Line #55 Creator/Elseworlds


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4	Elseworlds is the publication imprint for American comic books produced by Creator/DCComics for stories that took place outside the Franchise/DCUniverse canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realities that deviate from the established continuity of DC’s regular comics. The "Elseworlds" name was trademarked in 1989, the same year as the first Elseworlds publication.
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6	The original Elseworlds imprint was scaled back in 2003 due to DC wanting to "put the luster back on them", before quietly dying in 2005. There were plans to revive the Elseworlds brand in 2010, but those plans would quickly fall apart, with the only publication under the revived label being the four issue mini-series ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}: The Last Family of Krypton''.
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8	The Elseworlds name and logo would soon be used again in marketing for the Series/{{Arrowverse}} CrisisCrossover, ''Series/Elseworlds2018''. Beginning in 2023, the name will also be used by Creator/DCStudios as a way to distinguish their standalone films and franchises from films set in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse.
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10	In late 2023, it was announced by DC that the imprint would be revived in 2024, with the first book under the revival being a sequel to ''ComicBook/GothamByGaslight''[[note]]''Gotham by Gaslight'' was not originally published under the Elseworlds banner, but its success led to the creation and branding of Elseworlds.[[/note]] titled, ''Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age''.
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13	For the Creator/{{Marvel\|Comics}} equivalent, see ''ComicBook/WhatIf''.
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15	For the related trope that is [[TropeNamer named after the imprint]], see Main/{{Elseworld}}
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17	!!List of Elseworlds
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19	[[index]]
20	[[AC:Original Imprint, 1989-2005]]
21	* ''ComicBook/BatmanThrillkiller'' places the Batman mythos in the early 1960's.
22	* ''ComicBook/BatmanAndCaptainAmerica''
23	* ''ComicBook/BatmanDemonATragedy''
24	* ''ComicBook/BatmanVampire'': The premise of the trilogy is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Batman becoming a vampire.
25	* ''ComicBook/BatmanHoudiniTheDevilsWorkshop'': Batman and Harry Houdini team up to fight vampires.
26	* ''ComicBook/BatmanLobo''
27	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheBlueTheGreyAndTheBat'': Batman protects a vital gold shipment for President Lincoln in 1863. It includes Redbird, who is {{Expy}} of both Robin and [[Franchise/TheLoneRanger Tonto]].
28	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheBookOfTheDead''
29	* ''ComicBook/BatmanBrotherhoodOfTheBat''
30	* ''ComicBook/BatmanCastleOfTheBat'': A Frankenstein pastiche, which puts our favorite brooding bat-themed hero in the shoes of a young scientist who discovers his father's brain has been donated to science and decides to make a brand-new body for Thomas, and to try out his new bat-serum on it, because if you have a bat-serum, you might as well.
31	* ''ComicBook/TheBatmanChronicles''
32	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTarzanClawsOfTheCatwoman''
33	* ''ComicBook/BatmanDarkAllegiances''
34	* ''ComicBook/BatmanDarkJokerTheWild''
35	* ''ComicBook/BatmanDarkKnightDynasty''
36	* ''ComicBook/BatmanDarkKnightOfTheRoundTable''
37	* ''ComicBook/BatmanDetectiveNo27''
38	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDoomThatCameToGotham'': In the three-issue miniseries, Bruce Wayne and his proteges Dick, Jason, and Tim face off against {{eldritch abomination}}s straight out of Creator/HPLovecraft in a time between the World Wars.
39	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheGoldenStreetsOfGotham''
40	* ''ComicBook/BatmanGothamNoir''
41	* ''ComicBook/BatmanHauntedGotham''
42	* ''ComicBook/BatmanHollywoodKnight''
43	* ''ComicBook/BatmanHolyTerror'': In the comic, Oliver Cromwell's rebellion lasted much longer and spread out all over the world, creating the Commonwealth, a theocratic dictatorship where non-Christians are persecuted. Batman is a BadassPreacher who rebels after learning that the Commonwealth had his parents assassinated for serving in LaResistance.
44	* ''ComicBook/IJoker'': A one-shot about a dystopian future version of Gotham where people worship the current Batman (who is also called "The Bruce", but is NOT Bruce Wayne) as a god. It's told from the point of view of ComicBook/TheJoker. [[spoiler:Or rather, a person who believes himself to be the Joker. This world's Batman likes to take enemies of the state, mind-wipe them, and turn them into carbon-copies of past Batman villains with implanted memories; he then uses them in a yearly bloodsport where the entire city dresses up as Batmen/girls/women and attempts to kill one of the villains so as to get a chance to fight him for the right to become the new Batman. However, after an act of rebellion from his personal doctor/surgeon who converts the rebels into faux villains, this year's Joker gradually regains his memories and, after discovering the original Batcave, defeats the wannabe Bat-god and takes up the mantle of the Bat. He also rescues his girlfriend, who had had her vocal cords removed as punishment for being a rebel; she becomes his Robin.]]
