Warning: Contains spoilers for Batman ’89 #6
The final issue of Batman ’89 includes the death of a major Batman character who, thanks to deleted content from the famous Tim Burton movie, is one of Bruce Wayne’s oldest allies.
Recently, DC made waves with the return of Michael Keaton’s Batman in the pages of Batman ’89. Commissioner James Gordon is a key supporting character in the Batman mythos, having debuted along with the Dark Knight himself in the same 1939 issue of Detective Comics. Gordon’s tragic death in the Batman ’89 finale is a saddening loss for both Bruce and Batman, as Gordon offered assistance to a young Bruce Wayne the night his parents were murdered.
Issue 6 of Batman ’89, by Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones, concludes its epic storyline, ending the stories of both Two-Face, and longtime Batman ally Commissioner Gordon. Having been mortally wounded by Two-Face in the previous issue, Gordon finally succumbs to the gunshots early on, but Batman is unable to mourn the loss due to his own critical injuries. Although Gordon had a relatively small role in Batman and Batman Returns, his expanded importance in Batman ’89 and a small detail in the original 1989 movie make his already-tragic death far sadder. Sam Hamm, who wrote the script for the original 1989 Batman film and the story treatment for Batman Returns, proposed that Commissioner Gordon arrived on the scene of Thomas and Martha Wayne’s murder, comforting a traumatized Bruce. While this detail didn’t make it to the final cut of the 1989 film, newspaper photos of the crime scene includes a police officer standing by Bruce, who is confirmed to be Gordon by Pat Hingle who plays an older Gordon in both films (and whose likeness is used in Batman ’89). Although the final issue of Batman ’89 doesn’t dwell on Gordon’s death, this detail makes his demise a major loss for both of Bruce’s identities.
A scene of Gordon comforting a traumatized Bruce Wayne on the night of his parents’ murder may not have made it to the final version of 1989’s Batman, but it is used in other Batman adaptations. Batman Begins features a similar moment with Gordon and Bruce (though it takes place in a police station rather than the crime scene), as does the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum. Not only do these moments show Gordon’s kindness and foreshadow his eventual partnership with Batman, but they also show why Gordon is the first of the few Gotham City police officers that Batman trusts.
Gordon has few scenes in Batman and Batman Returns, but the films make it clear that he is, at the very least, one of the few Gotham City police officers who isn’t corrupt. Batman ’89 shows Gordon at the end of his career as Commissioner and establishes that since the events of Batman Returns, he’s become a far closer ally to Batman, using communication devices to secretly work alongside the Dark Knight. Gordon canonically helped Bruce the night his parents died in Earth-89, and his true partnership with Batman followed by his tragic death makes Batman ’89 a melancholic, albeit complete, end to his story.
Batman ’89 #6 is available now from DC Comics!
