Hangman (DC Comics)

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In the fictional DC Universe, the Hangman is an early enemy of Batman. The killer is featured in the graphic novel miniseries Batman: Dark Victory.

[edit] Plot Overview

Hangman is a serial killer who murders police officers on every holiday of the year, leaving behind a version of the children's word game "Hangman" (with key letters missing) in with each new victim. During the events of Batman: The Long Halloween (to which Dark Victory is a sequel), Batman captured and imprisoned Alberto Falcone, the serial killer known as Holiday who murdered members of the Falcone crime family on holidays (although Harvey Dent's wife Gilda claims to have been the first Holiday, and technically, by murdering Alberto's father, Carmine Falcone, in the final issue of The Long Halloween, Dent himself is the final Holiday killer). Soon afterwards, the Hangman killings begin.

[edit] The Victims

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. They are as follows:

• Chief Clancy O'Hara - O'Hara was the chief of the GCPD, one of the few uncorruptable, and a veteran of police work for over thirty years. Gordon remembered working under him when he started out on the force as a police cadet in his early twenties, years before the arrival of Batman. While still a sergeant years ago, he and Stan Merkel were noted for capturing then-teenage Mario Falcone, who was prosecuted but never charged by then-Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent, who was the prosecutor at his trial. He was the first victim of Hangman, found hanging from a bridge with a rope around his neck. (possibly inspired by Chief O'Hara of the Batman series)

• Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb - Loeb was the Police Commisioner before being fired and replaced during the events of Year One. He was a friend to both Falcone and Sal Maroni, which made him so corruptable that no one could take him down. Found hanging in his own residence with the typical clue sheet being a personal sheet of paper marked "From the desk of Harvey Dent, D.A," which leads to Gordon believing that Dent/Two-Face is the Hangman.

• Detective Flass - Once Jim Gordon's former police partner in Batman: Year One, Arnold Flass was one of the more corrupt officers on the force, only to get caught in criminal activity, fired and prosecuted for affliating with the mob. Before his trial, he struck a plea bargain with prosecutor Harvey Dent to testify against Loeb for a lighter sentence. He was found dead outside of a bar-strip joint called "The Cheetah Room," where he was working as a bouncer to make ends meet.

• Lietenant Branden - A former head of the Special Weapons Unit of the GCPD, Branden was fired from the force for suspicions of being affliated with corrupt Comm. Loeb, although according to Gordon, he was a zealot.

• Sergeant Frank Pratt - Pratt worked for the SPW Unit up until his death. He was one of the few officers to walk the line of the law. Batman was present at, but did not actually witness, his death scene on Valentine's Day.

• Watch Commander Stan Merkel - A patrolman of downtown Gotham, Merkel was involved in a number of drug busts and hostage situations. Back when he was a sergeant, he was instrumental in bringing Mario Falcone to trial, which never resulted in charges, due to his father Carmine's connections. Merkel was found dead on St. Patrick's Day, hanging on the former property of the house that originally belonged to Harvey and Gilda, making him the sixth victim.

• Detective Henry Gustavson - Gustavson was the partner and bodyguard of Gordon following Flass' departure from the GCPD. He was murdered on Mother's Day and found by Gordon hanging over his car in the GCPD underground parking lot.

• Detective Mark O'Connor - A gifted marksman, O'Connor spent many years teaching use of firearms to cadets, including current Lieutenant Julia Lopez, at the police academy. One of the members of Gordon's Special Police Task Force, he was found dead hanging by a rope in the shower of his apartment on Father's Day. According to Batman, had he only been carrying his gun with him at all times, the Hangman would never have gotten him.

• Captain David King - Another of Gordon's "Untouchables," he was a trusted ally and avid investigator. While heading into the sewers to try and capture Two-Face, he ventured off alone from the group and was found hanging by a pipe, the date being the Fourth of July.

