In November 2000, DC Comics published the first of three issues of a limited series, Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham, by famed comic artist and author Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy) and Richard Pace. The basic concept was to wed Lovecraftian cosmic horror into the Batman mythos under DC's alternative universe imprint "Elseworlds." The title of the series is a play on one of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, "The Doom That Came to Sarnath," and the narrative draws from the Lovecraftian tale The Lurker at the Threshold. An interesting point in the plot is that it explains how Gotham came into existence and how the cabal of wealthy elite who run the city obtained their positions:
"Manfurd reveals that he was one of Gotham's founders, alongside Langstrom's ancestor Bartley, and Bruce and Oliver's fathers. Over three-hundred years ago, they had made a deal with Ludwig Prinn, one of Ra's al Ghul's servants, to obtain power to build Gotham City and immortality."
Worth noting here is that while the main character in Lurker comes to find out dark secrets about what his family was up to, his ancestors had left their homestead in ruins and fled. Mignola and Pace alter this basic component of the story to suggest that instead of fleeing a horror they couldn't control or comprehend, the founders of Gotham took hold of that power to attain immortality, power, and vast wealth.
Fast forward 20 years to December 2020, when Hulu releases the first season of a re-booted Hardy Boys television series, "based upon the books by Franklin W. Dixon". In a break from both the books and previous adaptations, however, the new series embraces the supernatural. "It's a stark contrast to the novels," as one article suggests.
"Manfurd reveals that he was one of Gotham's founders, alongside Langstrom's ancestor Bartley, and Bruce and Oliver's fathers. Over three-hundred years ago, they had made a deal with Ludwig Prinn, one of Ra's al Ghul's servants, to obtain power to build Gotham City and immortality."
Worth noting here is that while the main character in Lurker comes to find out dark secrets about what his family was up to, his ancestors had left their homestead in ruins and fled. Mignola and Pace alter this basic component of the story to suggest that instead of fleeing a horror they couldn't control or comprehend, the founders of Gotham took hold of that power to attain immortality, power, and vast wealth.
Fast forward 20 years to December 2020, when Hulu releases the first season of a re-booted Hardy Boys television series, "based upon the books by Franklin W. Dixon". In a break from both the books and previous adaptations, however, the new series embraces the supernatural. "It's a stark contrast to the novels," as one article suggests.