Throughout the pilot episode of Gotham Harvey Bullock makes almost constant and always dismissive references to James Gordon as a "war hero", saying that's the only reason he bothers sticking with this so-called "soldier boy" who's causing him so much trouble by not playing by the established and hopelessly crooked rules of the GCPD. The war record of Commissioner Gordon isn't something that's remarked upon all that often in the comic books, and certainly wasn't a part of his early characterisations (when the writers and artists had enough trouble being consistent on whether he has his trademark moustache, whether he uses a cane, or if he wears a hat), but again, it's something that ended up becoming front-and-centre of Miller an Mazzuchelli's Batman: Year One. Another key text that Ben McKenzie dived into when he was gearing up to play the Gordon role in Gotham, Year One expands both on the early years of the Caped Crusader and the Man Who Would Be Commissioner. Gordon transfers to the city after fifteen years of working the beat in Chicago, but before that we're told that he was a military man. And not just any military man, either: nope, James Gordon was a special forces veteran who's hand-to-hand combat skills are rivalled only by those of the Dark Knight, and who responds in kind to threats of violence and intimidation from both criminals and his fellow officers. Good to know, going forward.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
