Gotham by Gaslight
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Gotham by Gaslight is a DC Comics graphic novel by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola with inks by P Craig Russell. It spawned a sequel Master of the Future also written by Augustyn but with art by Eduardo Barreto.
Although not labeled as such, Gotham by Gaslight is now considered to be the first Elseworlds story, where DC Comics heroes are taken out of their usual setting and put into alternate timelines or realities.
Contents |
Plot
The book features Batman in the 1880s, fighting Jack the Ripper when the serial killer comes to Gotham City. Unfortunately one of the main suspects is Bruce Wayne himself. The cast includes Commissioner Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, and Princess Julie Madison. The Joker makes a cameo appearance as a bluebeard who tries to kill himself with strychnine poison, but is left with a paralyzed rictus grin.
Critical reaction
IGN Comics ranked Gotham by Gaslight #13 on a list of the 25 greatest Batman graphic novels, saying that the comic is "as taut and well-conceived a graphic novel as you can fine -- Elseworlds or otherwise." The website added, "Quite simply, no other Elseworlds tale has managed such a brilliant concept nor executed it so perfectly." Gotham by Gaslight was not the highest-ranking Elseworlds story on the list, however: Batman & Dracula: Red Rain ranked higher, at #9.-The 25 Greatest Batman Graphic Novels, Hilary Goldstein, IGN, June 13, 2005-
Master of the Future
In the sequel, Batman has to battle Alexandre LeRoi, who is seeking to disrupt Gotham's Turn-of-the-Century celebrations.
The story is similar to Master of the World, a film which combined two novels by Jules Verne: Robur the Conqueror and its sequel The Master of the World.
Countdown
In Countdown Presents The Search For Ray Palmer: Gotham By Gaslight #1, Bob the Monitor, Jason Todd, Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner (the later three from New Earth) traveled through the multiverse in search of their counterpart of Ray Palmer. They initially stopped at Earth-19, the earth where the Batman of the earlier two Elseworlds storylines acted. There, they also encountered this earth's counterpart of Blue Beetle before they went to the next earth for their continuing search.
Publication
The stories have been collected in a couple of trade paperbacks.
Gotham by Gaslight was released as a single volume:
- Gotham by Gaslight (by writer Brian Augustyn, with pencils by Mike Mignola and inks by P. Craig Russell, 48 pages, 1989, Titan,, DC)
Both stories have been collected in one volume (confusingly with the same name and cover as the earlier release):
- Gotham by Gaslight (by writer Brian Augustyn, 112 pages, 2006, Titan Books collects:
- Gotham by Gaslight (with pencils by Mike Mignola and inks by P. Craig Russell)
- Master of the Future (with art by Eduardo Barreto)
See also
- List of Elseworlds publications
- List of steampunk works
- From Hell, Alan Moore's Ripper-based graphic novel
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moore's Victorian-era tales of derring-do
Other Elseworlds that involve Jack the Ripper: