Some comic book adaptations will completely divorce themselves from their source material, save the basic spine of the premise or plot, to the point that it's barely recognisable as the thing it's supposed to be based on. Others will include little winks or nods to their ancestors, off-handed remarks or in-jokes designed to appeal to the hardcore faithful looking for stuff in the background, without alienating more casual audiences. Gotham, which premiered on Fox last night, took an entirely different approach in reminding us that THIS IS A BATMAN PREQUEL TV SHOW, DID YOU GET THAT? In, say, Guardians Of The Galaxy, we often felt like we needed some sort of score sheet or guide to point out all the little details that were hidden in the background, in lines of dialogue, or were otherwise well-hidden. With Gotham it's the opposite: the references came so thick and fast that some of them were bound to pass us by, because we were already trying to make sense of the last call-out to a major Batman villain, character or storyline being mentioned during a busy plot which (ostensibly) saw rookie Detective James Gordon teaming up with new partner Harvey Bullock to solve the murder of socialites Thomas and Martha Wayne. At least, when Jim wasn't busy giving counselling to their now-orphaned son, Bruce. Or meeting his brusque butler, Alfred. Or being introduced to most members of the future Caped Crusader's rogues gallery, before they started wearing silly outfits. Or mentioning other bits and bobs and trivia from the 75 year history of Batman which, at some point, Gotham is going to have to deal with. You probably got a lot of the major ones, but could just as easily have missed more; so, after watching the pilot with a notebook in hand, we have the 17 Easter eggs and references from Gotham you must see.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
