Arnold John Flass

Detective Arnold John Flass is a fictional comic book character and a member of the Gotham City Police Department in the Batman series. He was created by Frank Miller. Although he is a minor character, Flass plays a pivotal role in the Dark Knight's modern origin and, as such, has been adapted into the film Batman Begins.

Fictional character biography

1987's Batman: Year One introduced Flass as a cheerfully mean jock. Burly, blond, and clean shaven, Flass was Jim Gordon's partner on the G.C.P.D. and Gordon's first introduction to Gotham's seediness. Indicative of much of the Gotham City police force of the time, Flass was extremely corrupt, often on the take for powerful politicians and crime figures. He was resentful of the strong moral character of Gordon (whom he condescendingly referred to as "Jimmy") and attempted to teach him a lesson. Flass and several other officers accost Gordon and beat him mercilessly. Gordon soon turned the tables on Flass, beating and humiliating him, thus beginning his crusade against the corrupt element in the police force.

Batman later intimidates a drug dealer named Skeevers, who turns on Flass in fear and offered his testimony against him to Gordon, who charged him for affiliation with the underworld. Then-Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent offered Flass a plea bargain he could not refuse: in exchange for testimony against Carmine "The Roman" Falcone and then-Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, Flass would receive a lighter sentence. Flass accepted the offer, and since he was intelligent enough to record extensive notes of his dealings with the Mob, Dent had ample evidence to prosecute much of Gotham's organized crime.

After Year One, Flass made only occasional cameos in the Batman series. He was the third victim of the Hangman killer during the limited series Batman: Dark Victory (1999–2000). Gordon found him working as a bouncer at a sleazy strip club called the "Cheetah Room," and he was killed there while on his smoke break. Judging from the abrasions on his body, it appeared he tried to put up a fight. The death of Flass in Dark Victory creates a continuity problem, namely, that Flass was alive when Jim Gordon married Sarah Essen Gordon in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2 (1992) - a story that takes place chronologically after the events of Dark Victory (when Gordon was married to his first wife, Barbara).

In other media

Film

• The 2005 film Batman Begins also featured a version of Detective Flass, portrayed by Mark Boone Junior. Although similar in character to Year One (in as much as being Jim Gordon's partner and being characterised as highly corrupt), Flass in Begins was depicted as overweight, black-haired and unkempt, as well as far less sadistic. His appearance is somewhat similar to that of Harvey Bullock and even Det. Lt. Max Eckhardt. His uncouth behavior knows no bounds, even stealing from a food vendor's tip box and laughing in the man's face. The antagonistic Flass is in the pocket of crime boss Carmine Falcone and served as protection during one of Falcone's drug shipments (the first appearance of Bruce Wayne as Batman in the film). He was last seen when he inhaled Dr. Jonathan Crane's fear toxin released by Ra's al Ghul in Gotham and before he could shoot down two boys who he thought were monsters thanks to the toxin, Sgt. Gordon knocked him unconscious and hand-cuffed him to a pipe. His conclusion is unknown, as he was not seen from that point onwards.

• According to The Gotham Times (a marketing site for The Dark Knight) Flass spent some time in a mental hospital, but he was charged with corruption by Harvey Dent. After getting dismissed from the GCPD, he loses his disability pension.^[1]

• Flass appears in the animated film Batman: Year One voiced by Fred Tatasciore.^[2]

Video games

• Mark Boone Junior reprises his role of Det. Arnold Flass who appears in 2005 Batman Begins game. In the game he has special dialogs with Batman and Victor Zsasz.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

References

1. ^ "The Gotham Times". The Gotham Times. http://www.thegothamtimes.com/page2.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
2. ^ "Full cast and crew for Batman: Year One (2011)". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1672723/fullcredits#cast. Retrieved 2011.