Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb

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Gillian B. Loeb is a fictional character in the DC Universe, featured in Batman: Year One.

[edit] History

Loeb is introduced as the commissioner of Gotham City's Police Department at about the time in which Batman begins his war on crime. He was thoroughly corrupt and immediately considered then-Lieutenant James Gordon's honesty a threat. However, he did not immediately share the same opinion about Batman, since the masked vigilante was targeting only low level criminals. One night, however, Batman attacked his residence during a dinner party, which included guests from Gotham's criminal underworld, and publicly announced that he fully intended to bring them down as well.

With that threat, Loeb ordered Gordon to arrest Batman immediately. However, the vigilante proved frustratingly elusive, until one night in which the police had him cornered in an abandoned building following an impromptu rescue on the street. Loeb ordered a bomb dropped on the building and a SWAT conducting an armed search of the rubble. As morning broke, however, Batman escaped, much to Loeb's aggravation.

Eventually, Batman, Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey Dent unraveled Loeb's criminal empire, and he was forced to resign. Gordon replaced him a few years later.

In Batman: Dark Victory, Loeb was the second victim of the Hangman Killer.

[edit] Other Media

Loeb appears in Batman Begins, played by English actor Colin McFarlane. The character is fairly young, African-American and there is no direct indication that he is corrupt, although this version is also at odds with Batman, launching a police task force to arrest him. He first appeared when he appears in the room with James Gordon and young Bruce Wayne, where he tells Bruce that they arrested Joe Chill, who had murdered Bruce's parents. His character is similar to Chief Rojas from The Batman