Harvey Bullock

HARVEY BULLOCK

Real Name: Harvey Bullock

Class: Human

Occupation: Detective

Group Affiliation: GCPD, formerly Checkmate

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Gotham City

First Appearance: Detective Comics I #441 (July, 1974)

Powers: Harvey was a skilled detective, and an effective brawler.

History:

(Vigilante I #44-46) - Washington extended an invitation to GCPD to send an officer to a three-week seminar on terrorism. Gordon chose Bullock for the job, thinking his clutsy sergeant could use a change of pace. Bullock fumbled through the seminar, and got yelled at by presenter Lt. Stein for falling asleep. After a session Bullock accidentally spilled his coffee on Stein, and said he was a man of action, not a ballerina. He buddied up to Stein, who needed to buy a new tie, and told him he recognized Katia, one of the terrorists in the dossier Stein handed out. She was recently in Gotham, and Stein decided they should go there together to apprehend her. Bullock's snitches pointed him in the direction of mobster don Carlos, and Bullock planted a bug outside his son spy. Bullock told Stein how free he felt cursing, something Gordon despised, and revolted Stein by getting pizza grease all over his car.

(Vigilante I #47) - Stein brought Vigilante to Gotham to partner with Bullock on the Katia case. Vigilante located Katia at the Regency, and Batman, who was also tracking her, ambushed him. Vigilante said he was working for the feds, but Batman ignored him, saying he was a dangerous madman and a killer, and he intended to bring him into custody. Vigilante was overwhelmed by his fighting style, but Bullock broke them up, and vouched for him. Batman agreed to settle up with the Vigilante later, after Katia was caught. They stopped the shipment of smuggled art treasures, and Vigilante found a tape of government tapes she was also smuggling. A firefight erupted between Katia's men and the feds, and Carlos' men gunned down Katia for involving them in high treason. They took aim at Vigilante, and Batman pushed him off a pier. Bullock cleaned up the mess, and Stein was disconcerted that there was no trace of Vigilante.

(Vigilante I #48, 49) - Commissioner Gordon told Harvey he'd be better served staying on as a fed, happy to get rid of him. Stein Stein went with the cover story that Adrian drowned in Gotham, and set him up with the identity of Dean Baker. Bullock helped him get set up in his new Manhattan apartment, bragging about his new position and saying he felt like James Bond. Harvey learned that Black Thorn was lying to Vigilante about her past, but because he needed to keep Vigilante a functional operative he decided not to tell him.

(Vigilante I #50) - Vigilante snapped and committed suicide. Harvey Bullock attended his funeral, and shed a tear for a man whose drive he'd admired.

(Showcase '93 #4, 6) - Robin met with Gordon, informing him that Catwoman was going after rising Gotham druglord Ramon Bracuda, but was being hampered by dirty cops Bracuda had bought off. Gordon promised to root out the dirty cops so Bracuda could be brought to justice. Bracuda had forced out a number of local shop owners to make way for his criminal front, and the former shop-owners started a violent confrontation with them. Harvey Bullock, Gordan and the GCPD busted up the riot, and Gordon promised the stores would be returned to their original owners. Robin learned that Bracuda had put out a hit on him, and told Gordon he'd arranged to meet Bracuda, confident that the GCPD could catch him in the act of attempted murder. Gordon and Bullock were nervous about Robin's daring, but agreed to send officers to the scene. Robin's risk paid off, and when Bracuda tried and failed in killing him the GCPD arrested him again.

(Showcase '93 #10) - Harvey and the GCPD investigated the death of David Stone at the hands of his father Walker, and learned that Huntress was pursuing him.

(Batman Versus Predator 3 #1-3) - Rene and Bullock investigated the deaths of gangbangers whose skulls and spines were removed. A similar crime claimed the lives of Mr. Freeze's gang, , and Rene and Harvey interrogated him, getting nowhere. The culprits were a pair of Predators that Batman and Robin defeated and drove back into outer space.

