What should the age difference between Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne be?

[MajorHoy]

Going by full publication history and all appearances, he's been full gray haired since Bruce's debut as Batman. So I'd at least 30 years older

Hey, some guys already have gray hair at 30 years old (if they haven't started going bald yet). It can vary widely.

[Micael]

A full head of grey hair at 30? How common is that?

[Restingvoice]

A full head of grey hair at 30? How common is that?

When you're a cop in Gotham I imagine it's pretty common ^^

[SiegePerilous02]

Hey, some guys already have gray hair at 30 years old (if they haven't started going bald yet). It can vary widely.

A full head of grey hair at 30? How common is that?

I think it's more common than people think, but I should probably amend my statement and say he was fully gray haired and had some age lines to go along with it. He was definitely drawn to be at least a generation older than Bruce, if not a couple

[Jackalope89]

A full head of grey hair at 30? How common is that?

My uncles, by their 30s (both were in the military then) were not only pretty gray, but balding as well.

A stressful enough job can do a number on people.

[MajorHoy]

A full head of grey hair at 30? How common is that?

Not necessarily "common", but it can happen.

[kevink31593]

In Frank Miller’s original 1986 Dark Knight Returns series, Bruce was stated to be 55, and Gordon was stated to be 70. So, a 15 year age difference. Works for me.

In my head canon, Bruce is 45 currently, and we are 20 years out from Year One. That would put Gordon at 60 now.

Also, I’ve been reading Batman comics since I was 10, and I’m 39 now. I’m not ready to be older than Batman yet!

[MajorHoy]

Also, I’ve been reading Batman comics since I was 10, and I’m 39 now. I’m not ready to be older than Batman yet!

Well, I remember watching the Batman TV show with Adam West when it first aired on ABC TV back in the 1960s, so . . .
I'm probably older than Batman is suppose to be in the comic books, and my Mom was born several years before Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27.

[Daedalus]

I think it's more common than people think, but I should probably amend my statement and say he was fully gray haired and had some age lines to go along with it. He was definitely drawn to be at least a generation older than Bruce, if not a couple

While that was true of his original appearances, past-Jim has been drawn with red hair for many decades. He's white-haired now, but just a few years ago he wasn't.

In Frank Miller’s original 1986 Dark Knight Returns series, Bruce was stated to be 55, and Gordon was stated to be 70. So, a 15 year age difference. Works for me.

In my head canon, Bruce is 45 currently, and we are 20 years out from Year One. That would put Gordon at 60 now.

Also, I’ve been reading Batman comics since I was 10, and I’m 39 now. I’m not ready to be older than Batman yet!

This is fine by me - at 60, Jim would be older, but not yet fully a senior.

I think you nailed it when you related it to Batman's age. I think we are discussing more how old we want Batman to be, rather than how old we want Jim Gordon to be. Gordon's relative age is more of a consequence of that.

[adrikito]

Hmmm.. Maybe 20 years??

Or Barbara and Damian age difference would be even bigger.

[Restingvoice]

In Frank Miller’s original 1986 Dark Knight Returns series, Bruce was stated to be 55, and Gordon was stated to be 70. So, a 15 year age difference. Works for me.

Nice. This fits my timeline as well.
TDKR - Bruce 55 Gordon 70
Current - Bruce 41-45 Gordon 56-60
Year One - Bruce 25 Gordon 40
Crime Alley - Bruce 8 Gordon 23

[Micael]

What do you think was their age difference pre crisis?

[Frontier]

What do you think was their age difference pre crisis?

Probably much larger. Maybe 30 years.

Especially since Barbara was a grown woman.

That is kind of another thing...like, with the kids, how old you expect Jim to be in relation to Bruce also begs the question how old you think the kids should be.

[MajorHoy]

Probably much larger. Maybe 30 years.

Especially since Barbara was a grown woman.

That is kind of another thing...like, with the kids, how old you expect Jim to be in relation to Bruce also begs the question how old you think the kids should be.

Well, when I was (much) younger and Batgirl (Barbara) had recently been introduced, I probably imagined Barbara was in her +/-mid-20s; Bruce was in his +/-mid-30s; and Dick was in his +/-mid-teens (since he was still in high school).

That probably would have made Jim +/-mid-50s to early-60s.

[bat39]

Like others have mentioned, I think it depends a bit on how old you want Bruce to be in 'current' continuity, while keeping Gordon below retirement age.

If we go with the idea that Gordon was on duty when the Waynes were killed, then the first question is, was this before or after Gordon's military service. I think it'll likely be after. So Jim would have to be in his late twenties, maybe around 30 at most. Bruce is usually 8-10 (off late the consensus seems to be 10) when his parents are killed. So that's an age-gap of around 15-20 years.

That'd make Gordon around 40-45 during Year One, which makes sense, considering he already has a teenage daughter.

Now, DC 'official' timelines notwithstanding, I think Bruce has been Batman for over 20 years, so in the present-day that makes Gordon 60-65. That's pretty old and he's possibly due for retirement, but I think its plausible enough that he could still be active as Commisioner at that age. It actually matches his traditional depictions.

Another point to keep in mind is Alfred's age. I've always seen Gordon and Alfred as being roughly around the same age, give or take a few years. So I think my analysis is pretty consistent with that.

And now, to conclude my Ted Talk (, here's a look at the age differences between Bruce and Gordon actors:

David Mazouz and Ben McKenzie: 23 years
Michael Keaton and Pat Hingle: 27 years
Adam West and Neil Hamilton: 29 years
Christian Bale and Gary Oldman: 16 years
Ben Affleck and JK Simmons: 17 years
Robert Pattison and Jeffrey Wright: 20 years

It averages out to about 22 years.

What do you think was their age difference pre crisis?

Almost certainly more than it was Post-Crisis.

Gordon was depicted as already being Commissioner, and white-haired, at the start of Batman's career. Secret Origins # 6, which was published after COIE but is a retelling of the Golden Age Batman's origin story, reveals that Gordon was Bruce's Uncle Phillip's friend. So I think Gordon was definitely meant to be old enough to be Bruce's father in the original continuity. In 'Tec # 500, which was set in an alternate (but Pre-Crisis based) reality, Gordon is a lieutanant around the time the Wayne murders were going to happen.

So I think its safe to say the age-gap was around 30 years pre-crisis, as opposed to 15-20 post-crisis.