45	* ''ComicBook/BatmanInDarkestKnight'': The comic imagines that Bruce Wayne, not Hal Jordan, receives the ring from Abin Sur; in effect, this one is, "What if Batman was ComicBook/GreenLantern?"
46	* ''ComicBook/BatmanManbat''
47	* ''ComicBook/BatmanMasque'': A Phantom of the Opera pastiche in which the Batman becomes involved with a dancer at the local opera house.
48	* ''ComicBook/BatmanNevermore''
49	* ''ComicBook/BatmanNineLives''
50	* ''ComicBook/BatmanNosferatu''
51	* ''ComicBook/TheBatmanOfArkham''
52	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheOrderOfBeasts''
53	* ''ComicBook/BatmanReignOfTerror''
54	* ''ComicBook/BatmanScarOfTheBat''
55	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTwoFaces'': A Jekyll and Hyde pastiche, in which a 19th century batman believes he's found a chemical solution which will restore his friend Harvey Dent to sanity. But why not test it on himself first?
56	* ''ComicBook/CatwomanGuardianOfGotham'': Set in an alternate universe where Selina Kyle, not Bruce Wayne, became a masked vigilante superhero after her wealthy parents were murdered in front of her.
57	* ''ComicBook/DaredevilBatmanEyeForAnEye''
58	* ''ComicBook/GothamByGaslight'': The first Elseworlds story, in which Bruce Wayne is a young American plutocrat recently returned to Gotham in 1889, and ends up fighting (and is suspected of being) UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, who now has new stomping grounds.
59	* ''ComicBook/Robin3000''
60	* ''ComicBook/SonOfSuperman''
61	* ''ComicBook/SuperboysLegion''
62	* ''ComicBook/SupergirlWings''
63	* ''ComicBook/SupermanANationDivided''
64	* ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'': A particularly [[SoBadItsGood infamous]] one-shot, that involves an aged Superman with a Santa Claus beard who fights cyborgs before going to Gotham AfterTheEnd and battling [[YouClonedHitler twin clones]] of Adolf Hitler. The cover shows him wielding a gigantic gun. [[spoiler: Which he uses against the aforementioned Hitler clones]]. Naturally, it's been subject to MemeticMutation thanks to the likes of [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]].
65	* ''ComicBook/SupermanTheDarkSide''
66	* ''ComicBook/SupermanDistantFires''
67	* ''ComicBook/SupermanInc''
68	* ''ComicBook/SupermanKal''
69	* ''ComicBook/SupermanTheLastFamilyOfKrypton'': A story about Superman's family having survived the destruction of Krypton along with him.
70	* ''ComicBook/SupermanLastSonOfEarth'': A story that flips Superman's OriginStory with Jonathan Kent sending his infant son to Krypton to protect him from the Earth's destruction.
71	* ''ComicBook/SupermansMetropolis''
72	* ''ComicBook/TheSupermanMonster''
73	* ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'': A miniseries about what ComicBook/{{Superman}} would have been like if he had landed in the Soviet Union (specifically Ukraine, which seems to be the closest the writers could find to a Soviet version of Kansas) instead of the United States, he ends up a KnightTemplar Big-Brother figure. President ComicBook/LexLuthor defends the United States from the Red Menace with Superman's RoguesGallery and ComicBook/{{Green Lantern}}s. ComicBook/{{Batman}} has a very sexy hat.
74	* ''ComicBook/SupermanSpeedingBullets'': A comic which has Kal-El fall to Earth near Gotham City, to be discovered and raised as their own by the Wayne family. Or, "What if Superman was Batman?"
75	* ''ComicBook/SupermanTarzanSonsOfTheJungle''
76	* ''ComicBook/SupermanTrueBrit'': A semi-parodic take on the idea of Kal-El's rocket landing in Britain rather than America.
77	* ''ComicBook/SupermanWarOfTheWorlds''
78	* ''ComicBook/SupermanWonderWomanWhomGodsDestroy''
79	* ''ComicBook/SupermanYesTyroneThereIsASantaClaus''
80	* ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinest''
81	* ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'': The comic takes place in a universe in which Bruce Wayne was never Batman, and the infant Kal-El did not survive long enough to become ComicBook/{{Superman}}. The orphaned Barbara Gordon becomes ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'', Gotham's near-dictatorial protector, and Kara Zor-El alias ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' teams with a Justice Society backed by Luthor.
