Brian Truitt

USA TODAY

Gotham City is a place where the monsters walk, and so does one Old Testament-style spirit of vengeance.

DC Comics' Gotham by Midnight kicks off Wednesday, and in it writer Ray Fawkes (Batman Eternal, Constantine) and artist Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night) are taking a gothic, Lovecraftian approach to Batman's hometown.

The new series has strong roots in a book like the acclaimed police procedural Gotham Central, Fawkes says, but it's very steeped in the horror angle as well following Gotham cop Jim Corrigan and his task force "dedicated to dealing with the extremely weird cases that don't really make sense on the law books. Because of that they're kinda marginalized."

The new characters being introduced as Corrigan's new crew are "all pretty unabashedly freaky people," Fawkes admits. Nicknamed "The Midnight Shift," the group tackling Gotham's supernatural element includes Corrigan's partner Lisa Drake, religious consultant/nun Sister Justine and forensic specialist Dr. Szandor Tarr.

Tarr is already one of Fawkes' favorites. A Bela Lugosi-sounding oddball, he is a "fantastically open-minded" guy who dives into all of the strangeness headfirst, whether it's an insect monster or a menace down at Gotham General Hospital.

"I love that attitude," the writer explains. "Every other character in the book carries these natural prejudices with them — that's where a lot of the fun and tension in the book comes from. But Dr. Tarr is really, really pleasant to write because some kind of screaming three-headed beast with a talking tongue will show up in front of him, and he'll be like, 'OK, I wonder what this is. Let me have a look at it.' "

Some of the team are harboring secrets, though longtime comic readers know Corrigan's: He's carrying around the Spectre, a spirit of God's judgment, in his body.

The Spectre will be seen occasionally, and even when he's not out and about, Templesmith has created an effect in his artwork that shows when the powerful force is stirring within Corrigan.

And it's definitely not a good thing when the Spectre appears because when that happens, everybody — from good guys to sinners — is getting judged, Fawkes says. "Jim Corrigan is usually quite desperately trying to solve cases before this higher authority comes down and 'fixes' things."

Different corners of Gotham City are being explored in other new comics such as Gotham Academy and Arkham Manor, but Fawkes says Gotham by Midnight is "definitely for readers who are into dark stuff and the fun of horror."

He adds that DC has given the creative team a lot of freedom "to interpret it and throw this freak party in Gotham."