Harvey always struck me as a good cop who dislikes how Batman is able to get around the rules and is bitter that he can't. He sees the good Batman does but is too proud and stubborn to admit it.
I don't see pride as Harvey Bullock's vice. He has far too little to take pride in, and his good work is not minimized by Batman's actions. If anything, he sees himself as the necessary mundane counterpart to Batman's seemingly otherworldly influence. It might be a touch of hubris, but if superheroes and supervillains were real, how _would_ we normies handle it? I wouldn't want my world to become awash in the sway of powers beyond my comprehension, either. What's more, going around the rules is part of his source of paranoia. We don't really get to see whether or not Bullock would do it over again if given the chance. I bet that if asked, Batman would say that Harvey is right to dislike Batman's ability to skirt the rules. He would probably say that a world where Batman wasn't necessary, a world where Harvey Bullock was enough, would be a far better place.
I always liked that when everyone thinks Batman is dead, Bullock was visibly sad to tell Gordon the news. It showed that despite his dislike of his methods, he does genuinely respect Bats.
@@SaltpeterTaffy Honestly couldn't say it better myself! It's perfectly reasonable that bullock would have some resentment towards batman. He works his ass off inside the laws(and slightly outside at times) to bring criminals in and sees only moderate results. Whereas batman arrives and begins working completely outside of the law and throwing any meaning of procedure and due process out the window and becomes truly feared by criminals to the point where you'd be a fool to be a criminal in gotham unless you were attached to a gang or a particular villain. In some regards, I Imagine Harvey is watching batman do exactly what he's been prevented from doing his whole career so of course he's upset and irritated with the bat!
@@jaybone2321 he doesn't dislike Batman, he dislikes the NEED for Batman. There's also some resentment that they work in similar ways and while Harvey is reviled for it, Batman is put on a pedestal. That would chap anyone's butt. Then there's the issue of while he's a good guy, he's a terrible human being
That's what I love about him. The show teaches not to judge on appearances alone and to be patient when judging someone's true character (be it looking good or bad initially).
He’s competent, hence why he dislikes Batman. Batman makes the police look bad by outclassing them. I feel like he distrusts Batman because 1. Lockup, (and in other continuities), Red Hood and Azrael exist. And 2. He wants to show that the police can do good without being helped by Batmen and large Bird boys.
A detail I wish you included about Bullock is that on the few occasions where he's given an action scene, the writers take an extra second to give him moments of competence. They let him DO things, instead of just being another background cop.
I also like how in Mask of the Phantasm, he gets pissed at the swat men recklessly firing on Batman and blowing up a gas tank. Even when Batman is wanted by the police, he was still trying to be a good cop and wanted Batman alive.
@@Darthzilla99 Oh man, I almost forgot about that movie film! I need to go back and rewatch BTAS and Phantasm Mask i do recall the Phantasm is the broad all along
‘Do things’ Things he do; Catches an axe an inch away from his face. Tracks joker based on one fish as a clue before Batman does. Repairs car multiple times in a police chase of Harley Quinn, keeps up with Batman, an ex-military father, and police choppers.
@@clintbrew Robert is literally hired for the productions that can’t afford Danny. Course it’s fine, because Robert and Danny are actually good friends and Danny actually trusts him to work like that. It’s like the relationship between Mako and Greg Baldwin.
He doesn't get enough credit. He's really good. I always perk up when I see him in something and I was super happy when he was in Arkham Origins. As much as Conroy and Hamill embody their respective characters in their performances, he does the same for Bullock.
Harvey Bullock was always one of the most underrated Batman characters as the man despite looking like a crooked cop never was one and subverted the expectations of the audience despite how much he doesn't agree with Batman or his methods. I greatly respect the character and how much he sticks by Gordan and stands by his intuition, even when he tends to break the rules a bit. The Batman Animated Series and the live-action FOX show Gotham had my favourite takes on the character of Harvey Bullock
Not so underrated. He was made for the cartoon and was well liked enough that he lives in the comics now. At this point most readers think he's always been there
@@CorbCorbin not really. He wasn’t really dirty or corrupt but he was desperate when he was in a corner with money but he does regret getting bought with and makeup for his mistakes.
Harvey was originally a dirty cop I. The comics, but when Gordon took over, he was so impressed by his honesty and respected him so much that he told the corrupt mayor who hired him where to stick it and changed his ways
I love bullock, he is such a good character, i hate when he is presented as a generic corrupt cop in any other medias just because he is rough and brutish
This is the one I've been waiting for. Harvey was by all accounts a good cop loyal to the end. He kept Batman unknowingly honest and was never afraid to speak his mind. We all need a friend like Bullock
You would never have a friend like Bullock. He pushes everyone away outside of work. If you worked with him you might be able to be friends with him, but he is very solitary outside of work. This guy only exists on the job.
One of the best things about Bullock to me is how he has a genuine friendship with the Robins in the comics. He sees these kids helping out this vigilante that he genuinely dislikes, and he acts like a sort of counselor for them. He's the guy they can talk to while Bats chats with Gordon, and he doesn't talk down to them. He treats them like they should be: as kids.
Bullock is a massively underrated character. I wish he'd gotten a "finest hour" type of moment that could have given him a huge payoff in the comics. Like maybe when Batman is busy or not around, he actually runs a case to bring in one of the big Gotham villains, only to get caught in a shootout or something where he sacrifices himself to save his fellow officers and bring down the criminal boss in question. It could work even if Bullock didn't die but was only injured. Unfortunately I don't think we've ever gotten that.
