DC Fan Art Club: November 2022 Spotlight- Alternate Universes

Hi @DCFanArtClub and welcome to November!

Spooky season is now behind us. Before we acknowledge that another year is almost complete let’s turn our attention to alternate universes. Specifically, the worlds of The Dark Knight Returns, Gotham By Gaslight and Flashpoint Beyond.

The Dark Knight Returns was released in 1986 and is a groundbreaking, historic series in the history of DC Comics. Written and penciled by Frank Miller, this was a look at Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement (at the ripe old age of 55 – which doesn’t seem that old anymore) and returning to the role of Batman.

This series has many iconic images and characters which make good inspiration for fan art. Carrie Kelley as Robin, the armored Batman and even a one-armed Green Arrow were all introduced here.

What are some of your favorite scenes from this series?

Gotham By Gaslight (which I do not think is on DCUI) was released in 1989 and, while it did not carry the Elseworlds logo, really led into that whole publishing initiative. Written by Brian Augustyn with art by Mike Mignola and P Craig Russell, this one shot portrayed Bruce Wayne in the 19th century just starting out as Batman and hunting down Jack the Ripper.

Do you prefer to draw in a dark, shadowy style or do you lean more towards the look of the animated movie that was adapted from the original comic?

Flashpoint Beyond is being published right now and is a sequel to the original Flashpoint series from 2011 which led into the DC New 52 reboot. This one stars Thomas Wayne as Batman, Martha Wayne as the Joker along with alternate versions of many other DC characters (including a very unique Superman).

It even has Mime and Marionette if you’ve ever been looking for an excuse to draw some mimes (!) :astonished:

Try your hand at any or all of the topics above throughout the month of November.
Post your thoughts and work in the thread below and thanks for being a part of the art club here at DC Universe Infinite!

Due Date: November 30, 2022
Discussion, works-in-progress and final submission all in the thread below.

You do not have to be a member of the DC Fan Art Club to submit to this thread, but we’d love to welcome you to the group! Find out more here.

Terms & Conditions: I understand that by participating in the DC Universe Community Forums that I am agreeing to the Fan Art Guidelines , which include not creating new storylines or characters, not soliciting for compensation or payment, and will follow the standards of the Community Guidelines .

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Oooh, I still need to read Flashpoint Beyond (especially before New Golden Age drops!), but love me some Elseworlds, so I know where I’m heading…

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Elseworlds were a lot of fun!

The DCUI actually has a ‘series’ called DC Elseworlds where they have 48 of the comics.
The preview pic, I’m pretty sure, is from Gotham by Gaslight, but that actual comic isn’t in the list.

That’s kind of weird, but I do appreciate DCUI making it easy to find most of the official Elseworlds titles.

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Yep, it’s from Gotham By Gaslight and it’s definitely sad that it’s not on the service. I’m guessing it’s one of those evergreen trade sellers that the publishing side wants to keep off a subscription service in fear of losing sales.

What’s weird is that Gotham By Gaslight isn’t here, but it’s sequel that is often also collected with Gaslight, Master of the Future, is.

Anyway, I’ll definitely try to do something with this. :slight_smile:

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Awesome™:+1:. A lot of Bat themed versus but a lot of characters to choose from. Definitely have some ideas.

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Hrm. I was going to speculate that maybe Gaslight isn’t listed under Elseworlds because it technically predates the imprint… But it’s reality just not there at all, huh? Maybe we’ll get it with Ultra membership at some point. Either way, I think I own it on Comixology … If I can figure out how to access it with the Amazonified interface. :nauseated_face:

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Hmm, this is gonna be a tough one to choose from.
Well, time to get to sketchin out a plan. :+1:t2:

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Oh, I got just the idea!

Gotham by Gaslight: Birds of Prey!

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Wow, that’s very cool! I could totally see those 3 in the 19th century!

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I’ve even cooked up a bit of story for them in the setting:

Barbara is, naturally, a prodigy, constructing a downsized variation on Ada Lovelace’s Analytical Engine that has revolutionized the cataloguing of Gotham’s library.

Dinah is the daughter of an Arizona copper miner who often followed her father into the mines, and after a collapse, she guided trapped miners out of the tunnels, earning her the nickname of Canary. She picks up a love for pugilism and makes a name for herself brawling on San Francisco’s barbary coast, before heading to Gotham…

Helena is a Sicilian nun that hunts monsters (as opposed to mobsters). A sighting of Man-Bat (himself a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde in my mind) brings her to Gotham City.

Because I had to justify it beyond “I think it would be fun to draw Bat-Gibson-Girl.”

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I love this so much

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FANTASTIC!!! i absolutely adore their outfits :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: plus the character background stories. :clap:

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:exploding_head: :exploding_head: :exploding_head:

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Really amazing work my friend :sunglasses: :sunglasses:.

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Martha?? Maaarrrrthhaaaaa!!

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And adding to that Gotham by Gaslight idea, how about Red Hood and the Outlaws in the wild west?

I based Arsenal’s look on Geronimo but I think he’s the weak link. It’s hard to make him look interesting in any medium I think.

Also I gave Starfire the old school Robin pixie boots because…I dunno. Just seemed like a detail to add.

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Very cool! I like all the costume ideas you’ve put into this

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It was hard to find really clear reference on this guy, so maybe that just means I should have used more shadow :slight_smile:

Here’s my take on the Batman from Gotham by Gaslight.

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Love the look! I get a very appropriately Mignola vibe from the shading.

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I thought I would do a scene within Gotham by Gaslight, Jack attacking someone and bats creeping up behind. I cobbled together several elements from some different London 1800 pictures to be my Gotham Alleyway.


I gotta fix the perspective on that first brick element on the left, but this is my start.

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