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"The Good Man": Since the other gangs have realized that Carmine Falcone owns the GCPD, the mobster has gone relatively unopposed in his attempts to regain control of Gotham City from the so-called freaks.

Quote1 Who wants me out of the picture? If you had leads, you'd be chasing them. But we both know there's a war underway in this city. Blackgate's running wild with rumors. Quote2
James Gordon

Batman Eternal #12 is an issue of the series Batman Eternal (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 2014. It was published on June 25, 2014.

Synopsis for "The Good Man"

Since the other gangs have realized that Carmine Falcone owns the GCPD, the mobster has gone relatively unopposed in his attempts to regain control of Gotham City from the so-called freaks.

The few good cops left, though, are intent on putting an end to the gang-war, though they've been forced to do their planning and research in Lieutenant Jason Bard's apartment. Though Captain Maggie Sawyer is impressed by all of the evidence he's collected, Sgt. Harvey Bullock warns that the interim commissioner, Jack Forbes won't budge on the issue. As far as Forbes is concerned, there is no gang war. Jason has a plan to get around that, but it will require pulling some strings. Smirking, Maggie comments that he's beginning to remind her of Jim Gordon.

The former commissioner, meanwhile, is being granted leave from Blackgate Penitentiary for the opening arguments at his trial for manslaughter. En route, it doesn't take much for him to realize that the man posted as his guard in the police van is Batman in disguise - he's too attentive. Batman explains that he needs the people of Gotham to see that Jim wasn't responsible for the deadly crash at the subway station. Even Jim himself isn't convinced of that, and Batman must admit that he doesn't have enough evidence to get his friend off the hook. Much as Batman knows someone engineered Jim's incarceration, he would be elsewhere if he had any leads. Jim warns that Batman would be better off trying to save the city from the ongoing gang war than trying to save his hide.

At Gotham City General Hospital, Harper Row bemoans the fact that her father was essentially unresponsive when she gave him the news that her brother Cullen has fallen ill to some kind of super-virus. Though she never expected their dad to be of much help, she has some idea of where to get help elsewhere, courtesy of Red Robin. She hacks into the bat-grid in the hopes of tracking him down, but is quickly overwhelmed by the scope of the Batman's crime-fighting database. Even so, she manages to locate Red Robin at the Police Headquarters.

Red Robin is busy fighting Professor Pyg in a holding cell, when he realizes that Harper has hacked into his system. Grumpily, he sends back a message warning her away, and sends a high voltage charge into her laptop, frying it.

In Rio de Janeiro, Batgirl realizes with consternation that Red Hood has been sent to watch her by Batman. She takes it as a personal attack against her abilities, which Jason tries to counter, but she becomes emotional, reminding that this is about her need to clear her father's name. Jason warns that in her efforts, she has missed key pieces of evidence. He has not come to stop her, he's come to help her do things right. Accepting his help in this, Barbara warns that they have only three days remaining to clear Jim Gordon's name.

The opening arguments at Jim's trial begin well enough, extolling his virtues as a good man and a crusader for justice in Gotham City - however, things take a turn when the crown attorney reminds that none of these virtues are of significance in the trial. Whatever kind of man Jim Gordon is, it does nothing to excuse what he did. He fired his weapon on an unarmed man in front of dozens of witnesses, and in the process, he caused the train crash that killed 162 people, with thirty more in hospital.

Afterwards, Vicki Vale and Joey Day worry at Jim's chances. Vicki is annoyed because as far as she is concerned, the trial isn't where the story is - much as Lois Lane's presence at the trial might suggest. The gang war is what's important, and she has been shackled to the Gordon trial when nobody is covering the real injustice going on in Gotham - and the police are useless in stopping it. She is overheard in this complaint by Jason Bard who admits that she's right - but he has an idea to get things back on track.

Later, at Wayne Manor, Julia Pennyworth finds it hard to believe that her Alfred Pennyworth father's life is being fulfilled as a mere butler to a playboy. He had had so much more potential as a medic, as an actor, and as a father, as far as she is concerned. His response is interrupted by the sudden entrance of Tim Drake, who complains that nobody had warned him about Harper Row until he notices Julia's presence. He is surprised when he learns that Alfred has a daughter at all, let alone one that's so obviously military. Alfred takes him aside to discuss it, sneaking down into the Batcave without Julia seeing where they go. After briefly explaining Julia's presence to Tim, Alfred obliges in giving as much information up on Harper Row as he's got.

Later, on the roof of the in-progress Beacon Tower project, Jason Bard hopes that Harvey's plan will work. They had used a phone number that Jim used to use to contact Batman, knowing that they couldn't contact him via the Bat-Signal anymore. It hadn't been used since the last time things were this bad in Gotham. The very same players had been involved then, too: Falcone and the Penguin. Back then, Jim, Harvey Dent and the Batman would meet on the roof of the station house and discuss plans to set the city right. The two cops are surprised when Batman appears, demanding to know how Harvey got that number. Indignantly Harvey reminds that Jim Gordon is his friend too, before explaining why they called him. Jason Bard has a plan to put an end to the gang war - and all it will take is letting the GCPD catch him.

Early in the morning, Jim is wakened in his cell - well beyond visiting hours - by his guard, who warns that the warden has decided to make an exception in preparation for the trial. Jim doesn't believe the man, and earns a nightstick in the gut. He collapses, and finds himself dragged to the visiting room. Scrambling to get his glasses back on, Jim is disturbed to learn that his son, James, Jr. is still alive, and has come for a visit.

Appearing in "The Good Man"

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