A New JLA and LOD

[filkertom]

Chances are decent that you've at least heard of DC Comics' very recent reboot of their entire universe, many aspects of which are not going over very well. Fortunately, it is the nature of fans to come up with pretty nifty Alternate Universes (or in this case, I guess Unauthorized Elseworlds).

By way of io9, we learn how Aaron Diaz, creator of the web comic Dresden Codak*, has come up with his own new visions for the DC Universe -- specifically, the Justice League, the Legion of Doom, and Batman. (Though sadly no Batman villians -- I want to see his version of the Joker and Two-Face!)

I want fanfic in this universe, and I might write some of it.

Those of you who read comics: What are your favorite AUs? I'm thinking actual alternate versions of Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc.  Things like Squadron Supreme and Watchmen don't count; they are indeed their own little closed universes. Although Tom Strong is borderline. But I'm specifically thinking of Elseworlds and What Ifs, as well as movie adaptations (e.g., the Tobey MacGuire Spider-Man flicks) that take a substantial liberty with the character (e.g., organic web-shooters rather than mechanical ones).

I have a tropism for Batman AUs.  Batman meeting Captain America in WW2, Batman defeating Dracula but being turned into a vampire himself, Superman/Batman Generations I, Speeding Bullets (where Thomas and Martha Kent find Kal-El)... amazing stuff.  I also have a huge fondness for one of the first and best Elektra spinoffs, "What If Elektra Had Lived?" by Frank Miller.  Unfortunately, not long after that, she <i>did</i> live, and things kinda went sideways....


*I had never heard of this comic. My loss. Holy frak, this is gorgeous.

Comments

[sdelmonte]

James Robinson and Paul Smith's The Golden Age was billed as an Elseworlds, and certainly very little there became continuity. And it's one of my all time favorite stories of any sort. But as Robinson used some of his ideas from there in Starman, my continuity geek side wants to say it's not an AU. Still, I think it's underrated.

I still love Gotham by Gaslight - my first exposure to Mike Mignola, as well as the start of the Elseworlds idea - and also love Alan Brennert and Norm Breyfogle's bizarre "what if Cromwell hadn't died" Batman Elseworlds, Holy Terror.

Lastly, Hulk: The End is clearly not meant to be canon, but it's an amazingly chilling coda to PAD's run on the Hulk.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Damn sure it. I just re-read Hulk: The End last week. Love it. I also really liked Thanos: The End, although I got the vibe that that was supposed to be more-or-less in continuity maybe kinda.

Holy Terror is indeed also great, especially with the awful fates of Superman and The Flash. And Gaslight... ahhhhhh. Like I said, I could've just started listing Batman Elseworlds.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

The DC Animated Universe--all of it, from Batman: The Animated Series through to Justice League Unlimited. Big and sprawling, and at the same time, well-written, focused when it had to be, and able to build on itself.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. I wondered if that would be pointed out. I'm a big ol' John Stewart/Hawkwoman 'shipper myself. (Can we not count The Batman, though? I just thought it was ugly and unimportant. And Batman: The Brave and the Bold is its own beastie, another really cool AU.)

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, The Batman doesn't count--it wasn't a Bruce Timm/Paul Dini (and Alan Burnett and Dwayne McDuffie) production.

Wikipedia backs me up. Different universe.

Separately, I'm watching Young Justice right now, and kind of digging it.

[dysprog.livejournal.com]

At first I thought you said that you were shipping Jon Stewart/Hawkwoman, which is a much more off the wall ship...

[roman-mclaze.livejournal.com]

but...but...The Batman had THIS:



I mean, it's Joker and Harley singing HANK WILLIAMS!

This one scene redeems the whole series. Well, almost.

Hmmmm...

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

Gotham By Gaslight
Dark Knight Returns
And the "Aunt May and Franklin Richards vs. Galactus" issue of Marvel Team-Up. :)

I also remember enjoying a lot of DC's "Armageddon 2001" annuals and the Elseworlds annuals the following years, but no specific stories come readily to mind.

-='Box=-

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

In all fairness, I'd say the result of DC's "New 52" (for those who haven't been following, they published 52 #1 issues in September) are about as mixed as I expected. Some of the books are bad, and even objectionable, but there are some real gems. I read about half of the 52, and will continue to read a fairly sizable number. I'll happily recommend Grant Morrison and Rags Morales' take on Superman in Action, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman, Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang's amazingly kick-ass Wonder Woman, and even Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis' new take on Aquaman. And J.H. Williams III, now both drawing and co-writing Batwoman is the premier comic book artist right now.

