Carl Grissom

**Carlton Frederick "Carl" Grissom** was a crimelord in Gotham City and from April-June 2020, the head of all crime in the city. The son of Irish Mob leader Tostig Grissom, Carl was privileged and spoiled all his life; the only reason he became head of Gotham crime was due to the former man Sal Maroni being killed. His short reign came to an end the night of the 2020 Arkham Asylum breakout where he was killed by the Joker inside of his manor. Grissom's death led to a quick power struggle within the Gotham underworld, however shortly thereafter Joker would have the remaining mob bosses killed too.

## Biography

Carlton Frederick Grissom was born on February 18, 1950 in Gotham City to Irish-American mob boss Tostig Grissom. Due to his father's power and influence, Carl became privileged and spoiled. Like his father, he became involved in the criminal underworld and, after his father's passing in 2007, he inherited his mansion and wealth along with becoming the new head of the Irish Mob. Sometime during this, Grissom began an affair with well-known fashion model Alicia Hunt. In April 2020, head of the Gotham underworld Sal Maroni was killed, allowing Grissom to finally rise up and run Gotham. Grissom was much more aggressive and ruthless; anyone who stood in his way was killed, a difference from Maroni who would at least attempt to peacefully discuss solutions with his opponents. Under Grissom's rule, Gotham returned to the state it was a few years earlier, where the mob was its biggest threat instead of costumed villains/terrorists; although Grissom had nothing to do this (he just happened to take power at the same time where gimmicky villains were being imprisoned) many felt a return to "normalcy" in the city. Unfortunately, that all came apart rather quickly.

In June, only two months into Grissom's rule of the underworld, two banks under the thumb of Grissom were robbed, with most if not all of the mob's dirty money being stolen. The assailants responsible were only known as the Joker and his gang; the theft infuriated Grissom and, after the robbery of Gotham National Bank, he had enough and issued a meeting with the top mob bosses in the city. This included Vinnie Ricorso, Lew Moxon, Carlton Duquesne, the Penguin, Alberto Falcone, Antoine Rotelli and Santo Cassamento; the latter's second-in-command Johnny Blowtorch also showed up to this meeting. Carl was paranoid though and believed at least one of them was working the Joker and feeding him information. When the mob bosses arrived, Grissom had them and their guards handover their weapons to his staff due to his suspicions.

During the meeting, the specific men listed above began arguing over what was going on; this eventually led to minor physical altercations between them, causing Grissom to start yelling, taking back control of the room. He explained his belief that one of the mob bosses was secretly helping the Joker before having his security pull guns on everyone else in the room, hoping to intimidate the mole. He even accused a close friend, Antoine Rotelli of snitching. Grissom then noticed Johnny Blowtorch playing on his phone, clearly not taking this seriously. An enraged Grissom quickly pulled out his own gun and shot and killed Blowtorch. The latter's boss, Cassamento, stood up and yelled at Grissom before taking out a concealed gun he snuck in; he was quickly killed by Grissom as well. He then addressed the stunned and silent room, proclaiming that when he finds out who has been helping Joker, he will kill them as well. He had Cassamento and his underling buried in his backyard.

Later that night, Grissom was preparing to have sex with his mistress Alicia when he heard a noise come from his dining room, where the mob boss meeting took place earlier today. He went to investigate only to find his guards' dead bodies sprung around the floor and table. Before Grissom could react, the glass of wine he was holding was shot and broke by a silencer. He turned and saw the shooter, a man with pale white skin, green hair and a purple suit; this was the Joker. Grissom was terrified at the appearance, initially believing "Joker" to just be a nickname. Next to Joker was his girlfriend and underling Harley Quinn; the two went on to admit to the bank robberies as well as causing another breakout at Arkham Asylum less than an hour ago, something Grissom was unaware of. Joker explained that he needed Grissom's wealth for his "plan" before revealing that it was actually Alicia who betrayed Grissom and told Joker what banks he hid his money in. Grissom angrily confronted Alicia (who was now in the room too) about this before turning to Joker and proclaiming that he'll pay for what he did. Joker remarked "probably" before shooting Grissom three times, leaving him to bleed to death on the dining room floor.

### Legacy

Afterwards, Joker and his goons took over the mansion, renaming it Grimace Manor and making it their base of operations. Grissom's corpse was simply left in the dining room for weeks until Joker finally had a use for it. When the vigilante Batman discovered that he was hiding out in Grissom's manor, he went there to apprehend him. When the Dark Knight managed to get inside the home and dining room, he bore witness to Grissom's rotting corpse sitting at the head of the table, just like he had at that meeting with the mob bosses. Sitting at the table were the dead bodies of Grissom's guards. Batman took note of the carcass at the head being Grissom's, confirming the Detective's suspicions that he was killed by the Joker. After the latter and his gang abandoned the house, Batman informed the Gotham City Police Department of Joker squatting there, with Grissom's body being taken in by the police before being finally buried.

A quick power struggle began within the underworld as only the top mob bosses were aware of Grissom's death, wanting to fill his spot themselves. However, the Joker had most of these mob bosses killed, his reasoning being that they would have gotten in the way of his "plan". This eventually led to the fall of the criminal underworld and second rise of the supervillain era of Gotham, with the likes of Joker or Penguin being the only semblance of a mob left in Gotham.