This is a one-shot comic book, a graphic novel I suppose. Its popularity got DC comics to start what they called the Elseworlds imprint, a series of comics that were like what-ifs; basically characters out of the ordinary.
I bought this back in 1991, but it came out in 1989, and is one of the earliest works by pencil artists Mike Mignola, the creator of Hell Boy.
Like the Elseworld titles that followed, the basic premise of a well known character is tweaked. Here, The Waynes are London socialites around the latter half of the nineteenth century, and when they're gunned down, their son Bruce eventully adopts the mantle of the bat. As an adult, he hunts the baddies of the East End, and eventually is tasked with hunting down Jack the Ripper.
The story is fun and brisk, and because there aren't any real consequences for a beloved character, they can stretch and play. The art is moody and dark, and you can see what Mignola took from Frank Miller's 1986 classic The Dark Knight Returns, a watershed moment for comics that, along with The Watchmen, elevated the comic book artform to new heights. Mignola was an artist that was influenced, like almost everybody in the industry, by those two works.
This is good, and classic.
One of the Elseworld stories I don't think I have is one where Kal-El's space craft crashes and he's rescued by the childless Waynes, and is raised as their son, Bruce. He takes up the mantle after they're gunned down. How wild does that sound? Bruce Wayne is really Kal-El, and Batman has Superman's powers.
But it all started with "Gotham by Gaslight".
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