Jason Bard

Character History
Jason Bard was a police officer with the Gotham City Police Department working under James Gordon. This is where he met Barbara Gordon for the first time. Jason received a knee injury when Killer Moth shot him in the knee at Lance Investigations, which was owned by Larry Lance. The injury forced Jason to leave the GCPD and pursue other ventures. It was after this that he opened up his own private investigations and his relationship with Barbara began. The two dated for sometime and they were even engaged to be married at one point. After she was shot and paralyzed by the Joker, Barbara felt that Jason couldn't protect her and she broke off their engagement. They would not meet again for several years.

Barbara (now known as Oracle), sent Black Canary on a mission to the island of Rheelasia. While she was here, she saw Jason who was using the fake identity of Reed Montel and he was apparently on the other side of the law now. As it turns out, Jason was working undercover and he was contracted by a family to find Brendan and Daria Fiske. They were kidnapped and taken to Rheelasia, however they attempted to escape and they were killed. Black Canary was captured and Jason had to give up his cover and identity to try and save her. After Jason's identity was revealed to the kidnappers, they attacked him and Jason was knocked unconscious. Both he and Black Canary were captured and forced to work in the fields on the island. Black Canary was planning to escape with Jason's help, but it was revealed that the attack caused Jason to lose his eyesight and he would be unable to help her escape the island. Together the two were able to escape the island after a fight with Hellhound and some Rheelasian mercenaries.

Jason learned to deal with his blindness pretty well and he continued to operate his private investigation agency. Jason made contact with Barbara because he said that he missed her and missed talking to her. Barbara wasn't very interested; however, she suggested the two of them develop a professional relationship. She offered to call him with any information when she had any or when she had a job that he could do for her. Jason came to visit her and he learned for the first time about her paralysis and why Babs broke off their engagement.

Some time later Barbara came to Jason's offices offering him a job. Jason underwent several operations to cure his blindness and they worked; he had his full vision back. While Barbara was there, Jason confessed that he still felt very strongly about her, but she could not offer the same to him. According to Jason, there wasn't "a woman alive that could make me forget her." He decided to mask his feelings for her and accept the job that she was offering him. Babs sent Jason to Cannes to keep an eye on Black Canary. While there, he was attacked on the beach by three men and easily defeated them. Jason was to look into the man who Dinah was now dating. Jason discovered that the man was Ra's Al Ghul and he captured Jason and took him aboard his boat. With Black Canary vouching for him, Jason was allowed to leave Ra's boat and went back to his hotel with Dinah. He told her that her new boyfriend was Ra's Al Ghul, but she refused to believe Jason and Barbara. Dinah returned to Ra's and Jason was instructed to leave Cannes and that Barbara would help Dinah.

One Year Later
After Batman's return from a year-long tour of the world, the Bat-Signal was shown in the sky for the first time in over a year, and many Gotham City citizens responded with joy, while other less scrupulous citizens were nervous about it. Jason Bard had no idea that Batman is back. Soon after, Batman appeared in Bard's home late at night, offering him a flush, weekly retainer to act as Batman's investigator during the daylight hours. Bard accepted, and handed over a folder of evidence to convict the woman he had just slept with of killing her husband.

Jason's first task was to investigate the disappearance of the super-villain Orca. His investigation revealed that Orca was married to Terry Capshaw. Jason met with Terry to find out what he could about Orca's disappearance. During their conversation, Terry was shot and killed by the Tally Man, who then shot Jason in the arm as he reached for his gun. As Jason lied on the floor, the Tally Man aimed his gun and fired, but Jason was able to knock him down. Using his cane and karate, Jason subdued the Tally Man and called Batman to inform the Dark Knight of his progress, only to learn that Harvey Dent was, once again, Two-Face.

Batman RIP
In Robin # 176, coinciding with the Batman RIP storyline, Bard reveals he has not been contacted in 6 weeks.

Powers
None

Abilities
Hand-to-hand fighting, marksmanship, criminology, and athletics.

