Dagmar Procjnow was also a character Greg Rucka used in his Detective Comics run prior to Gotham Central.
It looks like her first (brief) appearance, where she's mentioned just by her last name, was in Detective Comics #747 (August 2000):
She then showed up in a few more issues of Detective Comics (these from the following issue, #748):
On the other hand, the Gotham City Police Department has also been home to cops like Lt. Arnold Flass, introduced in Batman #404 (February 1987) <"Year One" Part 1>
Needless to say, Flass and Gordon do not wind up being besties.
I would have sworn he first appeared in Shadow of the Bat #1, and always thought the name was just Alan Grant being cute. You learn something new every day!
I have a soft spot for Kitch and Bock in particular. In both cases, we got to see their quirks up front and their characters evolved as they became recurring characters. They never felt like just a generic cop with a recurring name.
I found it a bit strange that Gotham Central never used either character. I guess Kitch never returned to Gotham after NML, but I think Bock stayed.
"Has Sariel summoned you here, Azrael? Have you come to witness the miracle of your brethren arriving on Earth?"
"I WILL MIX THE ASHES OF YOUR BONES WITH SALT AND USE THEM TO ENSURE THE EARTH THE TEMPLARS TILLED NEVER BEARS FRUIT AGAIN!"
"*sigh* I hoped it was for the miracle."
Dan Watters' Azrael was incredible, a constant delight and perhaps too good for this world (but not the Forth). For the love of St. Dumas, DC, give us more!!!
Billy_Pettit_001.jpg
I might be wrong here, but I am certain that William Pettit was a side character years before No Man's Land. Maybe not full on appearances, as S.W.A.T. are usually surprising absent in Gotham City, but I'm sure the name at least was around for quite a while.
He has one of my favourite story arcs from the whole NML. "He has a bullet for every man, woman and child in Gotham". Chilling stuff.
"Has Sariel summoned you here, Azrael? Have you come to witness the miracle of your brethren arriving on Earth?"
"I WILL MIX THE ASHES OF YOUR BONES WITH SALT AND USE THEM TO ENSURE THE EARTH THE TEMPLARS TILLED NEVER BEARS FRUIT AGAIN!"
"*sigh* I hoped it was for the miracle."
Dan Watters' Azrael was incredible, a constant delight and perhaps too good for this world (but not the Forth). For the love of St. Dumas, DC, give us more!!!
By the way, it appears at one point Kitch was partnered with Detective Caz Sallucci back in the 1990s.
from Batman Secret Files #1 (October 1997)
The earliest mention I seem to find for him might be in Detective Comics #673 (April 1994).
Does anybody know if he was mentioned / showed up earlier than that?
from Detective Comics #673 (April 1994)
from Detective Comics #685 (May 1995)
Billy Pettit was first introduced as part of GCPD's S.W.A.T. team back in Man-Bat #1 (February 1996).
He continued to be involved into "No Man's Land", but then things went downhill for him.
taken from GCPD entry in Batman Secret Files #1 (October 1997)
taken from "Blue Boys" (GCPD) entry in No Man's Land Secret Files #1 (December 1999
Renee Montoya's first appearance in a Batman story was in Batman #475 (March 1992)