ANI-MOVIES, *Batman: Gotham By Gaslight

The second DC Universe animated movie based on an Elseworlds story, Gotham By Gaslight takes elements from the original graphic novel and its sequal, Batman: Master Of The Future, and combines them into a slightly original tale. This is the first time they've taken Batman and put him in a steampunk environment, years before it became the popular genre among the fan community, although Gotham By Gaslight is considered to be more under the label of "gaslamp fantasy".

Set in late 19th Century Gotham City, a mysterious killer known as Jack the Ripper is stalking the loose women in the seedier parts of town. Oddly enough, this "Jack" has no connection to the British one, nor is there any reference to the one across the pond either, meaning this is the only "Jack" existing in this universe. Bruce Wayne disguised as Batman is trying to crack the case, all while keeping his identity secret. His friend Harvey Dent has his eye set on Selina Kyle, who on her own has plans to capture Jack the Ripper. Batman discovers that Jack is his equal as far as in fighting and physical prowess(remember, this Batman wasn't trained by ninjas for years!), and just as elusive. Jack murders Sister Leslie, a nun that runs the local orphanage, which leads to a great zeppelin chase between Batman and the Ripper. Jack also goes to kill Hugo Strange, head of Arkham Asylum, partially to point the blame towards Bruce Wayne being suspected as the killer. Bruce is taken to jail, but gets out when Selina threatens to reveal his identity to Commissioner Gordon to clear his name, climaxing in your traditional Batman showdown in an abandoned amusement park.

In alot of ways, the story in Gotham By Gaslight is similar to Mask Of The Phantasm, at least in it has the Dark Knight pursuing a masked killer, while dodging the police thinking that he himself is the suspect. The story only dips somewhat into full-fledged steampunk, mostly just the Bat-Velocipede and a random airship, so not as much was brought up from Master Of The Future making this more of a gothic detective story. The animation up to the above average specs, although nothing too spectacular you wouldn't see outside of your standard TV quality. The film also doesn't totally commit to the original conclusion as the original source material, which may cheese some die-hard fans off, but still a watershed standout in the DC Universe lineup.