7 Best Alternate Versions of Beloved DC Characters

DC Comics brought the multiverse concept to superheroes, and has spent the last 65 years creating one of the greatest multiversal collections of characters in fiction’s history. DC alternate universe counterparts don’t fit into the clean Marvel Universe type, because some of them, like the people of Earth-Two, have mostly been brought into the fold of the prime universe. However, beginning in the ’80s, when the publisher first unleashed the Elseworlds line, they started to have what we would commonly look at as alternate versions of characters in the modern comic era. Elseworlds stories are some of the coolest comics of all time, and they’ve created an amazing new DC experience over the decades.

There are so many great alternate versions of DC characters, but some just obviously float to the top. Some of these characters are going be to well-known to readers, and others of them won’t, but they all share a certain “it factor” that made them memorable. These are the seven best alternate universe versions of DC characters, legends shown in new lights.

7) JLA: The Nail‘s Jimmy Olsen

The ’90s were a Justice League renaissance, and that gave us one of the best Elseworlds of all time: JLA: The Nail, by Alan Davis. The premise was that the Kents got a nail in their tire and never found Kal-El. The DC Universe changed completely, and Jimmy Olsen became an employee of Lex Luthor, working PR for the politician. (MAJOR SPOILERS for The Nail) However, the truth was that Lex experimented on him with Kryptonian DNA found in Kal-El’s empty rocket and made him a human/Kryptonian hybrid. His intelligence increased exponentially, and he became the puppet master behind Lex and an anti-metahuman campaign, in the hopes of finding the missing Man of Steel in order to use his DNA to stabilize his genes. The final battle of the book is intense, and ends with Jimmy falling, his body breaking down from the use of so much power, in the arms of Kal, telling him they should have been friends as he turns to ash. It’s one of the best uses of the character ever.

6) JSA: The Liberty Files‘s The Clock

JSA: The Liberty Files, by Dan Jolley and Tony Harris, is one of those underloved gems of DC history. It takes place in WWII, with The Bat (Batman), the Owl (Doctor Mid-Nite), and the Clock (Hourman) going on missions against the Nazis and battling different versions of DC villains. The Clock is the leader of their small OSS team, and he’s an amazing character. This version of Rex Tyler is bold and assertive, a smart leader who knows how to get out of a sticky situation and how to use his teammates to win. Hourman is a vastly underrated character in the DC pantheon, and this version of him is one of the best of all-time.

5) Superman: Red Son’s Lex Luthor

Superman: Red Son, by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson, and Killian Plunket, is one of the most popular Superman Elseworlds stories, giving us a Man of Steel raised in Soviet Russia by Stalin. However, the real star of the show is super-genius Lex Luthor. Lex plays a long-term game of chess with Kal-El, mobilized by the US government to destroy him, and is one of the most entertaining characters in the book. He’s blunt and witty, and watching him change over the years of their rivalry is a joy to behold. Superman lets Lex win, faking his death, and Luthor leads the world into a new tomorrow. Yet, on his death bed, his greatest accomplishment isn’t making humanity better, but “killing the alien”. It’s the most Lex Luthor things ever, and one of those moments that you will never forget.

4) Wonder Woman: Dead Earth‘s Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, by Daniel Warren Johnson, is everything you could ever love about Wonder Woman in one book. Diana wakes up after centuries of cryogenic sleep and finds the world a nuclear wasteland. As she learns how the actions of herself and her friends led the world down this path, she defends the last human city from the depredations of a world that she might have created. This is peak Wonder Woman, digging into who she is and how failure affects her, all with some of the greatest action you could ever see. This is the kind of Wonder Woman comic that everyone loves after they read it, and this Diana is a huge reason why.

3) Kingdom Come‘s Superman

Kingdom Come is an Elseworlds masterpiece, a timeless tale about what heroism means by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. A huge reason for this is Superman. This is a story that is ostensibly about the heroes of the DC Universe, but one of the core pieces of it is what Superman means to superheroes in general. This version is the perfect jaded Man of Steel, having lost his faith in himself and humanity, blaming himself for the decline of everything. Watching him rebuild the man he was and set out to fix mistakes, and then seeing him realize he wasn’t following the path he should have been, is amazing. It’s one of those books that you never forget, and fans love the character so much that he’s appeared in mainline DC stories several times over the years.

2) All-Star Superman‘s Superman

All-Star Superman is a masterpiece, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely giving readers the perfect Man of Steel tale. This version of the hero is the ultimate one, an amalgamation of the various eras of the character. He’s everything you could want the Last Son of Krypton to be. He’s not perfect; there are multiple times throughout the story he exhibits very understandable human emotional responses to certain situations, but it’s always done in such a way that makes his humanity shine through even more. It’s such a marvelous take on the character, and it’s why it’s a darling of comic critics and readers alike.

1) Earth-Two Superman

Earth-Two Superman is the greatest version of Superman ever and that’s all there is to it. He is the original superhero, and spent decades saving the universe. He fought alongside the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron, teamed up with the Justice League of America, trained Power Girl, married Lois and became Editor in Chief of The Daily Star, and ended the threat of the Anti-Monitor. He was fooled into helping Alexander Luthor of Earth-Three and Superboy-Prime, and died saving the multiverse again. He is an icon, the greatest of all time, and I would make the argument that he’s actually better than any other Superman out there. He is the ur-superhero, that’s all there is to it.

What’s your favorite alternate universe DC character? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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