I always got the feeling that Harvey was a good man, and wanted the same thing as Batman. He's written well, sometimes written to show limits in certain ways of thinking, but also very loyal and trustworthy. He always had Gordon's back, and similar to the Dirty Hairy type, treated everyone the same, if a little mean
Bullock kinda shows us what a person with Batman's ideals, determination, and good intentions looks like without having access to money and resources that Bruce has. If Bruce Wayne was born to factory workers and grew wanting to make a difference he would have joined LE to realistically have the opportunity to do good.
@@VigriffIt’s got some of the best iterations of characters ever put to live action. Alfred, Riddler, Penguin to name a few. But the later seasons have some stinkers - it’s definitely worth a watch either way
@@Vigriffgood show tbh first 3 seasons were amazing aswell the problem with the show though is that they made batman villains as antagonists, what made the early seasons good was that they covered up the crime bosses like falcone, penguin, Riddler and Maroni because they were actual threats basically they added characters that should've been introduced when bruce became batman but made them around too early
Harvey Bullock gets a really nice bit in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader where he gives a small speech. It's only two panels if I remember correctly, but it really hit home
Tritter was abusing his position, even committing crimes just to get back at the doctor who left a thermometer up his rectum. I don' think he's anything like Bullock who is a good cop.
I like him. He's this scummy do gooder who is proud of what he does right, and kinda kicks himself for all the parts of him that he let slip. He's no wall of stone, he's just a guy. He's seen his friends die just for showing up and he's seen Batman take center stage for incidents he couldn't even hope to help. He's a lot like Martha and Thomas, he wants to fix things, wants the world to be better, wants the world to be made sane in any way it can, but he's just a man with a hammer, and he can only smack down the loose nails to keep the whole damn thing afloat. He's ineffectual, and he knows that. He's made so many concessions to be who he could be, but at the end of the day that was simply never enough. The city needed more, the city needed Batman. In spite of everything he had done it was a vigilante, a rule breaker, that did his work to make the city clean, but where everyone else sees a savior, Bullock has been doing this so long that it's just another nail.
I think that's a very human outlook. I mean, WE all like Batman because we're the AUDIENCE, but imagine if we lived in that world. Imagine for a second that YOU were a GCPD officer who had committed his entire life to trying to clean up the streets of his hometown only for some guy working outside the system, with no accountability or overhead, just starts swooping in and taking massive credit from the public for putting criminals away. In all honesty, we'd all probably have our own misgivings in that situation. Yeah, we *know* that Bullock should remain humble and thankful for the help, but humans aren't perfect. We're flawed. Bullock is a bit bullheaded and maybe slightly envious of Batman (or at least, of Batman's results) but he means well, and just wants the same thing as Bruce: For Gotham to be safe. He's honestly underrated imo. I really think Bullock made the show better because he was a bit of contrast from the hyper-competent, stoic enigma that is Batman.
@@whichDude Montoya: "What are you doing for New Year's, Harvey?" Harvey: "Same thing I did last year, my laundry!" That hits me close to home as I get older. 😔
I'd like to see more Harvey Bullock doing good detective work despite the odds stacked against him, like how the detectives in Spawn still managed to accomplish a fair amount even when Spawn wasn't involved.
Sam & Twitch have always been some of my favorite characters in the Spawnverse... I was so bummed out when their solo title was cancelled after only 26 issues (other stuff came out later on, but not enough), and was pumped when Jeremy Renner was announced as Twitch for the new movie, but that was already 5 years ago and things are going soooo slowly... Kevin Smith was also supposed to make a tv show about the duo, but it didn't pan out. Kevin Smith must be one of the filmmakers/comic writers with the highest amounts of disregarded projects that I really wanted to see/read. Between *"Batman: Bellicosity"* , his *"Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target"* run, his "Jimmy Olsen in Bizarro world" episode for the cancelled HBO Max show *Strange Adventures* (with Nicolas Cage as Bizzaro) , his *Arrow* episode with Onomatopoeia (with a version of the character that would have been more faithful to his original character than what we got in *Superman & Lois* ...). Oh well. As long as *Batman: Bellicosity* comes out one day, I'll be happy. I know, I know, it's been announced over 10 years ago already, but since Kevin Smith keeps insisting every couple years that the project is not dead yet, I keep faith...
@@randallflagg3700 With his recent failures, like the new He-Man, I would personally be a bit reserved about expectations from Kevin Smith, but I definitely want to see if Jeremy Renner can pull off Twitch. Who was to play Sam?
@@randallflagg3700 Ugh. I would hate if Kevin Smith did any more Batman. Cacophony had Onomatopoiea as a fairly interesting character, but all else about it was awful.
@@SgtGigawattz - Sorry about the late reply! I know what you mean about Kevin Smith, I haven't watched the new He-Man but it doesn't have great reviews... I don't think the actor for Sam Burke had been cast, or if he was they kept it hush-hush.
@@Aivottaja - Well, to reply to both you and Napalm about this, I definitely admit that Kevin Smith has been declining recently.... But one of the reasons I really want *Batman: Bellicosity* to come out one day, is because he apparently had the story thought out ever since *"The Widening Gyre"* started to come out. So it's not like it's a new idea of his, it would be an old script being made into a comic book a looooong time after being thought out. According to Smith, Walt Flanagan has already been working on the 3 issues of "Bellicosity" that Smith has almost finished... Plus, I'm a massive Onomatopoeia fanboy, and sadly the current version we have in *Superman & Lois* season 3 isn't really faithful to Smith & Phil Hester's original character.
Bullock is one of my single favorite characters in all of superhero lore. High praise but he’s a testament to one of the things the DCAU excelled at especially in its early years, was creating interesting, unique and memorable side characters. They fleshed out the world of each main character and made it feel like a real place with real people. I’m literally the Leo pointing meme every time I see Lois, Alfred, Gordon, Maggie Sawyer, Jimmy Olsen, Summer Gleason, Mayor Hill, etc. pop up again. And that’s because I feel like I know who they are, even if they don’t have much screen time we spent time with each of these characters and learned things about them. One of the perks of having a fairly long running television series, you constantly get to develop things.
