This week's recommended comic is Gotham Central: Vol.2 - Half A Life by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark.

Gotham Central is a police procedural drama set in Gotham City in which everyday cops have to deal with the typical superhuman crimes that result in a city overrun by Batman's enemies. It is a street level view of this mythic city and what makes it work is that Batman is a presence that is generally not seen as much as he is felt. When you're a cop dealing with the likes of the Joker or Two-Face, you don't really know whether or not Batman is going to swing in and clean up the mess or not. And being a cop, you don't really want a vigilante getting involved in the procedure anyway. Reading a Batman comic from the point of view of everyday cops makes it quite unexpected when the caped crusader does decide to pop up.

This volume collects one of the best story arcs of the series, which won an Eisner Award last year for Best Serialised Story. It focuses on Detective Renee Montoya, who carries a personal secret that is outed to her family and colleagues as she is simultaneously framed for the murder of a private investigator.

Gotham Central alternates between two writers. Ed Brubaker will write the day shift for one story arc and then Greg Rucka (who writes this arc) will take over with the night shift. Gotham City as drawn by series artist Michael Lark is dark and real and the characters that he inhabits it with are like real people that are nearly but not quite jaded by the overabundance of super villains they must deal with every day. This is as good as anything on Law and Order or NYPD Blue and much more mature than most comics set within the DC Universe.

Check out your local comic shop today. If you don't know where your local comic shop is, find it here: http://www.the-master-list.com