When I heard the premise for this one in San Diego, I knew that it had potential to be another great Gotham Central tale, and judging by the first issue, the creators are fully realizing that potential. The chaos caused by a sniper, the acceleration of that chaos when his identity is revealed and the stress that it puts on the relationships within the precinct are all made very clear here, and it makes for a tense and exciting first chapter. Lark also just knocks it out of the park with his artwork on this one, bringing a gritty realism and easily identifiable geography and characters to the story so that we see the human element and not just the crime procedural ones.
Of course, the really interesting thing about this story isn't just that there is a sniper, but who the sniper is. It's not a huge secret, in fact if you read the solicitations or any of the comics news pages you probably know who it is, but just in case I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag in this review. All I will say is that his involvement pretty much guarantees more of a Batman presence than Gotham Central has had thus far, and it will be interesting to see how the antagonism between cops and vigilante adds to the tension, especially when even the most hard-boiled cop will have to admit that they probably need Batman on this one.
That's later, though, and this issue is all about the chaos unfolding. The creators open with another very Law & Order-esque "before the credits" moment, as a heated but pretty normal exchange turns into a shocking and sudden burst of violence that will have long-reaching political consequences for Gotham and the cops. The sudden intrusion of violence into ordinary lives is a big part of the terror of sniper attacks, and the creative team really conveys that sense well in these pages. We don't know most of the victims, and certainly don't like at least one of them, but sharing in the unease when they're gunned down is made all too easy.
The story is also all about the interaction of the various characters, a strong background element that is really what the series is all about. The rejoined partnership of Cris Allen and Renee Montoya, the unusual abilities of Josie Mac, the tension over who got the MCU chief job between Probson and Sawyer (with a touch of homophobia on Probson's part too), it all feeds into an already tense situation and makes it feel more real. I still wish we could get a role call in these issues for the new readers (I know who everybody is at this point, but I bet new readers don't and I'm sure they don't know why Josie is able to spot the sniper's nest so easily), but in general my early confusion about which detective was which is gone thanks to strong characterization.
Then there's the art, and Lark and Loughridge do a fantastic job on this issue. Lark's work has been getting even more impressive with each issue, and the first part of "Soft Targets" may be his best work yet. I love the distinctive looks that he's given these characters, the attention put into the backgrounds and the more grotesque elements of the crime scenes, the way he can simulate an eruption of motion and violence on a static page and just the general gritty and real style he gives the book. The sniper isn't a physical presence in this book yet, but the way the bullets start raining down out of nowhere makes us feel like we can see his personality, and that's a tribute to the effectiveness of the artwork.