One of the inly non-batman characters that really left an impression on me as a kid. I struggled to remember what most of the other characters where really like, but Officer Ballock was so damn memorable. Never knew if I liked him or hated him. Was really hoping to see a good impression of him back in the Bat-ChrisB days.
Harvey is one of those things I miss most from the early days of the DCAU, and I'm happy whenever I see him or a character like him brought more into focus in DC media.
Please make a video about Tim Drake. His Robin solo series during the 90s was one of the first comic runs I ever read and it really breaks my heart to see what has become of him.
I actually have been asking for Tim for a long time. The one in the DCAU was a combination of both Jason and Tim mixed together but it was it's own version, though more Jason. It's sad Tim isn't given his due as much as the other Robin's in the animated shows and I want to see more of him. I still need to watch more Young Justice but we all know that's another Dick show.
@@mandalorianhunter1 "The one in the DCAU was a combination of both Jason and Tim" People have been saying this for years and I've never really gotten it. Yes, he has Tim's name, but that's about as much as there is. He's not some genius who figures out who Batman is, he's not trained by multiple different teachers, he doesn't use a staff, etc. He's just a street kid with corrupt parents who Batman took in and eventually lost to the Joker. Completely Jason. Tim in name only. That's not a combination of two characters. That one character that's been *very* thinly reskinned.
@@DerrickUltima Well the thing is that he isn't blood thirsty or has anger problems like Jason is. He was the light in the darkness for the Batman family at the time, a guiding light for Bruce, a hope for Dick to return home and a great brother for Barbara. He also doesn't come back to destroy the crime in Gotham either although this is before Jason was revived. I will agree with you that he is more Jason then Tim but I still see he has both of them in this one.
In the FOX drama series GOTHAM, the character of DETECTIVE HARVEY BULLOCK was beautifully served by the complex portrayal of actor DONAL LOGUE as future commissioner Jim Gordon's police partner, close friend and cynical mentor.
I’m sitting down to eat breakfast, scrolling through RUclips. I can’t find anything to watch. I’m starting to panic as I scroll for minutes- nothing. My toast is getting cold. Surely I won’t be forced to eat without further ruining my attention span? The cruelty?! Out of desperate hope, I reload the page. Then, I see it. Implicitly Pretentious video. “1 minute ago”. Thank you.
You have good instincts, Mr. Pretentious, sir. Something in you said, “I’ll do this, it’ll be funny” but that was just a game your brain plays with you to get you to consider something you wouldn’t notice otherwise, and tricking you into things like this. Nice!
Harvey is one of those characters that I began to appreciate more as I grew up. He does his job with full commitment and sacrifice, remains "clean" (or relativly so) despite the temptation a position of power has and is doing it all despite there really being no reward for him in the end. And his tough stance on batman? Well he is a vigilante which is illegal so technically he's still getting off light, unlike in situations like mask of the phantasm were the GCPD actually do go after bats.
Bullock was absolutely the best character in the Gotham TV show. The guy who looks up to Gordon so much that Gordon holds himself to a higher standard.
I really hope that you also make a video about John Constantine by Matt Ryan who is one of the greatest castings for a comic book character of all time.
@@The_Phantasm I'm not saying Keanu reeves was faithful. But it was a cool reinterpretation. I was saying he should be in the video. Like the Gotham version of Harvey bullock should have been here
Yes, and the DC universe is always in that state of contention between humanity and the super/inhuman forces that we follow as the audience and comprise our normal experience of the universe, but for the actual normal human beings are decidedly outside of normal
Yeah, his characterization was the worst thing in the show. I would have accepted a dimwitted and incompetent Bullock, but not a crooked one. Making him unwitting accomplice of Flass would have been better. Hoping he improves in season two if they make one.
Bullock was always a fave character of mine! He never gives up on Gotham though it kept driving him down. His loyalty is admirable! And I love his nicknames for Batman... Pointy Ears, Cowlhead, Bats. He adds a... a human element to a world full of superhero's and supervillains.
To really see the heart of Harvey Bullock, look no further than THE MAN WHO KILLED BATMAN. A great BTAS episode that keeps viewers guessing... is Batman really dead? You can probably guess the answer to that, duh. Having said that, there's a great sequence in which word gets around regarding the Dark Knight's demise. Our dear Detective Bullock doesn't take the news too well. Great watch!
I like Bullock but it's sad that he doesn't get the love he deserves. He only appears in one Arkham game and doesn't really appear anywhere else. I like how he was in Gotham where he was corrupt in the earlier seasons that came around to believing in what Gordan wanted to believe in. Bullock should appear more
Its why I love his character so much, his relationship with Jim in gotham is one of the best tv duos I've ever seen he's flawed but has a good heart and is my favorite cop in GCPD
I liked how in the Batman Adventures comic, he more or less resigns after The Penguin becomes the new mayor of Gotham and becomes a private detective. He'd rather leave his job than work for a crook like him.
This is the kind of character I'd like to see more of in the comics. Especially because of how Batman is propped up in recent years it'd be good to see a character actively trying to prove he's not needed.
As a Harvey Bullock fan, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video!!! I’m so sick of people not understanding that this guy is so much more than his design or his attitude. He’s so complex and his heart of gold beneath his rugged exterior proves itself on numerous occasions. I love your stuff, this just made my day 😊
yeah i really wished more writers used bullock in deeper stories, because he honest makes a great parallel to bruce/batman. to me bullock's whole thing is that he is one of the few good cops in gotham but in doing so/the job itself he completely neglected himself, becoming slovenly, ill tempered, and standoffish. it's a great reflection to bruce himself, that idea of "batman's the real face while bruce is the mask" fans always spout, in trying to save gotham he neglects who he really is in favor of the persona.
