James "Jim" Gordon is a detective in the GCPD. He secretly cooperates with Batman, who is considered an outlaw by many in the department.
History
Gordon, at that point a sergeant, was the commander of the district where Thomas and Martha Wayne was murdered. The night the Waynes were killed, young Bruce Wayne stole Gordon's billy club and slipped away. The police eventually found him hours later in an alley savagely beating a homeless man who he believed had murdered his parents, although the GCPD concluded that the man was innocent. When Gordon returned home he discovered that his pregnant wife had left him, sick of the strain his job put on their marriage. He decided to let her go and allow their son to grow up without a father rather than risk his son losing him like Bruce had lost his parents.[1]
Decades later Gordon, now a detective, was assigned the case of a serial killer who left a distinctive pattern of postmortem puncture wounds on his victims. Batman recognised the locations of the wounds as the energy points on a human body, and Gordon was able to match the initial killing blow to the back of the neck to a thirty year old cold case: the murder of Dr. Franz Ebner. Ebner had been killed shortly after being released from prison for himself killing his assistant and so Gordon tracked down his old cellmate, hoping to find a lead. Ebner's cellmate told him that Ebner never spoke to anyone in prison and only had one visitor, a boy named Charles Quinton. Gordon tried to locate Quinton and discovered that he had become a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum's Children's Wing, but had disappeared years ago along with all his files. After some cajoling, the Asylum director allowed Gordon to see Quinton's patient list, which included Bruce Wayne.[2] Gordon realised that all of the serial killer's victims were on the list and lived within the same defined geographic area.
Batman called Gordon and told him that Crytoon, a murderer who had just been arrested, was part of some larger scheme. He told Gordon that Crytoon had been manufacturing TNT using slave labour in Gotham's industrial zone and was responsible for the deaths of twelve people in a warehouse explosion. Gordon rushed back to GCPD Headquarters to interrogate Crytoon, and confronted him with the information he received from Batman. He demanded to know where thee explosives were, but Crytoon refused to say anything coherent, although he sketched a symbol in his own blood on the table.
The police psychiatrist recommended transferring Crytoon to Arkham where he could be interrogated by specialists, which the Commissioner agreed to over Gordon's objections. The Commissioner then called Gordon into his office and told him that he knew he was still working with Batman because he couldn't possibly have gotten the information on Crytoon through a normal investigation. He warned Gordon that if he didn't stop he would make sure Gordon was indicted as Batman's accomplice. However, he did grant Gordon's request for officers to go and check on Quinton's former patients.
Gordon himself went to speak to Bruce Wayne, as he felt that they had a connection from the night the Waynes were murdered. Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred told him that Bruce was not available to talk and would not be for months, and refused his offer of police protection when Gordon explained the situation. Officers sent to check on the other potential victim found him murdered by the serial killer and so Gordon went to investigate. He met Batman at the murdered man's house and told him that the victim had been murdered after Crytoon was arrested, meaning he was not the serial killer, and showed him the symbol that Crytoon had drawn during interrogation. Batman was curt and dismissive with Gordon, telling him that he hadn't noticed that the house had been ransacked, which meant police officers were in on whatever was happening. Batman found a talisman in the shape of three crossed swords jammed between the floorboards and gave it to him. Gordon was annoyed by Batman's arrogant attitude and told the vigilante that he was risking his career and freedom by working with him; but Batman bluntly replied that he worked alone and didn't care what Gordon thought of him. When Batman directly ordered him to keep checking names on the list like he was Batman's subordinate, he told Batman to leave.
Nevertheless he did go to check on the next name on the list: Vincent Strasbourg III, who to his surprise turned out to be the elderly priest of his church. He asked Father Strasbourg how he could be on a list of Dr. Quinton's patients when he was visibly too old to have been in Arkham's Children's Wing during Quinton's tenure; but Strasbourg told him he had no idea what he was talking about and had never met Charles Quinton. Strasbourg went into the kitchen, claiming he needed an aspirin, but Gordon then noticed the crossed swords symbol on Strasbourg's bible. He followed Starsbourg into his kitchen and found him wearing a moth costume. Strasbourg declared himself to be "Moth-er" and attacked Gordon, showing great strength despite his frail appearance. A pale woman suddenly ran in and stabbed Strasbourg in the back using long pins like the ones used by the serial killer. Strasbourg told her that she couldn't stop "the bells" and fled out of the window. The pale woman immediately surrendered to Gordon.[1]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
Other Characteristics
- Drug Addiction: Gordon is addicted to cigarettes.
- Restricted Senses
Notes
- Jim Gordon was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, first appearing in Detective Comics #27. However, the Gargoyle of Gotham version of Jim Gordon first appeared in Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #1 by Rafael Grampá.
- Gordon is Catholic.
Related
- 2 Appearances of James Gordon (Gargoyle of Gotham)
- 4 Images featuring James Gordon (Gargoyle of Gotham)
- Quotations by or about James Gordon (Gargoyle of Gotham)
- Character Gallery: James Gordon (Gargoyle of Gotham)
Footnotes
GCPD Officer 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. |