Do you read Elseworlds?

[BLACKHEART]

I've found some very good stories in the Elseworlds line. I like it because they don't worry about killing characters off. The Tower of Babel was a great story. Batman of Arkham is another. What are some others?

[Zoddman]

Kingdom Come and Son of Superman. They're both great.

[Borg4of3]

Definately Kingdome Come and Dark Knight Returns. I'd say those two are the most definitive, and I'd add Son of the Demon as well. Hehe, really those are the only ones I read, but I loved them for the most part. I also heard good things about 'Leatherwing', where Batman is a pirate; and 'Holy Terror', where Batman is a vengeful priest.

And isn't Tower of Babel a story in real continuity?

[Gotham Knights '68]

An Awesome elseworlds story is Batman / Superman "Generations" and "Generations II" by John Byrne.

Generations I is in TPB. The second one came out not too long ago...4 parts. Really cool and interesting stuff.

The first focuses on Batman & Superman and their relationship through the ages starting in 1939 with an interesting twist...they grow old and exist in a "mprtal time frame" so to speak.

Second one involves many more characters in the DCU.

Highly recommend!!!

JLA Act of God was pretty cool too.

[Gotham Knights '68]

Originally posted by Borg4of3
Definately Kingdome Come and Dark Knight Returns. I'd say those two are the most definitive, and I'd add Son of the Demon as well. Hehe, really those are the only ones I read, but I loved them for the most part. I also heard good things about 'Leatherwing', where Batman is a pirate; and 'Holy Terror', where Batman is a vengeful priest.

And isn't Tower of Babel a story in real continuity?

JLA story line where Batman has secrets on how to defeat the entire league if they suddenly lost it, and Rha's steals the info...awesome story in JLA!!!

I think Son of the Demon exists in Batman continuity.

[Gotham Knights '68]

Another Very Cool Elseworld's story is the Batman Vampire Trilogy... Very strange and different, but I enjoyed it very much!

[Harbinger]

The Elseworlds I have are:

"Gotham Noir"
"Superman" *it says "Realworlds" so I assume this was before it was "Elseworlds".

"Batman", again it says, "Realworlds".
"JLA, The Secret Society of Super Heroes"
"Superman, Last Son of Earth"

I love "Elseworlds"!! :)

[CadaverousEyes]

Aside from some already mentioned (DKR, Kingdom Come, Batman: Red Rain/Bloodstorm/Crimson Mist) I like JLA: The Nail (best villain ever), Batman/Lobo, and Batman: Manbat. Not exactly radical reinterpretations, but they're still good.

[BLACKHEART]

I was thinking of Act of God, not the Tower of Babel. Kingdom Come I've read before.

[kid_flash]

Originally posted by Gotham Knights '68

I think Son of the Demon exists in Batman continuity.

Nope. It was originally in continuity, but DC kicked it out because of the baby.

Best Elseworlds story ever is KINGDOM COME, but JLA: THE NAIL comes in a VERY close second.

[BLACKHEART]

What's the Nail about?

[optimal321]

Originally posted by SLIPKNOT
What's the Nail about?

Good, i'm glad someone mentioned The Nail. It was a JLA comic about "what if Superman never existed". Well, he still existed, but he wasn't Superman.

See, the Kents got a nail stuck in their tire the day Kal-El came to earth so they couldn't find him.

The whole book is full of plot twists and surprises, mounting to the climactic end!

It was a very interesting book :D .

[BLACKHEART]

How old is it?

[xbuilder]

My Favorite Elsewords are

Superman/Superboy "Super Seven" from the Else World Annuals

Kingdom come
Dark Knight returns

Supergirl/Batgirl

and Batman Superman Generations.

[Palin Dromos]

Another great elesworld is "Superman: Speeding Bullets" It combines the Batman and Superman mythologies.

Also Another voice for "Superman: Last Son of Earth" - What if Clark Kent was launched from Earth to Krypton and became Kal-El? Really great art.

The DC/Marvel crossover's are also lots of fun and coud be considered Elseworlds. Really liked the second Batman/Punisher encounter, Written by Chuck Dixon, drawn by Romata Jr.

I like Elseworlds mainly cause I don't have to know too much continuity.

(Also I believe the "Realworlds" are just a subset of Elseworlds, and came out in 2000)

[CadaverousEyes]

It's from 1998. However, it's very Silver Age-oriented. That's a good thing though.

