Changes: Clancy O'Hara

Revision as of 06:35, 18 February 2018

"A cop meant something back then. Up until the Wayne murders. Here we had two prominent citizens, Gotham's first family in some folks' eyes, gunned down in the street. Their case was never solved. Their blood wouldn't wash off the department. I don't think the boys in blue were ever the same."

―Chief O'Hara^[src]

Chief Clancy O'Hara is the longtime chief of the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), one of the few incorruptible. Originally created as a character for the 1960s Batman television series, O'Hara made sporadic appearances in the mainstream DC Universe. He was often frustrated by the colorful and bizarre schemes of Gotham's costumed supervillains, and used a variety of unique colloquialisms.

O'Hara served under GCPD commissioner James Gordon until his death at the hands of the Hangman killer during Batman: Dark Victory.

History

Clancy O'Hara was first adapted to DC comics, several months after being introduced in the TV series, in World's Finest #159, when he oversaw the GCPD following the disappearance of Commissioner Gordon, who had been exposed to an experimental chemical while touring Superman's Fortress of Solitude with Metropolis newspaper editor Perry White. O'Hara used Gordon's personal hotline to the Batcave to keep Batman and Robin updated on the debut of two new supervillains, actually a brainwashed Gordon and White, then carrying out crimes in Gotham. (World's Finest #159, August 1966)

O'Hara did not resurface again until the Swamp Thing's first encounter with the GCPD, almost seven years later. A patrolman contacted the chief on the radio to report the Swamp Thing vandalizing a storefront; O'Hara later arrived on the scene personally with three squad cars, ordering his men to spread out and stay under cover. Despite several determined efforts the police failed to apprehend the creature; O'Hara reported the incident to Commissioner Gordon, who in turn contacted Batman and informed him of the situation. (Swamp Thing #7, December 1973)

As part of Captain Stingaree's first crime spree, he orchestrated the kidnapping of Bruce Wayne, whom he intended to use as bait to lure in and capture the Dark Knight. Alfred Pennyworth reported the crime to GCPD headquarters, where he was received by Gordon and Chief O'Hara. The trio later found a booby-trapped dummy dressed in Wayne's clothes on the steps to the station, which subsequently exploded; however, it was unclear whether this was a veiled threat by Stingaree or part of an elaborate ruse by Batman, who was then trying to keep his identity secret. (Detective Comics #461, July 1976)

The GCPD chief again assumed responsibility for the department when Gordon was hospitalized after contracting a mysterious plague. Rupert Thorne took the opportunity to pressure O'Hara into severing all official contact with Batman through the city council, pending the Dark Knight's requested appearance before the Gotham Grand Jury. O'Hara secretly defied Thorne's orders to keep Batman updated on a string of killings masterminded by Doctor Phosphorus. It was during this exchange that Batman conceded that he'd considered O'Hara a friend for years. (Detective Comics #470, June 1977)

O'Hara played a somewhat more significant role during the Joker's iconic "Laughing Fish" caper, in which the supervillain demanded exclusive rights to the profits from the city's fisheries after poisoning all the fish with a diluted form of Joker Venom. Much like Gordon, O'Hara voiced his dismay at the Joker's constant escapes from Arkham Asylum and implied he would be happy to see the latter executed for his crimes: "It ain't our fault the death penalty don't apply to crazies!" O'Hara took charge of protecting three municipal bureaucrats marked for assassination by the Joker, who was attempting to retaliate for the city's refusal to accept his ludicrous demands, and personally vetted each policeman assigned to their respective guard details. The Joker managed to infiltrate the police contingent anyway and escape the chief's scrutiny, but was stopped by Batman, who recognized him at once. (Detective Comics #476, April 1978)

A recurring gag in O'Hara's early appearances were his consistently obscured features. For instance, in World's Finest #159 and World's Finest #309 he was represented as a voice on the phone; in Swamp Thing #7 and Detective Comics #471 the angles of each panel were cleverly skewed to only show the character from above or at a great distance. Even his first true appearances in Detective Comics #470 and Detective Comics #476 found O'Hara's face concealed by conveniently placed hand gestures and window panes. He resurfaced in reprints of the abovementioned issues, but was not mentioned again until Batman: Dark Victory.