Would be interesting if we got a film from the perspective of Bullock and have batman appear as the vigilante and near impossible force that your standard Gotham citizen sees him
I love characters like Harvey because they remind me of me. Well, maybe not entirely. But their unwavering loyalty and their commitment to their chosen path really resonate with me. The loyal assholes are always my favorites, and it's sadly a trope that seems to be eother falling out of favor, or consistently done poorly in a lot of modern media.
Missed this when it came out, and now getting to it, Its been 20 minutes and I've only just been able to stop myself from laughing at your intro music playin over nothing but the word "Bullocks", ok, time to actually finish this
Harvey did hate batman at the start but in the latter seasons, he saw there was a need for him and even admitting to missing him when he was dealing with Batgirl and supergirl. He's like Gotham's version of guy Gardner: a unpleasant meat head but he will always have your back when the chips are down.
Very astute call out. For all the hate he gets, it's a toss up on whether Gardner or Scott is my 2nd favorite Lantern. Like Bullock he subverts our expectation of what to expect from a 'good guy'.
If Harvey Bullock was a IRL cop, he'd have left the force. The environment we have Post-2020 regarding cops is something he'd be unable to handle. The world would not see him as a good guy.
Now do one for Dan Turpin. But seriously, thank you. Bullock is a character that needs more attention, and its a crime he doesn't have more mainstream presence.
This episode has always remained in my memories. I had recorded it on VHS back in the day and would revisit it often, solely for the detective noir setting and especially for the music. Some top class “dangerous” jazz in there. But subconsciously it probably affected me as to how a regular human would operate in the same world as (and doing the same job as) the not-so-regular human Batman. Thanks for this video!
I always like Harvey. Sure, he bends the rules a little and is a slob. But he never betrayed the badge and was always very loyal to Gordon. A really hard task to accomplish after serving Gotham for 15 years. Yet, mundane or not, you will hard press to find another character like him outside of this show.
Harvey always struck me as a good cop who dislikes how Batman is able to get around the rules and is bitter that he can't. He sees the good Batman does but is too proud and stubborn to admit it.
I don't see pride as Harvey Bullock's vice. He has far too little to take pride in, and his good work is not minimized by Batman's actions. If anything, he sees himself as the necessary mundane counterpart to Batman's seemingly otherworldly influence. It might be a touch of hubris, but if superheroes and supervillains were real, how _would_ we normies handle it? I wouldn't want my world to become awash in the sway of powers beyond my comprehension, either. What's more, going around the rules is part of his source of paranoia. We don't really get to see whether or not Bullock would do it over again if given the chance.
I bet that if asked, Batman would say that Harvey is right to dislike Batman's ability to skirt the rules. He would probably say that a world where Batman wasn't necessary, a world where Harvey Bullock was enough, would be a far better place.
I always liked that when everyone thinks Batman is dead, Bullock was visibly sad to tell Gordon the news. It showed that despite his dislike of his methods, he does genuinely respect Bats.
@@SaltpeterTaffy Honestly couldn't say it better myself! It's perfectly reasonable that bullock would have some resentment towards batman. He works his ass off inside the laws(and slightly outside at times) to bring criminals in and sees only moderate results. Whereas batman arrives and begins working completely outside of the law and throwing any meaning of procedure and due process out the window and becomes truly feared by criminals to the point where you'd be a fool to be a criminal in gotham unless you were attached to a gang or a particular villain. In some regards, I Imagine Harvey is watching batman do exactly what he's been prevented from doing his whole career so of course he's upset and irritated with the bat!
@@jaybone2321 he doesn't dislike Batman, he dislikes the NEED for Batman. There's also some resentment that they work in similar ways and while Harvey is reviled for it, Batman is put on a pedestal. That would chap anyone's butt.
Then there's the issue of while he's a good guy, he's a terrible human being
Personally,i really like Bullock.
...he REALLY needs his OWN series*(...*hint, hint)!!!
He subverts the trope of a dirty cop.
Walks,acts,talks like one but is genuinely a good guy.The love shown is appreciated.
That's what I love about him. The show teaches not to judge on appearances alone and to be patient when judging someone's true character (be it looking good or bad initially).
A dirty cop only in the most literal sense.
He is dirty cop
In literal sense
My favorite Bullock moment was when he said something akin to: "I didn't need a fancy bat-gadget to know that an exotic fish came from an aquarium!"
Bullock using an underrated tool:
Common Sense
He’s competent, hence why he dislikes Batman. Batman makes the police look bad by outclassing them. I feel like he distrusts Batman because
1. Lockup, (and in other continuities), Red Hood and Azrael exist.
And
2. He wants to show that the police can do good without being helped by Batmen and large Bird boys.
A detail I wish you included about Bullock is that on the few occasions where he's given an action scene, the writers take an extra second to give him moments of competence. They let him DO things, instead of just being another background cop.
I also like how in Mask of the Phantasm, he gets pissed at the swat men recklessly firing on Batman and blowing up a gas tank. Even when Batman is wanted by the police, he was still trying to be a good cop and wanted Batman alive.
@@Darthzilla99 Oh man, I almost forgot about that movie film! I need to go back and rewatch BTAS and Phantasm Mask i do recall the Phantasm is the broad all along
‘Do things’
Things he do;
Catches an axe an inch away from his face.
Tracks joker based on one fish as a clue before Batman does.
Repairs car multiple times in a police chase of Harley Quinn, keeps up with Batman, an ex-military father, and police choppers.
Harvey’s voice actor Robert Costanzo really brought the character to life. Sounding like a true New York cop.