[Gotham Knights '68]

Originally posted by kid_flash


Nope. It was originally in continuity, but DC kicked it out because of the baby.

Best Elseworlds story ever is KINGDOM COME, but JLA: THE NAIL comes in a VERY close second.

Very interesting...I did not know that! Makes sense though, Thanks for the info! :cool:

Dark Knight Returns is my favorite "Elseworlds" story, I never read "The Nail", I'll have to look into that!
Kindom Come was awesome, one of the best stories ever.

[kid_flash]

Originally posted by Gotham Knights '68


Very interesting...I did not know that! Makes sense though, Thanks for the info! :cool:

Dark Knight Returns is my favorite "Elseworlds" story, I never read "The Nail", I'll have to look into that!
Kindom Come was awesome, one of the best stories ever.

I gotta admit, the DC execs must have the coolest job in the world. Just the idea that they can kick something out of contiuity says a lot about comics in general (ha! I didn't specifically make fun of DC that time! :cool: )

Yeah, THE NAIL rules. I'm afraid to read it again, because it was so freakin' good the first time.

[BLACKHEART]

Has anyone read Batman of Arkham?

[Gotham Knights '68]

Originally posted by SLIPKNOT
Has anyone read Batman of Arkham?

I have, but I must admit it was a very long time ago. I remember the artwork was real creepy and dark like horror paintings almost...very twisted but cool.

It was a real psychological story...the Batman gets invited to the Asylum by the Joker and all the inmates try to play mindgames with the Batman...is this the one? I think they took the asylum over.

[Sugar Daddy]

I have only read TDKR and DK2(still waiting for the 3rd one), but I hope to pick up Kingdom Come.

[Palin Dromos]

Originally posted by Gotham Knights '68


I have, but I must admit it was a very long time ago. I remember the artwork was real creepy and dark like horror paintings almost...very twisted but cool.

It was a real psychological story...the Batman gets invited to the Asylum by the Joker and all the inmates try to play mindgames with the Batman...is this the one? I think they took the asylum over.

That's actually what happended in Batman: Arkham Asylum- A Serious House on Serious Earth. Which is way cool but not an Elseworld. Written by Grant Morrison.

Never read Batman Of Arkham.

[Harbinger]

I realize I am new to the boards here, but I am happy I am reading your posts, because I love reading Elseworlds and I
need to have more of them in my comic's collection. Today is new
comic books day and I am going to look for back issues of some of the Elseworlds you guys have been talking about. I just hope these are filed in a box for Elseworlds and not scattered in other boxes by the superheroes the books are about.

[BLACKHEART]

Why should someone never read Batman of Arkham?

It wasn't the best story ever, but it wasn't the worse story I've ever read. Why are you are warning people not to read it? I bought it for 2.00 dollars. It was worth that. I think the back cover price is 5.95. The story deals with Bruce as the head shrink at Arkham. He makes Croc feel human. What's wrong with the story?

[Joe Wagner]

I think my favorite elseworlds story so far would have to be "Speeding Bullets" - a story about Kal-El being adopted by the Wayne's and after his parents are killed in front of him he takes on the role of the caped crusader.

Still trying to find time to read Superman: Last Son of Earth though.

-Joe!

[Stardust]

I think I have the Kingdom Come story....but I'm not sure. I only have one issue of an Elseworld comics and I enjoy it a lot. I want to get more, but I don't know how to find it.

I'm not at home right now, so I don't know the title of the one lonely issue i have, but I think it's something like Nightstar....it's the daughter of Dick and Starfire and she's in love with the son of Bruce and Talia...and something about their world being destroyed....

someone help me on this one...

[kid_flash]

Sounds like you have a comic called THE KINGDOM, which was a follow-up of KINGDOM COME. It was a good read, but I still don't like the idea of following up something as good as KC.

[Harbinger]

I am trying to get a copy of Speeding Bullets, and also JLA: The nail. I hope my comic's shop can get them for me.

[BLACKHEART]

Most sequals to anything never reach the greatness of the first.

[Gotham Knights '68]

Originally posted by Palin Dromos


That's actually what happended in Batman: Arkham Asylum- A Serious House on Serious Earth. Which is way cool but not an Elseworld. Written by Grant Morrison.

Never read Batman Of Arkham.

