Leslie Thompkins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fictional character from the Batman comic books, Dr. Leslie Thompkins (often spelled Tompkins) runs a clinic for low-lifes and drug addicts in Gotham City. Despite the fact that the majority of her patients are repeat offenders, she continues to do her job with great perseverance and determination. She first appeared in Detective Comics #457.

In her early years, Leslie was a close friend of Thomas Wayne. She took it upon herself to look after Wayne's son, Bruce, when the boy's parents were killed, often acting with the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, as a parental figure and guardian. During this time, Leslie became concerned with Bruce's behavior as he grew more and more antisocial. She was even more perturbed when she discovered that, in his adult years, Bruce spent his nights fighting the criminal elements of Gotham as the Batman.

Leslie disapproves of Bruce's vigilantism, and feels partly responsible for his transformation into the Dark Knight, fearing that somehow she failed him as a role model. She also has been linked to Alfred romantically on more than one occasion.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Spoiler suffered serious injuries during the War Games crossover, and Leslie deliberately treated her improperly, resulting in her death, in hopes that it would teach Batman a lesson in that his constant use of children as crime fighters was dangerous to them. After liquidating her assets and giving them to the Spoiler's daughter, she fled to Africa. Batman followed her and forced her to confess. He then told her she was just another murderer in his database, and if she ever returned to the States, he'd have her arrested.

[edit] Other media

Leslie also appears on several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, where she is voiced by Diana Muldaur. When the series was rebooted as The New Batman Adventures, Leslie was absent except for a cameo appearance in the episode "Chemistry".

In the short story "Best of All," featured in the anthology "The Further Adventures of the Joker," the Joker reveals that Leslie is his mother, and that she committed him to a mental institution as a child after he murdered his father, who was abusing her. The story is considered non-canon.