Batman: Nosferatu
Encyclopedia
Batman
: Nosferatu is a DC Comics
comic book
Elseworlds
publication and is the middle of a trilogy based on German Expressionism
cinema. It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier
and Randy Lofficier, and illustrated by Ted McKeever
.
The story of Batman: Nosferatu is patterned after The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and, to a lesser extent, Nosferatu.
built by Lutor from one of Arkham's patients. Many other patients in the asylum are also experiments of Lutor, driven mad by his work. When Eschevin Gordon tries to close Arkham down, the doctor sends the Laughing Man to kill him. Attorney Dirk Grayson becomes suspicious of Arkham, but he, too, is killed by the Laughing Man. Dirk's friend, Bruss Wayne, and their mutual love-interest Barbera Gordon, are then drawn to investigate Arkham, after being turned down by the police and apparently ignored by the Super-Man and Lois, who have greater concerns that require his attention.
Wayne discovers Arkham is in league with the new Chancellor, Henderson, and that the two are manipulating the city's aristocrats via knowledge of their secrets and the shows in the cabinet. He also hears the two plotting to kill both himself and Barbera with the Laughing Man. But, during an attempted escape by the inmates in the asylum, he is captured and thrown into a great pit, at the bottom of which lie vast, sentient computers who once built Metropolis and still sustain it and watch over humanity. They turn Wayne into the "Nosferatu" and send him back to the city above.
The Nosferatu saves Barbera and kills the Laughing Man, before attacking Arkham in his asylum. As he fights the orderlies, the inmates hail him as "the Master." While confronting both Dr. Arkham and Henderson, the latter armed with a gun scavenged from Lutor's old lair and powered by the green stone taken from Lutor's chest, the Super-Man appears to investigate at Wayne-son's behest and is wounded by the weapon before the Nosferatu hurls Hender-son from the tower.
He is then confronted by the Superman, who believes there is no place for creatures of shadow in his city of light, while the Nosferatu calls him naïve and claims the inmates as his responsibility. They fight, eventually falling down into the underworld. Their battle is inconclusive, with each mortally wounding the other. However, the ancient machines reveal themselves to the Superman and he realizes that there can be no light without shadows. The Nosferatu's job is to catch these shadows. The machines restore both combatants, and the Superman accepts his control over the dark. Bruss Wayne ends up in charge of the asylum where Arkham is now a prisoner, trying to convince anyone who will listen that the new director is the Nosferatu.
Writer Jean-Marc Lofficier
had a fourth and final volume planned, entitled The Green Light, which would have introduced counterparts of The Flash, Green Lantern
and the Martian Manhunter
(based on Leni Riefenstahl
's Das Blaue Licht
(1922) and Arnold Fanck
's Weiße Rausch - Der Neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs (a.k.a. The White Flame) (1931) (which also starred Leni Riefenstahl), and a female Aquaman
(based on Georg Wilhelm Pabst
's Die Herrin von Atlantis (a.k.a. The Mistress of Atlantis) (1932)). The book would have dealt with the rediscovery of Earth
. http://www.lofficier.com/superman.htm
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
: Nosferatu is a DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Elseworlds
Elseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
publication and is the middle of a trilogy based on German Expressionism
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
cinema. It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comic books and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier .-Biography:Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in Toulon, France in 1954...
and Randy Lofficier, and illustrated by Ted McKeever
Ted McKeever
-Career:McKeever first professional work appeared in 1987, when he published the first five parts of his unfinished series Transit , establishing his trademark style. This was followed in 1987-1988 by his 12-part series Eddy Current. This "12-hour book" centers on an escapee from an asylum...
.
The story of Batman: Nosferatu is patterned after The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and, to a lesser extent, Nosferatu.
Characters
DC characters which appear in the story (in order of appearance):- Bruss Wayne-son/The Nosferatu
- Dirk Gray-sonDick GraysonDick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
- Alfred PennyworthAlfred PennyworthAlfred Pennyworth is a fictional character that appears throughout the DC Comics franchise. The character first appears in Batman #16 , and was created by writer Bob Kane and artist Jerry Robinson. Alfred serves as Batman’s tireless butler, assistant, confidant, and surrogate father figure...
- Dr. ArkhamJeremiah ArkhamJeremiah Arkham is a fictional character in DC Comics' Batman comic books, in which he serves as the current head of Arkham Asylum, an institution for the criminally insane. He debuted in 1992 in Shadow of the Bat #1 during the four-part story arc, Batman: The Last Arkham, that kicked off the new...
- Eschevin Gord-sonJames Gordon (comics)James Worthington Gordon, Sr. is a fictional character, an ally of Batman that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane...
- Chancellor Hender-sonInspector William HendersonInspector William Henderson is a supporting character in Superman comics published by DC Comics.Inspector Henderson first appeared in the 1940s radio series The Adventures of Superman, in which he was Superman's police contact. He was subsequently introduced in a similar role in the 1950s...
- Jimmy OlsonJimmy OlsenJimmy Olsen is a fictional character who appears mainly in DC Comics’ Superman stories. Olsen is a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Lois Lane, Clark Kent/Superman and Perry White...
- Hugo StrangeHugo StrangeProfessor Hugo Strange is a fictional comic book supervillain appearing in books published by DC Comics, as an adversary of Batman. He first appeared in Detective Comics #36 , and is one of Batman's first recurring villains, preceding the Joker and Catwoman by several months...
