'Elseworlds', or 'Imaginary Stories' are tales where a fresh concept or idea is tried on an existing character or storyline. This often leads to new and fresh takes on existing characters.
Elseworlds
"In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places--some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't, or shouldn't exist. The result is stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as tomorrow." © DC Comics
Elseworlds are published by DC comics and have been since the late 80’s, before that they were known as ‘Imaginary Stories’ where a fresh idea or alternate histories were tried out on existing characters or storylines. Most notably during the Silver age of comics era a lot of these ‘Imaginary Stories’ were published using DC’s main characters of Superman and Batman, though they did also branch out into DC’s other ‘mainstream’ characters.
In 1986, the last ever ‘Imaginary Story’ was published in Superman vol 1 #423 and Action Comics #583, called “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow.” This two part story arc was promoted as Superman's final appearance at DC Comics. In this story, the Superman timeline is irrevocably altered in several ways and became a darker, more sinister place.
The main story was told using flashbacks of Lois Lane, who became Lois Lane-Elliot, who was being interviewed about Superman’s last appearance. "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" was a farewell story to honor the previous version of Superman. In the following month of 1986, John Byrne published the Man of Steel mini series which presented an updated version of Superman for the modern age.
In 1989 DC comics copyrighted the ‘Elseworlds’ name, along with the now famous logo and published its first official Elseworlds title, “Gotham by Gaslight”. Though this story does not carry the Elseworlds logo, it was retroactively changed to be the first official Elseworlds title by DC and reprints of the book carry the logo. This story was a fresh take on Batman who lived in the Victorian Age instead of modern day. The main Villain in the piece is Jack the Ripper who has come to Gotham.
To date DC has published several Elseworlds of particular note that are considered to be ‘The Best of their League”, two specifically of note are Kingdom Come and The Dark Knight Returns. Both of these stories have received world wide acclaim for their storyline and artwork.
The Dark Knight Returns
The Dark Knight Returns was originally published in 1986 as a four part miniseries by Frank Miller, it has since been widely thought of as his best work. The series was originally intended by Miller to create an end for the Batman, one where the storyline would have a complete close, this turned out not to be the case when DC published a sequel to the book “The Dark Knight Strikes Again”, a sequel to The Dark Knight Returns which brought back the original team to work on the book.
The Dark Knight Returns is set in a dark future where Batman had given up the Superhero life and gone into seclusion. While the Superheroes had left humanity to its own devices crime, both by humans and meta humans, had run rampant, and the world was quickly tearing itself apart.
The story opens on Harvey Dent being rehabilitated after plastic surgery, funded by Wayne Enterprises. The rehabilitation does not take however and he returns to crime, forcing Batman to don the Batman costume again, something he has not done since the death of Jason Todd twenty years earlier. The story also brings in Carrie Kelly who joins Batman as Robin for the story arc, notably not the first time Robin has been female in an Elseworlds title. Also worth noting is the fact that it is Harvey Dent as Two-Face that bring the Batman out of retirement, not the Joker as most people assume it would be.
Other changes to the Batman story become apparent as the story moves on, such as the new tank like Batmobile which is mirrored in the Cartoon version of The Batman and has made several other appearances in media as homage to the title.
Kingdom Come
Possibly the most noteworthy Elseworlds title to date and has been widely received as the definitive book published by DC. Published in 1996 is was written by Mark Waid and painted by Alex Ross, notably the artwork in the book is unusually realistic for a comic book and uses Ross’s famous style to depict the realism and darkness of the storyline.
Set 20 years in the future, the superheroes have left the world to its own devices, feeling betrayed and unsure of their place in the new world. The main story centres on Superman and his reasons for leaving, and returning. Other characters of note are Batman, who was crippled by Bane and Two-Face after they found out his secret identity, he now uses giant Bat Robots to keep Gotham City under control. Wonder Woman, who has been stripped of her title by Thymescria after the ruling body of The Amazon’s decreed that she had not made the world a better place. Captain Marvel who had retreated inside the form of Billy Batson, his alter ego, and was kept in a hypnotic state by Lex Luthor to keep him under control.
