Fox (Left), DC Entertainment (Right)
It’s possible to start watching Fox’s Gotham without any grounding in Batman mythology. Even if the name “Bruce Wayne” means nothing to you, you can still watch the pilot and get a sense of what’s going on: A rich kid’s parents are murdered, and it’s such a big deal that the underworld is abuzz and the police are desperate to find out who’s responsible. It’s pretty much open-and-shut.
Except that the true appeal of Gotham, which premieres tonight, isn’t necessarily the case of the week, nor is it watching police detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) try to be the last good cop in the city. It’s watching Batman’s city come together slowly, with various characters emerging from the background to become household names like Catwoman, the Penguin, and the Riddler. But there’s even more happening in the show than that—the pilot alone features elements of all number of comics from the last few decades. Here are five that you might want to check out before tuning in to the series.
Batman: Year One
In many ways this is the urtext of the show, although the city in the classic 1987 comic is arguably more convincingly corrupt (and certainly devoid of quite so many future bad guys) than the TV show. Nevertheless, all of the basic Gotham DNA is here: a city falling into darkness without anyone to defend it, outside of one lone cop who’s surrounded by an entire department of ones on the take. In addition, you get what might be Frank Miller’s greatest script and, in David Mazzuchelli’s breathtaking visuals, some of the best artwork the Dark Knight has ever enjoyed. Even if Gotham the show disappoints, this should be considered essential reading.
How to read it: Available digitally and in a collected print edition.
Batman: Earth One
In many ways an updated (and truncated) version of Year One, last year’s Batman: Earth One features two takes on long-running Batman characters that have clearly influenced the television show: the former military tough guy Alfred Pennyworth (played by Sean Pertwee on Gotham) and good-cop-gone-bad Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue). With the graphic novel’s take on Jim Gordon not being a million miles away from the television show’s portrayal, it’s tempting to say that writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank accidentally created a pre-pilot version of Gotham—or, at least, a pretty good primer for many of the main characters.
How to read it: Available digitally and in print.
Gotham Central
With much of Gotham’s focus intended to be on the Gotham City Police Department, there’s no way that this much-loved series by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and other creators that ran from 2003-2006 couldn’t be on the list. A grounded procedural that took a serious swing at answering the question How can the legal system operate in a city where Batman fights costumed crooks every night of the week?, Gotham Central remains a highlight of DC’s overall output over the last few decades. There’s a particular Gotham connection, too: Renee Montoya (played by Victoria Cartagena) and Cris Allen (Andrew Stewart-Jones), who both play important roles in the show? This is where they really had the chance to shine.
How to read it: Available digitally and in collected print editions.
Batman: Gordon of Gotham
While Gotham Central might have been DC’s best attempt at creating straight-up cop dramas set in Batman’s hometown, it wasn’t the publisher’s first attempt. That series was preceded by a handful of mini-series that ran through the 1990s: Batman: Gordon of Gotham, Batman: GCPD and Batman: Gordon’s Law. While lacking a certain subtlety in their execution, they remain solid crime stories, which might explain the fact that DC is releasing a collection of all three series under one title, Gordon of Gotham, on Sept. 24. If you want to get inside the head of Jim Gordon, you could do worse than pick these up. (If you fancy going through back issue bins, there were two more minis from the same period, Batman: Gotham Nights and Batman: Gotham Nights II, that focused on the regular citizens in the city and are worth a look.)
How to read it: Available digitally and in a collected print edition.
52
This one might seem like more of an outlier than the others, but the year-long weekly series that teamed superstar writers Greg Rucka, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and Mark Waid and attempted to redefine the wider DC Universe of the time has a legitimate connection to the Fox show in Renee Montoya, and specifically her relationship with a socialite ex—in 52, Kate Kane, in Gotham, Barbara Kean. We’re not saying that Gotham plans to go the full distance and turn Renee and Barbara into quasi-costumed crime-fighters (Kate becomes Batwoman in 52, which would be a nice way for the show to have a bat-themed superhero without rushing to Batman), but it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility.
How to read it: Available digitally and in collected print editions.
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