This is a list of Elseworlds publications from DC Comics, grouped by main character, and in alphabetical order by title.[1] Each title was originally released as a one-shot comic book unless otherwise noted.
Batman Elseworlds
Batman: Thrillkiller – one three-part miniseries and one one-shot collected into one volume (SC):
Batman & Dracula: Red Rain (1991) – Batman faces off against Dracula and must become a vampire himself to effectively face his nemesis. (HC, SC)
Batman: Bloodstorm (1994) – Batman fights an army of vampires led by the Joker in Gotham City while battling a hunger for blood that dooms him in the end. (HC, SC)
Batman: Crimson Mist (1998) – A now-fully vampiric and evil Batman is revived by a tormented Alfred and goes on a killing spree of all of his former enemies. (HC, SC)
Batman/Lobo (2000) – In a severely twisted version of Gotham, the Joker hires the infamous "Main Man" Lobo to take out the Dark Knight. After Lobo kills everyone close to Batman, the Joker is forced to call him off after the revelation that the Joker is Batman's long-lost twin, Joey Wayne.
Batman: The Blue, the Grey, and the Bat (1992) – Batman and Robin in the American Civil War.
Batman: The Book of the Dead (1999) – The Waynes are a rich archaeologist family and the story revolves around a lesser-known but important Egyptian bat-god.
Batman: Brotherhood of the Bat (1995) – Fifty years in the future, Batman is dead and the planet is within the grip of a plague set off by Ra's al Ghul, who uses Bruce Wayne's various rejected costume designs to create a league of costumed assassins and is confronted by Tallant, the son of Batman and his daughter Talia al Ghul.
Sequel: Batman: League of Batmen (2001) – Tallant's efforts to cure the plague with his own costumed Bat-force are hampered by a still-alive, but much more demonic, Ra's al Ghul.
Prequel: Batman: KnightGallery (1996) – Collection of artwork on which the two stories were based, written as a journal of Bruce Wayne found in the future many years after his death.
Batman: Castle of the Bat (1994) – Based on the story of Frankenstein, young Dr. Bruce Wayne attempts to resurrect his father into an avenging Bat-Man to discover who killed his parents.
The Batman Chronicles (1995–2001) – A quarterly Batman title covering single and/or not necessarily within continuity stories. Two all-Elseworlds issues were published:
Issue #11 (winter 1998): Features the stories "The Berlin Batman"; "The Bride of Leatherwing" (a sequel to "Leatherwing" from Detective Comics Annual #7 (1994)) and "Curse of the Cat-Woman".
Issue #21 (summer 2000): Features the stories "Apocalypse Girl"; "Mystery of Citizen Wayne" (a sequel to "Citizen Wayne" from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #4 (1994)) and "Silent Tale of the Bat".
Batman: Dark Allegiances (1996) – Batman, Catwoman, and Alfred Pennyworth (Robin) as OSS agents during World War II.
Batman/Dark Joker: The Wild (1993) – A fantasy tale of the evil wizard known as Dark Joker and his battles against the avenging Bat-Man. (HC, SC and ashcan)
Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty (1997) – A centuries-old feud between the Wayne family and the immortal Vandal Savage begins with Bruce Wayne's ancestor Sir Joshua of Wainwright, at the time of the Knights Templar, and ends with his descendant, Vice President Brenda Wayne, in the Gotham of the 25th century.
Batman: Dark Knight of the Round Table (1998) – Batman as a knight in King Arthur's court.
Batman: Detective No. 27 (2003) – In 1938, Bruce Wayne becomes a secret crimefighter without donning a costume. The title is a reference to Detective Comics #27, the comic book in which Batman first appeared.
Batman: The Golden Streets of Gotham (2003) – Turn-of-the-century Gotham is full of greedy industrialists who gain profit by degrading and tormenting their workers. Bruno Vaneko is a railroad worker whose parents were factory workers killed in a fire akin to the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Desperate for justice, he dons a bat costume and joins a citywide worker strike.
Batman: Haunted Gotham (1999–2000) – Gotham has been taken over by the Dark Lords of Hell and escape is impossible. After watching his parents being killed by a werewolf, a grown-up Bruce Wayne becomes the Batman, as per his father's instructions from beyond the grave, and sets out to free Gotham with the help of a living skeleton named Cal and a shapeshifting gypsy seer named Cat Majik.