There's also some neat stuff going on in the "Dark" corner of the new DCU. I like Jeff Lemire's writing on Animal Man and Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., Paul Cornell's Demon Knights (he's also doing well writing Stormwatch), Scott Snyder's Swamp Thing, and Peter Milligan on Justice League Dark.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

Mark did you and Tom want to a comics related panel at Epic ConFusion?

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

I'd consider that. At some point you and I have to talk, to coordinate our schedules and make sure Tom doesn't get overbooked.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

All I ask is not too much on Friday night and an hour before and after any concert.

[misterseth.livejournal.com]

Mine are (in no particular order) JLA The Nail (a radical What If type storyline for the DCU), Kingdom Come (Alex Ross's Opus, though I'm not too happy with Captain Marvel as a semi antagonist), and Gotham by Gaslight (the one that started it all)

I have an interesting idea for an elseworlds universe that I will post later...

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Kingdom Come is amazing, but at this point I think it's more an alternate timeline than a true AU. Yeah, it was published under the Elseworlds logo, but they've stuck Magog and Red Robin and I think a few others into the main DCU. Opinions?

Yeah The Nail is pretty darn cool. For those who haven't seen it, it's a DCU where Jonathan and Martha Kent weren't out driving that day, and didn't find Kal-El.

[misterseth.livejournal.com]

Here's that link I promised you...
http://misterseth.livejournal.com/138503.html

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Superman: Secret Identity rips the laughs and tears from me every time I read it.

Agreeing with the DCAU; I have a particular weakness for Batman Beyond, even though it's not as strong as some of the other series.

[shadowofsummer.livejournal.com]

Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar is about as awesome as alternate universe tales get. It's epic in scope and builds to this quite wonderful ending that spins the entire notion on its head when you realise he went far, far, beyond simply asking 'What happens if Kal-El crash-lands in Soviet Russia as a baby?'

That said, All-Star Superman was a bloody good read. It's a love-letter to everything Grant Morrison loves about Superman and is a genuinely optimistic work, which is refreshing to read given that nine-tenths of comics seem to be these grimdark stories where beloved characters go to horribly dark places inside themselves.
(And yes, I'm aware Grant Morrison, with Animal Man and Doom Patrol is a large part of the reason comics went all grimdark in the first place. When it's done well, it can be a good read. When it's just 'hero's girlfriend is raped and murdered and he becomes an increasingly violent nihilist because the world is a terrible place' then it kind of makes you yearn for the kind of unbridled optimism seen in All-Star Superman.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

The animated version of All-Star Superman is just great; I would imagine that the graphic novel is even better. :)

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

...okay. He had me at 'Cyborg as Moss'. Because Moss is badass, and SHOULD be a superhero.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

If Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" counts, then that would be mine. (Though it's my understanding that it was conceived more as a conclusion to the "pre-Crisis" Superman's story -- the actual conclusion to that continuity. Still, from one standpoint, it's an AU.

Seconding the love for the animated Timm/Diniverse.

Presuming that most of the Marvel/DC crossovers other than Avengers/JLA are considered out of continuity, I've always had a great liking for the Chris Claremont/Walt Simonson X-Men/Teen Titans crossover back in the early '80s. A great story thematically and plotwise -- Claremont was always at his best when writing something with a beginning, a middle and an ending -- and it was among a troika of near-concurrent stories (along with a JLA/JSA/New Gods teamup and the classic Servants of Darkness storyline in Legion that brought back Darkseid from the 1970s Kirbyverse as a major, major player.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

Heh -- also, refer to my icon: I was a big fan of the books Fred Hembeck did for Fantaco in the early 80s, when his "Fred Hembeck" character would interact with characters from Marvel, DC, Charlton and dozens of defunct companies, with characteristically Hembeckian results ranging from brilliant satire to out-and-out silliness.

My particular favorite element was the "gray kryptonite" storyline running through one of those issues, in which Fred, hoping to indulge Superman's red Kryptonite nostalgia, brings out a piece of the rock himself -- but since it was a black and white publication, Superman mocks it as white Kryptonite. ("Kills plants. Hah! Big deal.") So Fred adds some zip-a-tone to simulate color. ("Um, Fred, I hate to mention this, but now it looks like gray Kryptonite.") It turns out that gray Kryptonite's effects on the Man of Steel are similar to the red variety, but similar: It turns him into superpowered versions of Zippy the Pinhead, of Jaws the killer shark, and of Tubby from "Little Lulu," who scoops up Stan Lee before he can throttle an impertinent Dennis the Menace.

Classic line: "We'll get you for this, Hembeck! So swear Superman and Stan Lee!"

Along those lines, I also liked the humor-edition What If in which an amnesiac, powerless Galactus, trapped on Earth, is acculterated into believing himself to be Elvis Presley. "Ma'am, the hunger gnaws."

