The Commissioner #1: Gordon’s Sick of it All

I absolutely loved this book.

James Gordon has been one of the brightest, shining beacons of goodness that Gotham City has ever had, but that all changes here. After being Infected by The Batman Who Laughs, Gordon has opened his eyes, seeing the sickness that Gotham truly is and how Batman has only made the problem even worse since he appeared.

Taking place during the events of Batman/Superman #1, Gordon stands on the roof of the GCPD and confronts one of his men about the corruption that his unit have been party to for months,maybe years. Initially, the Officer threatens Gordon, saying that he could have an accident on the roof and that no one would even know.

But Gordon, now emboldened by his Infection tells the other Officer that he’s know about his deeds for a while and that he could have spilled the beans long ago if he wanted. Gordon says that he wants the men to continue what they’re doing because they’re the only ones with the guts to do something, unlike Gordon prior to now. He finally sees Gotham as a city that can’t be saved and sees Batman as part of the infection.

He triggers a release of Arkham Patients who trigger a set of explosions around Gotham. Batgirl who swoops in to stop them. She’s confronted by Anarky and two others that I don’t recognize and beats them all to a pulp before Gordon steps in and tells her to help the other people of Gotham, knowing that he’s the reason for all of this. He wants to see it all burn at his hands. This is a drastic turn for the fan favorite police officer as even when things were at their darkest, Gordon always saw a light at the end of the tunnel, but that is no longer the case.

Jack Herbert’s art and Adriano Lucas’ colors make this issue grim and gritty as Gotham City should be. With everything in this book taking place at night the darkness of the new Gordon is emphasized as a dark shadow is cast over the city. Lucas makes use of yellows for most of the lighting in the book with the occasional switch to reds and blues with Batgirl. All of this is accentuated perfectly by the rain, thunder and smoke of Gotham.