Best DC Elseworlds?

shaneb

I've been checking out a few Elseworlds now, starting with finally reading Kingdom Come and Paul Pope's great Batman 100. What are other standout titles from this imprint, or titles that would fit within this imprint after it stopped being used (like Batman 100). I know there are a lot of great ones for Batman...

nweathington

JLA: The Nail and its sequel
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
Superman: Red Son
Batman and Dracula: Red Rain
Batman: Reign of Terror and Superman: Kal if only for the gorgeous José Luis García-López artwork in both
Superman: Secret Identity
Superman and Batman: World’s Funnest
JSA: The Golden Age—probably my all-time favorite Elseworlds

Those are my favorites, but there are other good ones as well. Also, some of the Tangent Comics books were pretty good, especially the two Green Lantern books.

luke52

Here's a previous room I started up a while back. Some good stuff in here helped me pick up some books...

http://thecomicforums.com/discussion/3036/elseworlds-stories#latest

Personally I really enjoyed Gotham By Gaslight.

From a Marvel perspective I really enjoyed Neil Gaimans 1602. Very much a Marvel elseworlds type story.

hauberk

I'm pretty partial to Holy Terror. I think that's the first time I encountered the idea that, in addition to being fast, the Flash has to have an anti-friction field to keep from burning up when he's at speed.

shaneb

I just finished Kingdom Come and it was great, about to start in on Gotham by Gaslight.

TheOriginalGMan

You'll enjoy it. Gotham by Gaslight is very good.

Chuck_Melville

Usually the Elseworlds stories were a mark of excellence; you didn't often go wrong with them. I think Holy Terror and The Nail are at the top of my list here, though I generally enjoyed most of the Elseworld books to one degree or another.

Greg

Only read a couple of Elseworlds stories, liked Detective Comics annual 7, Captain Leatherwing.

shaneb

Would things like Batman Earth One and Batman 100 count? I know that the imprint is basically defunct, but it seems like it would fit in the same category.

Webhead

Along with some of the other titles mentioned I would like to add John Byrne's Generations.

shaneb

Would the Earth One series fit on this? Likewise, do they all follow an "Earth One" continuity, or all they all just their own thing?

WetRats

The Golden Age by a mile.

TheOriginalGMan

WetRats said:

The Golden Age by a mile.

Yeah, The Golden Age was fantastic.

rebis

The first two Liberty Files books are terrific. Fun story and beautiful to look at.

bralinator

TheOriginalGMan said:

WetRats said:

The Golden Age by a mile.

Yeah, The Golden Age was fantastic.

On these endorsements alone I just picked up all four issues on eBay for less than $3.

rebis

bralinator said:

TheOriginalGMan said:

WetRats said:

The Golden Age by a mile.

Yeah, The Golden Age was fantastic.

On these endorsements alone I just picked up all four issues on eBay for less than $3.

Well done, young man.

Matt

shaneb said:

I've been checking out a few Elseworlds now, starting with finally reading Kingdom Come and Paul Pope's great Batman 100. What are other standout titles from this imprint, or titles that would fit within this imprint after it stopped being used (like Batman 100). I know there are a lot of great ones for Batman...

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who didn't care for Batman 100...and that's a way of stating how I felt about it.

M

LibraryBoy

I have to echo the sentiments of people who said Batman: Gotham By Gaslight, The Golden Age, and JLA: The Nail. One I haven't seen mentioned yet that's also worth checking out is Superboy's Legion, which was hard to find and quite pricey for a long time but was collected in one of those DC Comics Presents editions a few years back. Interesting take on how the Legion might have formed if Superboy had been found in the 31st century and adopted by RJ Brande.

My very favorite, though, is Superman: Secret Identity. Wonderful take off on the idea of an Earth Prime Superman, his family life (especially awesome since he lives in my home state of Maine), and how he uses his powers in secret to help the world.

Chuck_Melville

Matt said:

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who didn't care for Batman 100...and that's a way of stating how I felt about it.

M

I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't overly fond of it either. I'm afraid Pope's work doesn't hook me the way it does for others.

JaceTheComicSource

Chuck_Melville said:

Matt said:

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who didn't care for Batman 100...and that's a way of stating how I felt about it.

M

I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't overly fond of it either. I'm afraid Pope's work doesn't hook me the way it does for others.

I cannot stand Pope's art. I didn't even read Batman 100 for this reason.

shaneb

My very favorite, though, is Superman: Secret Identity. Wonderful take off on the idea of an Earth Prime Superman, his family life (especially awesome since he lives in my home state of Maine), and how he uses his powers in secret to help the world.

Yeah, Secret Identity was amazing, really shows why I stick with Kurt Busiek.

WetRats

shaneb said:

Yeah, Secret Identity was amazing, really shows why I stick with Kurt Busiek.

:x