Favorite Elseworlds Tales?

[Kylun123]

My favorite appeared in a Superboy (although it may have been Superman) annual a long long time ago.

The story was something as follows:
The last remaining members of the Justice League put up one last battle to save the world.
I don't remember exactly who the villains were and who saved the day in the end (I think it was Superman, or likely Superboy), but it was my favorite comic for a really long time. I wasn't a huge fan of monthly comics, and less so of DC, but I used to read and re-read that issue all the time (clearly, it's been a while).
A Flash with two broken legs uses his speed one last time to take a yellow spear for Hal Jordan, Wonder Woman wears a leather jacket, and Batman takes one for the team (at least that's the way I remember it).

Anyhoo, that's my favorite Elseworlds, what's yours??

[Green Lantern wannabe]

Good question - many of the Elseworlds show a gloomier version of what would have happened, and I prefer optimistic stories in general. I'm thinking of Red Son, which is the latest Elseworlds story I read, and it was, of course, more gloomy than the current version of events.

I'll have to give it some thought.

[Toreador]

Ooh, hard to pick. There's a lot of good Batman ones. Holy Night where Bruce lives in a strictly religious U.S. where the church is the state.

The one where he is a privateer in old England taking on the Laughing Man (Joker).

Batman in the 19th century tracking down Jack the Ripper.

Thrillkiller, Bruce in the swinging 60s tracking down Batgirl and Robin.

The Nail is pretty good too.

[Ghost Shark]

GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT was the best. It was the first Elseworlds, even before the Elseworlds tag was created. Without it, we'd have none of the others.

[DeadXMan]

I always liked I, Joker.

[Kylun123]

I always liked I, Joker.

Is that a mini or a one-shot, where would I go to read it?

[DeadXMan]

one shot

Has a blood red cover with joker's smile on it


It take place in the future were batman is looked upon as a living god. and every year he "resurrects" his greatest villains for a hunt

this year he resurrects two face, Ras, the riddler and... The Joker.

[Green Lantern wannabe]

I always liked I, Joker.

Interesting. Never heard of I, Joker (http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman:_I%2C_Joker_Vol_1_1) until today.

[dancj]

Good ones are:
Superman: Red Son
Superman: The Dark Side
Son of Superman
Kingdom Come

[Sean Walsh]

Kingdome Come
The Nail
Red Son
Superman: The Dark Side
JLA: Created Equal

[Green Lantern wannabe]

Kingdom Come is not Elseworlds, is it?

[Sean Walsh]

Kingdom Come is not Elseworlds, is it?

It very much is.

(Amending my list, because I forgot this one)

[DeTroyes]

Gotham by Gaslight and Kingdom Come are my two most favorite Elseworlds stories.

Frankly, after all of this Final Crisis nuttiness settles down, I wouldn't mind seeing an Elseworlds ongoing series.

[FanboyStranger]

For my money, the best Elseworlds was James Robinson and Paul Smith's The Golden Age. Some other ones I've enjoyed were Son of Superman, Kingdom Come, Secret Society of Superheroes, Red Son, and Batman: Order of the Beasts.

[JackBurton01]

Kylun123 those are my favorites as well. Its a two parter I think the JLA annual and superboy annual. Story was an alien race comes to earth takes over and kills all the super heroes that don't go into hiding. Batman continues to fight for another 7 years killing all the aliens every time he strikes so he can't be reported. Superman finally comes out of hiding and puts the League together again and pretty much everyone goes down fighting except Luthor and Superboy. Really good story. Think was titleed seven soldiers to victory if I'm not mistaken.

[DubipR]

Lots of good Elseworlds:

Steel Annual #1 (set in the Civil War)
Batman: Gotham By Gaslight
Batman: Master of the Future
Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop
Superman: Kal
Kingdom Come
Superman: War of the Worlds
Superman: Metropolis
Batman: Nosferatu
Batman: Dracula (the whole trilogy)
Batman: Thrillkiller
Batman: Gotham Noir
Superman: The Dark Side
Superman/Batman: Generations
The Golden Age
JSA: The Liberty Files
Planetary/JLA: Terra Obscura
Planetary/Batman

[monster]

who wrote the golden age and what's it about?

[Shade]

Gotham by Gaslight for sure is a excellent.

The Golden Age would be my favorite though. Just so well done thematically and artistically. One of those stories I can read over and over and never tire of and always enjoy.