He sounds like danny devito which is funny since robert costanzo also voiced phil in the hercules tv series and the kingdom hearts series
He's also Joe Barbaro from mafia 2
@@clintbrew Robert is literally hired for the productions that can’t afford Danny. Course it’s fine, because Robert and Danny are actually good friends and Danny actually trusts him to work like that. It’s like the relationship between Mako and Greg Baldwin.
@@KurstKensei i wondered why he sounded so familiar.
He doesn't get enough credit. He's really good. I always perk up when I see him in something and I was super happy when he was in Arkham Origins.
As much as Conroy and Hamill embody their respective characters in their performances, he does the same for Bullock.
Harvey Bullock was always one of the most underrated Batman characters as the man despite looking like a crooked cop never was one and subverted the expectations of the audience despite how much he doesn't agree with Batman or his methods. I greatly respect the character and how much he sticks by Gordan and stands by his intuition, even when he tends to break the rules a bit. The Batman Animated Series and the live-action FOX show Gotham had my favourite takes on the character of Harvey Bullock
Harvey was dirty on Gotham.
Not so underrated. He was made for the cartoon and was well liked enough that he lives in the comics now.
At this point most readers think he's always been there
@@CorbCorbin not really. He wasn’t really dirty or corrupt but he was desperate when he was in a corner with money but he does regret getting bought with and makeup for his mistakes.
@@nicholashodges201no hes from the comics.
Harvey was originally a dirty cop I. The comics, but when Gordon took over, he was so impressed by his honesty and respected him so much that he told the corrupt mayor who hired him where to stick it and changed his ways
He's rough around the edges but he's a good man that just wants to do good
Harvey Bullock is the Bulkk and Skull of the BATMAN world. UNDERRATED AF.
He's a hero of the mundane and thats why hes so likable
I love bullock, he is such a good character, i hate when he is presented as a generic corrupt cop in any other medias just because he is rough and brutish
Also reminds me of Sam from spawn
@@ToyGuruMan Bullock reminds me of Fred Flintstone. 😁
This is the one I've been waiting for. Harvey was by all accounts a good cop loyal to the end. He kept Batman unknowingly honest and was never afraid to speak his mind. We all need a friend like Bullock
You would never have a friend like Bullock. He pushes everyone away outside of work. If you worked with him you might be able to be friends with him, but he is very solitary outside of work. This guy only exists on the job.
We all need a friend with a shot gun and a creative use of the english langauge to sling casual insults.
One of the best things about Bullock to me is how he has a genuine friendship with the Robins in the comics. He sees these kids helping out this vigilante that he genuinely dislikes, and he acts like a sort of counselor for them. He's the guy they can talk to while Bats chats with Gordon, and he doesn't talk down to them. He treats them like they should be: as kids.
Bullock is a massively underrated character.
I wish he'd gotten a "finest hour" type of moment that could have given him a huge payoff in the comics.
Like maybe when Batman is busy or not around, he actually runs a case to bring in one of the big Gotham villains, only to get caught in a shootout or something where he sacrifices himself to save his fellow officers and bring down the criminal boss in question. It could work even if Bullock didn't die but was only injured.
Unfortunately I don't think we've ever gotten that.
In the comics or the show?
I always got the feeling that Harvey was a good man, and wanted the same thing as Batman. He's written well, sometimes written to show limits in certain ways of thinking, but also very loyal and trustworthy. He always had Gordon's back, and similar to the Dirty Hairy type, treated everyone the same, if a little mean
Bullock kinda shows us what a person with Batman's ideals, determination, and good intentions looks like without having access to money and resources that Bruce has. If Bruce Wayne was born to factory workers and grew wanting to make a difference he would have joined LE to realistically have the opportunity to do good.
The Harvey Bullock love is appreciated
I really liked that he was in Arkham Origins and I love that Gotham cast Donal Logue for the role which was just great to see.
Donal Logue was an AWESOME Bullock.
How good is Gotham?
@@VigriffIt’s got some of the best iterations of characters ever put to live action. Alfred, Riddler, Penguin to name a few. But the later seasons have some stinkers - it’s definitely worth a watch either way
@@Vigriff It’s an ok show. The actors cast are top notch but there are some writing choices that are questionable. Still worth a watch.
@@Vigriffgood show tbh first 3 seasons were amazing aswell the problem with the show though is that they made batman villains as antagonists, what made the early seasons good was that they covered up the crime bosses like falcone, penguin, Riddler and Maroni because they were actual threats basically they added characters that should've been introduced when bruce became batman but made them around too early
"Being a hero isn't about being able to fly or be strong. Being a hero is about inspiring ordinary everyday people to be just as heroic as yourself."
-proceeds to mentally breakdown his landlord until the guy turns into broken down criminal nutjob
@@whichDude that’s Gotham for you
Harvey Bullock gets a really nice bit in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader where he gives a small speech. It's only two panels if I remember correctly, but it really hit home
"How do you keep going"
"Cause He [Batman] kept going"
A time that side characters actually added to the overall feel of the story
That's because they're fully fleshed out. Most other stories don't take the time to do that.
We need Harvey Bullock in more Batman media he's such a great character that parallels Batman's method of justice
Harvey is one of those characters that functions to inject real world logic into the fiction and draw us out of it, like Tritter in House MD
Tritter was abusing his position, even committing crimes just to get back at the doctor who left a thermometer up his rectum. I don' think he's anything like Bullock who is a good cop.
I like him. He's this scummy do gooder who is proud of what he does right, and kinda kicks himself for all the parts of him that he let slip.
He's no wall of stone, he's just a guy. He's seen his friends die just for showing up and he's seen Batman take center stage for incidents he couldn't even hope to help.
He's a lot like Martha and Thomas, he wants to fix things, wants the world to be better, wants the world to be made sane in any way it can, but he's just a man with a hammer, and he can only smack down the loose nails to keep the whole damn thing afloat. He's ineffectual, and he knows that.
