James O’Barr, creator of The Crow, is reported to have once pitched an Elseworld Batman story to DC featuring a 1940’s, Los Angeles based Batman. The story was rumoured to have had ties to the Black Dahlia Murder and was to feature an extreme style of Caped Crusader.
Unfortunately, it obliterated most of the rules in the DC Bat Universe at the time and so it was shelved indefinitely. However, during conventions and commissions James would sometimes be asked for the odd batman piece and so we can sneak a peek at his vision for the Dark Knight. Brutal!!
I must be the only one who’s glad this didn’t happen.