[theNighteye]

Elseworld's Finest

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/thumb/b/ba/Elseworld's_Finest_-_Supergirl_and_Batgirl.jpg/300px-Elseworld's_Finest_-_Supergirl_and_Batgirl.jpg


Batman Thrillkiller

http://www.comicbookresources.com/images/solicits/dc052006/batman_superman/BatmanThrillkillerNewPrinti.jpg

[FanboyStranger]

who wrote the golden age and what's it about?

James Robinson wrote The Golden Age. I won't get into too many details as it will spoil a story that everyone should read, but it's about the JSA and other Golden Age DC characters like Paul Kirk, Manhunter forced to contend with a government that wants to either conscript them or make them disappear on a case by case basis. On the surface, it appears to be McCarthyism focused on masked heroes, but at heart, it's something far more sinister (not that McCarthyism isn't sinister enough in its own right).

[mgs]

Kingdom Come, for mainstream DC superhero characters.

[dancj]

Kingdom Come is not Elseworlds, is it?
Officially when it came out. The Kingdom came along and muddied that a bit...
For my money, the best Elseworlds was James Robinson and Paul Smith's The Golden Age..
Damn - I forgot that. It is indeed one of the very best! Elseworlds Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl is great too.

[marshal99]

Kylun123 those are my favorites as well. Its a two parter I think the JLA annual and superboy annual. Story was an alien race comes to earth takes over and kills all the super heroes that don't go into hiding. Batman continues to fight for another 7 years killing all the aliens every time he strikes so he can't be reported. Superman finally comes out of hiding and puts the League together again and pretty much everyone goes down fighting except Luthor and Superboy. Really good story. Think was titleed seven soldiers to victory if I'm not mistaken.

You got your story a bit wrong but never mind. The story was decent enough , the art however wasn't. The artwork was quite poor especially the 2nd part of the story.
http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/01705456222.6.gifhttp://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/83658132276.1.gif

World's funnest was an elseworld , wasn't it ? That one was great ,a fun read. Takes a poke at DC's golden age , silver age and all the DC multiverses and elseworlds.

The Armageddon 2001 annuals were pretty much elseworlds as well , there were some gems among the annuals.

Superman annual 3 explores a superman who had taken a strong arm in enforcing the law.
http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/83835824204.3.gif

Action comics annual 3 has superman becoming president !
http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/01070014436.3.gif

Most of the annuals were actually quite entertaining , unlike the actual armageddon 2001 event which were a letdown.

[Kirayoshi]

You got your story a bit wrong but never mind. The story was decent enough , the art however wasn't. The artwork was quite poor especially the 2nd part of the story.
http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/01705456222.6.gifhttp://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/83658132276.1.gif

I liked the first half of this story, but the second one gave me an early WTF moment, where Lana Lang betrayed the Earth to the alien invaders, essentially condemning millions to death, because Superman chose Lois over her. Hell, even Lana in the TV show Smallville wasn't that shallow!

I got a kick out of the Batman annuals that year; Leatherwing, which cast him as a pirate, and Citizen Wayne, which riffed on Citizen Kane.

And I gotta mention Justice League: The Nail and Another Nail for the great artwork, and Mister Miracle and Big Barda as a gestalt Green Lantern. Fun times.

[suprmn19823]

I gotta say my favorites are...

Kingdom come
The Nail
Gotham by Gaslight
The Dark Knight Returns
Batman Holy Terror
Son of Superman
The Golden age
Superman/Batman Generations I (the sequals weren't as good as the original)
Superwoman/Batwoman Worlds finest
JLA Created Equals
Batman In Darkest Knight
Superman Red Son
Superman War of the Worlds

...just to name a few lol

[Chad]

1. Batman: Holy Terror - Written by Alan Brennert and drawn by Norm Breyfogle. Not just one of my favorite Elseworlds, but one of my favorite Batman stories.

2. Gotham by Gaslight

3. Superman Red Son

[Kirayoshi]

Technically it's a crossover, but it bore the Elseworlds emblem so it counts, so I nominate Batman/Captain America. Especially for that scene where the Joker yells at Red Skull. "I may be a homocidal maniac but I'm all American!"

[Kirayoshi]

double-posted, sorry, nothing to see here, move along.

[dancj]

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/01705456222.6.gifhttp://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/83658132276.1.gif

Ah yes, that was a good story. I actually didn't mind the art. In the back of my Superman/Batman: Alternate Histories TPB (which collects a bundle of Elseworlds annuals), there is a list of upcoming TPBs including one called The Super Seven listed that I think was going to be this story and also a Superman/Batman: Alternate Futures which looked like it was going to be Armageddon 2001 annuals. Unfortunately neither book ever materialised.

[dancj]

I gotta say my favorites are...

