Beloved Batman Character Dies in Brutal Way in Curse of the White Knight

The Clown Prince of Crime has been hard at work over the course of Batman The Curse of the White Knight. Book #3 brought an end for one of Batman's biggest allies in a gigantic encounter in the city. Joker's plan might be moving forward, but he wasn't the one to deliver the killing blow. There are still so many mysteries swirling around in the pages of this book and things are only going to get more dire going forward. *Spoilers for Batman The Curse of the White Knight #3 follow below*

At the end of the last issue, Batman found himself in a bit of a rough spot as he was trapped underwater in one of his trademark vehicles sinking quicker by the minute. The collected Gotham Police Department members come to his rescue and learn of his secret identity from Batgirl in an effort to save the hero before it was too late. Luckily, they plucked him out of there and were forced to regroup.

After some last-ditch efforts by Batman fall flat, Commissioner Gordon appoints his replacement in Renee Montoya. As he leaves a celebration of the announcement in a bar, he's caught off guard by Azrael. The mysterious knight only wants to kill Gordon and manages to stab him through the heart with his flaming sword. So, Jim isn't doing too well as he's bleeding out in that alley after falling down with that wound.

The former commissioner has had a rough go of it in this book, as his bid for mayor was effectively derailed by the Joker exposing his daughter's secret identity to the world during one of his campaign speeches. To add some insult to injury, the villain also pointed out Gordon's infidelity during these comments. As a final touch, Joker did the entire stunt while putting on a fake mustache and glasses to mimic the commissioner.

Gordon had already handed over his responsibility and even talked about accepting what happened with his daughter shortly before the encounter that found him lying in a pool of blood. It is pretty upsetting that readers might never get to see how that understanding and a new perspective on his daughter's role in her own career would have developed his character. Also, having the one person who has experience rallying the police department when these big supervillain dust-ups occur isn't exactly ideal for the heroes of this story.

Batgirl isn't going to be pleased when she finds out what happened to her father, and the sneak peek at the next chapter shows her looking for some revenge. But, as always, Batman does not condone killing anyone, especially when you're thinking about doing it with a gun. The hero might have his hands full next chapter as he's going to have to deliver Harley Quinn's baby in a less than stellar location. Next chapter should be quite the show as Joker's plans still haven't come to light.