The Dark Knight
Blogger Cinematical posted a bulletin on June 18, 2007, which had the following statement:


 * 'The scooper also confirms that the private detective Jason Bard also plays a role in the sequel, and that he's introduced when a drug addict (selling the same type of chemicals that gave Scarecrow his powers in Batman Begins) is apprehended (no word yet on who is playing Bard). Now this could go one of two ways -- either it means the Scarecrow himself will once again make an appearance, or the rumors that have suggested he is in the film are confusing the part with the drugs -- meaning Scarecrow is gone, but his chemical mix has stayed to wreak havoc on Gotham City.'

The rumours, however, turned out to be false, and Jason never appeared in The Dark Knight.

Detective Comics
A Clue--Seven Foot Tall (October 1969, #392 - Bard's first appearance)

Downfall of a Goliath (November 1969, #393)

The Orchid-Crusher (February 1970, #396)

The Hollow Man (March 1970, #397)

"Midnight Doom-Boy"(October 1970, #404)

"The Living Statues" (November 1970, #405)

"Invitation to Murder" (August 1971, #414)

"Death Shares the Spotlight" (September 1971, #415)

"The Kingpin Is Dead" (December 1971, #418)

"Long Live the Kingpin" (January 1972, #419)

"Target for Manana" (February 1972, #420)

"Candidate for Danger" (May 1972, #423)

"Batgirl's Last Case" (June 1972, #424)

"The Open and Shut Case" (July 1972, #425)

"I Wake Up Dying" (September 1972, #427)

"The Case of the Loaded Case" (November 1972, #429)

"Crime On My Hands" (January 1973, #431)

"The Case of the Forged Face"(March 1973, #433)

"The Case of the Dead-On Target" (June-July 1973, #435)

"The Whittles Snatch" (December 1978-January 1979, #481)

"SST -- the Super-Sonic Threat!" (August-September 1980, #485)

"Fragrance of Death" (June 1980, #491)

"The 'Too Many Cooks...' Caper" (March 1981, #500)

"Academy of Crime, Part 2: Final Exams" (July 1982, #516)

"The Monster in the Mirror" (August 1982, #517)

"The Millionaire Contract" (September 1982, #518)

"The Haunting of 'Boss' Thorne" (November 1982, #520)

"Deathgrip" (March 1983, #524)

"The Crime File of Jason Bard" (June 2006, #818)

"The Crime File of Jason Bard" (July 2006, #819)

Batman
"The Spook's Master Stroke" (October 1973, #252)

"The Mad Hatter Goes Straight" (March 1978, #297)

"From the Ashes" (April 1981, #334)

"Blood Sport" (July 1982, #349)

"What Stalks the Gotham Night?" (September 1982, #351)

"The Killer Sky" (October 1982, #352)

"Never Scratch a Cat" (January 1983, #355)

Batman Family
"Find the Batcave and Rule the Underworld" (December 1977-January 1978, #15)

"Target: The Shotgun Sniper" (December 1977-January 1978, #15)

"Bull's-Eye For Murder" (February-March 1978, #16)

"Private Eye Man-Bat" (October-November 1978, #20)

The Brave and the Bold
"Darkness and Dark Fire" (March 1981, #172)

Batman and the Outsiders
"Goodbye" (December 1984, #16)

Firebrand
"Killer's Garden" (June 1996, #5)

Birds of Prey
"Long Time Gone" (January 1999, #1)

"One of Those Days" (February 1999, #2)

"Hounded" (March 1999, #3)

"Facetime" (March 2000, #15)

"The Hateful" (June 2000, #18)

"Masks" (July 2000, #19)

"The Big Romance" (July 2001, #31)

"The Stray" (August 2001, #32 )

Robin
"Wings Over Brentwood" (May 2000, #76)

"Dark Is the Night" (June 2000, #77)

The Batman Chronicles
"The Mimic" (Winter, 2001, #23)