Batman & Dracula: Red Rain
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Batman & Dracula: Red Rain is a 1991 graphic novel by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones, in DC Comics' Elseworlds line of alternate reality stories. It spawned two sequels by the same creative team; Batman: Bloodstorm and Batman: Crimson Mist.
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[edit] Plot
Investigating a series of murders of Gotham's homeless, Batman discovers that the murders are being committed by Dracula himself, still 'alive' and well. With the aid of a rogue vampire called Tanya, Batman is able to acquire the strength necessary to stand against Dracula's minions while still retaining his humanity. Determined to destroy Dracula's minions, Batman lures them into the Batcave, where Tanya and her followers keep them occupied until Batman detonates multiple explosive charges, destroying Wayne Manor and exposing the cave to sunlight, destroying all the vampires within it. Using his new bat-like wings, Batman flies to confront Dracula, eventually impaling the vampire lord on a tree that has been destroyed by lightning, but at the cost of the last of his humanity. However, after his 'will' has been read by Alfred, Batman assures his old friend that he has nothing to fear; Bruce Wayne may be gone, but the Batman, thanks to his vampiric powers, will now go on forever.[1]
[edit] Sequels
[edit] Bloodstorm
Sometime later, the remaining vampires of Dracula's horde are now led by the Joker, having convinced them to follow his orders after pointing out their current inability to think beyond their next victim with the death of Dracula. Although they manage to take control of most of Gotham's major crime families, the vampires are eventually destroyed by a team of Batman, Catwoman (as a real werecat, transformed by the bite of a vampire in the form of a wolf), Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, and their vampire hunters made up of many Gotham PD detectives; Gordon, Alfred and their team staked the former crime lords during the daylight, and Batman and Catwoman confront the last vampires in a warehouse. Catwoman is killed in the final battle after defeating the vampire that made her what she has become, and Batman, enraged at the loss of the only person able to control his bloodlust, subsequently drains the Joker of his blood. Horrified by what he has done, Batman has himself staked by Gordon and Alfred, determined to stop himself committing further murder.[2]
[edit] Crimson Mist
Unfortunately, Gordon and Alfred never cut off his head, and, as a result, Batman is restored in Crimson Mist when Gotham is in the grip of a crime wave and Alfred removes the stake in an attempt to provide Gotham with a saviour once again. Driven mad by the decay of his body and his new longing for blood, Batman drains and decapitates all of his old enemies (the Penguin, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, Black Mask, the Scarecrow, and various Arkham inmates), until Two-Face and Killer Croc, the only two left, form an alliance with Commissioner Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth to kill Batman. The plan is simple; having tracked Batman to his new lair in the former Batcave, Alfred will lure him into the main part of the cavern, and they will subsequently trigger bombs to expose Batman to the sun. During the struggle, Two-Face and Croc attempt to kill Alfred and Gordon, but Alfred gives his life to give Batman the strength needed to save Gordon. Having killed Croc and Two-Face, Batman convinces Gordon to trigger the trap, and the roof of the Batcave is destroyed. Gordon is crushed by falling rubble, and Batman walks into the sunlight, hoping that, now, he shall finally find the peace that he has been unable to find since his transformation.[3]
[edit] Other appearances
The vampire Batman of this universe has made two cameo appearances in the DC Universe. The first was in Batman/Superman #25 along with a number of other alternate Batmen. The second was in Justice Society of America #5 as a personified nightmare of an inmate in Arkham Asylum.
Elements of the story were used in the animated movie The Batman vs. Dracula, such as Dracula and his minions' vampiric designs resembling Kelley Jones's comic book artworks. A vampiric Batman appears in a dream sequence, which was a product of Bruce Wayne's developing fear of his own persona and Dracula's evil.
In a DC Nation column released on May 30, 2007, Dan Didio mentioned a 'Vampire Batman' as one of the alternate Earths within the new Multiverse, (a reference to the Batman and Dracula trilogy).[4] In Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths HC, this timeline was listed as Earth-1191 before the destruction of the Multiverse. In Countdown #40, one of the Monitors mentions that the Earth that he monitors is one home to vampires and the supernatural, and above shows a picture of a figure resembling Batman rising from the grave done in the same style as Batman & Dracula, although it hasn't been confirmed if this universe is exactly the same as the original story or if it is an entirely new version of it.
In the DC Infinite Halloween Special, the Mad Hatter tells a tale of the vampire Batman, called Red Rain: Blood Lust. In it, the vampire Batman kills a young boy's family as they are leaving a play, just as Batman's parents were killed when he was a boy. The story was written by Peter Johnson and illustrated by Kelley Jones.
A screenshot from Batman: Gotham Knight, suggesting an appearance of a vampiric Batman within one the the film's stories "Have I Got A Story For You ".[5]
[edit] Earth-43
In the Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer series of one-shots entitled Red Rain #1, written by Peter Johnson and illustrated by Kelley Jones, the Challengers of the Beyond venture into the new version of the Batman & Dracula universe, called Earth-43. This is a follow up to the aforementioned Red Rain: Blood Lust story. The Challengers of Beyond arrive at Earth-43, and Donna Troy finds a dead Barbara Gordon, marked by Ray Palmer and with a stake through her heart. This version of Barbara was turned into a vampire by Batman and was killed by a now adult Dick Grayson. Grayson has become obsessed with killing Batman ever since he murdered his parents, and after finally locating his crypt, he finds he can't bring himself to kill him, so Batman bites him and turns him into a vampire as well. The Challengers leave this Earth, with Dick now taking on a Robin-esque role as Batman's partner.
In Countdown: Arena, vampire Batman is one of three alternate versions of Batman (four counting Bruce Wayne as Green Lantern), that fight to be in Monarch's army against the Monitors. The vampire Batman wins his place in Monarch's army.
[edit] Publication
The Batman and Dracula trilogy (Red Rain, Bloodstorm and Crimson Mist) was re-released on December 19, 2007 in a trade paperback collection titled Tales of the Multiverse: Batman - Vampire.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Batman and Dracula: Red Rain (1991)
- ^ Batman: Bloodstorm (1994)
- ^ Batman: Crimson Mist (1998)
- ^ voting form for Countdown: Arena website
- ^ World's Finest
- ^ Newsarama.com: DC ANNOUNCES DECEMBER 2007 COLLECTED EDITIONS
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