Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb

Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb
Gillian B. Loeb as seen in Batman #405 (March 1987)
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman #404 (February 1987)
Created by	Frank Miller (script) David Mazzucchelli (art)
In-story information
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Gotham City Police Department

Gillian B. Loeb is a fictional character in the DC Universe.

Gillian B. Loeb first appeared in Batman #404, as part of the Batman: Year One story arc. He along with his successor Jack Grogan, are predecessors and foils of James Gordon.

Loeb is introduced in Batman: Year One as the commissioner of Gotham City's Police Department at about the time Batman begins his war on crime. He is in mob boss Carmine Falcone's pocket and immediately considers then-Lieutenant James Gordon's honesty a threat. However, he does not immediately share the same opinion about Batman, since the masked vigilante is targeting only low-level criminals, and is popular with the public. One night, however, Batman attacks Falcone's mansion during a dinner party, the guests at which include Loeb and several other Gotham elites, and publicly announces that he intends to bring them down as well.

Enraged, Loeb orders Gordon to arrest Batman immediately. However, the vigilante proves frustratingly elusive, until one night in which the police corner him in an abandoned building following an impromptu rescue on the street. Loeb orders a bomb dropped on the building and a SWAT unit conducting an armed search of the rubble. As morning breaks however, Batman escapes, much to Loeb's annoyance.

When Gordon (alongside assistant district attorney Harvey Dent) begins surreptitiously helping Batman, Loeb blackmails him with evidence of his extramarital affair with Sgt. Sarah Essen. However, Gordon confesses his indiscretion to his wife Barbara.

Eventually, Batman, Gordon, and Dent expose Loeb's ties to the Falcone mob, and he is forced to resign. According to Gordon, Loeb's replacement, Jack Grogan, is just as corrupt. Gordon becomes the department's commissioner a few years later.