Best of Elseworlds?

[Killer Bee]

I've got Red Son already, so no need for that.

I've heard from people that Elseworlds has quite a few misses, so I want to make sure to avoid those.

[marshal99]

It's hard to tell you which one would suit you because everyone taste is different.

For me personally , i would recommend

JLA : The Nail and the sequel JLA : Another Nail

The Golden Age

Superman and Batman : World funnest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Elseworlds_publications

[dionymnia]

I've got Red Son already, so no need for that.

I've heard from people that Elseworlds has quite a few misses, so I want to make sure to avoid those.

The first one I ever read was Speeding Bullets, which stuck with me for quite a while.

Other ones that I really enjoy include:
JLA: Secret Society of Super-Heroes
JLA: The Nail, and JLA: Another Nail (sequel)
Superman: Kal
Superman: Distant Fires

These are just a handful off the top of my head - but it's one of those things where people enjoy EWs for different reasons. There's a handful that are adaptations of literature and film with characters replaced, such as JLA: The Island of Dr. Moreau, Superman: War of the Worlds, or the three comics from German film: Batman: Nosferatu, Superman's Metropolis, and Wonder Woman: Blue Amazon. If that's your bag, there you go.

Others like the "what if" stories that ask what would've happened to characters if they'd originated in different times or conditions (like Red Son). In that line are Superman: Kal, where Kal El lands in Dark Ages Britain; Superman: Speeding Bullets, where Kal is adopted by the Waynes; or Batman: In Darkest Knight, where Bruce gets the Green Lantern mantle right when he's thinking up the whole "bats scare criminals" thing.

Also pay attention to the Realworlds books, which twist the idea to people in the "real world" (our world) in relation to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the JLA. Pretty good, I'd say.

Just a sample. There's craploads out there, and as you said, there are ones that miss the mark - the only one that I absolutely advise avoiding is Teen Titans: Scissors, Paper, Stone. If you like manga, it may be to your fancy, but I felt it was crap as an Elseworlds...

[Carter Hall]

Because Elseworlds is a place where any "what if" story can be tried and not effect the continuity, a lot of stories have been tried that aren't so good, but others are incredible. A few that I liked are:

- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
- Batman: Gotham Noir
- Batman: In Darkest Night
- Green Lantern: 1001 Emerald Nights
- JLA: The Nail (I didn't read the sequel)

Also in 1995, I believe, all the annuals that year were Elseworlds stories, and I really enjoyed the Robin, Detective Comics, and Superman stories.

[Bat-Mite]

There is a nice Batman vs Cthulhu's elseworld written and drawn by Mignola,or just written by him; but its name escapes me at the moment.

Also, Kingdom Come is kinda nice.

[dancj]

Very Good:
Red Son
Golden Age
Son of Superman
The Dark Side
Elseword's Finest: Supergirl + Batgirl
Elseworlds 80 Page Giant
Kingdom Come


Good:
Detective no. 27
Holy Terror
Gotham by Gaslight + Master of the Future
Superman's Metropolis
Nosferatu
Amazonia
War of the Worlds
Created Equal (though most people seem to hate this)
1001 Emerald Nights


Mediocre:
Thrillkiller
Red Rain (+sequels)
Dark Knight Dynasty
In Darkest Knight
Manbat
Distant Fires
Generations 1 + 2

Poor:
Brotherhood of the Bat
Masque
The Isle of Dr Moreau



At some point in this thread someone will probably try to bring up The Dark Knight Returns/Strikes Again - these aren't really Elseworlds though even though they are out of continuity. Likewise for Trinity and New Frontier

[Killer Bee]

Thrillkiller not cool? Well that saves me cash. I was about to impulsively buy that today.

[Carter Hall]

How could I forget Kingdom Come!!!!??? That was one of the best EVER!!!

[dionymnia]

There is a nice Batman vs Cthulhu's elseworld written and drawn by Mignola,or just written by him; but its name escapes me at the moment.


That would be The Doom That Came to Gotham. Not bad at all.

I also remembered: AVOID Superman: True Brit. It was promising because John Cleese (Monty Python) helped write it, but it was absolutely terrible. And, in fact, if I'm not mistaken it was one of the last EW books to come out before the recent moratorium by DC.

[Mac Danny]

Some ones I thought were great.

Pick this up in a back issue Bin, Absolutly worth reading IMO.

Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #3
http://i16.ebayimg.com/01/i/08/60/e2/65_1_b.JPG

&

JSA The Liberty Files
http://www.hillcity-comics.com/graphic_novels/new_graphic_novel2831.jpg

[dancj]

Thrillkiller not cool? Well that saves me cash. I was about to impulsively buy that today.
Don't just take my word for it. A lot of people think it's great, but Chaykin's writing runs hot and cold for me and I always hate Dan Brereton's art (really really hate - I just can't see any redeeming features to it - seriously ugly), so I'm probably not the best target audience for it

[Fenix]

Good, bad, mmmhmm...I could tell you from the ones I´ve read the ones I enjoyed:

JLA
The Nail
Another Nail
Justice Riders

Superman
Kal
Kindom Come

The ones I didn´t like:
JLA
Created Equal (Beautiful art, lousy script)
Act of God (Meaninless)
Planetary: Terra Oculta (meh!)

[LtMarvel]

JSA: The Golden Age

JSA: The Liberty Files

Kingdom Come

DC: New Frontier

Superman: True Brit (if you find British humor funny)

Batman: Red Rain

[dancj]

Oops - I meant to put The Nail in my mediocre list and The Nail 2 in my Poor list. Good art in both though

[The Scribe]

Here's an Elseworld comic that hasn't been published yet.

By: Dwayne McDuffie, http://www.dwaynemcduffie.com/

Batman: Tale of the Black Bat (one-shot). Another Elseworlds story, this one approved by Archie Goodwin. We never got around to doing it, and Archie (in my opinion, the best writer in mainstream comics, ever. He was merely a terrific editor) passed away. The story, set in the future, tells of the historic adventures of the great African-American super-hero Batman. By the time I unearthed the pitch, nobody liked it anymore. I did get an offer to maybe do it as a 19-page back-up. But I think it merits more room than that. Dead forever? Maybe not. I'll probably try again sometime.