Both these stories are widely recognized as the best Elseworlds to date, though Kingdom Come draws heavily on The Dark Knight Returns for some of its imagery, both of these have sequels, though not as popular as the original books, both the sequels received the same acclaim, ‘The Dark Knight Strikes Again’ and ‘The Kingdom’ respectively follow “The Dark Knight Returns” and “Kingdom Come”.
One thing of note is in “The Kingdom” is the first mention of Hypertime, which DC used to explain the Elseworlds stories as parallel dimensions where beings could cross timelines and see what their world could have been like.
Hypertime has recently been brought back into the mainstream DCU continuity after the “52” storyline, though if this means that new Elseworlds storylines will be published or Elseworlds characters will be making appearances in the mainstream DCU in unclear at this point, all that is known is the possibility is there for anything.
Elseworlds
Here is a list of Elseworlds, in character order with their published dates and ISBN details for reference.
Batman Elseworlds
Batgirl and Robin: Thrillkiller
ISBN-10: 1563894246
ISBN-13: 978-1563894244
1996
ISBN-10: 156389291X
ISBN-13: 978-1563892912
Batman & Demon: A Tragedy
2000
ISBN-10: 1563892863
ISBN-13: 978-1563892868
1991
ISBN-10: 1852864370
ISBN-13: 978-1852864378
Batman: Bloodstorm
1994
ISBN-10: 1563891859
ISBN-13: 978-1563891854
Batman: Crimson Mist
1998
ISBN-10: 184023072X
ISBN-13: 978-1840230727
Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop
1993
ISBN-10: 1563891131
ISBN-13: 978-1563891137
2000
ASIN: B0006E82VY
Batman: The Blue, the Grey, and the Bat
1992
ISBN-10: 9993903469
ISBN-13: 978-9993903468
Batman: The Book of the Dead
1999
ASIN: B0006RPJXU
Batman: Brotherhood of the Bat
1995
ISBN-10: 1563892510
ISBN-13: 978-1563892516
Batman: Castle of the Bat
1994
ISBN-10: 1852866055
ISBN-13: 978-1852866051
Batman: Dark Allegiances
1996
ISBN-10: 1563892332
ISBN-13: 978-1563892332
1993
ISBN-10: 1563891409
ISBN-13: 978-1563891403
Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty
1997
ISBN-10: 1852869364
ISBN-13: 978-1852869366
The Dark Knight Returns
1986
ISBN-10: 1852867981
ISBN-13: 978-1852867980
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
2001
ISBN-10: 1840236213
ISBN-13: 978-1840236217
Batman: Gotham Noir
2001
ASIN: B0006RN36U
Batman: Haunted Gotham
1999
ASIN: B0006E8444
Batman: Hollywood Knight
2001
ASIN: B000IDWKZW
Batman: Holy Terror
1991
ISBN-10: 1563890186
ISBN-13: 978-1563890185
1998
ISBN-10: 1563894009
ISBN-13: 978-1563894008
Batman: In Darkest Knight
1994
ISBN-10: 1563891123
ISBN-13: 978-1563891120
Batman: Manbat
1995
ISBN-10: 185286818X
ISBN-13: 978-1852868185
Batman: Masque
1997
ISBN-10: 1563893096
ISBN-13: 978-1563893094
Batman: Nine Lives
2002
ISBN-10: 1840235179
ISBN-13: 978-1840235173
Batman: Nosferatu
1999
ISBN-10: 1563893797
The Batman of Arkham
2000
ASIN: B0006RHWFS
Batman: The Order of Beasts
2004
ASIN: B000R4LP8U
Batman: Reign of Terror
1998
ASIN: B000H02APG
Batman: Scar of the Bat
1996
ISBN-10: 1563892316
ISBN-13: 978-1563892318
1998
ASIN: B000RYOFZA
Batman: Year 100
2006
ISBN-10: 1401211925
ISBN-13: 978-1401211929
Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham
1999
ASIN: B000GCK2IC
Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye
1997
ISBN-10: 0785105522
ISBN-13: 978-0785105527
Batman/Daredevil: King of New York
2000
ISBN-10: 1563893835
ISBN-13: 978-1563893834
Robin 3000
1992
ASIN: B0006PHQMO
Superman
Son of Superman
1999
ISBN-10: 156389596X
ISBN-13: 978-1563895968
Superboy's Legion
2001
ASIN: B000KGCJ12
Supergirl: Wings
2001
ASIN: B0006RSY6E
Superman: A Nation Divided
1998
ISBN-10: 1563894416
ISBN-13: 978-1563894411
Superman: At Earth's End
1995
ISBN-10: 156389243X
ISBN-13: 978-1563892431
Superman: The Dark Side
1998
ISBN-10: 1563895269
ISBN-13: 978-1563895265
Superman: Distant Fires
1998
ISBN-10: 1563892898
ISBN-13: 978-1563892899
Superman, Inc.
