Elseworlds: Batman Vol. 1

The Elseworld stories of the modern age were DC's method of playing with their main characters outside of the primary DC continuity after the removal of DC's multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths. The authors still wanted to do interesting "what if" style stories and the Elseworld "brand" allowed them a new sandbox to play in. Batman, as one might assume, had a wealth of Elseworld stories created about him and this first volume collects a wide variety of them (some good, some bad). Standouts include Holy Terror (a world in which Puritan England retained control of America and Gotham is a religious community, In Darkest Knight (wherein Bruce inherits the Green Lantern ring instead of Hal Jordan and crosses paths with Sinestro), and the Batman/Houdini crossover that sees the real life magician interacting with Batman in the Victorian era. Some decent reads that aren't as strong are Dark Allegiances (which sees a forward thinking Batman fighting off fascists and the KKK, including Hitler), The Wild (a magical fantasy setting wherein Joker is an evil sorcerer and Batman a literal bat creature), and the Blue the Grey and the Bat (Bruce is in the Old West and still rides around on horse in full Bat regalia). Each of the stories are insane and ridiculous in their own ways, but the latter group are (even at their most ridiculous) entertaining. The final group of stories are just too weird or uninteresting for their own good and are more of a slog to read. Robin 3000 (a bizarre sci-fi story which sees a distant descendant of Bruce Wayne fighting off a political takeover of Earth by uninteresting aliens) and Castle of the Bat (an insane story which sees Bruce taking the place of Frankenstein and creating a literal Bat-headed monster with the brain of his murdered father). The Franken-Bat story is just too weird, yet oddly sluggishly paced to be fun and the Robin 3000 story includes way too much set up and exposition for its uninteresting world (plus the collection's worst artwork). All in all this is a fun collection that is worth reading though you may wish to skip the two weaker stories.

This is right up there with "Gotham by Gaslight" Well written and well illustrate. The characters are true enough to the originals with out being carbon copies. The stories pull you in from the very beginning.

This are reissues of the classic Batman related Elseworlds, unlike Volume Two, which consist of a coherent Elseworld series written primarily by Doug Moench, there is a lot of diversity of authors and artists in this first volume.Batman: Holy Terror by Alan Brennert and Norm Breyfogle is the story of Batman in a semi-feudal theocracy ran by a corrupt church. Bruce Wayne discovers the church has his parents killed and becomes the Dark Knight to avenge them. The art here is very period, but impressive nonetheless, and the storytelling is solid if a little obvious. This definitely feels like a coherent Batman story in a different universe.Batman: The Blue, the Grey, and the Bat by Elliot S. Maggin and José Luis García is a Western in the style of Zorro and Lone Ranger. It's high camp fun, although it does not really feel that related to Batman as a concept at all.Robin 3000 by Byron Preiss and P. Craig Russell is strange stuff. Obviously originally created as Tom Swift graph novel, it becomes very clear that the Robin connection is forced for marketing and a tie to Batman. Originally for Simon and Schuster but remarketed for DC, the story seems aimless and based on a world that is both far future but almost completely removed from anything essentially related to Batman.Batman / Dark Joker: The Wild by Doug Moench and Kelly Jones is a dark fantasy with tons of violence, and lots of gore. While dark like Meonch and Jones Dracula, Batman:Vampire series, the cannibalism and seemingly completely unmotivated violence make this one hard to enjoy. The Batman character doesn't have a lot of character, and the magical violence doesn't make a lot of sense.Batman / Houdini: The Devil's Workshop by Howard Chaykin, John Francis Moore and Mark Chiarello. Chaykin's pulpy period writing works well in this setting of Houdini and Batman together. The art is solid and wonderfully atmospheric. The use of different perspectives is also helpful, adding a literary gloss to the comic. Easily the best story in the collection.Batman: Castle of the Bat by Jack C. Harris and Bo Hampton is Batman as the monster and Bruce Wayne as Dr. Frankenstein. Very little of Batman's atmosphere or essence make it into what is essentially a gothic literature comic retelling. Bo Hampton's gothic art does keep me interested here but the story is fairly thin.Batman: In Darkest Night by Mike W. Barr and Jerry Bingham is in many ways, this almost feels more like a silver age book than an early 1990s Elseworld, although there are other Batman titles from the time period that have this level of "cheesiness." The combination of Batman and Green Lantern is interesting as in a having Bruce Wayne answer to a cosmic body is interesting, but the development of conflict is rushed, and the entering feels extremely rushed. It would have benefited from being double the page count. The art is workman-like: figures are consistent, and it does the job. It's a decent quick read, but it could have been more given its premise.Batman: Dark Allegiances by Howard Chaykin's Batman is packedcommunists, fascists and political intrigue. Pulpy and delightful, but not entirely coherent in my mind. It's fun, but it doesn't stick with you.Overall, it is interesting, but there is a whole of this that don't seem like classic Elseworlds and don't really fit into the Batman atmosphere.

I don't know if all his books are library books but mine is.

The best part of Elseworlds tales is the freedom that these creators are given in reinventing our old and familiar heroes. Some of these stories are better than others. My favorites are closer to the end of the book, but you may like something else. There's a Batman of the old West, a Robin of the distant future, a Bruce Wayne that resurrects his father Thomas, thus creating a Frankenstein's monster version of the Batman, and more.Remember, this is an anthology of Elseworlds tales. These stories do not (usually) impact the main continuity of the main DC Universe. Think of it as The Twilight Zone for DC.

It was a really cool read. A lot of what if Batman stories and I love it. Cannot pick a favorite but some were better than others

I love the Elseworlds concept, especially Batman because it dives into so many possibilities

Very 90's (not Batman's best decade in my opinion) but some very good and innovative stories. I particularly like the Alan Brennert Norm Breyfogle story and the Doug Moench Kelley Jones story. The cover story by Mike Barr and Jerry Bingham is kind of a let down. So is the Robin 3000 story.

Great stories, although there is minor damage to the cover, but I will be getting it fixed

Some of the stories are better than others and some are downright atrocious. For example, Robin 3000 is a terrible read without an ending just filling space in this. Some of the better stories still come across as half-baked where a premise had been conceived of, but thought into the story just wasn't fully realized, as if the writers got halfway through developing the story and got bored of it themselves. Not worth the money and moreover- your time.

The Green Lantern batman story shown on the cover is good. The others are at times very childish and not implemented well. It's still a decent collection and better then most current year DC stories.

Delightful compilation of Elseworlds tales. My favourite is the one shown on the cover: what if Bruce Wayne, not Hal Jordan, became Green Lantern for Sector 2814? That story is every bit as much fun as it sounds. Highly recommended

Two thumbs up