He's made so many concessions to be who he could be, but at the end of the day that was simply never enough. The city needed more, the city needed Batman. In spite of everything he had done it was a vigilante, a rule breaker, that did his work to make the city clean, but where everyone else sees a savior, Bullock has been doing this so long that it's just another nail.
Well put.
I think that's a very human outlook.
I mean, WE all like Batman because we're the AUDIENCE, but imagine if we lived in that world.
Imagine for a second that YOU were a GCPD officer who had committed his entire life to trying to clean up the streets of his hometown only for some guy working outside the system, with no accountability or overhead, just starts swooping in and taking massive credit from the public for putting criminals away. In all honesty, we'd all probably have our own misgivings in that situation.
Yeah, we *know* that Bullock should remain humble and thankful for the help, but humans aren't perfect. We're flawed. Bullock is a bit bullheaded and maybe slightly envious of Batman (or at least, of Batman's results) but he means well, and just wants the same thing as Bruce: For Gotham to be safe.
He's honestly underrated imo. I really think Bullock made the show better because he was a bit of contrast from the hyper-competent, stoic enigma that is Batman.
As a kid watching BTAS I always hated Harvey Bullock but nowadays I find him a really interesting character who has a ton of potential
He's a Squidward. Character you never care for when you're younger, but grow to love as you realize how relatable they are as you grow older.
@@whichDude Montoya: "What are you doing for New Year's, Harvey?"
Harvey: "Same thing I did last year, my laundry!"
That hits me close to home as I get older. 😔
It’s like Zenigata. In the absence of the hero, he’s unstoppable.
Hell yeah love seeing Bullock get the spotlight for once
In the movie he's really corrupte
I'd like to see more Harvey Bullock doing good detective work despite the odds stacked against him, like how the detectives in Spawn still managed to accomplish a fair amount even when Spawn wasn't involved.
Sam & Twitch have always been some of my favorite characters in the Spawnverse...
I was so bummed out when their solo title was cancelled after only 26 issues (other stuff came out later on, but not enough), and was pumped when Jeremy Renner was announced as Twitch for the new movie, but that was already 5 years ago and things are going soooo slowly...
Kevin Smith was also supposed to make a tv show about the duo, but it didn't pan out. Kevin Smith must be one of the filmmakers/comic writers with the highest amounts of disregarded projects that I really wanted to see/read.
Between *"Batman: Bellicosity"* , his *"Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target"* run, his "Jimmy Olsen in Bizarro world" episode for the cancelled HBO Max show *Strange Adventures* (with Nicolas Cage as Bizzaro) , his *Arrow* episode with Onomatopoeia
(with a version of the character that would have been more faithful to his original character than what we got in *Superman & Lois* ...).
Oh well. As long as *Batman: Bellicosity* comes out one day, I'll be happy.
I know, I know, it's been announced over 10 years ago already, but since Kevin Smith keeps insisting every couple years that the project is not dead yet, I keep faith...
@@randallflagg3700 With his recent failures, like the new He-Man, I would personally be a bit reserved about expectations from Kevin Smith, but I definitely want to see if Jeremy Renner can pull off Twitch. Who was to play Sam?
@@randallflagg3700 Ugh. I would hate if Kevin Smith did any more Batman. Cacophony had Onomatopoiea as a fairly interesting character, but all else about it was awful.
@@SgtGigawattz - Sorry about the late reply! I know what you mean about Kevin Smith, I haven't watched the new He-Man but it doesn't have great reviews...
I don't think the actor for Sam Burke had been cast, or if he was they kept it hush-hush.
@@Aivottaja - Well, to reply to both you and Napalm about this, I definitely admit that Kevin Smith has been declining recently....
But one of the reasons I really want *Batman: Bellicosity* to come out one day, is because he apparently had the story thought out ever since *"The Widening Gyre"* started to come out.
So it's not like it's a new idea of his, it would be an old script being made into a comic book a looooong time after being thought out.
According to Smith, Walt Flanagan has already been working on the 3 issues of "Bellicosity" that Smith has almost finished...
Plus, I'm a massive Onomatopoeia fanboy, and sadly the current version we have in *Superman & Lois* season 3 isn't really faithful to Smith & Phil Hester's original character.
Bullock is one of my single favorite characters in all of superhero lore. High praise but he’s a testament to one of the things the DCAU excelled at especially in its early years, was creating interesting, unique and memorable side characters. They fleshed out the world of each main character and made it feel like a real place with real people. I’m literally the Leo pointing meme every time I see Lois, Alfred, Gordon, Maggie Sawyer, Jimmy Olsen, Summer Gleason, Mayor Hill, etc. pop up again. And that’s because I feel like I know who they are, even if they don’t have much screen time we spent time with each of these characters and learned things about them. One of the perks of having a fairly long running television series, you constantly get to develop things.
One of the inly non-batman characters that really left an impression on me as a kid. I struggled to remember what most of the other characters where really like, but Officer Ballock was so damn memorable. Never knew if I liked him or hated him. Was really hoping to see a good impression of him back in the Bat-ChrisB days.
Bullock's voice actor on the animated series did an amazing job.
RIP Michael Reaves
He wrote some of the best TAS episodes, including Bullet for Bullock.
Also, Disney's Gargoyles and some of the best Star Wars Legends novels too, like Death Star and Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter.
After first being introduced to Harvey in "Gotham" I've fallen in love with his character and honestly like him more than Gordon :)
Have to say, Batman the Animated series and the Gotham series versions of Bullock are my favorites.
I love how he is just a guy, living in a though city but deep down he really does care.
