Dan Turpin

Dan Turpin
200px Dan Turpin from Superman: Funeral for a Friend Artist Tom Grummett
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	as Brooklyn Detective Comics #64 (June 1942) as Dan Turpin New Gods #5 (November 1971)
Created by	as Brooklyn Joe Simon Jack Kirby as Dan Turpin Jack Kirby
In-story information
Full name	Daniel Turpin
Team affiliations	Metropolis SCU Boy Commandos
Notable aliases	Terrible, Brooklyn

Daniel "Terrible" Turpin is a character published by DC Comics. He first appeared as Brooklyn (due to him being born in New York) in Detective Comics #64 (June 1942), and first appeared as Dan Turpin in New Gods #5 (November 1971).

Publication history

Due to a recent retcon, Dan Turpin was made the adult version of Jack Kirby's Golden Age "kid-gang" character Brooklyn, of the Boy Commandos.

Character biography

In Turpin's first appearance he is one of the few citizens of Metropolis aware that a secretive war is taking place in the city between super-powered beings. When this war turns violent, Turpin's boss tries to take him off the case, but he is ignored. Dan leads the fight against the rampaging Kalibak, using the energy of the entire city to assist Lightray and Orion in defeating him. Turpin suffers multiple injuries but survives.

He keeps his job and becomes Lieutenant Inspector of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. In the third Superboy series, Dan Turpin is sent to Hawaii to investigate whether or not they needed a Special Crimes Unit of their own. While initially skeptical, a visit from the violent Darkseid faction, the Female Furies convinces Dan that the islands need an SCU. In current Superman titles, Turpin is extremely loyal to Inspector Sawyer, before her transfer to Gotham City. His romantic feelings for her fall apart when he learns she is a lesbian. Turpin has a daughter named Maisie.

He has spent a long time fighting threats in Metropolis; such as the rampaging group of mutants called the 'Underworlders'.

Current status

Dan Turpin returns in Final Crisis #1 (May 2008). He had been called back from retirement to investigate the case of several missing kids; this evolves into investigating the death of the New God Orion. Orion passes on several cryptic phrases to Turpin, telling him that "He is in you all!" before finally passing away.

In the second issue, he follows clues given to him by Renee Montoya and The Mad Hatter, investigating The Dark Side Club and journeying to the devastated city of Blüdhaven. There he meets up with Reverend Good, and begins to realize that "there's someone in my head."

In the fourth issue, Turpin, after much inner struggle, is turned into the new host body for Darkseid; Darkseid later reveals that he selected Turpin rather than Batman as a host because Batman would have resisted longer than he wished, while Turpin struggled just enough to make his victory sweeter.

In the sixth issue, Batman uses a gun loaded with a Radion bullet, which is poisonous to the New Gods, to shoot Darkseid in the shoulder. Barry Allen and Wally West, managing to outrun the Black Racer—currently after Barry—so that it takes the currently-weakened Darkseid during a confrontation with Superman. After Darkseid is claimed by the Black Racer, Turpin appears to regain control of his body, breathing "In us... in all of us..." in apparent recognition of the meaning of Orion's last words. However, Superman later addresses the body as though Darkseid was still in control of it, and Turpin then vanishes — Darkseid's discorporate spirit being subsequently destroyed with the activation of the Miracle Machine—leaving the fate of Turpin unclear.

In other media

Television

• In the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series, Turpin was modelled on Jack Kirby and voiced by Joseph Bologna. He appears often in the early part of the series. At first highly critical of Superman, he becomes more appreciative of him after he and Superman save each other's lives from Intergang. Turpin eventually stands up to and is killed by the alien tyrant Darkseid using his Omega Beams, in the latter half of the two-part episode "Apokolips ... Now!", just before Darkseid leaves Earth. The character's funeral was presided over by a rabbi who recited a kaddish. Out of respect for the legacy of Kirby, the character's creator, producer Bruce Timm found a genuine religious leader for the voiceover, the cantor of a large Conservative temple in LA. He also modeled the cemetery after the real-life one where Jack Kirby is buried. Among the attendees of the fictional funeral in the original TV airing were some of Kirby's Marvel comics creations, such as the Fantastic Four and Nick Fury, as well as the likeness of Kirby's frequent collaborator Stan Lee (these were edited from the DVD release to avoid infringement issues with Marvel). Superman watches the funeral at a distance and delivers the words "In the end, the world didn't need a Superman...just a brave one." The episode ends with a dedication to Kirby with the afterword "Long Live the King." In "Legacy" Pt. 2, Superman punches Darkseid repeatedly, then launches into a tirade about killing Dan Turpin.

• Inspector Turpin also appears in the Graphic Audio production of Superman: The Never Ending Battle.

• In "Bulletproof", a season 8 episode of Smallville, Danny Turpin (portrayed by David Paetkau) is a street cop who is partnered with an undercover Clark Kent.

Film

• Dan Turpin has an uncredited cameo in the 2013 direct-to-video film Superman: Unbound. He appears as one of the police officers attempting to save Lois Lane from being kidnapped by terrorists. In this version, he looks very similar to his Superman: The Animated Series counterpart.

Graphic audio

• Inspector Turpin also appears in the Graphic Audio production of Superman: The Never Ending Battle.

External links

• Dan Turpin at the DCU Guide