Death

O'Hara joined James Gordon and the rest of the GCPD in raiding Carmine Falcone's funeral during the events of Batman: Dark Victory. Although his relationship with Batman was somewhat ambiguous following the reshaping of reality during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the two no longer seemed to be acquainted, Batman still considered him an integral ally on par with Gordon, describing them both as "good men who try to do their job as well as they can". O'Hara seemed to have changed little personally, still expressing utter disdain for the city's criminals and condemning them as "animals". He also described Falcone's murder as a favor to Gotham. It is disclosed that O'Hara was one of the longest serving officers on the force, having joined the GCPD prior to the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne. He laments that the Wayne murders proved to be a public relations disaster for the police and resulted in Gotham's people losing their faith in the department. O'Hara planned to restore that faith by taking down the local mob, including all five of the major crime families, but was stymied by the endemic corruption then plaguing the GCPD. However, he gave Gordon a list of "clean" officers he could guarantee weren't on the mob's payroll, with the intent of forming an undercover squad for this purpose. (Batman: Dark Victory #4, March 2000)

On Halloween night, O'Hara was murdered by the Hangman killer while walking his old beat near the Westward Bridge. O'Hara's corpse was subsequently found with a newspaper killing and a note in the form of a hangman puzzle, which read: "none/nine of you are safe". Batman was soon able to deduce that the Hangman killer's victims all had some ties to Harvey Dent's past during his career as district attorney; in O'Hara's case, he and another officer named Stan Merkel had once arrested Mario Falcone, a member of the Falcone crime family prosecuted by Dent. Since this case had contributed significantly to Dent's career, both O'Hara and Merkel were marked for death. The Hangman went on to assassinate a number of other officers who were perceived as having aided his ascension as DA. (Batman: Dark Victory #13, December 2000)

Other versions

Chief O'Hara has made cameo appearances in Silver Age #1, which was published July 2000, along with the non-canon Solo #7, published December 2005, and the Elseworlds graphic novel Batman: Nine Lives, published April 2002.

In the alternate reality of Earth-Two, in which Bruce Wayne married Catwoman and retired as Batman to become commissioner of the GCPD, O'Hara served as his police chief. (All-Star Comics #67, August 1977) During yet another alternate reality in which Superman was adopted by Thomas and Martha Wayne and married Barbara Gordon, O'Hara was unable to prevent the murder of James Gordon at the hands of Lew Moxon. (Superman #363, September 1981)

O'Hara was prominently featured in the Batman newspaper strip, which ran from 1989 to 1991.

Gallery

See: Clancy O'Hara/Gallery

In Other Media

Batman 1960's Tv Series

See Clancy O'Hara (Stafford Repp)

Batman/Superman Hour

ChiefO'Hara 03 — Chief O'Hara, as glimpsed in a 1968 episode of the "Batman/Superman Hour".

Chief O'Hara has appeared in the 1968 cartoon the Batman/Superman Hour, in a role similar to the one he plays in the 1960s television series. This version of Clancy O'Hara is based on Stafford Repp's portrayal.

Justice League

In the Justice League episode "Legends", a character named Chief O'Shaughnessy is an obvious homage to Chief O'Hara, as they are both cops with thick Irish accents. However, the "Irishness" of his accent disappears after the episode's villain Ray Thompson was defeated.