(Catwoman II #53) - The serial killer Headhunter returned to Gotham, but died in a conflict with Catwoman. Harvey Bullock responded to the scene at Babylon Towers with the GCPD, and they learned the killer was police officer Moreland McShane.

(Catwoman II #54) - Harvey investigated the theft of the Casonova Canary diamond from the Gotham museum. He realized the M.O. indicated Catwoman as the thief.

(Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #3-6) - Horribly mutilated corpses turned up in Gotham, and Bullock investigated, but couldn't find a link among the victims. Jason Blood told him their deaths represented an occult ritual, and their connection was that they'd all committed the same sin, pride. The murders had recently stopped, and Blood deduced that whoever was responsible was locked away at Arkham. He knew the ritual being performed would release the demonic Skarva from their tomb beneath Arkham. Back at Blood's apartment he assembled the accoutrements he'd need to fight the demons. Bullock saw seven tongues in jars in a cabinet with occult symbols similar to those found on the victims. He thought Blood was the killer, and pulled a gun on him. Blood said he was off the mark, but having no time to argue he hypnotized Bullock. The mind-controlled Bullock helped Blood get into Arkham, where the demons were rampaging. Blood transformed into the Demon, and aided in returning the demons to hell. He agreed with Jeremiah Arkham that they should all pretend the recent events were a hallucination caused by Scarecrow and his fear gas.

(Catwoman II #57) - Poison Ivy wanted to restore the razed Gotham to a state of nature, and created a super-fertilizer for that purpose. She used it to turn some seeds into an instant forest that started tearing up the GCPD station. Harvey didn't know how to handle the situation, but Catwoman arrived, and helped him uproot some of the trees.

(Catwoman II #63) - A Gotham bridge was blown up with a missile, and Catwoman was spotted in the vicinity. Gordon laid out the facts to Harvey and Renee, saying it didn't fit Catwoman's M.O. Harvey said women changed their minds all the time, which offended Renee. Gordon admitted that it looked more like joker's work, and decided to contact Batman to see if there was a possibility of them working together.

(Batman I #563) - Gordon's plan of tagging over Demonz graffiti was interrupted when Demonz attacked him, but Pertit shot the gang members, and placed them beneath the defaced tags, setting off a gang war. When the gangs sufficiently weakened each other Gordon organized Harvey Bullock and the GCPD as a new gang, the Blue Boyz, and ran the gangs out of their territory. Gordon was uncomfortable with Petit's willingness to kill the gang members, but was willing to do whatever he had to save Gotham and make sure Barbara was safe.

(Batman I #565) - With no cigarettes available Harvey started chewing on toothpicks. Harvey and the Blue Boys prepared for Black Mask's power play, sending his cult to take Wayne Tower.

(Batman: Joker’s Apprentice #1) - Joker chose fellow inmate Arthur Rankle, a serial killer who raped and killed eighteen women before Batman took him down, as his apprentice. After teaching him everything he knew he orchestrated his escape. He told Joker he’d need two men to help him carry out his big kill, and Joker sent him Dr. Thomas DeGeorge, a doctor who was locked up after it was discovered he was causing seizures in his patients so he could save them and seem a hero, and Calvin Marshall, a brute full of rage who killed a nun in broad daylight for rejecting his advances. He had DeGeorge knock on a woman’s door, in tears that his dog was lost, and when she let him in Calvin came close behind and brutally slaughtered her. Rankel filmed the incident, and mailed it to the police under the alias DeMille. The authorities, believing Calvin to be DeMille, saw how sloppy his methodology was, and were convinced he would easily be caught after making a mistake. Weeks later Rankel and his crew had killed 23 more women and Commissioner Gordon was frustrated that he didn’t have a single lead. He met with Batman and said he suspected they weren’t dealing with a simple madman, they were dealing with a lunatic with a purpose, and Gordon suspected he was after Batman. Rankle, Calvin and Thomas killed a celebrity in Gotham, and Harvey Bullock was assigned to investigate. He ended up butting heads with the FBI, who’d also been put on the case. Batman contacted Oracle, and after hours of research she came up blank, but planted the idea that Batman was looking for more than one unsub. Batman confirmed the hypothesis when he realized the fingerprints left behind at the crime scenes were identical except for their size, and knew the unsubs were using false fingerprints. Batman confronted Professor Milo, who connected Rankel with his associates, and he spilled his guts, but Joker had foreseen this and told Rankel to get ready to ambush Batman. Batman defeated Calvin and Thomas, and when confronted Rankel begged Batman not to hurt him and gave up.

