WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Batman: Dark Age #5Commissioner Gordonhas been one ofBatman’smost trusted allies going all the way back to the character’s debut in 1939, but a new twist on how the Commish got the job actually works in the Gotham rogues' favor. In the alternate continuity ofBatman: Dark Age, it turns out Gordon’s promotion from Captain to Police Commissioner was carried out to make him less effective on a street-level basis.
Ra’s al Ghul has officially arrived in Gotham, and he ensures Captain James Gordon is promoted to Commissioner of the GCPD inBatman: Dark Age#5 by Mark Russell and Michael Allred. “I’ve got bad news,” Gordon explains after calling Batman with the Bat-Signal. “I’ve been promoted.”
While it would be easy to assume that this would be a good thing for Gotham,Batman opines how the promotion will actually limit what Gordon can accomplish, stating: “The closer you are to the top, the easier you are to control.” An underlying series metaphor thus far has been the chess game being played between Ra’s and Batman, and this latest move puts Bruce in check.
BATMAN: DARK AGE Poignantly Reinvents DC’s Most Famous Origin (Review)
Batman: Dark Age re-examines the Caped Crusader in an amazing out-of-continuity tale that brings a new perspective to Bruce Wayne’s origin story.
Why Gordon’s Promotion Doesn’t Help Batman At All
From a Bishop to a King
Batman: Dark Agepresents a whole new take on Batman’s origins, following Bruce Wayne’s journey in real time after his parents are killed in 1957. The alternate continuity sees Wayne joining an elite black ops squad inVietnam led by Ra’s Al Ghulas part of his training. Bruce eventually quits the squad when he finds Ra’s' lethal methods aren’t to his liking, taking what he’s learned and instead becoming the Batman to fight crime and corruption in his own city. It’s eventually revealed thatRa’s has been manipulating things behind the scenes in Gotham, and he arrives in 1976 to take the city for himself.
Batman: Dark Agesets up several major events that will put Batman at war for the soul of Gotham.
“Ra’s has taken a Bishop and turned him into a King,” Batman notes,remembering his time in Vietnamas a member of Ra’s al Ghul’s black ops team. “In Vietnam,” Batman says,“when an officer became a problem, and it was too much trouble to frag them, the next best thing was to promote them.” It’s a fascinating take on a well-worn classic element Batman mythology — that being Gordon’s role as commissioner - and is in keeping withDark Age’snew perspective on Batman and his world.Ra’s hopes to keep Gordon in checknot by taking him down a notch, but rather by keeping him under an institution’s heavy thumb.
Check Out the Series Conclusion inDark Age#6, Available November 13th, 2024
Batman: Dark Agesets up several major events that will put Batman at war for the soul of Gotham, with the fifth issue ending with the reveal of the Joker. The Multiversal villain Pariah has already takencontrol of Wayne Enterprises, which means theDark Ageworld could be in for a Crisis by the time the story reaches the 1980s.Batmanwill need all the allies he can get if he is going head-to-head against all these threats, which makesCommissioner Gordon’spromotion even more of an obstacle in the battle for Gotham City.
Batman
One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