82	* ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanDoomLink''
83	* ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'': A story that shows what might happen if Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne weren't subjected to ComicBookTime, thus showing the casts of both series aging in real time, including the two having adventures in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The ''ComicBook/BatmanAndCaptainAmerica'' crossover that's the source of the image in EvenEvilHasStandards is also part of the same universe, with The Manhattan Project being called "The Gotham Project".
84	* ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanWorldsFunnest''
85	* ''ComicBook/SupermanBatmanSagaOfTheSuperSons''
86	* ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'': A notorious one that involved all the people with inherent superpowers losing them.
87	* ''ComicBook/JLAgeOfWonder''
88	* ''ComicBook/JLACreatedEqual'': The comic sees all men on Earth apart from Superman and Lex Luthor being killed by a strange spatial phenomenon that infects all other men with a lethal virus (Superman being naturally immune and Luthor sealing himself away before he could be infected), and the subsequent efforts to rebuild the world.
89	* ''ComicBook/JLADestiny''
90	* ''ComicBook/JLATheIslandOfDrMoreau''
91	* ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]: ComicBook/TheNail'': The comic takes place in a world where Kal-El is found by an Amish couple instead of the Kents because of a flat tire, and as a result, doesn't become ComicBook/{{Superman}}. While there's still a Justice League, they face xenophobia [[spoiler: and ComicBook/JimmyOlsen is a super villain]].
92	* ''ComicBook/JLARiddleOfTheBeast''
93	* ''ComicBook/JLATheSecretSocietyOfSuperHeroes''
94	* ''ComicBook/JLAShogunOfSteel''
95	* ''ComicBook/JusticeRiders''
96	* ''ComicBook/LeagueOfJustice''
97	* ''ComicBook/PlanetaryJLATerraOcculta''
98	* ''ComicBook/JSATheLibertyFiles''
99	* ''ComicBook/TheGoldenAge'': The comic imagines an alternate universe where the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica became persecuted by a group of second-stringers like Mister America, Johnny Thunder, and the original Robotman, who all joined the HUAC to gain power and influence. It's essentially an attempt to give the JSA the ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' treatment.
100	* ''ComicBook/{{Conjurors}}''
101	* ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'': A beautifully painted and surprisingly cerebral graphic novel set a few decades into the future after Superman retired and a new generation of superheroes has since arisen.
102	* ''ComicBook/Flashpoint1999''
103	* ''ComicBook/KamandiAtEarthsEnd''
104	* ''ComicBook/GreenLanternEvilsMight''
105	* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern1001EmeraldNights'': The comic imagines Green Lantern in a ArabianNightsDays setting.
106	* ''ComicBook/TeenTitansTheLostAnnual''
107	* ''ComicBook/TitansScissorsPaperStone''
108	* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanAmazonia''
109	* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanTheBlueAmazon''
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111	[[AC:Revived imprint, 2024-present]]
112	* ''ComicBook/GothamByGaslightTheKrytopianAge'', A direct sequel to ''Gotham by Gaslight'' that explores the origins of a 19th century Justice League.
113	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheBarbarian'': A retelling of Batman's origin story set in a "rugged, medieval Earth", with Batman being reimagined as a barbarian.
114	* ''ComicBook/DarkKnightsOfSteelAllwinter''
115	* ''ComicBook/GreenLanternDark''
116	* ''ComicBook/BatmanNightfire''
117	* ''ComicBook/DCVsVampiresWorldWarV'': A sequel to 2021's ''ComicBook/DCVsVampires''.
118	[[/index]]
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121	!!The Elseworlds imprint provides examples of:
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123	* AdaptationalNationality: A number of DC {{Elseworld}}s do this, either as the central point (''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'' is "What if Superman was Russian?") or as part of the set-up (''Batman: Castle of the Bat'' is "What if Bruce Wayne was Victor Frankenstein?", so relocates him to Bavaria).
124	* AlternateRealityEpisode: Creator/DCComics pretty much specialized in this form of storytelling, publishing ''dozens'' of stories from the 1950s onwards where, either as a one-off "change of pace" storyline or as a back-up story "filler" (common in the days when some issues ran for 80-100 pages ''without ads'' in some cases, and needed to be filled). In the 1980s, DC launched its "Elseworlds" line, with followed the same concept, except usually with more serious stories.

Context Creator / Elseworlds