Dan Turpin

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Dan "Terrible" Turpin is a fictional character from DC Comics. He is a police inspector in Metropolis.

He was created by Jack Kirby and first appeared in New Gods #5 in 1971, when he was encountered by Orion. He was a tough, no-nonsense cop nicknamed "Terrible" Turpin.

In current Superman titles, Inspector Turpin is a member of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. He was extremely loyal to Inspector Sawyer, before her transfer to Gotham City, and was romantically interested in her before learning she was a lesbian.

Possibly inspired by his attitude, and the fact he always wears a derby hat, later writers have revealed him to be the adult version of Kirby's Golden Age "kid-gang" character Brooklyn, of the Boy Commandos.

Turpin was sent to Hawaii to invstigate whether or not they needed a Special Crimes Unit of their own. While initially skeptical, a visit from the Female Furies convinced Dan that the islands needed an SCU.

[edit] Other Media

In the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series, Turpin was modeled on Kirby, and voiced by Joseph Bologna. In the series, he was killed by the supervillain Darkseid in Apokolips...Now! for refusing to bend to his will and rallying the people to the defense of Metropolis, even after Darkseid had captured the Man of Steel.

Turpin's funeral was presided over by a rabbi, and it was out of respect for the legacy of the character that producer Bruce Timm found a genuine religious leader for the voiceover. Daniel Turpin's grave (with an inscription naming him as "Earth's Greatest Hero") lies on a sunny hillside on the outskirts of Metropolis, visited by his friends in life and watched over by long-time ally Superman, a homage to the brighter and better Silver Age, and dedicated to the memory of Jack Kirby.

As the funeral was breaking up Superman offered up a small tribute to his departed friend, saying, "In the end, the world didn't need a Superman, just a brave one."