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Batman: Castle of the Bat is a DC Comics Elseworlds special published in 1994, written by Jack C. Harris with art by Bo Hampton as the artist and Tracy Hampton-Munsey as the letterer. [1]
In 1819, a troubled Bruce Wayne revives his father from the dead. The story is loosely based on Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and the classic black-and-white film Frankenstein featuring Boris Karloff.
Familiar characters from the Batman mythos as well as some characters based on Shelley's novel are adapted to fit this Elseworlds story:
One night, a masked robber murders Bruce Wayne's parents. Vowing revenge, Bruce studies hard, follows his father's footsteps and becomes a doctor. Even though he continues studying, he still presses his first promise to himself that he will avenge his parents. He spends hours locked up in his laboratory, and as his experiments continue to augment in cost and secrecy, he is warned that he will be evicted from the university. Bruce suddenly learns about Fraülein (Julia) Lavenza's unscheduled visit. Fearing that she will be attacked like his parents were, he suddenly rescues her from the same man that killed his parents. Bruce viciously beats the robber and is ready to kill him, but Julia makes him let the man go. The couple go to Bürgermeister Gordon to report the would-be robbery. Gordon immediately suspects something is amiss when it is revealed that the highwayman called the Fraülein by her name. While the police investigate, Bruce unveils to Dr. Seltsam that he has purchased a castle where he will continue his research. Seltsam ponders at what Bruce is doing unsupervised by the university. Bruce invites him to come see for himself.
That night, Bruce unveils to Dr. Seltsam his 'bat-hound', a dog which has been infused with the energies that give a bat nighttime tracking abilities. Seeing this abomination, Seltsam warns Bruce that he is treading on dangerous ground and that he should stop immediately. Bruce explains to him that he has discovered that the electricity that flows in the human body, and that in fact any animal has unique properties and varies like the different attributes of every animal themselves. He says that once captured and isolated, these energies can be transferred to other living organisms. He explains how these could be used to improve and heal mankind, and that if these energies could be restored after death, it might be possible to bring someone back to life. Seltsam runs off, condemning Bruce's 'black magic'.
Bruce is about to give up his research when Alfredo falls through the floor into a tunnel. Following it, Bruce and his servant find the vaults under the university that contain all the body parts used to study biology. Alfredo discovers that some of the pieces date from very long ago, which Bruce at first believes impossible because science has no way of preserving human tissue for that long. Looking through the rows of jars, he finds his father's brain, donated to the university and perfectly preserved for 15 years. Bruce steals the brain and hoping that there is some energy left in it, prepares to construct a new body for his father, one that will be great in size and strength.
With a new course to pursue, Wayne convinces Dr. Seltsam that he has abandoned his research. Alfredo and Bruce construct a new body for Thomas Wayne and revive it using electricity. Bruce is disappointed when the creature acts strangely, as it is afraid of the dark, but light bothers it. The doctor decides to destroy it after he is reconciled with Dr. Seltsam and Julia. He promises to take his fiancée to dinner and later meets with Dr. Seltsam, who tells him about how he has noticed that Thomas Wayne's brain has gone missing. Bruce suddenly comes to the realization that his father experienced tremendous stress when he died, and that to restore him, he has to compensate. He rushes to the castle, ready to continue his research.
Bruce clothes the creature in a costume, which mask the scars and will supposedly help in recovering the memories. He injects it with a serum that will give it some attributes of a bat. It becomes aware of itself, sees its hideous face and breaks out of the laboratory, escaping in the night. Weeks pass, as the Bat-Man roams the roads and attacks burglars or criminals, and Bruce's attempts to find it are fruitless. One night though, using the Bat-Hound to track the Bat-Man, they find him attacking the robber who killed Bruce's parents. Bruce stops it from killing the criminal. Before running away, the robber reveals that he was hired by someone. Bruce sends Alfredo to investigate, while he returns the Bat-Man to the castle. Before falling asleep, Bruce mumbles about Julia, about where she is staying.
The Bat-Man is changing, becoming more bat-like in appearance as time passes. He kidnaps Julia from her home and runs off with her. Bruce learns of this and starts the chase. Hot on the Bat-Man's trail, Bruce stumbles upon Dr. Seltsam's lab. The Doctor has captured the Bat-Hound, and has both Alfredo and the robber strapped to machinery in his lab. Seltsam tells the robber that he is no longer useful and that he is going to kill him. As the machinery does its work, Bruce intervenes but it is too late for the robber. Seltsam reveals that the miracle preserving liquid is mainly composed of brain liquid and that the highway robbers were all his henchmen. Seltsam explains that Bruce's father was against his methods of progress through murder and that is why he had to be killed. Seltsam activates the self-destruct sequence in his lab. The Bat-Man barges in the lab, lets Julia go and attacks Seltsam. As the lab crumbles, Seltsam accidentally electrocutes himself and dies. The Bat-Man holds up the roof of the crumbling building, letting the others escape. It calls Bruce 'son' before the lab explodes and kills it. Alfredo theorizes that the Bat-Man kidnapped Julia so Bruce would follow him to Seltsam's lab. As a mob arrives to the burning ruins, Bruce explains to them how Seltsam was destroyed because of the Bat-Man.
