Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop

Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop is a 1993 Elseworlds one-shot, written by Howard Chaykin and John Francis Moore. Containing full-painted art by Mark Chiarello, the story recounts a fictional encounter between the superhero Batman and famous escape artist Harry Houdini in early 20th century Gotham.

Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop
Cover of Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop one-shot, art by Mark Chiarello.
Publication information
Publisher	Elseworlds (DC Comics)
Format	One-shot
Genre	Superhero
No. of issues	1
Main character(s)	Batman Houdini
Creative team
Written by	Howard Chaykin John Francis Moore
Artist(s)	Mark Chiarello
Letterer(s)	Ken Bruzenak
Colorist(s)	Mark Chiarello
Editor(s)	Dennis O'Neil
Collected editions
Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop	ISBN 1-56389-113-1

Characters

• Bruce Wayne/Batman
• Harry Houdini
• Victoria Vale, a reporter
• Jack Schadenfreude
• Elijah Montenegro, the Beef Baron
• Leonora Reinhardt, an actress and medium
• Tom Mix

Plot

In the Winter of 1907, children are disappearing from the impoverished part of Gotham, known as the "Devil's Workshop". The criminal is a grinning white-faced ghoul named Jack Schadenfreude.

Meanwhile, Harry Houdini is in town for a performance and mingles with Gotham's elite. Amongst them is Bruce Wayne, from an old money background, and Elijah Montenegro, the nouveau riche, self-styled "Beef Baron". Also in town are other notables, specifically Tom Mix and Leonora Reinhardt. All the high society events are being documented for the Gotham Globe by Victoria Vale.

Vale and Wayne attend Reinhardt's performance as the lead in Medea, where they meet the Baron again. They are then invited into a séance held by Reinhardt. An invitation also extended to Houdini, who has an interest in the paranormal. The séance is apparently a success, leading the three to conclude something genuinely supernatural is going on.

The abductions are traced to Montenegro's meat factory and it soon becomes apparent that everything is somehow connected.

The story is narrated by Houdini. He contrasts his own poor upbringing with that of Bruce Wayne. It also highlights Batman, as he learns a number of his skills from studying Houdini's work.

Publication

The story was published as a 64-page, prestige format one-shot by DC Comics (ISBN 1563891131).

Awards

• 1993: Won "Best Graphic Novel" Don Thompson Award^[1]
• 1994:^[2]
  • Nominated for "Best Painter" Eisner Award, for Mark Chiarello
  • Nominated for "Best Letterer" Eisner Award, for Ken Bruzenak

See also

• List of Elseworlds publications

Notes

1. "Don Thompson Award". Hahnlibrary.net. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
2. "1994 Eisner Awards Winners/Nominees". Hahnlibrary.net. Retrieved 2011-01-03.

References

• Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop at the Grand Comics Database
• at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)