What a man
i fucking loved harvey's voice acting so much, god damn he really hit it out of the park with the voice and the direction
Harvey is one of those things I miss most from the early days of the DCAU, and I'm happy whenever I see him or a character like him brought more into focus in DC media.
Hunt down "GCPD" it's a series about Gotham from the cop's perspective. Mostly Bullock & Montoya, very little cape action
Please make a video about Tim Drake. His Robin solo series during the 90s was one of the first comic runs I ever read and it really breaks my heart to see what has become of him.
Agreed on all counts 💯
I actually have been asking for Tim for a long time.
The one in the DCAU was a combination of both Jason and Tim mixed together but it was it's own version, though more Jason.
It's sad Tim isn't given his due as much as the other Robin's in the animated shows and I want to see more of him. I still need to watch more Young Justice but we all know that's another Dick show.
@@mandalorianhunter1
"The one in the DCAU was a combination of both Jason and Tim"
People have been saying this for years and I've never really gotten it. Yes, he has Tim's name, but that's about as much as there is. He's not some genius who figures out who Batman is, he's not trained by multiple different teachers, he doesn't use a staff, etc.
He's just a street kid with corrupt parents who Batman took in and eventually lost to the Joker.
Completely Jason. Tim in name only.
That's not a combination of two characters. That one character that's been *very* thinly reskinned.
@@DerrickUltima Well the thing is that he isn't blood thirsty or has anger problems like Jason is. He was the light in the darkness for the Batman family at the time, a guiding light for Bruce, a hope for Dick to return home and a great brother for Barbara.
He also doesn't come back to destroy the crime in Gotham either although this is before Jason was revived.
I will agree with you that he is more Jason then Tim but I still see he has both of them in this one.
@@DerrickUltima also man please don't tell me you are one of the never posted for years until now people
In the FOX drama series GOTHAM, the character of DETECTIVE HARVEY BULLOCK was beautifully served by the complex portrayal of actor DONAL LOGUE as future commissioner Jim Gordon's police partner, close friend and cynical mentor.
I’m sitting down to eat breakfast, scrolling through RUclips. I can’t find anything to watch. I’m starting to panic as I scroll for minutes- nothing. My toast is getting cold. Surely I won’t be forced to eat without further ruining my attention span? The cruelty?!
Out of desperate hope, I reload the page. Then, I see it.
Implicitly Pretentious video. “1 minute ago”.
Thank you.
Harvey kind of mirrors Batman in the DCAU, both end up pushing everyone else away do to the commitment to the job.
Weirdly poetic.
They somewhat made Harvey Bullock more in depth and relatable in Gotham 2014 TV show
You have good instincts, Mr. Pretentious, sir. Something in you said, “I’ll do this, it’ll be funny” but that was just a game your brain plays with you to get you to consider something you wouldn’t notice otherwise, and tricking you into things like this. Nice!
Harvey is one of those characters that I began to appreciate more as I grew up.
He does his job with full commitment and sacrifice, remains "clean" (or relativly so) despite the temptation a position of power has and is doing it all despite there really being no reward for him in the end.
And his tough stance on batman? Well he is a vigilante which is illegal so technically he's still getting off light, unlike in situations like mask of the phantasm were the GCPD actually do go after bats.
Bullock was absolutely the best character in the Gotham TV show. The guy who looks up to Gordon so much that Gordon holds himself to a higher standard.
I really hope that you also make a video about John Constantine by Matt Ryan who is one of the greatest castings for a comic book character of all time.
As well as Keanu reeves
@@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259 Nope.
@@The_Phantasm lmao
@@The_Phantasm I'm not saying Keanu reeves was faithful. But it was a cool reinterpretation. I was saying he should be in the video. Like the Gotham version of Harvey bullock should have been here
He always felt the most Human.
Yes, and the DC universe is always in that state of contention between humanity and the super/inhuman forces that we follow as the audience and comprise our normal experience of the universe, but for the actual normal human beings are decidedly outside of normal
Bro they did my man dirty in the Caped Crusader
Yeah, his characterization was the worst thing in the show. I would have accepted a dimwitted and incompetent Bullock, but not a crooked one. Making him unwitting accomplice of Flass would have been better. Hoping he improves in season two if they make one.
I loved the trio of Gordon, Renee and Harvey. Probably the only incorruptible cops in Gotham
John Goodman as Bulloch.
Stories need more characters like this
Bullock was always a fave character of mine! He never gives up on Gotham though it kept driving him down. His loyalty is admirable! And I love his nicknames for Batman... Pointy Ears, Cowlhead, Bats. He adds a... a human element to a world full of superhero's and supervillains.
Harvey was a great tough-guy cop trope.
Honestly this is what's missing from all of the live action batmans.
A Harvey Bollock? Yeah we need that.
Gordon's sidekick in the 60's came close
To really see the heart of Harvey Bullock, look no further than THE MAN WHO KILLED BATMAN. A great BTAS episode that keeps viewers guessing... is Batman really dead? You can probably guess the answer to that, duh. Having said that, there's a great sequence in which word gets around regarding the Dark Knight's demise. Our dear Detective Bullock doesn't take the news too well. Great watch!
I love that he was put in charge of the Batfam/GCPD special joint unit.
Gordon tells him, he's the only one that'll keep the Bat in check (legally).
I like Bullock but it's sad that he doesn't get the love he deserves.
He only appears in one Arkham game and doesn't really appear anywhere else.
I like how he was in Gotham where he was corrupt in the earlier seasons that came around to believing in what Gordan wanted to believe in.
Bullock should appear more
The issue with the arkham games is that they only take place durring one night. It would be cool if we got a game that took place over Batman's week
He had a role in the second season of Telltale Batman.
