|
by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey  Y'know when you climb up something, then have no idea how you're going to get back down, but strike a cool pose anyway. Publication date- February 1989 Writer- Brian Augustyn Pencils- Mike Mignola Inks- P. Craig Russell Colourist- David Hornung Letterer- John Workman Editors- Mark Waid/Dennis O'Neil Published by DC Comics synopsisSet in 1889, at the end of the Victorian era, ‘Gotham By Gaslight’ sees a young Bruce Wayne return to his city after 5 years in exile to begin his mission as the winged vigilante of Gotham. However, he soon finds himself framed for murders carried out by the notorious Jack The Ripper and sentenced to death with a narrow window of time, to not only prove his innocence, but also to solve the mystery of who the Ripper truly is. (D) *****Warning- This review contains spoilers. Proceed at you own peril.***** Dave 'Gotham By Gaslight' was originally set 100 years before it was written, so we are now looking at a Gotham from 127 years ago. What did you make of this story reading it again? Kev It took me right back to '89, when Batman was arguably at the height of his popularity, due to the Burton movie. I had forgotten so much of the story itself though, actually. Dave It was good reading it again, as I had forgotten the story and it is an enjoyable read. Good storytelling, not over complicated and had a consistent plot. Kev Yeh. It's really enjoyable. Mignola's pencils & Russell's inks give it a suitably shabby, dirty edge as well. I do think the pacing is a wee bit off though. It feels a little bit rushed towards the end to me. Just the last couple of pages, but it feels like it's all tied up a little too quickly and too neatly. Dave It was also, I think, a good example of how good a character Batman is, as it shows how you can still get a real feeling of a Batman story in a different era. And it works in tune with the darkness of The Jack the Ripper era. Kev That's true. It really shows the strength of Batman as a character that he is so seamlessly transported from one era to another. Dave Yeah, I think you're right about being a bit rushed. It could have been expanded more and given us more background, as some of the principle characters, such as Alfred, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent weren't really given enough coverage, Kev They do get a bit of the short shrift, don't they? Do you think it could've been a limited series, rather than a one-shot? Maybe four issues? Dave Yeah, it could have been a five part limited series. Or four. Good point. It certainly contained enough material to make that work. Also you are right about the pencils. Pretty shabby, and edgy too. And Batman’s costume reminds me of the one from the 1940's movie serials they had. Very basic and clumpy looking. It also ended too abruptly. I think you’re right. Kev Yeh, I think you could've probably got four issues out of it. Three for sure. Nice shout with the costume. That hadn't occurred to me, but it's definitely reminiscent of the 40's TV show.  Batman, before he started the weight cut. Dave I like that it still captures the essence of Batman and his origin story, coupled with one of the most famous real life villains as well. Kev Oh yeh. Definitely. The setting is so immersive and the incorporation of a real-life serial killer gives it that little bit of extra pizzaz. Dave I wonder if it was intended as a pilot issue for a spin-off Victorian era, Batman series. Certainly had the length of a pilot issue and less of a graphic novel. Although 'Master of the Future' was a follow up to this. Kev That's true. It hadn't really realised until reading it again that this was the first in what was to become the Elseworld series as well. Speaking of the setting; the Sigmund Freud cameo was a fantastic touch as well. Freud and his psychoanalysis would've been very much in vogue at the time. I loved that. Dave There was also the scene early between Bruce and Jim when he first arrives back in Gotham where Jim shows him a photo of the Joker of that era. Kev Yep. Great little cameo and origin/backstory for that era's Joker too. Dave Yeah, the Sigmund Freud scene was good as well. Makes sense, as the story is about the interaction with all these historical figures. Kev Definitely. I really enjoyed that Freud was trying to psychoanalyse Bruce, but he was having none of it. Dave I like the artwork. As you say, a bit shabby, but it is also good in painting the reader an image of what Old Gotham was like. And there are some good stills in there. Kev It certainly evokes a sense of a less modern and less clean, clinical time, that's for sure. Dave I like the full page pic of Jack The Ripper, the one with him silhoetted under a tunnel with another victim.  