Harliss Greer

Harliss Greer was a fictional character in the Golden Age DC Universe, the first polititan to appear in the Batman continuity. Batman and Robin ended up bringing him to justice.

Fictional History

Harliss Greer was a politician in an unnamed city who succeeded to the mayoralty on the sudden death of the elected mayor. Joining forces with a gangster named "Bugs" Norton, Greer forced the city's police into retirement and replaced them with "Bugs's" henchmen, then allowed "Bugs" to commit crimes throughout the city and to smuggle drugs. Gambling dens sprang up, and the city was transformed into a racketeer's paradise (under the laws of Batman's state, only the mayor and the city officials could call for an investigating committee). Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were visiting the city, and, in their costumed guises as Batman and Robin, urged the people to stand up and fight against Greer and Nelson; eventually, the retired police officers joined forces with Batman and Robin and apprehended Harliss Greer and "Bugs" Norton. Harliss Greer has the distinction of being the first corrupt politician ever to be brought to justice by Batman and Robin, and he appeared in Detective Comics #43. His appearance was reprinted in the first volume of THE BATMAN ARCHIVES.

Sources and References

1. "Encyclopedia Of Comic Book Heroes, Volume One: Batman - "GREER, HARLISS"."

2. "BATMAN ARCHIVES, VOLUME ONE - DETECTIVE COMICS #43"