Friday, June 7, 2019

Flashback Friday: Chief O'Hara

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Chief O' Hara!

Chief O'Hara was a creation of the 1966 Batman series that first appeared in the premiere episode, "Hi Diddle Riddle" (January 1966).  In the series, he worked in conjunction with Commissioner Gordon as a reflection of the New York Police Department, where the chief is the most senior sworn officer and the commissioner is a civilian overseer.


As Batman was an instant hit, and really the thing that made him as popular as he is today, it didn't take long for it to affect the comics. O'Hara was first mentioned in comics in World's Finest #159 (June 1966), and brought with him the hotline from the show.


He appeared mostly off-panel in Detective Comics #461 (April 1976)...


...and then appeared on-panel in Detective Comics #470 (April 1977), though his face was obscured.


But that's Earth-1 Chief O'Hara. Later that same year, Earth-2 Chief O'Hara debuted in All-Star Comics #67 (June 1977).


He briefly replaced Bruce Wayne as commissioner beginning in Wonder Woman #281 (May 1981).


His first Post-Crisis appearance was as Police Chief Clancy O'Hara in Batman: Dark Victory #1 (December 1999), where he was the first victim of the Hangman.


To my knowledge, he has not appeared in the New 52/Rebirth, but you never know when that will change!

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