By Kelly Gaines

Gotham by Gaslight is the feature-length ‘Elseworlds’ movie that nobody asked for. For anyone not familiar with DC’s Elseworlds, they’re similar to the Marvel ‘What If’ titles. The short non-canonical stories range from funny to disturbing and change time, place, and sometimes even species of classic DC characters. Gotham by Gaslight asks one question: what would it be like if Jack the Ripper killed in Gotham? Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Commissioner Gordon, and a host of other well known Batman characters are transported to the 1880’s. Here, Bruce Wayne looks to fund the first Gotham’s World Fair in hopes of bringing some light to Gotham. Unfortunately, the killing spree of Jack the Ripper pulls Bruce’s attention in another direction. Despite the time warp and serial killer addition, the Gotham in Gaslight is familiar- grime, gore, darkness, and masked vigilante justice. Is the concept intriguing? Sure. Was the original comic a good read? Yes. Was the movie good? No.