<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Elseworlds is a line of comic books published by DC Comics.

Each Elseworlds comic begins with the following explanation.

"In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put in strange times and places-some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't and shouldn't exist. The result is stories that make characters that are as familiar as yeaterday, as fresh as tomorrow."

In other words, these are stories with DC Comics characters that have their own continuity, so that anything can happen without it affecting other current and future stories. Examples of premises for Elseworlds stories include one where Bruce Wayne grew up during the 19th century, another where Kal-El's (Superman's) rocket landed in the Soviet Union instead of Smallville (DC Comics), and a third where Bruce Wayne is chosen to be Earth's Green Lantern.

It is interesting to note that these same kinds of stories existed during the Silver Age of Comics. The were called "Imaginary Stories", and gave fans a chance to find out things like what might happen if Lois Lane actually did marry Superman and started a family.

Across the street at Marvel Comics, their version of this is the "What If...?" story. The difference is that "What if...?" story that is supposed to logically procees from a premise that something happened differently in a well known Marvel Comics story. Often these changes are in character origins that, with but a slight twist of fate, might have actually happened. For example, stories in the past explored the questions, "What if Spider-Man's Uncle Ben had not been killed?" and "What if Rick Jones had become the Hulk instead of Bruce Banner?"