''Gotham by Gaslight'' is a

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

one-shot by

Brian Augustyn Brian Augustyn (November 2, 1954 – February 1, 2022) was an American comic book editor and writer. He often worked as editor or co-writer with writer Mark Waid, such as on ''The Flash'' in the 1990s. He wrote ''Gotham by Gaslight –'' which i ...

and

Mike Mignola Mike Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', '' Abe Sapien'', '' Lobster Johnson'', '' Wit ...

, with inks by

P. Craig Russell Philip Craig Russell (born October 30, 1951) is an American comics artist, writer, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Biography ...

. The story revolves around a 19th-century version of Bruce Wayne making his debut as Batman just as

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

has arrived in

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

. '' Gotham by Gaslight'' is considered to be the first Elseworlds story in which DC Comics characters from alternate timelines or realities are featured in stories outside of the DC Universe canon. At the time the story was first published, the Elseworlds concept had not been established yet and initial printings were not labeled as such. Subsequent printings of ''Gotham by Gaslight'', however, have incorporated the ''Elseworlds'' logo. It spawned one sequel, ''Batman: Master of the Future'' (1991), also written by Augustyn, with art by

Eduardo Barreto Luis Eduardo Barreto Ferreyra (1954 – December 15, 2011) was a Uruguayan artist who worked in the comic book and comic strip industries including several years of prominent work for DC Comics. All of his children are artists. Two of them, D ...

. A third book in the series, ''Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age'', is scheduled for release in June 2024.

Plot summaries

''Gotham by Gaslight''

In 1889,

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

is on a tour of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

which ends in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. There, he is studying under

Dr. Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...

. Bruce tells Freud that he has a recurring dream in which he recalls the murder of his parents and decides he must return to Gotham City. On the return trip, Bruce meets Jacob Packer, an old family friend whom he calls Uncle Jake, who has also returned from a trip to Europe. Shortly after arriving, James Gordon (comics), Inspector Gordon informs Wayne about criminal gangs currently operating in Gotham. Gordon also shows Bruce the case of a man who poisoned his wife and tried to commit suicide with the poison, which left him alive Joker (character), with a permanent grin. Bruce takes up the mantle of Batman to fight criminals on the street. At the same time, a series of murders of women take place and some people begin to suspect that Batman is the murderer. It is soon discovered that

has come to Gotham, as the murders in Gotham City seem to resemble the Ripper murders in London. After a search of Wayne Manor, a bloody knife is found under Bruce's bed and Bruce is arrested. A trial is held in which Uncle Jake is Bruce's defense attorney. After the trial, Bruce is convicted of being the Ripper and sentenced to be hanged for his crimes. Bruce is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum. Once Bruce is in prison, Gordon gives him all the documentation on the crimes. Bruce toils day and night to try to figure out how he can get the Ripper. Just one day before the execution, Bruce learns the identity of the Ripper by discovering he had the skill of a surgeon and used a knife that belonged to the medical group who worked with Thomas Wayne, his father. Bruce escapes from prison with the help of Alfred Pennyworth, Alfred and heads straight for the Ripper. Batman interrupts the Ripper as he is about to claim his next victim. Batman chases the Ripper throughout Gotham and the two eventually come to a stop at the grave of Thomas Wayne, Thomas and Martha Wayne, where it is revealed that Jacob Packer is the Ripper. Packer had been trained in medicine and law with the money of Thomas Wayne, but he was driven insane by Martha Wayne's rejection of his advances. Since then, he had been killing women who resembled Martha to silence the laughter of Martha he heard in his head. Packer reveals that he hired Joe Chill, an assassin to kill Bruce's parents. Gordon appears at this time with the police and Batman tells them to arrest Packer. Packer confesses that he is the Ripper and tries to kill Batman, but Gordon shoots Packer dead at the last minute. Batman disappears into the shadows, leaving Gordon to take in the body of Jack the Ripper.

''Batman: Master of the Future''

In 1892, three years later, Bruce has "retired" his alter-ego and is engaged to be married. Having brought his parents' murderer to justice, he has come to regard being Batman as a childish fancy, and intends to devote his life to more serious pursuits. Others believe that Gotham City needs Batman more than ever, namely now-Commissioner Gordon and Bruce's own fiancée, Julie Madison (who Batman rescued from a late-night assault). At a City Council meeting, Mayor Tolliver (the former Police Commissioner who aggressively prosecuted Bruce as the suspected Jack the Ripper) is promoting Gotham's hosting of the "American Discovery Exposition" to market Gotham as the "City of the Future". The meeting is interrupted by the flamboyant Alexandre LeRoi, who demands that he be proclaimed master of the city, or else he will burn it to the ground. He leaps out the window before he can be arrested, and Tolliver insists that the fair proceed. While the fairgrounds are being erected, a Maxim gun on an automated carriage rolls in and opens fire. Bruce, in attendance, pushes Tolliver out of the line of fire and disables the machine. On the opening day of the fair, LeRoi kidnaps Tolliver from his mansion and takes him aboard a Zeppelin, forcing him to watch as LeRoi focuses a giant burning glass on the fair's main pavilion, before LeRoi throws Tolliver over the side to his death. Bruce is desperate to act, when Alfred arrives with his costume. With the police fully occupied, Julie runs into the burning pavilion to rescue a small girl, but both of them are trapped by falling debris. Batman saves them, then seizes a glider from one of the exhibitions and takes off after LeRoi's airship. The two men engage in a brutal rapier duel that disables LeRoi's robotic pilot "Antonio", causing the airship to drift off course and become unstable. Noticing this, Batman urges LeRoi to surrender and abandon ship, but LeRoi refuses to believe him. Batman jumps overboard, but LeRoi is trapped as the airship crashes into the ocean and explodes. More than 100 people are killed by LeRoi's fires, but further fatalities and destruction are prevented by the Gotham police and firefighters. Batman confronts Councilman Franklin Claypool, who confesses to being LeRoi's accomplice and providing him with information for his attack. Claypool secretly owns a large portion of Gotham City's slum housing, which he expected to sell profitably through his proposed redevelopment program, but the program was pushed aside by Tolliver in favor of the fair. LeRoi agreed to target Claypool's properties, allowing Claypool to collect a lucrative insurance payout, but Claypool never intended the deaths that LeRoi's actions caused, and so does not resist when Gordon arrives to arrest him. Bruce and Julie are walking along a hilltop overlooking the city, when she reveals that she recognized him at the fair, even through his mask. Apprehensively, he asks her what she plans to do, and she replies, what she has always done: continue to love and encourage him, especially now that they both agree that Gotham still needs Batman.