The Lego Batman Movie

A female version of Chief O'Hara makes an appearance in the film voiced by Lauren White.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Infobox Character
-|image=[[File:ChiefO'Hara 05.jpg|240px]]
+|image=[[File:O'Hara Main1.PNG|240px]]
-|Character name= Clancy O'Hara
+|Character name= Chief Clancy O'Hara
 |real name= Clancy O'Hara
-|Appearance=''[[World's Finest Comics Issue 159|World's Finest #159]]''
+|Appearance=''[[Hi Diddle Riddle]]'' (television)<br>''[[World's Finest Comics Issue 159|World's Finest #159]]'' (comics)
-|creator=[[Edmond Hamilton]]
+|creator=[[William Dozier]],<br>[[Lorenzo Semple Jr.]]
 |affiliation=[[Gotham City Police Department]]
 |Abilities=None Known
 |actor=[[Stafford Repp]]
 }}
+{{Quote|A cop meant something back then. Up until the Wayne murders. Here we had two prominent citizens, Gotham's first family in some folks' eyes, gunned down in the street. Their case was never solved. Their blood wouldn't wash off the department. I don't think the boys in blue were ever the same.|Chief O'Hara|Batman: Dark Victory}}
+Chief '''Clancy O'Hara''' is the longtime chief of the [[Gotham City Police Department]] (GCPD), one of the few incorruptible. Originally created as a character for the [[Batman (1960s series)|1960s Batman television series]], O'Hara made sporadic appearances in the mainstream DC Universe. He was often frustrated by the colorful and bizarre schemes of Gotham's costumed supervillains, and used a variety of unique colloquialisms.
-'''Chief Clancy O'Hara''' is the longtime police chief of [[Gotham City]].
+O'Hara served under GCPD commissioner [[James Gordon]] until his death at the hands of [[the Hangman]] killer during ''[[Batman: Dark Victory]]''.
 ==History==
+Clancy O'Hara was first adapted to DC comics, several months after being introduced in the [[Batman (1960s series)|TV series]], in ''[[World's Finest Comics Issue 159|World's Finest #159]]'', when he oversaw the GCPD following the disappearance of Commissioner Gordon, who had been exposed to an experimental chemical while touring [[Superman]]'s Fortress of Solitude with Metropolis newspaper editor Perry White. O'Hara used Gordon's personal hotline to the [[Batcave]] to keep [[Batman]] and [[Dick Grayson|Robin]] updated on the debut of two new supervillains, actually a brainwashed Gordon and White, then carrying out crimes in Gotham. (''World's Finest'' #159, August 1966)
-Clancy O'Hara was the chief of the [[GCPD]], one of the few uncorruptible. He was originally introduced as a career police officer, rising to the rank of police chief after serving so many years in the force. While still a sergeant years ago, he and then-officer Stan Merkel were noted for capturing then-teenage [[Mario Falcone]] of the "Roman" Falcone crime family, who was prosecuted by then-Assistant District Attorney [[Harvey Dent]].
-[[File:ChiefO'Hara 04.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Chief O'Hara's features are obscured by the bars of French double doors in ''Detective Comics #476.'']]
-Created for the 1966 "[[Batman (TV Series)|Batman]]" TV series, longtime Gotham City police chief O'Hara was also soon adopted in the comic books. O'Hara was first mentioned in ''[[World's Finest Comics Issue 159|World's Finest #159]]'' (1966) and a behind the scenes presence in ''Swamp Thing #7'' (1973), even O'Hara's first on-panel appearances in ''[[Detective Comics Issue 461|Detective Comics #461]]'' (1976) and as part of 1977's ''[[Detective Comics Issue 470|Detective Comics #470]]'' found his features partially concealed by devices like hand gestures and window panes. When he did appear fully, it was mainly so far into the background his features were obscured.
+O'Hara did not resurface again until the [[Wikipedia:Swamp Thing|Swamp Thing]]'s first encounter with the GCPD, almost seven years later. A patrolman contacted the chief on the radio to report the Swamp Thing vandalizing a storefront; O'Hara later arrived on the scene personally with three squad cars, ordering his men to spread out and stay under cover. Despite several determined efforts the police failed to apprehend the creature; O'Hara reported the incident to Commissioner Gordon, who in turn contacted Batman and informed him of the situation. (''Swamp Thing #7'', December 1973)
