"The End" Week: Gotham Central #40!

I wasn't going to blog this issue, since I wasn't a regular reader of this title, but it's got "The End" right on the cover! From 2006, Gotham Central #40, "Corrigan II (Part Three)" Written by Greg Rucka, pencils by Kano, inks by Stefano Gaudiano.

There is no dialog for the first three pages here, as the investigation of the murder of Detective Crispus Allen continues with the questioning of crime scene officer Jim Corrigan and his girlfriend. This Jim Corrigan wasn't the same one that became the Spectre, or apparently related in any way besides a distinct resemblance; the name was apparently a red herring all the way. Allen was investigating the corrupt Corrigan, who then shot him.

With an alibi, and a bit of ballistics trickery, the GCPD can't connect the murder weapon to the bullet to Corrigan, who walks. Devastated by her partner's death, and having a history with Corrigan already, Renee Montoya is spiralling down. A visit with Allen's son Jake doesn't help her out, either:


After a bit of drinking, Montoya just marches herself to Corrigan's, set on simply murdering the hell out of him. She administers a bit of the ol' pistol-whip to his girlfriend, and Corrigan cries at gunpoint until Montoya thinks better of it. The next day, as the rest of the force prepares for Allen's funeral, Montoya turns in her gun and badge, saying she's got nothing left.

Of course, Montoya hadn't hit rock bottom just yet: she would be a full-blown alcoholic by the time the Question hires her in the weekly series 52. After Vic Sage's death, she would become the new Question, and last I saw she had been given the Mark of Cain by Vandal Savage. Still, in the NuDC, her current status is unknown. Much as I'd love to have Vic back, I know a lot of work has been done with Montoya, and it'd be a shame to bench her now.