Oh...that's right!! Now I remember...THANKS :D

Batman of Arkham was when he was the doctor of the Asylum trying to rehab the criminals during the day, while being the Batman at night. It was set in the old victorian type setting I think...but I did read it.

Grant Morrison is great. I really loved that story, A Serious House on Serious Earth is such a perfect title for it

[rggkjg1]

Originally posted by jjwspider
I think my favorite elseworlds story so far would have to be "Speeding Bullets" - a story about Kal-El being adopted by the Wayne's and after his parents are killed in front of him he takes on the role of the caped crusader.

Still trying to find time to read Superman: Last Son of Earth though.

-Joe!

yeah, speeding bullets was great.

[Palin Dromos]

Originally posted by SLIPKNOT
Why should someone never read Batman of Arkham?

It wasn't the best story ever, but it wasn't the worse story I've ever read. Why are you are warning people not to read it? I bought it for 2.00 dollars. It was worth that. I think the back cover price is 5.95. The story deals with Bruce as the head shrink at Arkham. He makes Croc feel human. What's wrong with the story?

Stupid english language! That was read in the past tense refering to myself having never had the experience of reading Batman of Gotham. You can read (present tense) what ever you like, it's your time and money.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy all,

After getting burned with a good number of the early Elseworlds comics (Gotham by Gaslight and Batman: Holy Terror), I tend to shy away from them. I find they tend to be kind of like Ivan Reitman movies -- great concepts that could sustain something short, but not a whole prestige-issue book, let alone a miniseries. The major notable exception to my mind is Kingdom Come (and TDKR, although that was before "Elseworlds" existed as a concept).

That said, I did like the recent 1001 Emerald Nights, which crossed Green Lantern and the 1001 Arabian Nights. The plot is that one al-Jhordan discovers a ring that produces a magical green genie. As a GL fan and a mythology/folklore buff, it just pressed all the right buttons, and the references to both gave me a chuckle or two.

-- Ed/Ace

[BLACKHEART]

Originally posted by Palin Dromos


Stupid english language! That was read in the past tense refering to myself having never had the experience of reading Batman of Gotham. You can read (present tense) what ever you like, it's your time and money.

Can you give me that again. I don't seem to understand what your are saying and where you are coming from.

[Borg4of3]

Lol!

Given in good english grammar, he meant: "I have never read Batman of Arkham". :)

[Palin Dromos]

Originally posted by Borg4of3
Lol!

Given in good english grammar, he meant: "I have never read Batman of Arkham". :)

What he said.

[Sugar Daddy]

lol

[Wumbo]

a lot of the elseworlds already listed on this thread are great (kingdom come, dark knight returns, the nail etc). another GREAT story that i didn't see listed is "the golden age". an all around awesome tale of the JSA. highly recommended.

[2Divine]

Elseworlds are a ton o' fun. DC had the right idea several years ago when they made all their Annuals Elseworld tales. One of the Superman Annual covers was terrific and particularly memorable - it featured the Man of Steel dressed in 18th-century British attire floating above a war-torn battlefield and ripping an American rebel / colonial flag in two .

It can be scary to think what might have happened if Superman had landed in certain times and places.

Recently, I greatly enjoyed 1001 Emerald Nights , the Green Lantern Elseworld. JLA: Wonder Woman: A League of One was also fantastic - gorgeous painted art! If you like fantasy at all check it out. I'm currently enjoying the Superman / Tarzan Elseworlds, though I wish it would come out on schedule. It seems like years between each ish.

[Jade_GL]

Oh my god, I love Elseoworlds stories. I have a small list of goodies that are ones that no one should miss.

The Golden Age - This was a four part mini featuring golden age heroes. Very cool, dark, and even though I thought some of the heroes were hokey before I read this take, I have a new respect for older heroes. Very cool.

Superman: The Dark Side - What is Superman landed on Apokolips and not Earth. Neat concept, it's not as good as the next Superman elseworlds though....

Superman: Last Son of Earth - SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. In this they reverse the Superman origin, having him be sent from Earth to Krypton. There are some absolutly cool twists, and you get to see Superman as a completely different hero.... ;^)

JLA: Created Equal - Two words. Girl Power. Stupid in the first few pages, but it gets much better. Only bone I have to pick with it is the art. Not the best elseworlds art. I still think Superman: Last Son of Earth beats everything in the elseworlds art department.

All of the other elseworlds I like have been mentioned, those being Kingdom Come, the Dark Knight Returns, etc.