{"id":35062,"date":"2026-03-07T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=35062"},"modified":"2026-03-06T12:57:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:57:52","slug":"batman-the-doom-that-came-to-gotham-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/03\/07\/batman-the-doom-that-came-to-gotham-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Mike Mignola<\/strong>, Richard Pace<\/strong>, Troy Nixey<\/strong>, Dennis Janke<\/strong> & Dave Stewart<\/strong> (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-5806-1 (TPB\/Digital edition)
\nThis book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced for dramatic effect.<\/em><\/p>\n

The origins of the Dark Knight are so well-known now that it\u2019s simple to twist and tweak them to suit almost any tale. It doesn\u2019t hurt that the character has a universal recognition factor that holds up in almost any imaginary scenario…<\/p>\n

Released in 2015, available in trade paperback and digital formats and collecting a 3-issue Elseworlds<\/em> miniseries (from November 2000 – January 2001), The Doom That Came to Gotham<\/strong> was written by horror mood-meister Mike Mignola (Hellboy<\/strong>; duh!) and Richard Pace (Negative Burn<\/strong>; Ashes<\/strong>; Starman<\/strong>; Terror Inc.<\/strong>; Imaginary Fiends<\/strong>), limned by Troy Nixey (Harley Quinn<\/strong>; Trout<\/strong>; Only the End of the World Again<\/strong>; The Matrix Comics<\/strong>), inker Dennis Janke & colourist Dave Stewart.<\/p>\n

In case you came in late:<\/em> During the 1990s, DC regrouped to rebrand its frequent dalliances with alternate reality scenarios under the copious and broad umbrella of a separate imprint. The Elseworlds<\/em> banner and credo declared heroes would be taken out of their usual settings and put into strange places and times – some that have existed, or might have existed, and others that can\u2019t, couldn\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t<\/em> exist…<\/p>\n

No doubts here, however, as the tale deftly takes us back to Roaring Twenties America, dishing out a daring dose of pulp fiction plumb centre of the ghastly spine-chilling mythos of Clark Ashton Smith, H.P. Lovecraft and their darkly-dementing contemporaries…
\n\"\"
\nIt\u2019s 1928 and orphaned Bruce Wayne<\/em> returns to Gotham City two decades after his parents were murdered by a maniac. He\u2019s been roving the world, and recently uncovered the fate of long-lost Professor Cobblepot<\/em>\u2019s fabled Antarctic expedition. That jaunt resulted in a clash with a naked madman who talked to penguins and a large slab of ice with a creature inside it: a thing that never evolved on this world…<\/p>\n

By the time he and his close associates Alfred<\/em>, Dick<\/em>, Jason<\/em> and the rest have docked in his bleakly daunting home town, they have all had more than enough of the vile dreams the thing in the hold has generated…
\n\"\"
\nThere are more surprises when he reaches his long-shuttered mansion: a dead man who somehow speaks and a mysterious stranger named Jason Blood<\/em> who claims he\u2019s been sent to deliver a dire warning. Turning into an actual demon, the visitor warns that to save Gotham, Bruce must cut out its heart. Although shocked, Bruce is ready to act, and dons the bizarre outfit that makes him look like a human bat…
\n\"\"
\n…And thus begins a skilful, macabre pastiche of classic noir horror traditions, as the desperate, driven mystery man haunts the alleys and byways of the city, testing corrupt cops, self-serving officials and outright villains – all with names most comics fans will recognise – uncovering a long-suppressed, centuries-old secret, even as literal Things From Beyond Human Comprehension <\/em>and the borders of time and space congregate.<\/p>\n

Can even a heroic Bat Man triumph against such odds and if so, at what cost…
\n\"\"
\nTaking its title from H.P. Lovecraft\u2019s 1920 novella The Doom That Came to Sarnath<\/strong> and inspired by August Derleth\u2019s 1945 novel The Lurker at the Threshold<\/strong> (written from Lovecraft\u2019s unfinished plot notes), the eldritch epic is complemented by a full cover gallery by Mignola and a hefty sketches & design section featuring pencilled pages by Pace (originally slated to illustrate the tale) and layouts by Nixey.
\n\"\"
\nBold, compelling, potently stylish and chilling in all the right places, The Doom That Came to Gotham<\/strong> is a supernatural romp to delight and impress: once read and never forgotten. Yes there\u2019s an animated movie released in 2023, but truly that\u2019s just gilding. This dark lily is what you must have\u2026
\n2000, 2001, 2015 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

Today in 1920 Belgian wonder Eddy Paape<\/strong> (Emmanuel<\/em>, Valhardi<\/em>, Luc Orient<\/em><\/strong>, Johnny Congo<\/em>) was born, with Gray Morrow<\/strong> (Man-Thing<\/strong>, Tarzan<\/strong>, Buck Rogers<\/strong>, Flash Gordon<\/strong>) arriving in 1934 and Alan Weiss<\/strong> (Warlock<\/strong>, Batman: the Blue, the Grey and the Bat<\/strong>, Steelgrip Starkey<\/strong>) in 1948. In 1949 Godfather of British Comics Pat Mills<\/strong> was born and in 1967 mangaka marvel Ai Yazaw<\/strong>, (Nana<\/strong>, I’m No Angel<\/strong>, Neighborhood<\/strong> Story<\/strong>, Paradise Kiss<\/strong>) arrived. Two years later Cully Hamner<\/strong> (Down<\/strong>, Green Lantern: Mosaic<\/strong>, Blue Beetle<\/strong>, Red<\/strong>) came along, but it was 1978 before Australian horror star Ben Templesmith<\/strong> (30 Days of Night<\/strong>) turned up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike Mignola, Richard Pace, Troy Nixey, Dennis Janke & Dave Stewart (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-5806-1 (TPB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced for dramatic effect. The origins of the Dark Knight are so well-known now that it\u2019s simple to twist and tweak them to suit almost any tale. It doesn\u2019t hurt that the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,305,76,15,122,66,395,225,172,298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-batman","category-dc-horror","category-dc-superhero","category-green-arrow","category-historical","category-horror-stories","category-mike-mignola","category-mystery","category-robin","category-the-demon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-97w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35069,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35062\/revisions\/35069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}