Written by Brian Augustyn
Art by Mike Mignola; P. Craig Russell; David Horung; & John Workman
Cover Art by Mike Mignola
SUMMARY:
In 1989, DC Comics released this historical 48-page one-shot pitting Gotham’s Dark Knight vs. Jack the Ripper. An immediate flashback reveals that, in 1874, Dr. Thomas & Martha Wayne are murdered by a lone highwayman on the outskirts of Gotham City. While their young son, Bruce, survives, the gunman’s ultimate fate isn’t revealed.
Flash ahead to Vienna, 1889: an enigmatic Bruce Wayne completes his studies aboard with an internship under Sigmund Freud before returning to Gotham for the first time in five years. Joining him for the sea voyage home from London is his trusted attorney and salty family friend, Jacob Packer.
Gotham is soon beset by dual nocturnal threats: the mysterious Batman and an unexpectedly resurgent Jack the Ripper. Despite Inspector Gordon’s skepticism, Police Commissioner Tolliver conveniently concludes that the Batman and Ripper are one and the same psychotic. Framed for the Ripper’s ghastly crimes, an incarcerated Bruce Wayne now faces imminent execution. Wayne’s last chance is to desperately unravel the Ripper’s true identity and end his gory reign of terror.
Notes: DC Comics retroactively deemed this book as its first Elseworlds project. Augustyn & artist Eduardo Barreto’s 1991 sequel: Batman – Master of the Future, has since been packaged with Gaslight in a ‘deluxe edition’ format. In 2018, DC loosely adapted Gotham by Gaslight (i.e. adding Selina “Catwoman” Kyle to the plot) into an animated film available in Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital formats.
REVIEW:
Constructing their work to convey a simplistic Victorian style of storytelling, writer Brian Augustyn and artist Mike Mignola’s team-up delivers the necessary goods (without an excess of sleaze). Standing out most is an imprisoned, mid-twenties Wayne forced into deciphering a bloody enigma that neither Scotland Yard nor the Gotham City police could solve. Conveying Wayne’s frustration under such intense pressure proves a mini-masterpiece of suspense. It’s a rare opportunity of witnessing Batman’s seemingly untouchable secret identity on the verge of defeat.
Aside from risking insufficient depth, the other detriment is that virtually all of Gaslight’s female characters are the Ripper’s nameless victims. Augustyn might have tried harder inserting a Julie Madison (or a Vicki Vale, etc.) briefly to bolster some romantic spark in Wayne’s personal life. A pivotal flashback revealing Martha Wayne’s personality, at least, offers a partial substitute.
Though a few late plot contrivances risk bringing too much full circle, Gotham by Gaslight’s aura of gothic mystery still outclasses similar DC fiction imitating this kind of historical template. Augustyn & Mignola’s bold experiment, in that sense, conjures up a macabre Bat-thriller worthy of the Elseworlds moniker.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Written by veteran Ripper scribe Robert Bloch, the opening page has the culprit introducing himself in a taunting letter.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 8 Stars
