Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
The superhero crossover on The CW this year is titled “Elseworlds” – an old DC Comics term with an illustrious history.
We already know a lot about TV’s “Elseworlds,” which begins on The Flash Dec. 9, continues into Arrow Dec. 10 and climaxes on Supergirl Dec. 11. It will feature Flash star Grant Gustin waking up to discover he is now, and always has been, Green Arrow, and Arrow star Stephen Amell suddenly living life as the Scarlet Speedster. In addition, previews have promised John Wesley Shipp reprising his role (and costume) from the‘90s Flash series, and Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) wearing the black costume from “Death of Superman.” The crossover also introduces the Arrowverse’s Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), Kate “Batwoman” Kane (Ruby Rose), villainous Arkham Asylum doctor John Deegan (Jeremy Davies) and alien powerhouse The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett).
Those latter two appear to be lifted from two important stories in DC history. John Deegan is probably a nod toward Dr. Dee, née Dr. Destiny, a supervillain who can manipulate dreams and graduated to (extremely perverse) mass murder in the pages of Neil Gaiman’s legendary Sandman. The Monitor was a principal character in the 12-issue Crisis on Infinite Earths, which rewrote DC’s superhero history (the first time) in 1985-86.
How much these characters will owe to their comic book counterparts is as yet unknown. But clearly the crossover features a lot of new players, and a lot of old players in unfamiliar roles. So the title fits, because that’s what the comic book version of “Elseworlds” was all about. Running from 1989 to 2003 (with a smattering of later issues), Elseworlds was a DC Comics publishing imprint that put a “what if” spin on their iconic superheroes.
“In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places,” reads the mission statement. “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.”
Cover art by Mike Mignola. Copyright DC Comics.
Gotham by Gaslight: A Tale of the Batman features an 1880s Dark Knight.
The very first story to be stamped Elseworlds (and retroactively at that), was Gotham by Gaslight: A Tale of the Batman in 1989. Written by Brian Augustyn, it set the Dark Knight in the 1880s, hot on the trail of Jack the Ripper, who had moved to Gotham. It’s a gripping mystery, but what put it over the top was the artwork by Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy.
Limited to 19th century technology, this Batman – or “Bat-Man,” as the tabloids call him – is no less fierce than his modern counterpart. “Gotham is a wonder!” he says in voiceover. “It is, in the day, suffused with the smells, the sounds, the motion, of life. But at night, it is a darker place. It is MY place.”
Yeah, wherever (or whenever) you put Batman, he’s always a buzzkill. But the book was popular enough for a sequel, Batman: Master of the Future (1991).
More Elseworlds followed. Here are some of the more popular ones:
* Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986): This book, written and drawn by Frank Miller (300, Sin City), is so famous that it hardly needs an explanation. It posits a retired, bitter Batman in his 50s and a Gotham overrun with street gangs and corruption. Miller’s grim dystopia is a benchmark in the “grim-n-gritty” trend in comics that gave us The Punisher and Wolverine.
“This should be agony,” an exultant Batman thinks as he returns to the rooftops. “I should be a mass of aching muscle – broken, spent, unable to move. And were I an older man, I surely would … but I’m a man of thirty … of twenty again. The rain on my chest is a baptism … I’m born again.”
But you really are 55, Bruce! Needless to say, it doesn’t end well.
Cover art by Kelley Jones. Copyright DC Comics.
Batman and Dracula: Red Rain is red in tooth and claw.
* Batman and Dracula: Red Rain (1992): Batman dresses like a vampire, without actually being one. But what if he was? In this incredibly grim story by veteran Bat-writer Doug Moench, the Gotham Guardian must battle the lord of the vampires – and becomes one himself in order to do so. Beautifully (and horrifically) illustrated by fan-favorite Bat-artist Kelley Jones, Batman loses his humanity, his daytime life and even Wayne Manor itself – but ends Dracula and his minions.
"I am dead, Alfred,” Batman says at the end. “But don't worry. Bruce Wayne may be gone, but the Batman will go on ... forever.”
Well, for two more sequels, at least. Red Rain was followed by Batman: Bloodstorm (1994) and Batman: Crimson Mist (1999). In these tales, things actually get even worse for Bat-Vampire, as he embarks on a campaign to eradicate a wave of “freaks” taking over Gotham (his usual rogue’s gallery, with the mayhem turned up to 11). It’s hard out there for a bloodsucker.
* Kingdom Come (1996): In Mark Waid’s classic story, Superman retires after The Joker kills Lois Lane. In his absence, second- and third-generation superheroes grow up to become reckless and virtually lawless. Superman returns to fix things, with the Old Guard rallying to his side. But Batman forms a humans-only resistance to prevent further superhuman meddling and Lex Luthor has his own group, built around Superman’s equal, the guy who gets his powers by shouting Shazam. And human governments have a say too – a nuclear one.
Beautifully illustrated by painter Alex Ross, Kingdom Come plays out as biblically as the name implies, with a human pastor as our POV.
* Justice League of America: The Nail (1999):
“For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
“For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
“For want of a horse the rider was lost.
“For want of a rider the message was lost.
“For want of a message the battle was lost.
“For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
“And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”
That’s how the old saw goes, and writer/artist Alan Davis takes it pretty literally, putting a nail in the way of Ma and Pa Kent’s car on the day they’re supposed to find baby Kal-El’s rocket – and the resultant flat tire means they don’t. The baby is found by Quakers instead, and he grows up a pacifist. Meanwhile, the Justice League forms anyway – somebody’s got to stop the giant alien starfish from conquering the world – and things don’t go so well without the power and inspiration of the big, blue Boy Scout.
And yes, there’s a sequel, the aptly-titled Justice League of America: Another Nail (2004).
Cover art by Dave Johnson. Copyright DC Comics.
Superman: Red Son gives us Man of Steel with a hammer and sickle on his chest instead of a big, red “S.”
* Superman: Red Son (2003): Isn’t it convenient that baby Kal-El landed in Kansas, and is therefore American? Mark Millar (Kick-Ass) decided it was too convenient, and wrote a story with Superman’s rocket landing in the Ukraine during the Cold War, where he becomes a true believer in Soviet Communism. That puts Lex Luthor on the side of the good guys – well, capitalism, anyway – and other familiar faces appear as well, from Batman to Bizarro. Only not how you’d think.
The idea of a Kryptonian controlled by Russia has already found its way into The CW’s Supergirl TV series, although we probably won’t learn more until after the crossover. But you needn’t wait – these stories are largely available from bookstores, online sellers and the digital subscription service dcuniverse.com. That site also hosts a great many animated movies based on Elseworlds titles. And if that’s not enough wacky what-ifs … well, there are dozens more Elseworlds out there in print, each waiting to be discovered.
Like Superman: True Brit (2005). Superman landing in the wrong place is an irresistible plot device, and some English humorists didn’t even try. Kim “Howard” Johnson (“Monty Python: The First 280 Years”) and John Cleese (of Monty Python) essay a very British Superman, one whose chief concern is “what will the neighbors think?”
“This is my pledge,” thinks Kal-El, as he grows up to be Colin Clark. “To be helpful, courteous and nice.”
That’s “truth, justice and the American way” spoken with a stiff upper lip.
Find Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), on his website (captaincomics.ning.com), on Facebook (Captain Comics Round Table) or on Twitter (@CaptainComics).
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