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Elseworlds begin again! The imprint holds some of my favourite books. Red Rain, Holy Terror, but the most famous of them has got to be Gotham By Gaslight. Now the series has been brought back to kick off this new line of Elseworld stories. With a brand new creative team tackling the story, can it not only recapture the hearts of original fans but also introduce a whole new generation to Elseworlds?
New team, who dis?
Gotham By Gaslight. Arguably one of the most iconic Batman books of all time, followed up by the generally less well-received Master of the Future. Brian Augustyn penned both of those tales, with Mike Mignola drawing the original and Eduardo Barreto working on the sequel.
This is the first Gotham By Gaslight book not penned by Augustyn, having passed away in 2022, being written instead by Andy Diggle. Mignola and Barreto are not drawing the book either, the latter also having passed away. Leonardo Fernandez takes the illustrative reins here, giving the book a whole new creative team. I did not have high hopes for this book, but I found myself pleasantly surprised.
We start with a new, albeit familiar scene. Jonathan and Martha Kent travelling on horse-drawn wagon through the Kansa Tribal Territory in 1860. Something crashes down near them, opening up to reveal a green glow.
The opening scene is one that really establishes the concept of Elseworlds for new readers. Familiar characters in unfamiliar settings. These days of course, the multiverse is a concept far more utilised than in the ’90s so I feel that the original appeal of the imprint is somewhat diluted. Black Label has been giving us a lot of out of continuity stories, so what makes this any different?
We cut now to Gotham City, 1893, not long after the events of Master of the Future. We’re introduced to a woman getting ready for a gala. Not any old gala, but the Kryptonian Age Exhibit opening gala. As she enters, the woman is introduced as Lady Selina Kyle. Selina Kyle in a museum. No matter what universe you’re in, that can only mean one thing.
Selina does as Selina will do, donning her feline attire and breaking into the museum, sending her associate to pretend to be her. At the gala dinner, Miss Julie Madison informs the guests that her fiancée was unable to make it and offers his apologies. She tells her guests that the Kryptonian Age exhibit houses a variety of artifacts from lost age of prehistory, as Selina Kyle steals a familiar looking green ring.
This concept is very intriguing. I assumed that the Kyrptonian Age would be in reference to perhaps a future powered by Kryptonite or something along those lines. I want to know more about this prehistoric Kryptonians and I’m very excited to see where this leads. As a quick side note, it’s great to see Julie again. She’s popped up in a few books recently, and I’ve always enjoyed her appearances.
We start with a new, albeit familiar scene. Jonathan and Martha Kent travelling on horse-drawn wagon through the Kansa Tribal Territory in 1860. Something crashes down near them
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