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Thursday, May 18, 2023

Book Review: Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham by M. Mignola et al.

Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham written by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace, pencilled by Troy Nixey, inked by Dennis Janke, and colored by Dave Stewart

In this Elseworlds tale, Batman is transported to a Lovecraftian 1920 where Gotham is just as corrupt as any other Gotham, but with Eldritch horrors above and below. The story starts in Antarctica, where Bruce Wayne is on a rescue mission for Oswald Cobblepot's polar exploration. Cobblepot's boat is frozen in a bay. Not far inland, an ice cave has one or two survivors, including a transformed Cobblebot (into a penguin-like humanoid, naturally). An elder creature is frozen in the ice and they are trying to release it. Wayne decides to seal the cave, taking Cobblepot's associate who still seems savable. They go back to Gotham where the associate (who is given an ice suit much like Mister Freeze) is babbling about "The Thing That Is Coming." As Bruce Wayne/Batman investigates, he discovers a lot of unpleasant history, including the underground city that was populated by lizard men millennia ago. There's a lot more physical and moral corruptions that happen before the horrific conclusion of the story.

The story melds the Batman mythology with the Cthulhu mythology. Some fits are natural, like Cobblepot's transformation or Harvey Dent being half-infected with horror. The arctic scene and the subterranean ancient culture are typical Lovecraft. I enjoyed that creative part. But most of it felt off. Batman's dialogue is a lot more blue-collar, more like he's Hellboy than the Dark Knight. The fights are less believable since Batman does not have any appropriate tricks or gadgets to deal with Lovecraftian monsters and horrors. Talia and Ra's al Ghul feature prominently but are too far from their original characters to be satisfying. Herbert West and Poison Ivy have brief cameos than seem more like fan-service than legitimate characters. 

Not recommended--this combination is a great idea but I found the execution lacking.

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