Its why I love his character so much, his relationship with Jim in gotham is one of the best tv duos I've ever seen he's flawed but has a good heart and is my favorite cop in GCPD
Every Sherlock Holmes needs an Inspector Lestrade as a foil
I liked how in the Batman Adventures comic, he more or less resigns after The Penguin becomes the new mayor of Gotham and becomes a private detective. He'd rather leave his job than work for a crook like him.
This is the kind of character I'd like to see more of in the comics. Especially because of how Batman is propped up in recent years it'd be good to see a character actively trying to prove he's not needed.
Been re-watching TAS as of late, and I have to agree
Watching in production order or hbo max order?
Bullet of bullock is a favorite of mine
I like that Bullock is getting attention in live-action with shows like "Gotham."
As a Harvey Bullock fan, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video!!! I’m so sick of people not understanding that this guy is so much more than his design or his attitude. He’s so complex and his heart of gold beneath his rugged exterior proves itself on numerous occasions. I love your stuff, this just made my day 😊
yeah i really wished more writers used bullock in deeper stories, because he honest makes a great parallel to bruce/batman. to me bullock's whole thing is that he is one of the few good cops in gotham but in doing so/the job itself he completely neglected himself, becoming slovenly, ill tempered, and standoffish. it's a great reflection to bruce himself, that idea of "batman's the real face while bruce is the mask" fans always spout, in trying to save gotham he neglects who he really is in favor of the persona.
When Montoya asked him what he was doing for Christmas, "Same thing I do every year... my laundry." 😂😂😂
Harvey Bullock is one of my all-time favorite Batman characters and I really really really hope he will be in the Batman movies eventually!
Would be interesting if we got a film from the perspective of Bullock and have batman appear as the vigilante and near impossible force that your standard Gotham citizen sees him
@@Mike69917 I'd go and see that!
I love characters like Harvey because they remind me of me. Well, maybe not entirely. But their unwavering loyalty and their commitment to their chosen path really resonate with me. The loyal assholes are always my favorites, and it's sadly a trope that seems to be eother falling out of favor, or consistently done poorly in a lot of modern media.
I loved how they wrote him for Gotham
Missed this when it came out, and now getting to it, Its been 20 minutes and I've only just been able to stop myself from laughing at your intro music playin over nothing but the word "Bullocks", ok, time to actually finish this
I always saw him as some kind of anti-heroic noir hero who seeks in perfect justice in an imperfect world by bending the rules to that affect.
Honestly its just nice to hear Joe Barbaro as a cop haha xD
Harvey did hate batman at the start but in the latter seasons, he saw there was a need for him and even admitting to missing him when he was dealing with Batgirl and supergirl.
He's like Gotham's version of guy Gardner: a unpleasant meat head but he will always have your back when the chips are down.
Very astute call out. For all the hate he gets, it's a toss up on whether Gardner or Scott is my 2nd favorite Lantern. Like Bullock he subverts our expectation of what to expect from a 'good guy'.
2 Harveys, Harvy "Two-face" Dent, and Gumshoe with Moe Szyslak's face and personality
Always been a fan of Harvey Bullock. I was happy when he was in the show Gotham and the casting for the character was great as well
God, I'd give anything for a solo animated series about him.
Always liked Bullock. The old tough gumshoe type guy, but still a top guy on the force.
Bullock is kinda like the J. Jonah Jameson of Batman.
“Shoot the Santa!”
Harvey: ” you wouldn’t…”
I like that quote about the artefact.
If Harvey Bullock was a IRL cop, he'd have left the force. The environment we have Post-2020 regarding cops is something he'd be unable to handle. The world would not see him as a good guy.
Harvey Bullock is the Bulkk and Skull of the BATMAN world. UNDERRATED AF.
A tribute vid to the most underrated character in the DCAU. I love this channel
Who needs a superhero when you have a honestish cop like Hervey Bullock.
I always thought that Harvey Bullock and J Jonah Jameson would have made great friends
A good bad cop with a foul attitude but a good heart for the job.
Now do one for Dan Turpin.
But seriously, thank you. Bullock is a character that needs more attention, and its a crime he doesn't have more mainstream presence.
bullet for bullock is based on the comic story of the same name from detective comics 651 written by chuck dixon for those who don't know.
Ah yeah, my fav Batman character on my birthday.
I love every moment he's on screen
Fun little fact, Kevin conroy originally auditioned for Harvey bullock as he thought it would be a more interesting role.
I love bullock, he dislikes Batman but mainly because he wants Gotham to no longer need him.
This episode has always remained in my memories. I had recorded it on VHS back in the day and would revisit it often, solely for the detective noir setting and especially for the music. Some top class “dangerous” jazz in there. But subconsciously it probably affected me as to how a regular human would operate in the same world as (and doing the same job as) the not-so-regular human Batman. Thanks for this video!
Bullock was the closest thing Batman had to a j Jonah Jameson
Not everyone can be all around a good person.
Bullock was and still is one of my favorite characters from the Gotham show
"Your not the real santa claus!"
"Sure i am! Wanna see my gun?"
Classic
Harvey Bullock is what Hank Hill would have become if he had stayed in his birth state of New York.
He is a legit good minor character. Feels like a dirty cop, but is actually a good cop.
He's a bad person but a good cop.
I always like Harvey.
Sure, he bends the rules a little and is a slob. But he never betrayed the badge and was always very loyal to Gordon.
A really hard task to accomplish after serving Gotham for 15 years.
Yet, mundane or not, you will hard press to find another character like him outside of this show.
The Question and Huntress drop at the beginning of this episode before making an episode about them.
... Gooood work bro 😂🤘
Points to him as well for being voiced by Joe Barbaro
Harvey Bullock is the hero we need, but not the one we deserve.
Glad to see others appreciate Bullock.
Ive always thought a Bulloclk solo series would have been cool. Gritty old school detective stories.