Batman: Hollywood Knight (2001) – A severe head trauma causes an actor who plays Batman in film serials to believe that he actually is the Dark Knight.
Batman: Holy Terror (1991) – The first story to carry the Elseworlds logo and the second officially published Elseworlds story. The Reverend Bruce Wayne becomes Batman to fight corruption in a theocratic future world.
Batman: I, Joker (1998) – A futuristic Gotham City is led by a cult that follows Batman's descendant, a self-proclaimed god known only as the Bruce. The current Joker must find a way to survive long enough to face his nemesis and free Gotham from his influence.
Batman: Masque (1997) – Set at the Gotham Opera House in the 1890s, the story is inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, with Batman and Two-Face sharing the Phantom role.
Batman: Nevermore (2003) – Batman teams with then-newspaper reporter Edgar Allan Poe to solve a series of raven-themed murders.
The Batman of Arkham (2000) – Set in 1900, Bruce Wayne is an early psychiatrist and the head of Arkham Asylum, with Jonathan Crane as his corrupt assistant.
Batman: The Order of Beasts (2004) – Batman attempts to break up a spy ring in England during World War II. Co-written and illustrated by Eddie Campbell.
Batman: Reign of Terror (1998) – Set during the French Revolution, with Bruce Wayne as a French nobleman who becomes a masked crimefighter carrying convicted innocents out of France, a la The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Sequel: Batman: Master of the Future (1991) – The Victorian Batman faces off against a maniacal genius who is unwilling to allow the 20th century's technological advances to enter Gotham.
Robin 3000 (1992) – A teenage descendant of Bruce Wayne battles an alien invasion at the turn of the next millennium.
Superman Elseworlds
Son of Superman (1999) – With Superman missing, Lex Luthor takes control of the Justice League. Meanwhile, Superman's young son Jonathan begins manifesting superpowers and rebelling against the "heroes" he comes across.
Supergirl: Wings (2001) – A reworking of the Supergirl as Earth angel story, in which Matrix is a cynical guardian angel to Linda Danvers. The story features angelic versions of various DCU characters.
Superman: A Nation Divided (1998) – Superman as a Union soldier during the American Civil War.
Superman: At Earth's End (1995) – Earth has suffered through an apocalypse and Superman attempts to save Gotham City.
Superman: Distant Fires (1998) – A nuclear holocaust destroys civilization and deprives Superman and many other surviving heroes of their powers.
Superman, Inc. (1999) – Superman is raised to suppress his powers and becomes a sports superstar and a ruthless businessman.
Superman: Kal (1995) – Baby Kal-El lands in medieval England, where he grows up to become a blacksmith and forges the sword Excalibur and a suit of armor out of the metal of his spaceship.
Superman: Last Son of Earth (2000) – The infant Clark Kent arrives on the planet Krypton in a rocket from the doomed planet Earth. While struggling to find his place there as an adult, he discovers a Green Lantern power ring.
Superman's Metropolis (1997) – The first story of a trilogy that is continued in Batman: Nosferatu and Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon and which combines the Superman mythos with Fritz Lang's film Metropolis.
The Superman Monster (1999) – A Frankenstein pastiche in which Vicktor Luthor finds a crashed rocket with a dead infant inside and sets about bringing it back to life using his experimental machinery. This story is the sequel to Batman: Two Faces.
Superman: Red Son (2003) – Kal-El's rocket crash-lands in Ukraine, and the Man of Steel becomes the U.S.S.R.'s main hero. (three issues, collected)
Superman: Speeding Bullets (1993) – Kal-El is raised by Thomas and Martha Wayne, who are murdered by a mugger, and he becomes a superpowered version of Batman.
Superman: True Brit (2004) – Kal-El lands in the English countryside and is raised to be "ordinary" and not draw attention. Nonetheless, he becomes a British superhero, before the tabloids try to knock him down. This story was co-written by Monty Python's John Cleese and long-time Python chronicler Kim "Howard" Johnson.
Superman: Yes, Tyrone, There is a Santa Claus (2006) – A little boy writes a letter to the Daily Planet asking if there is a Santa Claus, prompting Superman to dress up as Santa Claus and visit the boy, only to learn that he has been beaten to it by "Bat-Santa". It was published as the only Elseworlds story in the DC Infinite Holiday Special.
Superman/Batman Elseworlds
Elseworld's Finest (1997) – Batman and Superman in a 1920s pulp adventure; the title is a play on the phrase World's Finest, which was the title of a long-running DC Comics series that featured these two heroes in team-up stories.
Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl (1998) – In a world in which Bruce Wayne never became Batman and the infant Kal-El did not survive the destruction of Krypton, the orphaned Barbara Gordon becomes Gotham's near-dictatorial protector as Batgirl and Kara Zor-El joins the Justice Society as Supergirl. No connection to the above story with a similar title.
Superman & Batman: Doom Link (1995) – A cyberpunk story. This book was only available with Kenner Toys' Cyber-Link Superman and Batman Action Figure Two-Pack.
Superman & Batman: Generations (1998–1999) – A retelling of the Superman and Batman mythos, with the heroes and characters in the DC Universe aging in real-time from a first meeting in 1939 and stretching onwards.
Sequel: Superman & Batman: Generations II (2001), focusing on characters in the DC Universe besides Superman and Batman.
Sequel: Superman & Batman: Generations III (2003), covering a 1,000-year battle against Darkseid.
Superman/Batman: Saga of the Super Sons (2007) - Not labelled as an Elseworlds, but collects the imaginary stories from World's Finest featuring the teenage sons of Superman and Batman and includes the "Superman Jr. Is No More!" story from the cancelled Elseworlds 80-Page Giant #1 (in the title, Super Sons is spelled without a hyphen).
Justice League Elseworlds
JLA: Act of God (2000–2001) – When a strange energy hits Earth, heroes and villains alike lose their superpowers. Some refuse to give in to defeat, while some disappear into the woodwork and others undergo a rebirth as the Phoenix Group.
JLA: Created Equal (2000) – A cosmic plague hits Earth, killing all men except for Superman and Lex Luthor.
JLA: Destiny (2002) – In a world where Superman and Batman never existed, Thomas Wayne creates his own Justice League.
JLA: The Island of Dr. Moreau (2002) – Set in the 1880s, the League is combined with Dr. Moreau's animal-men.
JLA: The Nail (1998) – The world is without Superman after a punctured tire prevents the discovery of baby Kal-El by the Kents. The Justice League is a group of heroes whom the media deem as dangerous aliens as a lethal conspiracy seeks to undermine all that they stand for.
Sequel: Justice League of America: Another Nail (2004) – With the discovery of Superman and his addition to the Justice League, the heroes must maintain their good face to the public.
JLA: Riddle of the Beast (2001) – High fantasy story as young Robin Drake leads the armies of the world against Etrigan the Demon.
JLA: The Secret Society of Super-Heroes (2000) – Superpowered beings keep their existence a secret and the Justice League is an unaccountable conspiracy.
JSA: The Unholy Three (2003) – Six years after the events of JSA: The Liberty File, the JSA is recalled to active duty with a new member on their team: Clark "Superman" Kent.
The Golden Age (1993) – A story set at the end of the Golden Age of Comic Books as superheroes become targets for an ambitious hero-turned-senator and his protégé new-age hero.[note 2]
DC Universe Elseworlds
Conjurors (1999) – In a magic-centric reality, the machinations of Jonathan Arcane set those who control magic against those from whom it was stolen.
Associated: The Kingdom (1998) – Technically not an Elseworlds story, but a loose sequel to Kingdom Come. The collected series of comic books consists of:
New Year's Evil: Gog (1998) – A young boy saved from the Kansas attacks by Superman becomes a prophet to the hero that he deems Heaven-sent, but when he learns of his savior's transgressions, his worldview shatters, and the group of demigods known as the Quintessence attempt to give him a new purpose.
The Kingdom #1 (1998) – With Gog on a time-travelling rampage against Superman, the future heroes must band together to save the child of Superman and Wonder Woman. In addition, the Linear Men select a group of younger heroes to assist in the effort.
The Kingdom: Nightstar (1998) – Focusing on the daughter of Dick Grayson (Nightwing) and Starfire, and her efforts to save the child.
The Kingdom: Son of the Bat (1998) – Ibn al Xu'ffasch, the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, tries to restore the balance to his reality by recruiting various former villains to his aid.
The Kingdom: Offspring (1998) – The son of Plastic Man attempts – in his rather comical way – to prevent the end of the world that he knows.
The Kingdom: Kid Flash (1998) – Iris West, daughter of Wally West (the Flash) combats her feelings of abandonment from her father, the apathy of her brother, and the crisis that could destroy her reality.
