Somebody put a hit on Commissioner Gordon and the family is on the run!
SPOILER WARNING! The following contains spoilers for Batman: Caped Crusader Episode 7 titled “Moving Target”. Do not proceed if you wish to avoid spoilers!
MAJOR POINTS
- A criminal put a hit on Gordon
- Onomatopoeia makes his debut in this episode
- Officer Corrigan is corrupt and tries to collect on the bounty
Opening Stinger: Corrigan shoots a man trying to assassinate Commissioner Gordon
Batman tells Barbara Gordon that somebody in Black Gate Prison put a hit out on Commissioner Gordon. Barbara, Renee, Corrigan, and Marcus Driver take The Commissioner out of town where they can hopefully lie low until the hit is taken care of. However, a group of thugs, led by Onomatopoeia, chase after them.
Marcus is wounded in the firefight and the car eventually breaks down. Onomatopoeia and his goons track them down to a model home and pin them down. Batman makes the save and personally takes down Onomatopoeia. He then tells Gordon that he is not the actual target, Barbara is.
Corrigan pulls his gun on Barbara, revealing he was planning to collect all along. Gordon saves his daughter by shooting Corrigan’s gun out of his hand. The police take all the bad guys to jail and the heroes return home.
MAJOR QUESTIONS
- Will Corrigan return? Or was this a last appearance?
- Could we see Green Arrow, given that Onomatopoeia has a history with him too?
EASTER EGGS
- The would-be assassin who Corrigan gunned down was named Floyd Lawton, who in the comics is Deadshot.
- The police radio mentions the corner of Wheeler and Nicholson. The founder of DC Comics was named Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
FINAL GRADE: B-
This was a straight-up action story, making it a good follow-up to the last episode’s supernatural thriller. Seeing a newer character like Onomatopoeia in a period piece was cool. For those who may not know, Onomatopoeia was co-created by Kevin Smith (yes, that Kevin Smith) and made his debut during Smith’s run on Green Arrow.
There were seeds planted for future episodes, should the show get a second season. This Corrigan is not the original Jim Corrigan, a good cop who became the Golden Age Spectre after being murdered. This is the different corrupt Corrigan who first appeared in the comic Gotham Central. Show writers Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka also wrote that comic, so it makes perfect sense.