Elseworlds is a discontinued imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics. The first titles bearing the imprint were published in 1991, though some stories dating back to 1989 have retroactively been labeled with it. Comics published under Elseworlds are stand-alone tales set outside the main DC Universe, thus allowing more creative freedom.
Format
editStories branded under the Elseworlds label featured recognizable characters, including Batman and Superman, taken out of their normal settings and placed in alternate time periods, locations, or worlds:[1]
In Elseworlds, super-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.[1]
Elseworlds titles were released in a variety of forms, such as miniseries, prestige format one-shots, or graphic novels.[1] Common themes included
Titles
editA wide variety of titles were published under the Elseworlds label. The first Elseworlds book was the 1989 Gotham by Gaslight, which featured a Victorian era Batman fighting Jack the Ripper. Though it was not originally labeled an Elseworlds tale, it paved way for future titles and was retroactively branded under the imprint.[2] The first book to feature the Elseworlds logo was the October 1991 publication Batman: Holy Terror,[1] which re-imagined Batman as a member of the clergy in a United States that never separated from England.[3] Well-regarded Elseworlds titles include the trilogy of Red Rain (1991), Bloodstorm (1994), and Crimson Mist (1999), which chronicles Batman's fight with Count Dracula and his horde of vampires;[4] Kingdom Come (1996), a miniseries that details the conflict between traditional superheroes and a growing population of dangerously irresponsible new vigilantes;[5] Superman: Red Son (2003), a three-issue series that envisioned Superman as a Communist from Soviet Russia;[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c d DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. 2010. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
- ^ Lovett, Jamie. "DC Animation's Next Movie Revealed". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ Cronin, Brian. "The Greatest Elseworlds Stories Ever Told!". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ Goldstein, Hilary. "The 25 Greatest Batman Graphic Novels". IGN. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ Riesman, Abraham. "Revisiting One of the Greatest Superhero Stories, Kingdom Come". Vulture. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ http://comicbook.com/dc/2017/06/27/superman-dceu-red-son-movie/