Pete Savage was Gotham City's Police Commissioner during Batman's first years of operations. Serving in the department prior to his promotion, he was a strict yet decent man in the public's eyes. However, Savage was secretly under the payroll of Carmine Falcone and involved in his drops operation at the 44 Below. His association led to him becoming the second victim of the Riddler.
History[]
Early Years[]
Pete Savage was a police officer who worked for the Gotham City Police Department for nearly 30 years, and was eventually promoted to the rank of commissioner by Mayor Mayor Mitchell. He was also a former partner and friend of Lt. James Gordon. According to Gordon, Savage was a obsessed with fitness and would work out privately late at night.
Privately, Savage was under the payroll of Carmine Falcone and his crime syndicate, who used the charitable Gotham Renewal Program to discretely bribe him and other officials. Along with both Mitchell and DA Gil Colson, he was involved in a drug bust of Salvatore Maroni and his Drops operation at Falcone's request. Working from information provided by the mobster, he was able to arrange for his capture and disband his crime family. According to various reports, this helped Savage's career and boasted his popularity in the public. It also solidified Falcone's power in Gotham City, leading him to become its most powerful mobster.
It is unclear how further involved Savage was in the Falcone Crime Syndicate, though images taken seemed taken by the Riddler seemed to indicate he was involved in the group's drops operation. Selina Kyle also revealed he frequently visited the secret 44 Below.
Crime Scene[]
When Don Mitchell Jr. was murdered by the Riddler, Savage arrived on scene. Noticing Batman also investigating, he lost his temper at both his officers and Gordon, who'd called him to the scene due to a message addressed to him and to act as a consultant. Believing Batman to be involved, he demanded get the masked vigilante be escorted out whilst officers continued the investigation. By the early morning, Savage released a public press about the mayor's death and informed Gotham that he would be spearheading the investigation personally to hunt down the perpetrator.
Death[]
A day after Mitchell's death, Savage went to the Gotham Athletics League gym for his nightly workouts. During it, he was ambushed by the Riddler, who knocked him out with arsenic and placed him in Rat Death Trap. The serial killer livestream his execution by presenting his head incased in a rat maze. It is believed that Savage was killed when the hungry rats burrowed into his face alive. His body was later taken into a morgue and investigated by Batman, where he discovered further clues hinting towards a conspiracy related to the Maroni Drug Bust. Images of Savage's mutilated face were also used during Batman and Gordon's interrogation of the Penguin.
Notes[]
- Savage shares his name with a character from the 1960s Batman series, a millionaire and associate of Bruce Wayne who features in the double-part story "An Egg Grows In Gotham"/"The Yegg Foes In Gotham".
- Savage shares several similarities with Gillian B. Loeb, the police commissioner during Batman's first year who was under the payroll of Carmine Falcone. Similarly, Loeb was the second victim of a serial killer.