DC Relaunches Elseworlds Line in 2024

DC is officially bringing back its fan-favorite Elseworlds banner. On Thursday, during the “Elsewhere in the DC Multiverse” panel at New York Comic-Con, the publisher announced that it will officially relaunch the banner in early 2024. The initial lineup of books will follow the mission statement of the original Elseworlds line, which launched in 1991 and offered stories that take place outside of DC’s main continuity, including titles like Kingdom Come, Superman: Red Son, and Justice League: The Nail.

This time around, DC will be using the Elseworlds banner on sequels to established titles, like the six-issue Deathstroke-centric miniseries Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter and the twelve-issue DC vs. Vampires: World War V. The initial launch will also include Green Lantern Dark, following the Tangent iteration of the character, and Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age, a twelve-issue series from Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernandez following up on the beloved Gotham by Gaslight. Elseworlds will also be the home of original work such as Batman the Barbarian from Greg Smallwood and Batman: Nightfire by Clay and Seth Mann.

“Out-of-continuity stories have always been a pillar of DC publishing, granting creators the ability to explore all the wild corners of the DC Universe,” said DC Executive Editor Ben Abernathy. “We’re excited to bring a whole new slate of titles under the ELSEWORLDS banner in 2024, combining some all-new titles from top storytellers, as well as sequels from the current DC line that fit that same out-of-continuity aesthetic.”

Keep scrolling to check out the first looks at DC’s 2024 Elseworlds books, and share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Gotham By Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age

Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age, a twelve-issue series by Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernandez, expands the mysterious and gothic world created by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola beyond the confines of Gotham City, introducing DC’s greatest heroes as they come together for the first time to form a 19th-century Justice League. As they unite against the greatest threat the world has ever known, they will learn their world’s secret Kryptonian history.

Batman the Barbarian

Batman the Barbarian is a six-issue brutal and remarkable retelling of Batman’s origin set against a rugged, medieval Earth, written, and drawn by Eisner Award-winner Greg Smallwood (The Human Target). 

Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter

Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter is written by best-selling writer Jay Kristoff (Empire of the Vampire, The Aurora Cycle, The Nevernight Chronicle) with art by Tirso Cons, both of whom make their DC series debut. In this new six-issue series, the snows fall thick, blood runs black, and color itself is only a distant memory. The legendary assassin Deathstroke stalks a frozen wasteland, killing for coin among a nation of ever-warring jarls. But when our murderer for hire finds himself cast in the role of reluctant guardian, will he fight to end the icy curse destroying his land, or be consumed by the sins of his own dark past?

Inspired by Norse myth and set in Tom Taylor’s ground-breaking world of Dark Knights of Steel, Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter continues the tradition of casting iconic DC characters in a thrilling epic fantasy setting.

Green Lantern: Dark

Green Lantern Dark, a seven-issue series by Tate Brombal and Werther Dell’Edera reimagines the DC Universe as a dark fantasy wasteland where monsters overrun a post-apocalyptic earth. The battle between good and evil ended long ago.

Now, darkness prevails as humanity struggles to survive on a corrupted planet. Only one hero remains, the one who wields the green flame that can return light to a dark world—The Green Lantern. But she’s been missing for years, and, on the isolated island of New England, the horrors only get worse by the night.

Batman: Nightfire

The six-issue series Batman: Nightfire sees superstar Clay Mann unleashed in a mind-expanding mystery, beautifully counterbalanced with explosive action, in this unflinching reimagining that sees Bruce Wayne try to rectify a devastating tragedy by traveling to the past.

What secrets does this Batman hold so tight that he would watch Gotham be reduced to ashes? What truths are exposed when there is nowhere left to hide? Batman: Nightfire by Clay and Seth Mann is a story of obligation and the ultimate burden that promises to set the Batman world ablaze! 

DC vs. Vampires: World War V

DC vs. Vampires was the brutal first chapter in a larger war for the fate of Earth! In this upcoming twelve-issue sequel by Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt, sunlight is restored to the Earth, but was it too late? As a new Ice Age dawns, humanity faces their most deadly threat yet—Barbara Gordon Queen of the Vampires!