(Sins of Youth: Batboy and Robin #1) - Bullock and Rene Montoya investigated the scene of Zatanna's abduction from Gotham Auditorium.

(52 / WWIII Part One: A Call to Arms #1) - <Week 50, Day 1> Black Adam declared war on humanity after the death of his family, starting WWIII. Gordon met with Harvey and the GCPD and told them the world might be at war, but he refused to see Gotham go to hell during the chaos.

(Detective Comics I #851, Batman I #684) - When a Two-Face impostor scarred the face of actress and philanthropist Millicent Mayne with acid Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock lit the bat-signal. They waited for hours but there was no response and Harvey told his boss they should pack it in, He knew Gordon was hopeful that Batman’s disappearance would be short-lived but it was obvious he wasn’t coming. Gracchus, as Two-Face, robbed a jewelry store and phoned up Commissioner Gordon, warning him he was going to gatecrash the mayor’s reception at city hall. Gordon and Bullock lit the bat-signal again and when Nightwing answered he asked them to point him in the direction of Millicent Mayne. She was often seen wandering Gotham’s theatre district at night, one of the only parts of the city that had never been repaired after No Man’s Land. Millicent told Nightwing about her first encounter with Gracchus that led to his bitterness against her when he tried to foist a bag of millions of dollars worth of diamonds on her while she was performing on stage. They were both caught in Gotham’s earthquake and she gained the power to read the minds and know the stories of the lost souls of Gotham. The diamonds Gracchus offered her were still buried in the theatre and she knew he was using the attack on city hall as a diversion to distract the GCPD. Gracchus and his men arrived at the theatre and recovered the diamonds but were surprised by Nightwing, who easily defeated Gracchus and his men. Nightwing handed them over to the GCPD, and after he left Gordon and Bullock discussed weather or not they could hold out hope they’d ever see Batman again. Nightwing and Millicent talked into the night about the best way they could help each other defend Gotham City.

(Joker's Asylum II: Clayface #1) - Gordon and Sergeant Bullock noted an inordinate number of teens gone missing in Gotham over the last three weeks, and realized the only connection between the kids was their obsession with Basil Karlo's old horror movie The Terror. Clayface had acquiring a group of young followers, the Children of the Clay, who worshipped his movie The Terror. They allowed Clayface to absorb them inside his body, and although Batman stopped Clayface, the villain's actions gave him a new notoriety in Gotham that he only dreamed of in his days as an actor.

(Batman I #705) - Gordon and Bullock investigated the apparent murder-suicide of Professor Sinnot and his family. Bullock thought it was case closed because the wife was having an affair, but Batman arrived on the scene because Sinnot had a connection to the Order of the Protectors who safeguarded the Mask of the Beholder, a powerful magical artifact, hidden in Gotham.

(Azrael: Death s Dark Knight #1-3) - Harvey investigated the death of Jimmy Burrows, an undercover cop killed by the rogue Azrael Abraham Arlington. He then investigated a fight between the League of Assassins and the new Azrael Michael Lane. Harvey uncovered Lane s identity, and blamed him for Burrows death.

(Azrael #1) - <six months from today> Harvey Bullock and Josie Mac investigated the death of ex-GCPD officer Michael Lane, who'd been crucified at the Church of the Holy Redeemer. They interviewed Officer Farrelli, and learned that Lane had been serving as the Order of Purity's Azrael.

Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin & Howard Chaykin.