The world’s most famous police commissioner, James “Jim” Worthington Gordon, needs no introduction. He has been fighting alongside the Caped Crusader since his very first appearance in Detective Comics #27, making him the first Batman supporting character. We’ve compiled a list of interesting facts you most probably didn’t know about Commissioner Gordon.
1. Commissioner Gordon deputised Batman and they worked side by side to uphold the law in Gotham. Frank Miller commented on this aspect of the ’60s TV show in Legends of the Dark Knight: The History of Batman (2005) saying, “The worst thing they did on the old TV show was give Batman a badge. You don’t deputise Batman.”
2. Commissioner Gordon is responsible for the creation of Wrath, a villain that is the anti-Batman. A youthful Gordon killed Wrath’s parents after mistaking them for committing a robbery. Meanwhile, they were sneaking through a window in order to skip out on paying rent. This story has changed since, depicting Wrath’s parents as criminals that Gordon was forced to kill in self-defence.
3. Gordon disapproved of Robin. He believed that no child should have to endure the life that the Batman lives.
4. Commissioner Gordon is not Barbara Gordon’s biological father. She is, in fact, his niece whom he adopted following the death of his brother and his sister-in-law. The New 52 reboot has since made Barbara his biological daughter.
5. James Jr., the biological child of Commissioner Gordon, is a serial killer known as the Peter Pan Killer.
6. Not even The Joker’s mental, emotional and physical torture could get him to break his code. Jim is strong in his will and ethical in his approach to apprehending criminals and solving crimes.
7. Batman reveals his identity to Commissioner Gordon during No Man’s Land in an attempt to mend their relationship after feeling betrayed by Batman’s absence. Commissioner Gordon refuses to look at his face and turns away.
8. On Earth-8, the commissioner is a member of the undead. Known as Zombie Gordon, he is kept on a chain by Bat-Soldier.
9. In the Elseworld, Gordon was also a former lover of Selina Kyle.
10. Gordon has discovered the identities of Batman, Robin and Batgirl. He just chooses to remain ignorant, denying him from fully completing his investigation into the identities of the Batman family.
