Hamilton Hill (comics)

Hamilton Hill is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a known Mayor of Gotham City and an adversary of Batman.

Publication history[]

Hamilton Hill first appeared in Detective Comics #503 and was created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton.

Fictional character biography[]

Hamilton Hill is originally presented as a corrupt politician running against city councilman Arthur Reeves in Gotham City's mayoral election.^[1] Hill defeats Reeves when the councilman's photos purporting to reveal Batman's identity turn out to be faked and becomes the new Mayor of Gotham City. Unbeknownst to the citizens, Hill is in league with crime lord Rupert Thorne, who helps him become Mayor in exchange for Hill granting him favors. During his time in office, he assists Thorne's attempts to identify and defeat Batman.^[2] He also hires an assassin to take out police detective Harvey Bullock.^[3] When Bullock survives the hit and confronts Hill, he shoots Bullock (who survives), although Hill is able to cover up the shooting and preserve his public image.^[4]

Hill later fires Police Commissioner James Gordon and replaces him with one of Thorne's cronies, Peter Pauling. After Thorne is brought down and Pauling is murdered in cold blood, Hill re-instates Gordon, but spends the rest of his tenure as Mayor trying to shift the blame for Gotham's problems onto Gordon's shoulders.^[5]

Hill makes his own attempt to get rid of Batman by accusing him of a crime that was actually committed by the Nightslayer. When Batman defeats Nightslayer and exposes Hill's plot, Hill is exposed for the man he really is and is promptly removed from office.^[6]

In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". While Hill's corruption is still intact, he is revealed to have a son named Hamilton Hill Jr. who works as the deputy mayor of Mayor Michael Akins. During a discussion with Akins, Batman even brought up his choice of having Hamilton Hill Jr. be his deputy mayor.^[7]

In other media[]

Television[]

• Mayor Hamilton Hill appears in Batman: The Animated Series voiced by Lloyd Bochner. While originally hostile to the Batman and somewhat comical at times, this version of Hill showed absolutely no trace of the corruption present in the comics. He first appeared in the episode "On Leather Wings", where he allows Detective Harvey Bullock to pursue Batman (along with his own special task force) when the vigilante is framed for robbing several pharmacies throughout Gotham City. In "Pretty Poison", Mayor Hill is a supporter of DA Harvey Dent's push to establish Stonegate Penitentiary. In the episode "Be a Clown", his son Jordan is kidnapped by Joker after he runs away because he thinks his dad doesn't care about him. After Batman saves his son however, Hill's opinion of the vigilante began to change. As seen in "The Clock King", businessman Temple Fugate has a grudge against Hill because he believed that he made him late for a court date on purpose (Fugate was appealing a $20 million judgement against his company, and subsequently lost). Hill had been a lawyer at the time, which convinced Fugate that Hill had deceived him because the lawyers who had worked on the case belonged to Hill's law firm. Taking on the mantle of Clock King, Temple tried to dispose of Mayor Hill at a clock tower only for Batman to intervene and save him, which only further changed Hill's opinion and he came to have some respect for the Dark Knight. In "Heart of Steel" Pt. 2, Mayor Hill was almost replaced with an android duplicate made by HARDAC, although Batman rescued him again. In "Blind as a Bat", Commissioner Gordon meets with Mayor Hill and Detective Bullock about the Penguin's theft of the Raven X1-11 at the time when Bruce Wayne was temporarily blinded. In "Harlequinade", Mayor Hill turns down Gordon's suggestion to have Gotham City evacuated when the Joker steals a bomb that would "dent" Gotham City due to a lack of proof (though it is subsequently revealed that the Joker had forced him to do so). In "Time Out of Joint", Mayor Hill is once again targeted by Clock King, who is now using Dr. Wakati's time device. Batman and Robin rescue Mayor Hill and defeat Clock King. In "Lock-Up", Mayor Hill is one of several public figures who are abducted by Lock-Up. He is later rescued by Batman and Robin.
• Lloyd Bochner reprises his role of Mayor Hamilton Hill in The New Batman Adventures. In "Over the Edge", Mayor Hill confronts Commissioner Gordon about his hunt for Batman following Barbara Gordon's death. He states that he is not sure that Bruce Wayne is a murderer as Batman has saved him many times that the district attorney's office wanted a full investigation. When Commissioner Gordon didn't want to stop his hunt for Batman, Mayor Hill leaves advising Gordon to retire after his daughter's funeral. The events of this episode turned out to be result of Barbara having been affected by Scarecrow's fear gas.
• In Batman Beyond, the high school Terry McGinnis attends is named Hamilton Hill High School (or "Hill High"), presumably after the now-deceased Hamilton Hill.
• In The Batman episode "The Batman/Superman Story" Pt. 1, Hamilton Hill (voiced by an uncredited Lex Lang) is identified as the newly elected mayor of Gotham in the season premiere and is portrayed as African-American. He is elected after Marion Grange resigns from office following an invasion by The Joining.
• Mayor Hamilton Hill is seen in the Young Justice episode "Alpha Male", voiced by Corey Burton. He is involved in a tiger-poaching ring that is attacked by Monsieur Mallah. A headline in a Gotham newspaper later reveals that Hill survived and is in bandages.

