Stanley Merkel

Stanley Merkel was James Gordon's partner when he started in Gotham City. He was one of the Hangman's victims. Unknown to many people, the rest of his family are criminals, such as Ragdoll.

Batman
His first appearance is in Batman #405, where he and his other fellow officers try to hunt down the Batman. Before being replaced, he was James Gordon's original partner. However, need of teaching, Sarah Essen was now Gordon's partner. They still maintained a friendship.

In Batman #406, along with his men, Merkel and others enters the building and begins sifting through the rubble. Batman lures them into a lower section of the building and traps them. Before preparing his escape, Batman uses a remote device to signal a massive flock of bats from the Batcave. The swarm of bats descends on the area giving Batman a chance to use them for cover to mask his escape. Several police squad cars attempt to follow the bat swarm, one of which even drives off Gotham Pier.

In Batman #407, along with his fellow cops and Jim Gordon, they interrogate Flass at length. At first, he refuses to cooperate, but before long, he agrees to detail everything he knows – including dirt on Commissioner Loeb.

In Batman: Dark Victory #6, things are heating up in Gotham City's underworld and the Penguin wouldn't have it any other way. With his hands tied by the Hang Man case, Batman is having a tough time from stopping Oswald from starting a gang-war. By his terms, he will plant evidence for starting a gang-war on each side. When the remaining side wins, Oswald will come in and take over. The Falcone's are against mostly the Maroni's, and anyone who oppose them, but Mario is having problems with Sofia and her condition. Janice Porter has an agreement with Mario, and has every evidence against Sofia, as she leads the empire into the ground, as he wants protection. The Joker is captured once again, and sent to Arkham, joining Alberto Falcone. For Merkel, he was found dead on St. Patrick's Day, hanging on the former property of the house that originally belonged to Harvey and Gilda Dent, making him the sixth victim.