This is starting to get a little much for me…BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT: THE KRYPTIONIAN AGE, that is.
Look, based on this series’ title, it was obvious that the Victorian Era version of Superman was going to show up…though he really hasn’t as of yet. We sorta see him in issue #1 (via flashback) and there’s been a lot of this “Kryptonian Age” stuff in the first three issues. But the last 2 issues have primarily focused on the introduction of “Wonder Woman by Gaslight” and how the Amazons and Kryptonians are mortal enemies. Yes, there’s been some Batman stuff, but it feels as if it’s secondary compared to the “DC by Gaslight” world-building at hand.
As I said, this — all the non-Batman DC stuff being introduced — is getting to be a bit much for me. I’m a HUGE fan of this Batman world (the original GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT is a top-five favorite Batman comic book story of mine) because the emphasis has always been on, well, Batman. I’m starting to question why they even returned to DC’s Earth-19 — at least Batman’s corner of it — if they wanted to do a DC Universe and/or a “Justice League by Gaslight” story. You mean to tell me that there were no tales left to tell with this Batman in Gotham with Batman characters?
Let me be clear, the writing nor the art is bad. If you like non-Batman characters popping up in Batman stories, then this may be right up your alley. For me, not so much.
We’re only 3 issues in, so perhaps things will get more Batman-centric as the story progresses through the remaining issues. We’ll see. – Bill “Jett” Ramey
GRADE: C+