1999
ASIN: B000I33W7M
Superman: Kal
1995
ISBN-10: 1563891670
ISBN-13: 978-1563891670
Superman: Last Son of Earth
2000
ASIN: B000KGCIZY
Superman: Last Stand On Krypton
2003
ASIN: B000I8XV3C
The Superman Monster
1999
ASIN: B000TBBIDI
Superman: Red Son
2003
ISBN-10: 1401201911
ISBN-13: 978-1401201913
Superman: Speeding Bullets
1993
ISBN-10: 1563891174
ISBN-13: 978-1563891175
Superman's Metropolis
1997
ISBN-10: 1563892421
ISBN-13: 978-1563892424
Superman/Tarzan: Sons of the Jungle
2001
ISBN-10: 1569717613
ISBN-13: 978-1569717615
Superman: True Brit
2004
ISBN-10: 1401200230
ISBN-13: 978-1401200237
Superman: War of the Worlds
1998
ISBN-10: 1563893967
ISBN-13: 978-1563893964
Superman/Wonder Woman: Whom Gods Destroy
1997
ASIN: B0006REDK0
Kingdom Come
1996
ISBN-10: 1563893304
ISBN-13: 978-1563893308
Superman/Batman
Elseworld's Finest
1997
Book 1
ASIN: B000I95OTK
Book 2
ASIN: B000I925LU
Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl
1998
ISBN-10: 1563893754
ISBN-13: 978-1563893759
Superman & Batman: Generations
1998
ISBN-10: 1563896052
ISBN-13: 978-1563896057
Superman and Batman: World's Funniest
2000
ASIN: B0006RJDU0
Justice League
JLA: Act of God
2000
ASIN: B0006R9KVM
JLA: Age of Wonder
2003
ASIN: B0006S7OL4
JLA: Created Equal
2000
ASIN: B0006RQC6S
JLA: Destiny
2002
ASIN: B000LGYQFI
JLA: The Island of Dr. Moreau
2002
ASIN: B000O1YZW4
JLA: The Nail
1998
ISBN-10: 1563894807
ISBN-13: 978-1563894800
JLA: Another Nail
2004
ISBN-10: 1401202659
ISBN-13: 978-1401202651
JLA: Riddle of the Beast
2001
ISBN-10: 156389873X
ISBN-13: 978-1563898730
JLA: Shogun of Steel
2002
ASIN: B0006RW4EC
JSA: The Liberty File
1999
ISBN-10: 1401202039
ISBN-13: 978-1401202033
Other characters
Green Lantern: Evil's Might
2002
ASIN: B000IAH5KK
Green Lantern: 1001 Emerald Nights
2001
ASIN: B0006RMLZY
Kamandi: At Earth's End
1993
ASIN: B0006OZV4K
Titans: Scissors, Paper, Stone
1997
ISBN-10: 1563893630
ISBN-13: 978-1563893636
Wonder Woman: Amazonia
1997
ISBN-10: 1563893010
ISBN-13: 978-1563893018
Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon
2003
ASIN: B000GINV2U
