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The killing of Jim Gordon’s second wife remains one of the Joker’s most heartbreaking crimes.
Throughout his career as Gotham City’s most dangerous villain. the Joker has committed many heinous crimes against Batman and Commissioner Gordon, from the murder of Jason Todd in “A Death in the Family” to The Killing Joke where he famously attacked Barbara Gordon. Both of those events are obviously important and sad in their own right, but one of Joker’s most heartbreaking crimes occurred during the end of the “No Man’s Land” saga: the tragic death of Gordon’s second wife Sarah Essen.
Both the murder of Sarah Essen and the crippling of Barbara are mentioned in Joker #9 by James Tynion IV, Stefano Raffaele, Romulo Fajardo, Jr., and Tom Napolitano and shows how much tragedy the by-the-book Commissioner has suffered under the Joker and the events in “No Man’s Land” were particularly wrought with emotion. Let’s take a look back at Jim and Sarah Essen’s relationship and see how her heartbreaking death went on to help define Gordon and the Joker for years to come.
Sarah Essen first appeared in Batman #405 by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli in the classic storyline Batman: Year One. She is partnered with then-lieutenant Jim Gordon to try and figure out the identity of Batman and have him arrested. Sarah and Gordon soon begin an affair, unbeknownst to Gordon’s pregnant wife, Barbara Eileen Gordon. Jim ends the affair out of guilt and the weight of bringing up a child in a city as irredeemable as Gotham, with Sarah deciding to take a transfer to New York. The affair is revealed to Gordon’s wife anyway when the corrupt Commissioner Loeb reveals it to her in an ill-fated attempt to blackmail Gordon.
She would return years later in Batman#458 by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle as an officer for the Gotham City Police Department. Sarah and Jim rekindle their romance, which leads to the two eventually marrying in Legends of the Dark Knight: Annual #2 by Denny O’Neil and Michael Netzer. The character would become a regular supporting cast member of the Batman titles during the 1990s.
Her tragic death would occur near the end of No Man’s Land after Lex Luthor had helped Gotham return to normalcy after the earthquake that had devastated it for over a year. Joker saw it as a challenge to try and squash the city’s hopes by committing a horrific crime just as it had ended its year of hardship. Kidnapping several orphans, the Clown Prince then sent the Bat-family and GCPD on a chase around the city as they desperately tried to save the children. Sarah Essen is the one who manages to corner the Joker at gunpoint at Gotham Central but finds him holding a baby, he tosses the child in the air, and Sarah is forced to drop her gun to catch it. The Joker then shoots her, strangely finding no humor in her death in Devi Grayson, Greg Rucka, Dale Eaglesham and Damion Scott’s Detective Comics #741 in 2000.
Gordon and the heroes arrive at the scene, with Harvey Bullock and Reyne Montoya tearfully breaking the news to him. He then points his gun at the Joker, with Batman by his side saying he won’t stop Jim if he decides to end the villain’s life once and for all. When the Joker asks Gordon about his son James Jr., the Commissioner shoots him in the knee. Laughing, Joker realizes that Gordon shot and crippled him, just like the Joker had done to his daughter. Batman consoles a broken Gordon and at Sarah’s funeral, Barbara sadly realizes that she had always referred to her stepmother as ‘Sarah’ and never called her ‘Mum’.
Sarah Essen’s death remains one of the saddest moments in Batman comics, as it displays the endless tragedy of Jim Gordon’s life at the hands of the Joker. Her death came at a time when Gotham and the Bat-family had just overcome months of hardship and The Joker’s comments about James Jr. are all the more hurtful looking back, due to his later turn as a villain and eventual death. As Gordon sets out on his mission to end the Joker’s life once and for all, it is important to realize the scope and scale of the trauma that the Clown Prince of Crime has inflicted on him over the years.
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