Hellboy’s creators have crafted a grim reinterpretation of DC’s universe. Batman and H.P. Lovecraft collided in The Doom That Came to Gotham. This original take on the Caped Crusader combines noir, steampunk, and cosmic horror elements. Fans of Mike Mignola’s prior works will recognize his signature art and writing approach. The graphic novel has a grungy, pulp fiction feel to it because it takes place during Batman and Robin’s formative years. The Dark Knight in this incarnation is more like Lamont Cranston’s alter ego than the Batman we know today.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft authored horror and science fiction during the golden age of pulp fiction. His youth was influenced by the end of the Victorian era and the enormous socioeconomic transformations of the twentieth century, as he was born in 1890. Despite the fact that his books were not well received during his lifetime, his connections and affiliations with other writers served to guarantee his legacy. As one of the most renowned authors of Weird Tales magazine, Lovecraft has had a long impact on modern pop culture.
His Cthulhu Mythos setting has impacted Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, and many others. Lovecraft created a world of scientific horror in which magic and monsters were reimagined as complex mathematics and extraterrestrials. It is a bleak and bleak universe in which humanity is at the mercy of an uncaring and chaotic universe. Many of Lovecraft’s writings were influenced by his excursions to New England, particularly the North Shore.
Salem was a favorite city of his, and it appears frequently in his stories. Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey have built a setting that is congruent with the DC Universe while still evoking a distinct Lovecraftian vibe. Fans of the Cthulhu Mythos will recognize references to At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Nameless City, and other works. Many of Batman’s adversaries and other Gotham residents are included in The Doom That Came to Gotham. The year is 1928, and Bruce Wayne has arrived home two decades after his parents were brutally murdered. He discovers that Gotham City is under otherworldly attack.
A strange sect is striving to create The Lurker on the Threshold, an extraterrestrial demigod. In this combat against monsters, Bruce Wayne is driven to the brink of insanity, as he strives not to become one. Given Mignola’s status as Mr. Horror Comic, it seems logical for him to be co-writing a Lovecraftian comic, and the concept fits well with Batman’s gloomy, gothic universe.
The components of Lovecraft are present: ice monsters, cursed books, nestling tentacle creatures, doomed diary entries, and so on. Except Mignola/Pace can’t transform their alternative Bruce Wayne into a credible Batman in terms of motive. Sure, there’s the “child Bruce witnessing his parents slaughtered” origin sequence, but there’s no link from there to his becoming a Bat-themed vigilante.
He transforms into a seafarer who happens to be dressed in an old-school Batman costume for no apparent reason. The novel suffers from a lengthy, hazy premise and an overabundance of characters that appear to exist solely for fan service. The Doom That Came to Gotham is a fascinating and innovative re-imagining of Batman and Lovecraft that is worth a read for any Batman and Mike Mignola fans.
COMIC EXPLANATION
The year is 1928, and a ship, owned by the Wayne’s is in Antarctica. In this universe, Bruce Wayne, who lost his parents as a child, instead of traveling the globe preparing to become Batman, embarks on a 20-year expedition. He is currently on an expedition to discover what happened to the Cobblepot expedition. They find the ship and discover the Cobblepot expedition logbook.
As the book stated, on June 3rd, all the dogs were howling; on June 9th, the dogs were slaughtered for not being peaceful; June 12th was a strange day, where people went missing, of whom there was a man named Grendon. Wayne discovers Cobblepot nude and follows him further into a tunnel. When Bruce phones Cobblepot, a voice replies no. The voice informs him that he was Grendon and that he is now his messenger. Bruce sees a squid-like creature and fires, but the penguins attack.
Bruce takes out Grendon and explodes the cave. He returns to the ship and plans to return home after 20 years. They transport Grendon in a ship’s freezer. Back in time, the person who stabbed Bruce’s parents remarked, “Damn you, Wayne, the thing is coming, and I’m going to see you in hell for it”.
In Wayne manor, a dead man is tied to a chair and then we see Jason Blood emerge, and the reflection in the mirror is of Etrigan. He declares that Bruce’s return has established the path of events as “The sins of the father were piled on the son.” Etrigan departs, and Bruce Wayne is reminded that Oliver has sent him a dinner invitation, which he intends to accept with Tim and Dick.
In this universe Oliver is wealthy and a large game hunter as well, Jim Gordon is the head of police, and Harvey Dent is running for mayor. A zoologist named Eric Langstorm believed to have gone mad, called himself Batman After learning all this from Oliver Bruce leaves Tim and Dick at the Queen manor and leaves wearing his bat suit. Batman is on a mission to learn more about Langstrom.