Extra! Extra! Bleed all about it. Kev It's really cinematic, isn't it? I thought the Jack the Ripper letter as an opener was a great choice by Augustyn. Dave Yeah, I liked the opening page's letter. It sets the tone very well for what is about to unfold. Kev The use of the newspapers is really effective too. I also like that the main one is the Gotham Guardian. Which of course, Batman becomes. Dave Good point. Well spotted. Kev It's also interesting that Bruce refers to Gotham as "his city." Something that Scott Snyder uses to great effect many years later in his 'Court Of Owls' arc. Dave The colours of the story are quite interesting, as the back panels are fluctuating from darker colours to brighter colours and it is not being monotone throughout. The flashback to his parents murder is a different colour scheme, done in a muted blue. Whereas near the end, when Jack the Ripper/ Jacob Packer is confessing his love for Bruce's mum, they are seen in a bright yellow colour. Kev Yes. Lots of use of "old" colours to evoke the feelings of the past and the historical nature of the story. The Wayne's murder is almost monochrome and the Packer flashback is more sepia tone. Dave When I was re-reading this again, I actually could not remember who Jack the Ripper was, so when he got caught it did come as a surprise. Kev That's interesting that the reveal took you by surprise again. I couldn't work-out if I thought it was too signposted and on-the-nose, or if I was just remembering from having read it before. Albeit the best part of 30 years ago. Dave It’s the old fashioned whodunnit scenario, as it is setting up a number of possible suspects throughout the story and yet it’s throwing the reader off the scent as to who the real killer is. Kev The fact that Bruce's and Jacob's caption boxes are stylistically almost identical, as are their monologues, certainly helps put the suspicion on Bruce himself. Dave What do you think of the last page of the story? The final two panels with the classic Batman picture, high above the rooftops, watching over a cold, dark Gotham. It’s an iconic image of Batman high above the rooftops of the city. It makes a good closing image. Unless you count the small panel with the bats flying in the moonlight.  "When the moon hits your eye…..  …..like a big pizza pie,  that's amoré." Kev It's a fantastic image. Classic Batman. I eat that up all day and all night. And the image with the bats and the moon is a nice bookend to the Wayne's murder scene. It shows that the story has come full circle and shows that Bruce has come full circle too. Back to Gotham. I love Jacob's description of Gotham in one of his inner monologue caption boxes. "Like London, it is a teeming, sweating, gibbering monstrosity." Dave Yeah, there are real similarities between these two cities. It gives a real sense of them being infested by vermin of all sorts. Gotham and London are both sick, sadistic places. Kev Gordon and Bruce touch upon it in their first conversation as well, how the city has expanded too much and in too short a period of time to cope, massive influx of population, inadequate infrastructure, disease etc, etc. Dave What do you make of the cover to? Kev I think it's great. I think Mignola's work on this is fantastic. It's kind-of ugly. And it suits what is a pretty ugly story. It's another one of those iconic style Batman images that you were referring to earlier. Dave Yeah, I agree. It's not meant to be a clean city by any means and the artwork reflects this. Many of the characters in this story are drawn as larger than life, overbloated, gregarious people to reflect the differences in social class and wealth. Kev Yes. The class distinction is played to the hilt here. To the point where there's the example of the Gotham socialite being completely put-out by the fact that there is a person of an even greater social standing at the gathering when he exclaims, "Hmph. Royal decadence." I also really like that Bruce deliberately gets his date's name wrong when he introduces her to Gordon. Got to keep up that playboy facade, right? Dave There is also the Dracula/ Nosferatu references, as the story of Dracula was set in this era too and it would reflect the public's natural reaction to an unknown mysterious figure prowling the night, playing on their fears. Kev Ah, good point. Dracula would very much have been in the public conscious at that point as well, due to the success of the novel and the fear of a “bat” would’ve been there too, at the very least subconsciously, as a result. There's that really nice mirrored image between the artist rendition of Batman from the Gotham Guardian, which looks just like a massive bat, and the image of Bruce leaping off the rooftop on page 17. That sort of thing really feeds into the superstition element of the Batman mythos, what with Bruce's classic assertion that, "Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot”.  "You should've put a little more gore under the fangs….." Dave Do you think that Jim Gordon had his suspicions that Bruce was Batman is this version, as when he goes to visit Bruce he keeps thinking about what he was actually doing? Kev I think so, yeh. Dave Plus, when he went to visit him in Arkham, he knew Bruce wasn’t the killer. Kev I also think that when Gordon shoots Jacob and Jacob falls against the Wayne grave, Gordon turns to Batman and exclaims "You!" He knows at that point for sure, I reckon. Which is why he doesn't even attempt to stop Batman leaving. Dave He is in favour of the Batman as a guardian figure of Gotham, as he knows that he is a figure of necessary justice. Kev Definitely. Gordon knows that "Gotham's finest" are going to struggle with what is to come. "And God help us, I suspect we are going to need him." Just to go quickly back to your cameos point, I like that Augustyn writes Harvey Dent as being a two-faced prick. Bruce even thinks to himself whilst he's on trial, "I had thought Harvey and I were friends." Ha, ha! That's nice. Dave Yeah, I like the Two-Face gag. It was definitely laying the grounds for the intros to many of the familiar villains in this era. Kev I also really, really love that nod to the 60's TV show, where Bruce gets Alfred to take his place in the cell whilst he goes off into the night as the Batman, despite Alfred