The Kingdom: Planet Krypton (1998) – A young runaway working as a Supergirl waitress at Booster Gold's hero-themed restaurant "Planet Krypton" starts seeing ghosts of other realities; superheroes that may or may not have existed.
The Kingdom #2 (1998) – Circumstances force the future Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to recruit the help of their younger modern-day selves to save the most powerful child in Hypertime in the final clash with Gog.
Associated: Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Superman (2008) – Part of the "Thy Kingdom Come" storyline, and not an actual Elseworlds. It fills in details about Lois Lane's death at the hands of the Joker as mentioned in Kingdom Come.
Teen Titans: The Lost Annual (2008) – The original Teen Titans go into space to save John F. Kennedy. It was originally planned for release in 2003 as the Teen Titans Swingin' Elseworlds Special, but its release was cancelled even though the book was finished. DC released the book in January 2008 as a "Lost Annual".
Titans: Scissors, Paper, Stone (1997) – A futuristic manga-style Teen Titans tale. The story was originally intended as the Titans' installment of the 1996 Legends of the Dead Earth Annuals, but was reworked as a standalone Elseworlds special.
Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon (2003) – Sequel to Superman's Metropolis and Batman: Nosferatu, which combines the Wonder Woman mythos with the films The Blue Angel and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler.
ElseworldsAnnuals (1994)
The DC Annuals in 1994 featured Elseworlds stories.
Action Comics Annual #6 – "Legacy" – A Kryptonian named Gar-El flees Krypton and conquers 18th century Earth. 200 years later, his descendant Kal fights against his rule. Written and drawn by John Byrne.
"Doomsday for the Fifth Dimension": A short story which was published alongside "Legacy". Written by Dennis Janke and Louise Simonson, and illustrated by Janke, the story shows baby Kal-El's rocketship landing not on Earth, but in the Fifth Dimension, and having grown to adult size, begins unintentionally wreaking havoc on its denizens until he is stopped by King Mxyzptlk.
Adventures of Superman Annual #6 – "The Super Seven Part I: The Longest Night" – Long after Earth has been conquered by aliens, only seven superheroes remain.
Batman Annual #18 – "Black Masterpiece" – Leonardo da Vinci's apprentice uses his master's hang-glider design to fight crime.
Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #2 – "The Tyrant" – In a totalitarian Gotham, Batman prevents crime by suppressing all dissent. Anarky leads the resistance.
Catwoman Annual #1 – "The Last Man" – Talia al Ghul as a 14th-century werecat fighting Crusaders.
Deathstroke the Terminator Annual #3 – "Journey's End" – Deathstroke survives in a post-apocalyptic world.
Detective Comics Annual #7 – "Leatherwing" – Batman translated into a traditional tale of piracy on the high seas (a sequel was published in The Batman Chronicles #11 (winter 1998) and called "The Bride of Leatherwing").
Flash Annual #7 – "The Barry Allen Story" – A crippled Wally West sells Barry Allen's story to a film studio.
Green Lantern Annual #3 – "Ring of Evil" – Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner as Nazis, with John Stewart leading the resistance.
Justice League America Annual #8 – "The Once and Future League" – A century after the League was destroyed by Felix Faust, a new version is formed.
Justice League International Annual #5 – "No Rules to Follow" – On an alternate Earth where metahumans are shunned and feared, several of them (Superman, the Shark, Fire, the Flash, Dr. Light, Dr. Polaris, Power Girl, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle) come together as the Justice League.
L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #5 – "The Man From L.E.G.I.O.N. 007" – Lobo as a James Bond parody and other spoofs: "L.E.G.I.O.N. Archives", "L.E.G.I.O.N. 90210", "L.E.G.I.O.N. by Gaslight", "WomanMan with Girl the Boy Wonder", "Elseworlds Rejects".
Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #3 – "Unforgiven" – Jor-El convinces the Science Council to relocate selected Kryptonians to Earth. 20 years later, his son must help humans and Kryptonians live in harmony.
Team Titans Annual #2 – "Into the Light" – A space opera version of the battle against Lord Chaos.
Collected editions
Superman/Batman: Alternate Histories (1996) – reprints the stories "Leatherwing", "Legacy", "Crucible of Freedom" and "Citizen Wayne" from the above.
^Although not officially labelled an Elseworlds tale, the story is a sequel to Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye (Marvel Comics 1997), which was labelled as an Elseworlds tale.
^The trade paperback of this story retitles it JSA: The Golden Age.