X-Men: Elsewhen - 32 Issues of Free Online Fanfic by John Byrne - Forum 2.0

No one? Really? *SIGH* I am on the wrong message board.

Well, I read it... all 32 issues. In addition to the X-Men (of course), this series also guest-stars the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Sub-Mariner, Spider-Man, the Watcher, Thor, Alpha Flight, and a Dr. Doom/Magneto team-up. It also features the origin of Wolverine (including his relationship to Sabretooth, his WWII career and how he got his adamantium skeleton/claws) among other things. It reminds me a bit of Chris Claremont's X-Men Forever and X-Men Forever 2 series in that a new reality brances off at a specific point, except the point it brances off from is more interesting. It's kind of like an in-depth "What If...?" The What If...? series would often tell a single divergent story, then leave it at that. X-Men: Elsewhen #1-32 can be thought of as an alternate version of Uncanny X-Men #138-169.

In that respect, it's like a double "What If" scenario. First, it's like "What if the Shi'ar gave Jean Grey a 'cosmic lobotomy' in #137?"

Then it's like "What if the real Jean Grey was discovered at the bottom of Jamaica Bay in "1981" instead of "1986"?

Then it intoduced a parallel reality based on another "what if": "What if Lucifer killed Professor X instead of crippled him?"

(In that case, Magneto would have recruited those who would have become the "X-Men" into his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.)

Seriously, I have not been this excited about an X-Men comic books since... well, since John Byrne was doing The Hidden Years. But I like Elsewhen much more than Hidden Years, and some of the plot threads from that too-soon-killed series carry over. So why hasn't Elsewhen been published by Marvel? Well, there may be some news on that front.

If it does come to pass, I hope they just bite the bullet and release it as an omnibus edition. I'd hate to have to wait another 2+ years for it to spool out in monthly installments. I wouldn't mind if they released it in uninked pencil form, as it exists today. If they end up going the monthly route, I will (I suppose) try to launch another "discussion" at that time.

Replies

Jeff of Earth-J March 25, 2025 at 6:16pm

No one? Really? *SIGH* I am on the wrong message board.

Well, I read it... all 32 issues. In addition to the X-Men (of course), this series also guest-stars the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Sub-Mariner, Spider-Man, the Watcher, Thor, Alpha Flight, and a Dr. Doom/Magneto team-up. It also features the origin of Wolverine (including his relationship to Sabretooth, his WWII career and how he got his adamantium skeleton/claws) among other things. It reminds me a bit of Chris Claremont's X-Men Forever and X-Men Forever 2 series in that a new reality brances off at a specific point, except the point it brances off from is more interesting. It's kind of like an in-depth "What If...?" The What If...? series would often tell a single divergent story, then leave it at that. X-Men: Elsewhen #1-32 can be thought of as an alternate version of Uncanny X-Men #138-169.

In that respect, it's like a double "What If" scenario. First, it's like "What if the Shi'ar gave Jean Grey a 'cosmic lobotomy' in #137?"

Then it's like "What if the real Jean Grey was discovered at the bottom of Jamaica Bay in "1981" instead of "1986"?

Then it intoduced a parallel reality based on another "what if": "What if Lucifer killed Professor X instead of crippled him?"

(In that case, Magneto would have recruited those who would have become the "X-Men" into his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.)

Seriously, I have not been this excited about an X-Men comic books since... well, since John Byrne was doing The Hidden Years. But I like Elsewhen much more than Hidden Years, and some of the plot threads from that too-soon-killed series carry over. So why hasn't Elsewhen been published by Marvel? Well, there may be some news on that front.

If it does come to pass, I hope they just bite the bullet and release it as an omnibus edition. I'd hate to have to wait another 2+ years for it to spool out in monthly installments. I wouldn't mind if they released it in uninked pencil form, as it exists today. If they end up going the monthly route, I will (I suppose) try to launch another "discussion" at that time.
Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) July 24, 2025 at 1:49pm

It's been officially announced as coming out in three volumes, starting in 2026. A friend of mine was supposed to be coloring this, but life got in the way and he had to pull out of the project.
- Jeff of Earth-J > Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) July 24, 2025 at 1:54pm
  
  Okay, April! Not as good as January, but not as bad as July. Thanks for letting me (us?) know.

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