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I've got those Hembecks around here somewhere! Those were a hoot.

Never saw the Elvis Galactus, one though -- that's great.

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

I need to dig thru my old "What If..."s, there were a couple they did back in the early runs where they revisited the same stories more than once & some of the worlds were just AMAZING. I know there was one with Captain America where he was found later & the US had become a dystopian dictatorship that was just amazing.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

I liked Tangent Comics, particularly their take on the Joker. I'm also fond of the Batman-Dracula crossover (Red Rain?), the DC Animated Universe, and the "What If" where Wolverine was Lord of the Vampires.

[smparadox.livejournal.com]

Red Rain
DC Animated
Amalgam - somewhat (I always wanted to see a merged DC & Marvel, but with Superman inspired by his father's tales of seeing Captain America in action, not the two merged into one character)
X-Men meet Teen Titans
Gotham by Gaslight
What If Korvac Defeated The Avengers?
All of the Avengers movie prequels that I have seen so far
Spiderman 1 & 2, and to a lesser extent, 3 - which is actually a pretty good record for sequels...
Superman 1 & 2
I actually got to like The Batman after a while - especially when that version of the Justice League was formed...
I can't think of any other favorites at the moment.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I have to go with Batman: Animated through Justice League Unlimited (with Batman Beyond and Static Shock thrown in) first with the Teen Titans cartoon second. With Marvel, X-men Evolution and X-men Animated are favored but only by virtue of being the best written and longest running. Normally I don't go for mutants. Wait, the Spider-man cartoon in the 90s should be first. I hated the Iron Man animated (again from the 90s and not the anime version) it was just ... ugh.

In comics, Marvel Team-up did a "League of Losers" two-parter that I liked mostly because it took some forgotten heroes (including some of my favorites) and made them the star.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

DC can call this their new direction; I consider it an Elseworld gone out of control. I can't read their comics anymore, Tom. They finally went and ruined it for me. If I tried to read any more than I've gone with so far, it would actively kill any desire to think about these characters ever again, and I don't want that.

Dresden Codak is brilliant work, and Aaron is a true artist. That credit given, I like some of his re-designs, and truly appreciate that he used Power Girl in his lineup, but I'm not fond of the world building choices he made in setting the background for the characters. His superheroic world revolves entirely around Superman, a position that DC seems to go with, themselves.

Favorite Elseworlds for me, perhaps oddly, are the Marvel Avengers continuity of films. The actors bring the characters to life, sure, but the stories of the films have been excellently condensed re-tellings of these wonderful characters. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, these are just as deeply resonant to me as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman; it's been a true pleasure to watch them come directly to life by such talented actors and writers.

[tinrat.livejournal.com]

The Elseworld I always wanted, but never got; a WWI era Wonder Woman, illoed by Michael William Kaluta.

The New 52

[zeekar.livejournal.com]

> Chances are decent that you've at least heard of DC Comics' very recent reboot of their entire universe, many aspects of which are not going over very well.

I'd say that's an overstatement; there are really only a few aspects which aren't going over well. There's a lot of good story coming out of the new 52. Unfortunately, the short list of things that aren't going well includes some really high-profile Awareness!Fail that is simply jaw-dropping in it's epicity.

(Can someone please explain to me why anyone wants jarring sex scenes in their superhero comic books? $3 for 25 pages of mediocre story with one or two titillating pages, maybe even just one panel? Unless hawt chix with big boobs running around in spandex is enough to do it for you, but then what's the point of those above-mentioned panels? Who are these customers, and where did they learn basic economics? Turn around and go back into that comic book store and look in some other sections, or just go home and get on the internet, and you can find much better erotic value for your money. I believe it was either Kurt Busiek or Peter David who said "life is too short for soft-core porn.")

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

Okay, gotta plug my friends at Pendant Audio (http://www.pendantaudio.com) who have five shows put in what they call the "Earth-P universe"...

Superman: The Last Son of Krypton, Supergirl, Lost Daughter of Krypton, Wonder Woman: Champion of Themyscara; Catwoman: Queen of Thieves, and Green Arrow: Shooting Star. (Plus six episodes of the aborted series Martian Manhunter: Strange Visitor.)

There are 81 episodes of Superman, 69 of Batman, and more of the others, plus four crossovers among the various series. And the guy who runs Pendant, Jeffrey Bridges, loves Superman so much that he named his son Clark. It does not slavishly follow current comics, but tries to stay true to the characters while being original.

And you can download all the episodes for free! Since it's fan fiction and the people who do the shows love the characters too, and don't want to get sued for their love.