Publication history

''Gotham by Gaslight'', which retroactively became the first official '' Elseworlds'' publication, was initially released as a 52-page one-shot in February 1989. It was written by

and pencilled by

, with inks by

. Two years later, the 68-page sequel ''Batman: Master of the Future'' — also written by Augustyn, but with art by

— was released, this time officially labelled as an ''Elseworlds'' publication. A second sequel, ''Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age'', is scheduled for release in June 2024. In 2006, in the wake of the 2005–2006 storyline ''Infinite Crisis'', the ''Gotham by Gaslight'' world was identified as "Earth-19". Prior to its appearance in ''Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Gotham by Gaslight'' (January 2008), the two one-shot issues were collected into one 112-page trade paperback volume (which was released under the same name and with the same Mignola cover as the first one-shot issue).

Collected editions

The two stories have been collected into a Trade paperback (comics), trade paperback: * ''Gotham by Gaslight'', August 2006, DC Comics, (Titan Books, ), collects: ** ''Gotham by Gaslight'', 48 pages, DC Comics, November 1989, (Titan Books, December 1989, ) ** ''Batman: Master of the Future'', 63 pages, DC Comics, December 1991,

Reception

IGN Comics ranked ''Gotham by Gaslight'' #11 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 find — Elseworlds or otherwise; 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, as ''Batman & Dracula trilogy#Batman & Dracula: Red Rain (1991), Batman & Dracula: Red Rain'' ranked higher at #9.

Spin-offs

''Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Gotham by Gaslight'' (January 2008) and was written by ''Gotham by Gaslights original author, Brian Augustyn. The story saw Monitors (comics)#"Bob", Bob the Monitor accompany Jason Todd, Donna Troy, and Kyle Rayner (the latter three inhabitants of "List of DC Multiverse worlds, New Earth") through the Multiverse in search of multiuniversal counterparts to Atom (Ray Palmer), Ray Palmer. The group arrived on Earth-19, the Earth where the Batman of the earlier two ''Elseworlds'' storylines acted, where they also encountered this Earth's counterpart of the Blue Beetle and the Man-Bat before they went to the next Earth to continue their search. Their search would take them to worlds populated by characters from other ''Elseworlds'' stories, including those seen in the Batman & Dracula trilogy, ''Batman & Dracula'' trilogy (Earth-43) and ''Superman: Red Son'' (Earth-30). Additionally, the ''Gotham by Gaslight'' Batman was briefly featured in the limited series ''Dark Nights: Metal'', among other alternate versions of the character.

In other media

Film

''Batman: Gotham by Gaslight'' is an animated loose adaptation released in 2018. It features Bruce Greenwood as Batman and Jennifer Carpenter as Selina Kyle. The adaptation differs significantly from the original comic, and includes elements from both books.

Video games

* A video game based on the comic book was planned for release by Day 1 Studios (who also developed ''F.E.A.R. 3, F.3.A.R.''). After THQ failed to secure the rights to the property, the game was canceled. The developers released some concept illustration which revealed the game had a steampunk feel to it while being set in Victorian era, Victorian England and also test footage was released which revealed the misty Gothic settings and the character model for Batman. Reception to the leaked footage and concept illustration was positive, with viewers praising the setting, the cape physics and the different approach the developers were trying to achieve. * Season pass (video gaming), Season pass holders for ''Batman: Arkham Origins'', released in 2013, were awarded a special costume for Batman that was based on ''Gotham By Gaslight''. * The ''Gotham by Gaslight'' version of Batman was also introduced as a playable character in an update to the mobile version of ''Injustice: Gods Among Us'' in early 2018. * Several ''Gotham by Gaslight'' characters were playable in the DC universe-themed MOBA ''Infinite Crisis (video game), Infinite Crisis''.

References

External links

''Gotham by Gaslight'' trade paperback details
at DC Comics.com {{Jack the Ripper media Alternate history comics Comics about Jack the Ripper Comics by Mike Mignola 1989 graphic novels DC Comics adapted into films Fiction set in 1889 Comics adapted into animated films Gothic comics