Kingdom come
The Nail
Gotham by Gaslight
The Dark Knight Returns
Batman Holy Terror
Son of Superman
The Golden age
Superman/Batman Generations I (the sequals weren't as good as the original)
Superwoman/Batwoman Worlds finest
JLA Created Equals
Batman In Darkest Knight
Superman Red Son
Superman War of the Worlds

...just to name a few lol
The Dark Knight Returns isn't Elseworlds.

[dirtstick]

Holy Terror, Speeding Bullets, and Red Son are a few that stand out in my mind.

[MythicBrawn]

Add Superboy's Legion to the list.

[Redem]

The Dark Knight Returns isn't Elseworlds.

if it ain't it bordeline it

[JCAll]

I appreciate a bit of humor.

There was an old Justice League Annual that was...frankly quite terrible. But it had a backup story called Attack of the O-Squad, where Starro gathered together every supervillain in DC whose name ends with "O" and used them to attack the Earth. It was hilarious.

There's also World's Funnest, which is probably the funniest thing ever written.

[Shellhead]

What was up with that early '90s fetish for superheroes wearing leather jackets? The worst was Black Knight, wearing a brown leather bomber jacket over his chainmail tunic. Dude should have died of heat stroke during battle.

My favorite Elseworlds tales:

Kingdom Come
The Nail
The Golden Age

Least favorite:

JLA: Destiny

[dirtstick]

What was up with that early '90s fetish for superheroes wearing leather jackets? The worst was Black Knight, wearing a brown leather bomber jacket over his chainmail tunic. Dude should have died of heat stroke during battle.

My favorite Elseworlds tales:

Kingdom Come
The Nail
The Golden Age

Least favorite:

JLA: Destiny

Actually, chain mail keeps you nice and cool when fighting in it.

Not that I'm defending Black Knight's fashion sense. . .

[yoda510]

I read one where all the heroes lost their powers. Then batman trained a bunch to fight since they lost their powers. People with mechanical abilities/suits were not effected. Steel had to go fight some big bad guy, because no one really had powers and he got killed. Kyle got in a knife fight and was killed too. Overall though, it was really good.

[jhota]

it's not the best book in the world, but it's still my favourite:

Superman: The Man Of Steel Annual #3 "Unforgiven" (1994)

Superman and Batman team up for the first (and last) time, 23 years after the Kryptonian conquest of Earth. Lois names Kal-El "Clark" after her favourite brand of cigarettes.

and it's got a spiffy Mignola cover.

[Crimson Dragoon]

Kingdom Come

Gonna have to go with that too.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

The Golden Age
Superman: Red Son
Kingdom Come
1996's Action Comics Annual (doesn't actually bear the 'Elseworlds' banner, but it might as well)

[cyclops2500]

Superman:Red Son
JSA: Liberty Files
The Nail
Kingdom Come

[dancj]

Ah yes, that was a good story. I actually didn't mind the art. In the back of my Superman/Batman: Alternate Histories TPB (which collects a bundle of Elseworlds annuals), there is a list of upcoming TPBs including one called The Super Seven listed that I think was going to be this story and also a Superman/Batman: Alternate Futures which looked like it was going to be Armageddon 2001 annuals. Unfortunately neither book ever materialised.
I got that a bit wrong. It's Alternate Destinies.

Here is the whole blurb for upcoming Elseworlds books (non of which ever materialised as far as I'm aware):

Superman/Batman: Alternate Destinies - Three tales of possible tomorrows

The Tyrant - Batman rules Gotham with an iron fist.

Unforgiven - A Kryptonian force has occupied Earth

The Super Seven - An evil alien civilization has invaded and is victorious. Only seven heroes stand against them.

[Lew Moxon]

what about Detective 33? How's that?

[Carter Hall]

Great thread. I loved a lot of the Elseworlds stories that they put out and always thought they were very cool, for the most part. Some highlights for me include:

- Kingdom Come
- Gotham by Gaslight
- 1001 Emerald Nights
- JLA: The Nail
- Superman: Speeding Bullets
- Batman: Gotham Noir

[Kylun123]

- 1001 Emerald Nights

What's the story about there?

thanks

[dancj]

what about Detective 33? How's that?
If you mean Detective #27 then that was fun.

What's the story about there?
1001 Emerald Knights was a merge of Green Lantern with 1001 Arabian Nights. It's a good one.

One I've never understood the love for is Speeding Bullets. It just puts Kal El in Bruce Wayne's shoes and follows it through completely logically, but with no imagination whatsoever. Still there are plenty of worse ones...

[dancj]

Oooh - No-one's mentioned Superman: Last Son of Earth and Last Stand on Krypton. They are very good!