-In ''[[Detective Comics Issue 476|Detective Comics #476]]'', Clancy O'Hara also played a minor role during the Joker's "Laughing Fish" caper. After the "Number Two bureaucrat" in Gotham, Thomas Jackson, was marked for death by the Joker in an insane effort to force the city to grant him rights over all the fish in the area, O'Hara organized a stake-out of Jackson's home. As an added precaution, Batman and Jackson switched places. By three in the morning, no attempt on Jackson's life had been made but O'Hara stationed himself in the room to make certain. As a driving rainstorm broke out in the night, O'Hara observed that the "Joker Weather" was tailor-made for the villain himself. Commissioner Gordon was also present for the stake-out, but complained that perhaps he was getting too old for his job, since no matter how hard the police tried, the Joker always seemed to get the best of them. O'Hara consoled the commissioner, reminding him that he and Batman have always placed the Joker behind bars in the end. The police chief also reflected on the Joker's constant escapes from Arkham and the fact he is never really punished for his crimes, concluding with a bitter "It ain't our fault the death penalty don't apply to crazies!" He then ended the conversation, since Batman did not care to scare Thomas Jackson with their talk of the Joker. Suddenly, Jackson's cat entered the room, maddened by a poison fish placed in its mouth by the Clown Prince of Crime himself. As the GCPD stared in astonishment from the background, the cat leaped forward and scratched its master, killing him due to the [[Joker Venom]] present on the cat's claws. Turning over the corpse, O'Hara gasped to Commissioner Gordon, "Saints preserve us! The sign of the Joker--that hideous grin!" Indeed, the Joker Venom had twisted Thomas Jackon's face muscles into a terrible smile of death. Leaving O'Hara behind, Batman leaped out the window in pursuit of the Joker, promising the chief, "I'll be in touch!"
+As part of [[Captain Stingaree]]'s first crime spree, he orchestrated the kidnapping of Bruce Wayne, whom he intended to use as bait to lure in and capture the Dark Knight. [[Alfred Pennyworth]] reported the crime to GCPD headquarters, where he was received by Gordon and Chief O'Hara. The trio later found a booby-trapped dummy dressed in Wayne's clothes on the steps to the station, which subsequently exploded; however, it was unclear whether this was a veiled threat by Stingaree or part of an elaborate ruse by Batman, who was then trying to keep his identity secret. (''[[Detective Comics Issue 461|Detective Comics'' #461'']], July 1976)''
-Some time later, the police surrounded the apartment of the "Number Three" bureaucrat in Gotham, whom the Joker had also marked for death. As Commissioner Gordon rested from the long night, O'Hara stood to the side with a clipboard, counting off the row of policemen walking through the building should the Joker try to slip in disguised as an officer. However, while the chief missed the real Joker, Batman's keen eyes did not and he was able to pin the imposter against the wall, leading to the villain's eventual defeat.
-[[File:ChiefO'Hara 06.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Chief O'Hara.]]
-Also in 1977, Chief O'Hara made numerous cameo appearances in the chronicles of DC's Golden Age heroes in ''[[All-Star Comics Issue 67|All-Star Comics #67]]'' and ''[[All-Star Comics Issue 70|70]]''. O'Hara later briefly became Gotham City's new police commissioner in the 'Huntress' series in ''Wonder Woman'' (beginning with issue #281 in 1981) and he retained a recurring presence for the next few years.
+The GCPD chief again assumed responsibility for the department when Gordon was hospitalized after contracting a mysterious plague. [[Rupert Thorne]] took the opportunity to pressure O'Hara into severing all official contact with Batman through the city council, pending the Dark Knight's requested appearance before the Gotham Grand Jury. O'Hara secretly defied Thorne's orders to keep Batman updated on a string of killings masterminded by [[Doctor Phosphorus]]. It was during this exchange that Batman conceded that he'd considered O'Hara a friend for years. (''[[Detective Comics Issue 470|Detective Comics'' #470'']], June 1977)''
