Not A Dream, Not A Hoax, Not An Imaginary Story! Commissioner Gordon's stint as Batman

[lego_joker]

As previously discussed, Commissioner Gordon was not a terribly dynamic character during the pre-Crisis era. Which made the few exceptions all the sweeter.

One of the most notable exceptions was in the pages of 1955's Detective Comics #225. We're waist-deep in the Silver Age here, so it's time for some (relatively) harmless criminals, cheerful, grinning, out-and-out celebrity Batman, and crack aplenty, all wrapped up in some kick-ass Dick Sprang art. Quite frankly, it's a wonder that the Adam West show never adapted this story, or even portions of it - the story's entire concept (if not necessarily the execution) turns the goofiness up to eleven and rips off the knob, creating a tale that's just begging for the satiric touch of Dozier and company.

As it is, though, the story is pretty short - back then, twelve pages was the maximum - and there isn't really room to take the concept to its full potential. But still, it has a slew of good moments.

And what is that concept, you ask?

Let the all-knowing Splash Page guide your way...


A-yup. It's not often that a splash page sums up its story so perfectly, but there ya go. Everything from the title to the narrator's foreword to the "preview" scene is 100% accurate to the story, telling the readers exactly what they were in for.

Our story begins with the Dynamic Duo chasing down fugitive John Larrow on a moving truck. A large crowd of Gothamites watch, several expressing wishes that they could be Batman.

Enter Martin Mayne, an editor from a local paper who hears those wishes. Soon Mayne brings a daring idea into Gordon's office, tying it into the recent police fundraiser for orphans and widows:



During the first few days of the contest, the real Batman is out of town for a criminology convention on the West Coast. The first two winners turn out to be civilians (a timid bookkeeper - that guy up there in the splash panel - and a pompous ham actor, respectively), and Robin has to babysit them all by himself, getting into various mishaps along the way.

The third winner, however, is a familiar face...



All silliness aside, this scene is oddly touching, not to mention intriguing. The older, silver-haired Gordon of the pre-Crisis era is no less of a good man than his younger, post-Crisis badass self, and in many ways, Batman is probably the perfect representation of what he dreams of being - healthy, young, and strong, not to mention rich, and able to fight crime out in the field instead of shuffling papers.

Contrast with the post-Crisis Gordon, whose relationship with Batman is fraught with far more tension, and perhaps even pity. "I don't envy him. No one should," he tells his niece Barbara at one point.

But back to pre-Crisis Gordon, who's about to demonstrate that he hasn't lost all of his capabilities:


It's also worth noting that Gordon, in contrast to his two predecessors, actually does go out and fight some criminals as Batman (the bookkeeper and the actor only handled accidents around the city). Which is a good thing - as you might have noticed by now, all of the contestants are supposed to to wear cowls without actual masks, and it's probably much, much worse for criminals to remember and develop a grudge against the faces of civilians rather than the guy who's already in charge of locking them up.

So... the end of the contest? Not quite! Robin does indeed get Batman back into Gotham at record speed, but Robin frets that the Larrow investigation will be hampered by the fact that the Batman-for-a-day contest still isn't over. But Bruce comes up with a pretty good solution...

... what? Cancel the contest? Are you nuts?! Think about the children! Besides, this is the Silver Age, and we don't need none of your stinkin' "reasonable" solutions here!

No, let's have Bruce Wayne "win" the contest instead! That way, we can knock out two birds (and several more brain cells) with one stone!



And from there, the rest of the story is just another generic "Batman and Robin kick some criminal ass, share a good laugh with Commissioner Gordon about how Bruce could NEVER be the real Batman" ending. Yawn.

Still, this concept begs for more exploration, which I understand was actually handled in an episode of The Brave and the Bold! Welp, I know what I'm going to be spending the next half-hour doing! :D

Comments

[ozaline]

This does seem like a fun story, thank you so much for sharing.

Did the Adam West show directly adapt any comic stories? I kinda got the feeling it was all original content, but I wonder where the split would have been in this two parter, I would have loved to see Gordan in a death trap as Batman... especially if the villian didn't even realize who he was.

[icon_uk]

Yes, the Adam West show adapted a few, in fact the first two stories are based on comic stories "Hey Riddle Diddle/Smack in the Middle", and "Fine Feathered Finks/The Penguin's a Jinx"

[skjam]

Of course, Police Commissioner James Gordon was thinking of the early days of his commission, when he was the pulp crimefighter known as "The Whisperer"! http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulpfiction/characters/TheWhisperer.php

[yvonmukluk]

Holy crap, that's an amazing coincidence.

OR IS IT?

[skjam]

The Batman writers fairly openly borrowed elements from the pulp magazines; the very first Batman story, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" took its plotline from an old Shadow story. So when the writer needed a name for the Police Commissioner, he remembered the Whisperer pulps, and named him "Gordon" (his first name James wasn't revealed until the 1950s, long after the Whisperer ceased publication.)

[rdfox]

...why was Jimmy Olsen introducing the contest winners to Robin?

[jkcarrier]

In other stories, Gordon dressed up as "Mysteryman":
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Detective_Comics_Vol_1_245
and "Anti-Batman":
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/World%27s_Finest_Vol_1_159
Basically, the Commish is a closet cosplayer. ;-)

[bradygirl_12]

I've always liked Jim Gordon no matter what incarnation (and his badass self in the Nolanverse movies is just icing on the cake!). He is a special character in the Bat-verse and I like his desire to freely fight crime like Batman. This was a fun story! Thanks for posting! :)

Robin's a sweetie, too, not wanting to hurt the Commish's feelings! :)