One of the great things about comics is that the possibilities are truly limitless, especially when it comes to alternate realities. While the main continuity is always going to be important, there’s something special about stories that explore paths not taken or versions of characters and events that are influenced just a little differently than one might expect — and no one does it better than DC. Currently, the publisher’s Absolute Universe is thrilling readers with its reimagined and slightly darker take on familiar superheroes, but it’s far from the first or even the best time that DC has explored what if scenarios. Well before the Absolute Universe was Elseworlds.
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DC’s Elseworlds isn’t exactly like the Absolute Universe. While the Absolute Universe is a shared continuity and its own separate world, Elseworlds is more of a home for stories that take place outside of the main DC Universe canon and when it comes to those stories, there are some truly great ones. One of the best, and perhaps most well-known, is the deeply revered Kingdom Come, but there are many other fantastic Elseworlds stories, some of which that might not get the appreciation the deserve. Here are seven of the best Elseworlds stories that aren’t Kingdom Come, including one that we think might actually be better than that iconic tale anyway.
7) Batman: Holy Terror
Published in 1991, Batman: Holy Terror is an alternate history Batman story in which the United States is a Commonwealth governed by a deeply corrupt and theocratic government currently waging war with South America as the US seeks to take over. It’s a bleak reality — Oliver Queen is an industrialist who is hanged for publishing wors by Isaac Bashevis Singer that the State had declared forbidden — but even in this reality some things are the same. Bruce Wayne’s parents, for example, were murdered by Joe Chill with the story being that it was a mugging. However, when Bruce plans to join the clergy, he’s visited by Inquisitor James Gordon who reveals to him the truth: Thomas Wayne was an anti-government radical and the death of the Waynes wasn’t a random mugging, but a state-sanction, state-planned execution. Soon after, Bruce becomes Batman to bring down the system.
Batman: Holy Terror has a lot of interesting elements to it. We find out the grim fates of many of the familiar superheroes from mainstream stories and find out more about the scope of the brutal state. But what really makes Batman: Holy Terror unique is that we actually get a genuine anti-establishment take on Batman, one that sees him genuinely out to take down the system rather than work within it. It’s a great dystopian tale and doesn’t get nearly enough credit.
6) Justice Riders
Taking superheroes to the Wild West might seem like a predictable story, but 1997’s Justice Riders is anything but. Written by Chuck Dixon with art by J.H. Williams III, Justice Riders is the unusual story that doesn’t include Superman or Batman and is actually better for it (we’re not counting the Clark Kent cameo at the end of the story, though it’s great.) Instead, the rest of the Justice League — specifically Wonder Woman, Booster Gold, Wally West, Ted Kord, Guy Gardner, Hawkman, and Martian Manhunter are our cast.
The story follows US Marshall Diana Prince who comes home to her hometown of Paradise and finds it destroyed and everyone dead. She assembles a group of allies to help her get justice and hunt down the man behind it all, railroad baron Maxwell Lord, The story really is “Justice League but make it cowboy” and that alone is a delight, but what makes this a particularly good tale is the way it incorporates classic Western elements and treats certain things — specifically the depiction of Hawkman as a Native American — with respect.
5) Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
Gotham by Gaslight kind of answers the question “what would happen if Batman too on Jack the Ripper”. It’s a great story, has spawned multiple sequels, and is kind of unique in that while it’s considered to be the first Elseworlds story, it actually predates the imprint. It’s the popularity of Gotham by Gaslight that led to the creation of Elseworlds in the first place.
Written by Brian Augustyn with art by Mike Mignola, Gotham by Gaslight follows a 19th century version of Bruce Wayne just starting up as Batman when Jack the Ripper arrives in Gotham City. Fundamentally, Gotham by Gaslight is just a Batman story set in a Victorian-era Gotham, but it’s insanely well done. Batman’s role as a detective really shines in this story and it is absolutely a very creative and engaging must-read.
4) Superman: Speeding Bullet
What if Kal-El had been found and adopted by Thomas and Martha Wayne instead of John and Martha Kent? That’s the premise of Superman: Speeding Bullet. Kal-El becomes Bruce Wayne instead of Clark Kent, but he doesn’t avoid tragedy. The Waynes are still murdered by Joe Chill and it’s that moment when Bruce discovers his Kryptonian powers, eventually leading him to becoming Batman.
Superman: Speeding Bullet answers the question “what would it be like of Batman actually had superpowers” but does so in an interesting way. It also reinvents some classic Superman characters in ways that feel unique and very fitting — Lex Luthor is very much a Joke-like figure by the story’s end. The tale also serves to function as a sort of fresh origin for this universe’s Superman which is a nice little twist.
3) The Golden Age
Written by James Robinson with art by Paul Smith, The Golden Age does something a little unexpected: it examines what happens to the heroes once they’ve come home from World War 2 and it is an honest, unflinching look at how very imperfect the post-war years and reality really were. While we think of the 1950s in a certain, very polished light, the reality is that it was a difficult time of transition and The Golden Age doesn’t look away from that. The series sees the heroes dealing with fallout from what they experienced in World War 2 as well as the advent of McCarthyism.
The Golden Age sees heroes struggling with their mental health — Starman in particular has a nervous breakdown after he realizes his research contributed to the development of the atom bomb. Hourman is dealing with an addiction to Miraclo, the pill that gives him his superpowers. It’s such an interesting take on not only history, but the toll heroics would take on those who suit up.
2) Justice League: The Nail
Justice League: The Nail explores the idea of what would happen if something had prevented Jonathan and Martha Kent from discovering baby Kal-El and, thus, leading to a world not without heroes just one without Superman. In the story, a nail on the road blows out the Kent’s tire which leads to them not finding the crashed Kryptonian ship and a much different future unfolds. Lex Luthor becomes the xenophobic mayor of Metropolis, there’s a mysterious force field around planet Earth, and the Justice League are seen as a threat.
The Nail has some truly interesting twists and turns while also preserving certain core things about familiar characters — after all, when as Lex Luthor ever been anything other than a problem? — but there are also some stunning developments, including what actually happened to baby Kal-El. It’s a very thought-out story and is a great story. It also has a follow-up: Another Nail.
1) Superman: Red Son
I’m going to be very blunt here: even though I’ve kept Kingdom Come off of this list, the truth is even if it were on this list, it wouldn’t be number one (I’d probably put it in the number 2 slot). That’s because Superman: Red Son is a powerhouse of a story and not only does a solid job with the “what would happen if…” element of an Elseworlds framing but also does a great job of utilizing American history and making some very thoughtful points about the idea of Superman, America, and more.
Superman: Red Son follows the premise where Kal-El’s spaceship landed not in Kansas, but on a Ukrainian collective farm in the Soviet Union and as you can imagine, it’s a very different world. Superman quickly becomes a tool for the Soviet state, which leads to them taking over Europe with ease and the rest of the world is reshaped as well. We get wildly different version of every DC hero we know and love (Batman is a violent anarchist, Wonder Woman is markedly different as well). The story is complex and interesting and functions brilliantly a social commentary but is simultaneously very grounded, which makes it all the more serious and somber. It’s easily the best Elseworlds story and one of DC’s greatest stories, period.
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