Film[]

• In Batman Returns, the unpopular mayor Roscoe Jenkins (unnamed in the film and portrayed by Michael Murphy) has similar traits to Mayor Hamilton Hill.
• In Batman: Under the Red Hood, a newspaper clip revealed that Jason Todd (during his time as Robin) saved Mayor Hamilton Hill's life.

Video games[]

• Mayor Hamilton Hill appeared in the video game Batman Vengeance, voiced again by Lloyd Bochner. He was blackmailed by Poison Ivy along with other politicians and wealthy socialites with a lethal parasite that will consume his internal organs unless he buys "food" from Ivy. Batman defeats her and manages to devise a cure to save the Mayor's life.
• In Batman: Arkham Origins, the name "Hamilton Hill" can be seen on a sign. During the credits for the story-based campaign expansion "A Cold, Cold Heart", a report can be heard saying that Hill, the current mayor, was resigning following protests caused by the events of the game which saw his police commissioner, Gillian B. Loeb, exposed as a corrupt officer working for mob boss Black Mask.

Mayor Hamilton Hill as seen in Batman: The Telltale Series.

• Mayor Hamilton Hill appears in Batman: The Telltale Series, voiced by Robert Pescovitz. This version of the character has a personal relationship with mobster Carmine Falcone and is currently campaigning to keep his position against crusading district attorney Harvey Dent, whom Bruce Wayne is supporting. After information about Bruce's father Thomas being an old friend of Falcone's is released to the press, Hill authorizes a police search of Wayne Manor in an attempt to intimidate Bruce into dropping his support for Dent's campaign. When Batman confronts Falcone, he learns that both he and Hill had a secret alliance with his parents. After he is revealed to have been working with Penguin and the Children of Arkham to protect himself from their wrath, Hill is confronted by either Bruce Wayne or Batman, with Hill revealing information about the trio's use of Arkham Asylum to gain control of Gotham. During an attack by the Children of Arkham, Hill is murdered by Penguin after the latter discovers that he was partially responsible for committing his late mother to Arkham. Before he dies, Hill reveals that he hired Joe Chill to kill the Waynes. Following his death, Dent is sworn in as Mayor. Penguin later claims that Hill arranged the Wayne's murders to prevent Martha Wayne from exposing the group's activities, with Alfred confirming some of this information during the final episode.

Web series[]

• In Gotham Girls, Poison Ivy drugs Mayor Hill with a special toxin that makes a root grow out of his forehead. Embarrassed, he is forced to resign from office.

Miscellaneous[]

• In The Batman Adventures, a comic book spinoff of Batman: The Animated Series, the Penguin replaces Hamilton Hill as Mayor of Gotham City thanks to Temple Fugate rigging the votes. Batman foils Fugate and Penguin's plan and Hill is reinstated.
• Mayor Hamilton Hill appears in an issue of The Batman Strikes. He is taken hostage at one of Bruce Wayne's parties by Black Mask.

References[]

External links[]

• Hamilton Hill at DC Comics Wiki
• Hamilton Hill at Comic Vine