He discovers someone in Langstorm’s room. He enters it and everyone believes he’s Langstrom. He knocks everyone out and searches the room for proof when he discovers Langstrom’s final declaration. Other officers arrive, and he flees. Langstrom claims in the statement that he is not mad but he can talk with bats. The bats warned him that something terrible was about to happen.
The horrors are almost at the doorstep and the key to the door is the book “The Testament of Ghul”. The book is somewhere in his old colleague Crossby Manfurd’s library. He had attempted numerous times to persuade his buddy to burn the book, but he refused, and he also failed to steal. The bats informed him that a woman was looking for the book. He claims that he lacks the strength to stop this.
Soon after reading these Batman plans to attend Gotham University. He taps the phone and calls the library for the book to which the receiver denied its existence. He then phones Dick and asks him to go check on Jason. Mansford desires to annihilate the book but Talia arrives and murders Mansford, and as she stood beside his body, a salamander, fled.
When Batman arrives on the scene, he discovers that the Fire element has taken over the body of Mansford. He has become the Daitya, whom Talia had asked to destroy Batman. Etrigan, who was following Batman, enters and fights the creature. Talia is confronted by Batman and requests her companion, a Lovecraftian, reptile-like creature to stop Batman.
Batman’s gunshot has no effect, and just as the thing is about to murder him, it is stopped by Talia, saying that she has a plan, and they leave to go to the sewers occupied by two minions, leaving the creature to do some work. Back on the ship, the monsters attempt to retrieve Grendon, but Dick stops them only to get impaled by the monster. Talia has the book and she can reclaim her father, Ra’s al Ghul.
A swarm of lizards and frogs appears, signifying that judgment day is approaching. Batman, however, manages to flee. Ra’s Al Ghul watches as Grendon is brought to him. Yib Nogeroth, Log-Sotha’s son, had sown his seed in Grendon which Ra’s al Ghul took out by ripping it from his body. It was a little plant that slowly transformed into a lady-like shape. They decide that their next trip should be Harvey Dent.
Talia then approaches the triumphant Harvey Dent and shakes his hand to commend him on his success, and Harvey begins scratching his hand. Batman makes his way out of the sewers. He walks to the belfry and finds a guy hanging who claims the end is near. Tim has awoken at Queen Manor to see Oliver dressed in a soldier’s uniform. Getting ready for combat. A mysterious redhead woman arrives and murders Oliver Queen.
Batman arrives and saves the day. He takes Oliver’s magical arrows. Harvey visits the doctor because half of his body is itching. As Ra’s al Ghul announces that the door is ready to open, we see Harvey in his chamber, tossing a coin, which lands on his terrified side, and he is transformed. Talia arrives and Harvey asks her to kill him. Talia informs that she requires his assistance.
Bruce appears in front of Jason and Dick’s graves, apologizing for not being there with his children. Gordon claims that his daughter, who had an accident some years ago and can now communicate with the dead, needs to speak. She is on a chair and uses a gadget to communicate. They travel to Gotham Courthouse and locate the guy in flames, Mansford, who tells them a narrative from 319 years ago.
The story revolves around Bartley Langstrom, Henry Queen, Thomas Wayne, and Mansford himself before Gotham was established. They grew extremely successful and were taken into the woods by a guy named Ludwig Prin, also known as the devil, who performed a ceremony and brought them to the depths of the earth, naming it hell and making it a home for lizard people.
Following the bizarre rite, the four were sure that it was all Prin’s fault, and they murdered him and buried him in the hole in the forest over which Gotham was later constructed. The four eventually realized that they do not age in the same way as the rest of them. Their acts set in motion a series of events that would lead to the world’s doom. Oliver Queen’s father murdered Thomas Wayne because he had lost his mind when he faced reality.
Langstrom claims that it is up to Bruce to stop Ra’s Al Ghul’s transformation into a ghoul. After disarming the lizard thing, Batman confronts him. Bruce notices something gleaming, and it turns out to be Harvey, and he is the portal to something dreadful. Bruce enters a vacuum and encounters two minions, Ra’s Al Gul and Talia.
The two minions transform into werewolves and charge toward Bruce. Bruce fires the magical arrow towards Ra’s al Ghul but it is blocked by his book. He then transforms himself into a monster using magic. He claims to be Log- Sotha and engulfs Batman in blue flames. While Batman transforms into a man-bat, a Cthulhu-like entity appears. Talia is killed by the emerging Cthulhu-like creatures while they battle. Bruce grabs the book and thrusts it into Ra’s al Ghul’s chest with the St. Sebastian Arrow.
“Ashes to ashes,” Batman triumphs over Ra’s al Ghul, freeing Etrigan from the veil. Etrigan transforms into flames and launches like a burning arrow at the creature thereby killing it. Batman is thrust out of the gateway, and Harvey is burning from the inside out. Tim announced during a press conference that he is taking over Wayne Manor and all damage repairs would be funded.