Daniel "Terrible" Turpin is a character published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. Created by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

, he first appeared in ''

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

'' #5 (November 1971). Turpin is a supporting character of

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

and a member of the

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

police. Turpin has appeared in various media outside comics, primarily in association with Superman. Joseph Bologna voices the character in '' Superman: The Animated Series'', where he is modeled after Kirby.

Fictional 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 Turpin ignores him. Turpin leads the fight against Kalibak, using the city's energy to assist Lightray and Orion in defeating him. Turpin is injured, but survives. He keeps his job and becomes Lieutenant Inspector of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. In the third ''

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

'' series, Turpin is sent to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

to investigate whether they need a Special Crimes Unit of their own. While initially skeptical, a visit from the

Female Furies The Female Furies are a group of women warriors and supervillains appearing in comics published by DC Comics. All of them are New Gods who serve Darkseid. They operate directly under Granny Goodness, who trains all of Darkseid's soldiers. Publica ...

convinces Turpin that the islands need an SCU. In later ''

'' titles, Turpin is loyal to Maggie Sawyer before her transfer to

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

. His romantic feelings for her fall apart when he learns she is

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

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

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely ...

'', Turpin investigates the case of several missing children and Orion's death. He is possessed by

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first made a cameo appearance in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #134 (December 1970), before being fully in ...

, but freed after

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

shoots him with a poisonous Radion bullet.

Other versions

* An alternate universe variant of Dan Turpin appears in '' Superman: The Dark Side''. * An alternate universe variant of Dan Turpin appears in ''Superman's Metropolis''. This version is a low-class worker and member of a revolution against Superman, who is the ruler of a dystopian Metropolis. * Dan Turpin appears in ''Elseworld's Finest''. * Dan Turpin appears in '' Injustice 2''. After Superman is defeated and his Regime disassembled, Turpin is assigned to oversee his imprisonment before being killed by

Talia al Ghul Talia al Ghul (; , ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown (comics), Bob Brown, and first app ...

's daughter Athanasia.

In other media

Television

* Dan Turpin appears in '' Superman: The Animated Series'', voiced by Joseph Bologna. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. This version is the leader of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit who is physically modeled after Jack Kirby. In his most notable appearance in the two-part episode "Apokolips... Now!", Turpin is killed by Darkseid during his attack on Earth. * Dan Turpin appears in the ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' episode "Bulletproof", portrayed by David Paetkau. This version is a rookie Metropolis police officer. He also appears in the '' Smallville Season 11'' comic series.

Film

* Dan Turpin makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in '' Superman: Unbound''. * Dan Turpin appears in '' The Death of Superman'', voiced by Rick Pasqualone.

Video games

Dan Turpin appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Miscellaneous

Dan Turpin appears in the

GraphicAudio GraphicAudio is an audiobook publishing imprint of RBMedia. The GraphicAudio format includes a full cast of actors, narration, sound effects and cinematic music. History GraphicAudio began in 2004 as an independent company. GraphicAudio is loc ...

production of ''Superman: The Never Ending Battle''.

References

External links

Dan Turpin
at the DCU Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, Dan Characters created by Jack Kirby Characters created by Joe Simon Comics characters introduced in 1942 Fictional American Jews Fictional characters from New York City Fictional police detectives Fictional World War II veterans Metropolis Police Department officers Superman characters