batman Begins and Dark Knight or during the training period before Bruce Wayne discovers the League of Shadows in Bhutan. Some deal with pain, others with his tenuous relationship with the Gotham City Police Force, others how the public perceive him. There are appearances by the Scarecrow, Crispus Allen, Killer Croc and Deadshot.

How does it stack up? In reality, the closest two things to compare this to is the Animatrix, and Gotham Knight is easily more compelling. The other, unfortunately, is the Batman Animated Series by Bruce Timm, which had already set the standard for all DC animated efforts for now going almost 15 years. True that Gotham Knight is better animation, but the Timm-verse series has the history, the writing, and the pedigree behind it. Lastly, we have to compare this to the Dark Knight movie itself - and unfortunately it will be a very long time before any cartoon is going to knock that movie off its top pedestal. Not even close.

Best parts: the animation is stunning, pure and simple. However, the voice acting is so-so, with some overuse by Corey Burton for Jonathan Crane. But thankfully, Kevin Conroy of Timm-verse Batman lends his voice as Bruce Wayne and putting it bluntly, he IS the voice of Batman, easily making Christian Bale's voice sound like a geriatric's ulcer come alive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Gotham_Knight

4. Wonder Woman. Directed by Lauren Montgomery, this shows the introduction of Diana, princess of Themyscira to the modern world in the background of a war between the Greek gods. Her delving into our world is merely a subploy by the god of war, Ares, to regain his powers and change the balance of power in Olympus. Now that's all well and good, but really, this is actually the first successful portrayal of Wonder Woman in a feature film ever. Excellent writing, tons of humor, mythical bloodshed, decapitations, rendered limbs and awesome voice acting. This is actually the best of the DCAU Original Movies bunch.

How does it stack up? Compared to what? The TV show with Linda Carter? Her role as a supporting character in the Justice League Timm-verse series? There is nothing to compare this to. This is the new standard for Wonder Woman!

Best parts: the voice acting. All of it. From Keri Russell as Diana, to Nathan Fillion as Steve Trevor, to Virginia Madsen as Hippolyta, to Alfred Molina as Ares and Rosario Dawson as Artemis. They knock this one out of the ballpark.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman_(film)

5. Green Lantern: First Flight. This shows the introduction of Hal Jordan to the Green Lantern Corps. How he got his ring is shown in the first five minutes (and frankly, Justice League: The New Frontier did a better job of it) so they scoot through that to show the Guardians of Oa, the GLC and Sinestro. Basically, it is Hal Jordan versus Sinestro with some politicking up front and in your face. We all know Hal Jordan will win this, its actually a question of how he is going to do it. There are appearances by Kilowog, Arisia, Ganthet, Boodikka, Carol Ferris, Tomar Re, Kanjar Ro and the Weaponers of Qward.

How does it stack up? Again, similar to Wonder Woman, there is nothing to compare this to... except, perversely, Justice League: The New Frontier in terms of the portrayal of Hal Jordan. And in reality, David Boreanaz did a better job than Christopher Meloni. But as is, with no other Green Lantern films, series, etc to compare to... it is the new standard. I heard that there is a movie in the works with the over-exposed Ryan Reynolds in the running as Jordan (although he would be better as Kyle Rayner) we have to wait and see.

Best parts: in terms of sequences - the running battle between the GLC and Kanjar Ro's gang. Brutal and sequentially brilliant. And the meeting between Sinestro and the Weaponers of Qward, casual, terse and pretty funny. Victor Garber's voice as Sinestro was spot on. Much much better than Ted Levine in the Timm-verse series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Lantern:_First_Flight

Upcoming this year, Batman/Superman: Public Enemies. Based on the DC Comics opening narrative for World' Finest.

Gotham City

Gotham City is a beast, the dark sister city of bright and beautiful Metropolis, which is probably why people just love the dark deco monstrosity that it is. Did you know that in the Tim Burton movie, Vancouver BC's map was used as the geographic layout of the city? Throughout history, everyone has had a take on what the city should look like. It's an architect's dream and a civic planner's nightmare. Here's some takes by Anton Furst, Chris Nolan, DC Comics and DCAU