Gotham Central was to superhero comics as The Wire was to crime television, with its sprawling yet fleshed-out cast of police, its unflashy visuals, and its unfortunate lack of a large audience. This Joker-focused arc may be the series finest hour. It opens on a startling note as a sniper kills the mayor during a meeting with Commissioner Akins. For much of the story Joker remains an unseen but lingering force, sniping public figures at random and spurring (as he has done so often) a panicked exodus from the city. This is Gothams Finest going up against the very personification of urban chaos, and when they finally get him in the interrogation room, things only get worse for everybody.