By Phil Perich for Before the Bat: The Gotham Podcast

So what did everyone think of Gotham’s first episode back (Rogues’ Gallery)? What about Dr. Leslie Thompkins? She plays a big part in the Batman legend. Leslie Thompkins first appeared in Detective Comics #457 (March 1976).

A close friend and colleague of Bruce Wayne’s father Thomas, Leslie Thompkins was not only there for Bruce the night his parents were murdered, but would become a kind of surrogate mother figure to Bruce. Even though Batman would visit her for years on the anniversary of the Wayne murders, Dr. Thompkins would not discover his identity until Batman Special #1 (1984).

Dr. Thompkins is usually shown in the comics to have an on again/off again romance with Bruce’s father figure and butler Alfred Pennyworth.

While Dr. Thompkins may know of Bruce Wayne’s vigilante career, she often voices her disapproval of his methods.

Although Dr. Thompkins runs a medical clinic in crime alley for drug addicts and the poor, she also provides medical care to Batman and his allies, any major care that Alfred cannot provide.

During the No Man’s Land storyline (1999) where Gotham City was ravaged by an earthquake and abandoned by the US government, Dr. Thompkins stays in the ruins of Gotham and provides aid to all who need it as long as they respect her hospital as a “neutral, no violence” zone.

During the War Games storyline (2004-2005) Dr. Thompkins treats a critically injured Stephanie Brown (Spoiler, Robin). When Batman comes to see Stephanie, he discovers she has died. He later learns that Dr. Thompkins let Stephanie die to teach Bruce a lesson about using children in his war on crime. Bruce tells her to stay in Africa where she went to do missionary work. Bruce tells her he considers her a murderer now and if she returns to the US he will arrest her.

It is later revealed that Dr Thompkins faked Stephanie’s death by switching her with an overdose victim who was the same body type. She would later return to Gotham and resume her friendships with Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, and their “family”. As I said at the beginning of this week’s blog, Leslie Thompkins has finally appeared on Gotham, portrayed by actress Morena Baccarin.