DC's Elseworlds stories were usually a lot of fun, even if a few began to be a little repetitive. A few really rose above the rest for me - Batman: Holy Terror, Flashpoint (the first one, a 3-issue mini-series), Gotham by Gaslight (which started it all) and of course, Superman: Red Son.
Thanks to Journeyman Studios, a Patron of this blog, for the inspiration behind this cover!
Red Son has to be one of my favorite comic stories ever, and is up there with All-Star Superman in the best Supes stories of all time. I was amazed that an Elseworlds story could capture the essence of the character and his surrounding cast so well.
ReplyDeleteVery cool cover!
My favorite Elseworlds is The Doom that Came to Gotham where Mike Mignola was able to combine characters and elements from the Batman mythos and Cthulhu Mythos.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Elseworld has to be Kingdom Come because it was so in-depth with the idea of being a superhero. Sorta wish that DC worked on more Elseworld-esque stories. The only thing we're getting at the moment is Earth-2 and the Injustice books.
ReplyDeleteGotham Noir and Superman: War of the Worlds. Those are my favorites... and The Golden Age. Wait, does New Frontier count?
ReplyDeleteI feel like the big problem was that it didn't move far enough away from the big two. Almost all the ones I can think of were Batman or Superman.
Point is, great cover.
One of the best Elseworlds stories is Justice League The Nail.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought DC should do a ripoff of Secret Wars with their greatest heroes and villains banished to another planet to battle. Since that will probably never happen how about something similar here? DC Comics Secret Wars: Crisis from the Beyond! I would basically use the same characters the pushed in all the Jose Luis Garcia Lopez merchandising art of the 70s and 80s (heavy on the Superman and Batman family and their foes).
My favorite Elseworld was THE BLUE, THE GRAY, & THE BAT. Featuring Bruce Wayne as a Lone Ranger-like gunslinger during the Civil War...with a Native American sidekick named Red Bird.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a long time since I read Red Son and will need to read it again. There was a good issue on that Elseworld in Search for Ray Palmer.
ReplyDeleteSuperman: Secret Identity. My favorite Elseworlds, and one of my favorite Superman stories ever.
ReplyDeleteI vote for 'Elseworlds' Finest'; the one in which Clark Kent (who becomes Superman) and an impoverished Bruce Wayne (who becomes Batman using the mask of an Ancient Egyptian wizard) begin their heroic careers in the 1920s.
ReplyDeleteNice recoloring on BW's wrist devices, Ross. You must've taken quite some time on it; there's no sign of "rushin'." #BadPunNoCookie
ReplyDelete@BB: for that, you shall be snacked on by...Omega Red!
ReplyDelete:-)
In case people are still reading comments on this post, I must vote for the best Elseworlds story (although that term was not yet used) as Alan Brennart's To Kill a Legend (Detective Comics 500).
ReplyDeleteIn that story, the Phantom Stranger sent Batman and Robin from Earth 1 to another Earth where they prevented the murder of that Earth's Thomas and Martha Wayne. The result was a young Bruce Wayne who was growing up to be his Earth's Batman, "and when he does, it will not be a decision born of grief, or guilt, or vengeance, but of awe, and mystery, and gratitude". An amazing story.
Ideas Man 2 said...
ReplyDelete"In case people are still reading comments on this post, I must vote for the best Elseworlds story (although that term was not yet used) as Alan Brennart's To Kill a Legend (Detective Comics 500).
In that story, the Phantom Stranger sent Batman and Robin from Earth 1 to another Earth where they prevented the murder of that Earth's Thomas and Martha Wayne. The result was a young Bruce Wayne who was growing up to be his Earth's Batman, "and when he does, it will not be a decision born of grief, or guilt, or vengeance, but of awe, and mystery, and gratitude". An amazing story."
Yes, that story was quite good, although personally I found it slightly hard to believe society could have developed in such a familiar way with no tradition of 'heroic' literature (which would presumably imply no mythology, which would imply no religion...) as was stated to be the case in that story.
Unfortunately, of course, that Earth was destroyed -- not long afterwards -- in the Crisis.
@Simreeve: Maybe it got restarted via Flashpoint. Everything else seems to have done so!
ReplyDeleteI never really thought of "To Kill a Legend" as an Elseworlds story, but I guess it qualifies. In my mind, "Elseworlds" is just a renaming of what used to be called "Imaginary Stories," showing what might have happened to our characters if history had followed a different path. I think of "Elseworlds" as worlds that might have been, and I've never applied the label to parallel worlds that can be crossed over. (That may have changed in recent years, but I can't follow the new stuff anymore.)
ReplyDeleteSubtle Kryptonite reference. That sure seems to be an easy substance to come by. More common than hydrogen, apparently.
ReplyDeleteCOVER OF THE MONTH!
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