-Following the ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', Chief O'Hara appeared in ''The Silver Age #1: "Pawns Of The Invincible Immortal!"'' In [[Batman: Dark Victory]], he finally met his end as the first victim in the series' sequence of murders by [[the Hangman]], who wrapped a noose around the chief's neck and left him hanging from the Westward Bridge in Gotham City. O'Hara's corpse was found with a newspaper clipping and a note pinned to the unfortunate chief: "None/Nine of you are safe". Commissioner Gordon contacted Batman to investigate the murder of his longtime ally, and the Dark Knight interrogated the [[Riddler]] for information on Chief O'Hara's demise. Shortly afterward, he reviewed all of the evidence in the [[Batcave]]. At first, some accused [[Two-Face]] of committing the deed, but Batman suspected otherwise. Further implicating the villain was the body of Officer Stan Merkel, another career policeman, found hanged in the back yard of what once was the home of Harvey and [[Gilda Dent]]. Batman soon discovered a file from an old case in which Merkel and Chief O'Hara had arrested Mario Falcone of the "Roman" Falcone crime family, headed up by [[Carmine Falcone|Boss Falcone]]; Harvey Dent, the assistant DA, was prosecuting attorney. This prompted Batman to discover a new motive for the Hangman killings of O'Hara and Merkel. The many victims of the Hangman Killer were all law-enforcement agency related, some straight, others corrupt, and they were important in leading to Harvey Dent earning his position of District Attorney, in some way or another.
+O'Hara played a somewhat more significant role during [[the Joker]]'s iconic "Laughing Fish" caper, in which the supervillain demanded exclusive rights to the profits from the city's fisheries after poisoning all the fish with a diluted form of [[Joker Venom]]. Much like Gordon, O'Hara voiced his dismay at the Joker's constant escapes from [[Arkham Asylum]] and implied he would be happy to see the latter executed for his crimes: ''"It ain't our fault the death penalty don't apply to crazies!"'' O'Hara took charge of protecting three municipal bureaucrats marked for assassination by the Joker, who was attempting to retaliate for the city's refusal to accept his ludicrous demands, and personally vetted each policeman assigned to their respective guard details. The Joker managed to infiltrate the police contingent anyway and escape the chief's scrutiny, but was stopped by Batman, who recognized him at once. (''[[Detective Comics Issue 476|Detective Comics #476]]'', April 1978)
-==Newspaper Strip==
-[[File:ChiefO'HaraComics 01.jpg|thumb|left|1000px|Chief O'Hara in the Batman newspaper comic strip.]]
-During the Batman daily comic strips that ran from 1989 to 1991, Clancy O'Hara is featured as a minor character, making several appearances alongside Commissioner Gordon. O'Hara, as a supporting figure, was usually depicted making a cameo next to Gordon as he contacts Batman on the hotline in his office.
+A recurring gag in O'Hara's early appearances were his consistently obscured features. For instance, in ''World's Finest'' #159 and ''World's Finest'' #309 he was represented as a voice on the phone; in ''Swamp Thing'' #7 and ''Detective Comics'' #471 the angles of each panel were cleverly skewed to only show the character from above or at a great distance. Even his first true appearances in ''Detective Comics'' #470 and ''Detective Comics'' #476 found O'Hara's face concealed by conveniently placed hand gestures and window panes. He resurfaced in reprints of the abovementioned issues, but was not mentioned again until ''[[Batman: Dark Victory]]''.
-==Comic Book Appearances==
-What follows is a list of all appearances Chief Clancy O'Hara has made in the comic books:
+===Death===
-*''[[Batman Issue 301|Batman #301]]''
