Batman (1989

In an age of mystery and superstition, how would the people of Gotham react to a weird creature of the night, a bat-garbed vigilante feared by the guilty and the innocent alike? The very first Elseworlds tale re-imagines the Dark Knight detective in Victorian times and pits him against the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper.

"A Death in the Family" is a Batman comic book story arc originally published in , from 1988 through 1989, by a creative team composed of Jim Starlin (script), Jim Aparo (pencil), Mike DeCarlo (ink), Adrienne Roy (color), and John Costanza (lettering). DC Comics editors, at the time perceiving that Jason Todd as the second Robin seemed unpopular with fans, came up with the interactive scenario where fans would have the ability to influence the story through voting with a 900 number. Suffice it to say that the publication was accompanied by massive media attention, mostly critical. This controversy, however, is not the only reason why this story is so great. The murder of a very famous fictional superhero resulting in a rare emotional state for Batman that has him treading on a moral gray area marks this as a significant comic book milestone. It's that rare moment when a creative team at the height of their powers mesh together and come up with something truly transcendent. Ranked by Hilary Goldstein of IGN as #15 in his list of the 25 Greatest Batman Graphic Novels of which the top two are Frank Miller's and followed by Alan Moore's A high-quality Hatful-of-Hollow-DCP scan.

Despite advance warning to the police, who seal off the area, The Bat, a master criminal, steals a necklace from the safe in the house of a rich socialite. He leaves a note saying he is going to the country to give the police a rest. Pausing only to rob a bank at Oakdale, he proceeds to terrorise the occupants of a lonely country mansion, in a mixture of thrills, chills and laughs. At the end, an actor steps forward through a proscenium arch and asks the viewers not to reveal the Bat's identity to their friends. A film noir shot in black and white, mainly at night in dimly lit scenes.