• Detective Laureen Wilcox - A newcomer to the GCPD, Wilcox seemed to be a dilligent and articulate police officer with a dedication to upholding the law. She was important in the planning of and capture of Two-Face and bringing him to face trial. However, she was an informant to the Falcone family on payroll, leaking information to the acting head of the mob. During the trial, on Labor Day, she headed up to the courthouse via elevator, only to get hung by the Hangman. Her walkie-talkie left a brief recording of her final moments that led Gordon to learning the true identity of the killer.

• Alberto Falcone - Formerly the killer known as Holiday, Alberto Falcone was the final victim of Hangman, although he was not killed by a noose. Placed under house arrest, he was easily captured and taken to the Falcone crypt, where he was suffocated with a pillow to death.

[edit] Other Related Victims

The arrival of the Hangman Killer sparked a gang war in Gotham City between the Falcone family, who were desperately trying to reclaim their hold on the city, the Maronis, who were on strained terms with the Falcones, the GCPD, and the "freaks" who would become the familar Batman Rogues' Gallery. A number of people who were directly and indirectly involved also perished or injured during the Hangman's crime wave of nearly ten months.

• Angelo "Killer" Mirti- Sofia Gigante's personal bodyguard and former aide to her late father, Carmine "The Roman" Falcone. He was shot in the head by The Joker, after the Clown Prince of Crime invaded the Falcone summer residence.
• The Joker- Received a gunshot wound to the arm by Alberto, in revenge for Mirti and throwing her down the stairs. He survived, was captured by Batman, and taken back to Arkham Asylum.
• John and Mary Grayson- Parents of Dick Grayson and two-thirds of the Flying Graysons acrobat team, they were caught in the middle of the gang war involving Tony Zucco, who was a capo in the Maroni family, and his extortion ring to get further up in the mafia. After blackmailing Haley's Circus owner and ringmaster "Poppa" Haley, he burned the trapeze ropes with antacid, the same used to scar Harvey Dent, sending the Graysons falling to their deaths and leaving Dick an orphan.
• Tony "Fats" Zucco- The gangster responsible for killing the Graysons was directly involved in the criminal doings of the Maronis and Falcones. Batman and Dick (training to be Robin) tracked him down at his headquarters at the "Gentlemen's Club" and confronted him. He died of a heart attack, confessing his crimes and information about the Falcones.
• Janice Porter- The no-nonsense District Attorney appointed after Harvey Dent, she was responsible for arranging Alberto Falcone's release from Arkham and had a distrust for Batman. Revealed to be Dent/Two-Face's lover, she was captured and taken to Two-Face's lair in the sewers, where he shot her after flipping his coin, realizing that she didn't love him.

Batman enlists the help of Commissioner Gordon, but is still left troubled after Harvey Dent, is horribly scarred by a criminal he is prosecuting, bringing out into the open his latent multiple personality disorder and transforming him into a violent crime boss. Now known as Two-Face, Dent wreaks havoc on Gotham City and forces Batman to confront his former ally.

In the end, the Hangman is revealed to be Sofia Falcone Gigante, daughter of the late crime boss. After seeing her father murdered by Two-Face, Sofia charges forward and is restrained by Catwoman. During the struggle, Catwoman scars the right side of Sofia's face and the two tumble out a window. In Dark Victory Catwoman tells Batman that when Sofia fell, her bolo/whip became tangled around Sofia's neck. The whip then caught on a stone gargoyle and threw Sofia through another window, and the broken glass sheared off the right side of her face. Catwoman (who believes that she is Falcone's illegitimate daughter) follows Sofia to Europe where she undergoes plastic surgery to restore the damage done to her face.

Sofia, who appears in a wheelchair for the majority the story, is shown with the left side of her face scarred, which we find she did herself after the surgery to be closer to her father's spirit (who was himself scarred by Catwoman in Batman: Year One). Catwoman tells Batman she was able to find the doctor who treated her ruined face, but not one who treated her paralysis. Her paralysis was a ruse, however, to appear weak and avoid being a suspect in the Hangman murders (interestingly in issue #8, "Battle", the Joker deducts this, but is ambushed by Batman before he can truly test his theory.) Her final target is Two-Face himself, although Batman saves him, and Dent kills Sofia with a gunshot to the head.