+O'Hara joined James Gordon and the rest of the GCPD in raiding [[Carmine Falcone]]'s funeral during the events of ''Batman: Dark Victory''. Although his relationship with Batman was somewhat ambiguous following the reshaping of reality during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the two no longer seemed to be acquainted, Batman still considered him an integral ally on par with Gordon, describing them both as "good men who try to do their job as well as they can". O'Hara seemed to have changed little personally, still expressing utter disdain for the city's criminals and condemning them as "animals". He also described Falcone's murder as a favor to Gotham. It is disclosed that O'Hara was one of the longest serving officers on the force, having joined the GCPD prior to the murders of [[Thomas Wayne|Thomas]] and [[Martha Wayne]]. He laments that the Wayne murders proved to be a public relations disaster for the police and resulted in Gotham's people losing their faith in the department. O'Hara planned to restore that faith by taking down the local mob, including all five of the major crime families, but was stymied by the endemic corruption then plaguing the GCPD. However, he gave Gordon a list of "clean" officers he could guarantee weren't on the mob's payroll, with the intent of forming an undercover squad for this purpose. (''Batman: Dark Victory'' #4, March 2000)
-*''[[Detective Comics Issue 461|Detective Comics #461]]'', ''[[Detective Comics Issue 470|#470]]'', ''[[Detective Comics Issue 461|#476]]''
-*''Swamp Thing #7'' (Behind the Scenes)
+On Halloween night, O'Hara was murdered by [[the Hangman]] killer while walking his old beat near the Westward Bridge. O'Hara's corpse was subsequently found with a newspaper killing and a note in the form of a hangman puzzle, which read: "none/nine of you are safe". Batman was soon able to deduce that the Hangman killer's victims all had some ties to [[Two-Face|Harvey Dent]]'s past during his career as district attorney; in O'Hara's case, he and another officer named Stan Merkel had once arrested Mario Falcone, a member of the Falcone crime family prosecuted by Dent. Since this case had contributed significantly to Dent's career, both O'Hara and Merkel were marked for death. The Hangman went on to assassinate a number of other officers who were perceived as having aided his ascension as DA. (''Batman: Dark Victory'' #13, December 2000)
-*''World's Finest Comics #159 , 309''
-*''Adventure Comics #461, 465''
+==Other versions==
-*''All-Star Comics #67, 70''
-*''Wonder Woman #281, 296-297, 308, 314''
+Chief O'Hara has made cameo appearances in ''Silver Age'' #1, which was published July 2000, along with the non-canon ''Solo'' #7, published December 2005, and the [[Elseworlds]] graphic novel ''Batman: Nine Lives'', published April 2002.
-*''Superman #363'' (Behind the Scenes)
-*''Batman: Dark Victory #1''
+In the [[Batman (Earth-2)|alternate reality]] of Earth-Two, in which Bruce Wayne married [[Catwoman]] and retired as Batman to become commissioner of the GCPD, O'Hara served as his police chief. (''All-Star Comics'' #67, August 1977) During yet another alternate reality in which [[Superman]] was adopted by Thomas and Martha Wayne and married [[Barbara Gordon]], O'Hara was unable to prevent the murder of James Gordon at the hands of [[Lew Moxon]]. (''Superman #363'', September 1981)
-*''Silver Age #1''
-*''Solo #7''
+O'Hara was prominently featured in the Batman newspaper strip, which ran from 1989 to 1991.
-*''Batman: Masque''
+==Gallery==
+*''See: [[Clancy O'Hara/Gallery]]''
 ==In Other Media==
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 Chief O'Hara has appeared in the 1968 cartoon the [[Batman/Superman Hour]], in a role similar to the one he plays in the 1960s television series. This version of Clancy O'Hara is based on Stafford Repp's portrayal.
-==Behind the scenes==
+===Justice League===
 *In the ''Justice League'' episode "Legends", a character named Chief O'Shaughnessy is an obvious homage to Chief O'Hara, as they are both cops with thick Irish accents. However, the "Irishness" of his accent disappears after the episode's villain Ray Thompson was defeated.
+===The Lego Batman Movie===
+A female version of Chief O'Hara makes an appearance in the film voiced by Lauren White.
 [[Category:Allies|O'Hara, Clancy]]
 [[Category:Deceased Characters]]
+[[Category:Gotham City Police Department]]