
I'm a big fan of comic books; particularly those which are simultaneously dark and funny. I love the way that superheroes are the ultimate alpha male, and the way that female superheroes are no less strong, brave or empathetic than their male counterparts.
So you can imagine my delight when FOX announced that they were developing Gotham. Gotham is the ulitmate origins story, looking at superheroes and villains alike (including a very young Bruce Wayne and characters who will develop into Catwoman, Penguin, Poison Ivy amongst others). But this isn't limiited to the household names that we know and love.
Gotham feeds off comics such as Gotham Central and places those in the police department at the very centre of its narrative.
And this is where today's Male on Monday - Benjamin McKenzie - comes in.
McKenzie plays a young James Gordon - Gordon before he's wizened and a legend in the force; a Gordon who is passionate and a firm believer in "doing the right thing", even when faced with the impossibility of the corrupt police force of Gotham.

It's a constant struggle for him to understand how
he will ever possibly succeed in a city that seems to be beyond
redemption. He can be surprised at his own ability when confronted with
evil to cut a deal with the devil to get things done. That is going to
be a large part of him: How does he survive in a city that is as immoral
as Gotham and still get things done?
There's nothing quite so attractive as a man doing the whole "saving the world" thing, and that's what Jim Gordon is all about - especially when he becomes a mentor to the very young Bruce Wayne.
Gotham is being broadcast in the US now, and begins in the UK on Monday 13th October:
And what about Ben as romantic hero? Well, there are any number of alpha males whose careers are in the police force in romantic suspense novels. Do you think that Ben McKenzie's Jim Gordon is such a hero? And how do you feel about having police officers as romantic heroes?
Ali
Williams grew up in Croydon and spent her teenage years in a convent girls'
school. She then fled to university where she discovered champagne cocktails, a
capella singing and erotica.

These
days she blogs
about perceptions of romance, chick lit and women in society and spends an
extraordinary amount of time coercing male friends to pose with her favourite Mills & Boon books to the bemusement of the Twittersphere.
Genre reporter for chick lit and erotica at For Books' Sake and guest blogger for Mills & Boon, she defies you to slam romance novels within her hearing!
Genre reporter for chick lit and erotica at For Books' Sake and guest blogger for Mills & Boon, she defies you to slam romance novels within her hearing!
Loved Southland... Wish they hadn't cancelled it. And Ben? Yum!
ReplyDeleteRight?! Southland was amazing!! I was totally hooked on it and v disappointed when it ended.
ReplyDeleteAnd when it comes to Ben...yeah, I like my men gruff and with a saving-the-world complex. :P