InsaneJournal

An old favorite of mine for Halloween Week (1 of 3)
The Doom That Came To Gotham.

Mike Mignola writes an Elseworlds crossover between Batman...

...and the Cthulhu mythos.



Antarctica, 1928. Global explorer Bruce Wayne, accompanied by his intrepid adopted sons and faithful butler, has been sent to rescue the Gotham University Antarctic Expedition.

Unfortunately, they're rather late, since the Expedition's ship has been reduced to "an icebound wreck with lots of bodies." Bruce goes scouting while the boys stay behind to pick up the pieces.



Bruce spots Cobblepot and chases him into a cave.




Grendon promptly charges Bruce...and gets pistol-whipped into submission for his efforts. Bruce finally pays attention to what Grendon was trying to break out of the ice. He's just a bit unsettled by it.





Bruce, Alfred, and the boys head home for Gotham, taking their "guest" with them.

Upon arrival at Gotham Harbor, there's a brief flashback to the murder of Bruce's parents by a crazed madman with a knife. (It's an important plot point later, but for now, it's just a way to explains why this version of Bruce uses guns.)

Bruce and company (minus Jason, who gets to keep an eye on the Mr. Freeze expy) arrive at Wayne Manor to discover a mutilated corpse tied to a chair in the parlor. Bruce promptly subjects the remains to forensic analysis, only to be interrupted when a mysterious stranger appears in a blazing fireball.




Eventually, the corpse is identified. In the process, Bruce turns up a last-minute warning...




Batman stakes out Professor Manfurd's office.





Etrigan attacks Daitya so Bruce can get away and chase after Talia and the book.




Talia kidnaps Bruce and sends her pet off on a mission: "Creature, you have your own task to perform. Go..."




Page count: 16 out of 48. And man, I had to cut a lot of good stuff (snarky commentary, homages, references) to pare it down that far. Since this is out of print and pretty hard to find, is there any chance of being allowed to post more than the usual 1/3 limit?