Introduced in Frank Miller's Batman: Year One, Sarah Essen was then-Detective Gordon's partner in Gotham City. The two of them have an affair, but when Commissioner Loeb threatens to expose the two of them, Gordon confesses what he did to his wife, and Essen leaves Gotham City. A few years later, Essen returns, explaining that she moved to New York City and married a cop, who was later killed in a drug bust. Gordon has divorced his wife by now, so he and Essen resume their relationship and eventually marry. Essen continued to work at the GCPD with her husband until the events of No Man's Land. In the story, a powerful earthquake hits Gotham City, and the U.S. government declares the city a "no man's land" and cuts off every bridge, tunnel and access point to the city, letting no one leave or enter. If this sounds familiar, the same type of premise was used in The Dark Knight Rises. Anyway, the city is soon overrun and carved out by the criminals, and Gordon, Essen, and several other GCPD officers do what they can to protect the city. Near the end of the story, Essen and other officers converge on the Joker's at the police station's basement, where he's holding dozens of babies hostage. Reaching him first, she draws her gun on him when he tosses one of the babies at her. Dropping her gun, she catches the baby but is promptly shot in the head by Joker. The odd thing: Joker, a man who finds humour in death, walks away from the encounter frowning, not finding the situation amusing at all.
Adam Holmes is a writer who loves a good story whether it's fact or fiction. When he's not day-dreaming about time travel, he's usually immersing himself in all things film, television and comic books. He hopes to one day break into the entertainment journalism industry. Yes, he is aware of his resemblance to Clark Kent and McLovin. Keep up on the latest geek news by following his articles at Unleash The Fanboy: http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/author/adam-holmes