Several themes and images are taken from the film starring Boris Karloff as the monster:
Frankenstein is a 1931 American pre-Code science fiction horror film directed by James Whale, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr., and adapted from a 1927 play by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The Webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston and the screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort, with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell.
Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, originally Alfred Beagle and commonly known simply as Alfred, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman.
Man-Bat is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Introduced in Detective Comics #400 as an enemy of the superhero Batman, the character belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery. Originally portrayed as a supervillain, later incarnations show the Man-Bat as a sympathetic villain or antihero.
Ace the Bat-Hound is a superhero dog appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is commonly featured as the canine crime-fighting partner of Batman and as an ally of other animal superheroes, such as Krypto, Streaky and the Legion of Super-Pets.
Igor, or sometimes Ygor, is a stock character, a sometimes hunch-backed laboratory assistant to many types of Gothic villains or as a fiendish character who assists only himself, the latter most prominently portrayed by Bela Lugosi in Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). He is familiar from many horror films and horror film parodies. He is traditionally associated with mad scientists, particularly Victor Frankenstein, although Frankenstein has neither a lab assistant nor any association with a character named Igor in the original Mary Shelley novel. The Igor of popular parlance is a composite character, based on characters created for the Universal Studios film franchise. In the first Frankenstein film (1931), Fritz served the role; in subsequent sequels, a different physically deformed character, Ygor, is featured, though Ygor is not an assistant in those films.
House of Dracula is a 1945 American horror film released and distributed by Universal Pictures. Directed by Erle C. Kenton, the film features several Universal Horror properties meeting as they had done in the 1944 film House of Frankenstein. The film is set at the castle home of Dr. Franz Edelmann, who is visited first by Count Dracula and later by Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man, who are trying to cure their vampirism and lycanthropy, respectively. Talbot is eventually cured, which leads him to discover the body of Frankenstein's monster in a cave below the base of the castle. Edelemann takes the monster's body back to his laboratory but finds Count Dracula has awakened and by attacking his assistants, he captures Edelmann and forces a reverse blood transfusion, which gives Edelmann a split personality and makes him a killer.
Lady Frankenstein is a 1971 Italian horror film directed by Mel Welles and written by Edward di Lorenzo. It stars Rosalba Neri, Joseph Cotten, Mickey Hargitay and Paul Müller.
Thomas Alan Wayne, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the father of Bruce Wayne (Batman), and husband of Martha Wayne as well as the paternal grandfather of Damian Wayne. Wayne was introduced in Detective Comics #33, the first exposition of Batman's origin story. A gifted surgeon and philanthropist to Gotham City, Wayne inherited the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne. When Wayne and his wife are murdered in a street mugging, Bruce is inspired to fight crime in Gotham as the vigilante Batman.
The Revenge of Frankenstein is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. Made by Hammer Film Productions, the film was a sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein, the studio's 1957 adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, and the second instalment in their Frankenstein series.
Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, and the famous character of Frankenstein's monster, have influenced popular culture for at least a century. The work has inspired numerous films, television programs, video games and derivative works. The character of the Monster remains one of the most recognized icons in horror fiction.
Batman: Two Faces is a DC Comics Elseworlds comic book, published in 1998. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by Anthony Williams and Tom Palmer, the story is based on the novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. A Victorian-era Bruce Wayne tries to purge both his own evil side and that of Two-Face, while a serial killer named the Joker roams the streets. A sequel, The Superman Monster, was published in October the following year.
Lewis "Lew" Moxon is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is most famous for hiring Joe Chill to murder young Bruce Wayne's parents in early versions of Batman's origin story, thus making him indirectly responsible for Batman's existence.
Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty is a graphic novel published by DC Comics under the Elseworlds banner in 1997. It is written by Mike W. Barr and illustrated by Scott Hampton, Gary Frank with Cam Smith, and Scott McDaniel with Bill Sienkiewicz.
Lawrence StewartTalbot, also known as the Wolf Man, is a title character of the 1941 Universal film The Wolf Man and its sequels, created by Curt Siodmak. He was portrayed by Lon Chaney Jr. In the 2010 remake of the film, he is portrayed by Benicio del Toro. The Wolf Man was part of the Universal Monsters ensemble.
Batman: Holy Terror is an Elseworlds one-shot comic published by DC Comics in 1991. The story is written by Alan Brennert and illustrated by Norm Breyfogle. The graphic novel is significant in that it was the first to bear the Elseworlds logo.
Billy Frankenstein is a 1998 horror-comedy movie directed by Fred Olen Ray and written by his wife Kim Ray.
"The Doctor" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American ABC fantasy/drama television series Once Upon a Time, and the show's 27th episode overall, which aired on October 28, 2012.
Tales of Frankenstein is an unsold TV pilot filmed in 1958. It was a co-production of Hammer Film Productions and Columbia Pictures. The film is a mixture of elements from both the Hammer and Universal Pictures versions of Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The episode title, which does not appear onscreen, is "The Face in the Tombstone Mirror". The film is in the public domain.