having a full grey beard and being 30 years older. That's the sort of shenanigans they got up to in the Adam West led show. He even refers to Alfred as "old friend" at one point. That's genius. Dave Oh yeah, right enough. At least Alfred wasn’t dressed up as Batman like the 60's show. There’s a lot of nods in this story. And purposely done too. Kev Yeh. They're very cleverly done. For such a grim and dark story, there're plenty of little jokes in there if you're looking for them. There are some other great lines in it too. "Many times I had to cut the laughter from her throat…" That's a great line. Dark as..... Dave Almost like the writer's winking to the readers. However back in '89 with the movie coming out there was so much coverage and exposure on Batman, it was maximum plugging really. Kev Man, I've still not seen anything like '89 for Batman. It was just everywhere. You couldn't move without seeing that symbol. People were even shaving it into their heads. Batman was the coolest thing on the planet at that point and it kind-of made it alright to read comics in "ordinary" people's eyes for a while. Dave Even the Gotham Guardian picture that accompanies the Bat Haunts City headline is a nod to Mr. Bob Kane’s cameo in the movie, where he hands a picture of the same image to Knox do you remember that?  "It is good cape weather. Cool, breezy." Kev Yes. I thought so too. I'm glad that wasn't just me thinking that. I thought I was starting to read way too deeply into that "easter egg" trend. And I'm not a huge fan of that stuff. What do you think of Jacob ultimately being responsible for the Wayne's death and, as a result of that, the creation of the Batman? Dave It’s an interesting take on the origin of Batman for this era. As a reader, I liked the fact they shifted the boundaries a bit. Do you remember what month ‘Gotham by Gaslight’ came out, as the movie was August ‘89 over here? Kev I liked the slightly different take on the Batman origin too. If this was only ever intended to be a one-shot, they were just as well to tie that thread off. It looks like the book was released over here in December of '89. Do you remember going to see the Burton movie? Dave Oh yeah. I still remember going to watch it at the Cannon cinema. It was out at the end of our school holidays, so the whole summer was a massive build up to that film. Kev It really was, wasn't it. I don't think I thought about much else that summer. I was cutting articles out of newspapers and magazines, trying to get every piece of info on it before I went to see it. I also remember being so annoyed with my gran and grandad when they claimed that it wasn't the real Batman and that Adam West was. Dave Back then we had no internet, so it we were relying upon adverts and features on TV for clips. Kev I know. It really was a completely different world. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't me, you and Mike deliberately go to the Cannon so early that we could start queuing before the previous show had even started and as a result we ended-up in the earlier show anyway, but couldn't get seats together. It’s actually just occurred to me that it was a 12 certificate, the first 12 certificate film in the UK if I'm not mistaken, and I was still underage at the time we went to see it. Only by a month or so, but underage nevertheless. So I must’ve had a certain amount of trepidation about it. Dave I remember there was novelisation, a comic adaptation and also a feature magazine on the film. Those images were so powerful at the time. Especially to our young minds. Kev I'm sure I had that novelisation. Dave Even trailers back then were different. The original cinema trailer for ‘89 Batman is on YouTube and it doesn’t contain the annoying voice over guy at all. Kev Is it just the audio from the film itself, yeh? I remember that trailer sounding so stark. Dave Yeah, it’s only audio from the film. I think that was also part of what made ‘Gotham By Gaslight’ what it was. When it was released, the ‘89 film put Batman back on the map and it was the biggest film of the year (for us anyway). Kev Yep. It was also at the right time for the graphic novel boom of the latter part of the 80s as well. What with Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Maus and all. Dave I always remember the ‘89 ‘Batman’ film as the summer of ’89, even though it wasn’t released until August 14th, when we would be going back to school. Haha. Kev I know. Stupid Scottish school holidays, eh? Dave It was the hype though as well. Proper excitement and build up. We couldn’t get enough of it. Kev It was great, man. It felt like your passion being validated, because all of a sudden, EVERYONE liked it. And WE were suddenly the cool ones because we knew about it. Ha, ha! Dave Plus, it was such as visually striking piece of cinema as well. Every clip we got was a great taster. Kev Burton is nothing if not a visually striking director. Dave So, getting back to the point and if I were to sum it up, I would say that ‘Gotham By Gaslight’ still stands up and makes for a good read. It encapsulates the typical darkness of a Batman story of the late 80s and it also fits in equally well with the dark, disturbed era that it’s set in. (D) & (K) Next: 'Master Of The Future.'  "Every profound spirit needs a mask: even more, around every profound spirit a mask is growing continually, owing to the constantly false, namely shallow, interpretation of every word, every step, every sign of life he gives."
1 Comment
|
Back issues
October 2024
|
RSS Feed