Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – A League for Justice #1
Chad Burdette
Recap
The new era of Elseworlds continues with the return of its crown jewel, the mysterious and gothic world originated by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola
Last year, DC’s iconic Elseworlds was ushered into a new era with the release of Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age, continuing the iconic saga of the Batman of the Victorian era and pulling some of DC’s most iconic heroes into the Gilded Age.
Now, the team behind the hit series returns to tell the second part of this epic tale in Gotham by Gaslight: A League for Justice #1
Comic Watch Review:
- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #1: A Return To Earth-19 Worthy Of The Original?
- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #2: It’s Batman Vs The League Of Shadows For Control Of A Dangerous Weapon
- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #3 – Wonder Woman Arrives From The Land Down Under
- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #4: The Quiet Before The Storm
- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #6 – Come Together Right Now
Bear witness to the formation of a new kind of Justice League in a steam-powered adventure that will bring these once-familiar heroes from the open plains of the Midwest to the freezing Arctic as they unravel the mystery of alien artifacts from the Kryptonian Age! This jaw-dropping sequel series is not to be missed!
Review
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – A League for Justice #1 returns readers to the Gilded/Victorian Earth-19, best known for the Gotham By Gaslight Elseworlds stories. Diggle and crew waste no time jumping back into the story that they took a break from in November.
Diggle does an excellent job reestablishing the stage using Adam Strange, who is writing in his jorney while traveling across the South Atlantic by boat. Strange’s journaling remind readers of the salient story plot points covered in the first six-issues and the main story DC hero analogous introduced and their motivations and development so far.
After the much appreciated five page recapping, the story picks up the moment where it left off in November in Smallville. The first meeting of the would-be heroes plays out nicely with the right amount of dialog to make this first meeting feel genuine and not bog down the story that is building. Diggle handles the amount of characters well as the heroes take care of Luthor’s Suicide Squad, while Martian Manhunter and Alan Scott realize that they are connected, and not in a good way. This dispute is ended as Wonder Woman compels the two to proceed with level heads despite what may have happened in the past.
There are plenty of lighter moments to offset the overall darker story such as Killer Croc punching Superman and Lois going gaga over meeting Superman.
Fernandez and Hollingsworth’s art and color comtinue to set the right tone for a story set in the Victorian Age with just enough cyberpunk elements to give it the DCU feel.
Final Thoughts
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – A League for Justice #1 not only returns readers to the Gilded Aged DCU Earth-19, but sets up the rest of the stroty to come without missing a beat despite the 7-month break.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – A League for Justice #1
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
