Nearly thirty years ago, writer Brian Augustyn and artist Mike Mignola brought Batman into the steampunk Victorian era of Gotham by Gaslight. That one-shot issue memorably pit the Dark Knight against Jack the Ripper and spawned a new era of DC’s imaginary stories under the Elseworlds name. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is one of the next animated films joining DC’s extensive library, and the first video preview indicates that there have been some significant changes to the source material.
This video was included with the recent digital release of the Batman and Harley Quinn animated movie. In this extended preview, animation legend Bruce Timm and creative director Mike Carlin praise Mignola’s work on the original story, and his style seems to inform the use of shadows in the new animated adaptation. Writer James Krieg actually went full Victorian with his own outfit, while offering his thoughts on the original story and the new film.
More intriguingly, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight appears to be expanding the story and adding familiar faces from the Batman mythos. While the core conflict between Batman and Jack the Ripper is intact, many other characters from Batman’s supporting cast appear in this new version. Dick Grayson and Jason Todd are young criminals, Poison Ivy is a performer, Hugo Strange is an alienist (that’s an old fashioned word for psychologist), and Selina Kyle is apparently willing to take the fight to the Ripper himself to protect the women of Gotham.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight doesn’t currently have a release date, but it seems likely to hit Blu-ray and DVD in early 2018.
What do you think about the Batman supporting cast making their way to Gotham by Gaslight? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
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Images: Warner Bros. Animation