- Vicki ValeVicki ValeVictoria Vale is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Batman #49 , and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.-1940s-1960s:...
- Barbera Gord-sonBarbara GordonBarbara Gordon is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and in related media, created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino...
- The Laughing Man
- LutorLex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
(flashback) - BaneBane (comics)Bane is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 , and was created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan. Bane has been one of Batman's more physically and intellectually powerful foes...
- Clarc Kent-son/The Super-ManClark KentClark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
- Lois LaneLois LaneLois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
- The Penguin
- Man-BatMan-BatMan-Bat is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually as a supervillain and adversary of Batman, though occasionally depicted as a heroic character. He first appeared in Detective Comics #400 and was created by Frank Robbins and Neal Adams...
- Poison Ivy
- Killer CrocKiller CrocKiller Croc is a comic book supervillain in the DC Universe, an enemy of Batman. Created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Gene Colan, while there was a shadowy cameo in Detective Comics #523 , his actual first appearance is credited to Batman #357 , which is also the first appearance of Jason...
- The ScarecrowScarecrow (comics)The Scarecrow is a fictional character, a supervillain, that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane...
- The VentriloquistVentriloquist (comics)The Ventriloquist is a fictional character, a supervillain and enemy of Batman in the . The Ventriloquist first appeared in Detective Comics #583 and was created by Alan Grant, John Wagner and Norm Breyfogle...
Plot
Under Clarc and Lois' enlightened rule, Metropolis has begun to progress. However, some resist that progress, such as Dr. Arkham, the head of an asylum, who holds "psychomantic" seances for the entertainment of the depraved rich of Metropolis. The star of these is the "Laughing Man", a white-faced, murderous creature, a prototype cyborgCyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
built by Lutor from one of Arkham's patients. Many other patients in the asylum are also experiments of Lutor, driven mad by his work. When Eschevin Gordon tries to close Arkham down, the doctor sends the Laughing Man to kill him. Attorney Dirk Grayson becomes suspicious of Arkham, but he, too, is killed by the Laughing Man. Dirk's friend, Bruss Wayne, and their mutual love-interest Barbera Gordon, are then drawn to investigate Arkham, after being turned down by the police and apparently ignored by the Super-Man and Lois, who have greater concerns that require his attention.
Wayne discovers Arkham is in league with the new Chancellor, Henderson, and that the two are manipulating the city's aristocrats via knowledge of their secrets and the shows in the cabinet. He also hears the two plotting to kill both himself and Barbera with the Laughing Man. But, during an attempted escape by the inmates in the asylum, he is captured and thrown into a great pit, at the bottom of which lie vast, sentient computers who once built Metropolis and still sustain it and watch over humanity. They turn Wayne into the "Nosferatu" and send him back to the city above.
The Nosferatu saves Barbera and kills the Laughing Man, before attacking Arkham in his asylum. As he fights the orderlies, the inmates hail him as "the Master." While confronting both Dr. Arkham and Henderson, the latter armed with a gun scavenged from Lutor's old lair and powered by the green stone taken from Lutor's chest, the Super-Man appears to investigate at Wayne-son's behest and is wounded by the weapon before the Nosferatu hurls Hender-son from the tower.
He is then confronted by the Superman, who believes there is no place for creatures of shadow in his city of light, while the Nosferatu calls him naïve and claims the inmates as his responsibility. They fight, eventually falling down into the underworld. Their battle is inconclusive, with each mortally wounding the other. However, the ancient machines reveal themselves to the Superman and he realizes that there can be no light without shadows. The Nosferatu's job is to catch these shadows. The machines restore both combatants, and the Superman accepts his control over the dark. Bruss Wayne ends up in charge of the asylum where Arkham is now a prisoner, trying to convince anyone who will listen that the new director is the Nosferatu.
Trilogy
This is the second of the trilogy:- Superman's MetropolisSuperman's MetropolisSuperman's Metropolis is a DC Comics comic book Elseworlds publication and the first part in a trilogy based on German Expressionist cinema...
- Batman: Nosferatu
- Wonder Woman: The Blue AmazonWonder Woman: The Blue AmazonWonder Woman: The Blue Amazon is a DC Comics comic book Elseworlds publication and the final part of a trilogy, based on German Expressionist cinema. It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier and illustrated by Ted McKeever....
Writer Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comic books and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier .-Biography:Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in Toulon, France in 1954...
had a fourth and final volume planned, entitled The Green Light, which would have introduced counterparts of The Flash, Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
and the Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter
The Martian Manhunter is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in publications published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #225...
(based on Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
's Das Blaue Licht
Das Blaue Licht
Das Blaue Licht is a black-and-white 1932 film written and directed by Leni Riefenstahl and Béla Balázs, with uncredited scripting by Carl Mayer. In Riefenstahl's film version, the witch, Junta, played by Riefenstahl, is intended to be a sympathetic character...
(1922) and Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck was a pioneer of the German mountain film....
's Weiße Rausch - Der Neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs (a.k.a. The White Flame) (1931) (which also starred Leni Riefenstahl), and a female Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
(based on Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
-Biography:Pabst was born in Raudnitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary , the son of a railroad employee.Returning from the United States, he was in France when World War I began...
's Die Herrin von Atlantis (a.k.a. The Mistress of Atlantis) (1932)). The book would have dealt with the rediscovery of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. http://www.lofficier.com/superman.htm