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Quote1 This fellow they call "The Bat-Man" puzzles me! Quote2
Commissioner Gordon src

Jim Gordon was the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department and an ally of Batman.

Born on January 5, 1900,[2] James Gordon was selected as Police Commissioner of Gotham City because of his honest intent and good service record as a line police officer. He graduated from law school at the age of 24 and married his wife on October 11, 1926.[2] The two soon had a child named Tony.

When the mysterious vigilante Batman (secretly wealthy playboy Bruce Wayne) started operating in Gotham, Gordon tried to stop him during an ongoing investigation on a series of murders. However, when Batman solved the case and stopped the criminal, Gordon allowed Batman to operate freely.[3] Gordon allowed Batman to openly fight crime in an effective and at times brutal way in order to slow the crime activities of Gotham's underground.

Some time later, Batman was threatened with arrest during the trial of Bruce Wayne, and Gordon rose to his defense. After a very emotive speech by Gordon, the case against Batman and Bruce Wayne was solved and their names were cleared. With a handshake, Gordon then officially appointed Batman "an honorary member of the police department".[4] However, shortly after this decision, Gordon felt betrayed when Batman apparently turned to crime. In the end, Batman cleared his name. The man who had framed Batman was a new criminal called the Penguin.[5]

Following these events, Gordon helped Batman infiltrate the state's prison, tried to apprehend Professor Radium and helped Batman find the mysterious "superstition murderer".[6] Because of Batman's honorary membership as part of the GCPD, Gordon incorporated a searchlight with a bat-symbol on the rooftop of the GCPD Headquarters and it was known as the Bat-Signal; a way to contact Batman when he was needed.[7]

Gordon and Batman began working together, planning and making strategies to solve cases and capture some of the most wanted criminals.[8] Later, when the Joker escaped from prison, Gordon asked for Batman's assistance in capturing the criminal, and he also assigned some security for Joker's possible victims.[9]

Gordon's house was almost robbed by Larry the Judge's gang, who were after Gordon's wife's jewels. Fortunately, Batman and Robin arrived soon enough to stop the criminals and rescue Gordon.[10] After several cases solved and many criminals captured by Batman, Gordon presented him with the Batman Badge, which was a bat-shaped ornament with studded diamonds as a token of respect from the entire GCPD.[11]

On one occasion, Gordon was demoted to patrolman by the Mayor of Gotham, because of Gordon's old age and because he relied too much on Batman. However, Batman investigated the case and uncovered a large criminal network blackmailing the Mayor. In order to capture the criminals, Batman had to pretend to shoot Gordon, but he protected him by shooting a transparent plastic shield. Once the criminals were captured, the Mayor reinstated Gordon as Police Commissioner and the GCPD placed a new Bat-Signal to repair the one that was shattered by Gordon's replacement.[12]

Batman's Real Identity

When a criminal that Gordon captured years prior escaped from prison, Gordon sought Batman's protection. The Dark Knight sent Gordon to a hideout in the outskirts of Gotham, while he impersonated the Commissioner. The plan was almost successful, but the criminal soon learned of Gordon's real location and tried to murder the old man. Gordon was saved by the timely arrival of Batman and after the criminal was captured, Gordon had the chance to learn Batman's real identity, but he refused to do it.[2]

After years of working with Batman, Gordon suddenly became anxious to know the real identity of the Dark Knight. Gordon then started a crusade to find out the Batman's identity, but when he finally thought he learned the truth, he slipped the information to a criminal called the Masked Mystic. The villain tried to eliminate James Bartley, a friend of Gordon's, but Batman prevented the murder and captured the criminal. Gordon then learned that he used Bartley's identity to throw off Gordon's suspicions and the masked criminal. After this, Gordon didn't want to learn Batman's identity again.[13]

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Death

Jim Gordon continued as Gotham City's Police Commissioner until his death in the late 1970s. He was succeeded by Bruce Wayne, who had retired at Batman and had recently been working with the public interest-based consumer research group/law firm Cranston, Grayson, and Wayne.[14]


Abilities


  • This version of Commissioner Gordon, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.

Related

Footnotes


Gotham City Police Department 0001
GCPD Officer
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This character is or was an officer of, or held a title in the Gotham City Police Department, in any of its various incarnations. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "GCPD members" and "Police Officers" categories.

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