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Detective Arnold John Flass was a crooked cop who was active in Batman's first year. Part of the narcotics division, he temporarily worked with James Gordon during his first year on the GCPD. Flass was later exposed by both Batman and Harvey Dent, though would subsequently take Commissioner Loeb with him.

History[]

1987's Batman: Year One introduced Flass as a cheerful and chummy jock with a dark side. Burly, blond, and clean shaven, Flass was James Gordon's partner on the GCPD and Gordon's first introduction to Gotham's seediness. Indicative of much of the Gotham City Police Department of the time, Flass was extremely corrupt, and was often on the take for powerful politicians and crime figures. Flass 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 accosted Gordon and beat him mercilessly. Gordon soon turned the tables on Flass, beat and humiliated him, and thus began his crusade against the corrupt element in the police force.

Batman later captured Flass and turned him over to Gordon, who charged him for affiliation with the Underworld. Then-Assistant District Attorney, Harvey Dent, offered Flass a plea bargain that he couldn't 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. Gordon found Flass 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 and several missing fingers, it appeared that Flass had tried to put up a fight.

In Other Media[]

Batman Begins[]

Batman: Arkham Origins[]

Flass was briefly mentioned in one of the Extortion Tapes for Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, where he was apparently one of the corrupt cops who was responsible for trying to make Captain James Gordon look bad with implied failure on their part as part of a plan made by Black Mask and Loeb. The event in question was mentioned to be having Flass and other cops "beat some sense into him", which alluded to a scene from Batman: Year One.

Gotham[]

Flass appeared in What the Little Bird Told Him and Welcome Back, Jim Gordon. Like in the comics, Flass was one of the most corrupt cops on the GCPD. Flass officially worked undercover to bust drug rings, although he in actuality, he used a storehouse of drugs and was aligned with the drug dealers. Flass also killed a witness to the murder with an icepick on the back in order to silence him, just before he could do a facial recognition. Eventually, the cop who worked with Flass confessed due to his family being threatened by the Penguin, and thus resulted in his arrest and his protection being revoked. However, he was eventually released by Commissioner Loeb after the latter had arranged to have Harvey Bullock "confess" to bearing false witness against a fellow cop (an arrangement that was strongly implied to involve blackmail regarding a botched sting operation).

Batman: Unburried[]

Flass has a reoccurring role as a corrupt police working at GCPD. He constantly harasses Barbara Gordan and threatens to have her job taken from her. It is told he helped get The Riddler in Arkham. He later confronts Barbara through violent means in order to return The Riddler to Arkham after he was taken out to help with The Harvester case.

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