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POINT ONE: Elseworlds |
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DC
COMICS HAS BEEN PUBLISHING COMIC BOOKS FOR OVER SIXTY YEARS NOW,
AND THEIR SUPER HEROES HAVE HAD ANY NUMBER OF INTERPRETATIONS.
IT COULD EVEN BE ARGUED THAT SOME OF THEIR CHARACTERS ARE MERELY
NEW INTERPRETATIONS OF THEIR OLDER CHARACTERS, AS ARE THOSE OF
OTHER COMPANIES. FOR DECADES, DC HAS INCLUDED "IMAGINARY"
STORIES AS PART OF THEIR CHARACTERS' CANONS. IN THE 1950'S, SUPERMAN
EDITOR MORT WEISENGER WAS KNOWN TO HAVE DONE THIS WITH GREAT
REGULARITY. OVER TIME, THE PRACTICE TAPERED OFF, BUT NEVER COMPLETELY. |
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BOTH
FRANK MILLER'S 1986 "BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS"
AND ALAN MOORE'S 2-PART 1986 SUPERMAN STORY "WHATEVER HAPPENED
TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?" ARE INFORMALLY CREDITED WITH STARTING
WHAT EVENTUALLY BECAME KNOWN AS DC'S ELSEWORLDS BOOKS.
OVER AT MARVEL COMICS, "WHAT IF...?" HAD BEEN PUBLISHED
SINCE 1976, WITH A STRING OF ISSUES DEVOTED TO OTHER POSSIBLE
OUTCOMES OF FAMILIAR EVENTS FROM "NORMAL" CONTINUITY.
DC NOW FOLLOWED SUIT, AND HAS CONTINUED TO DO SO, PUBLISHING
NUMEROUS ONE-SHOTS AND MINI-SERIES WITH A BASIC "WHAT IF...?"
PREMISE. IN 1994 THEY WENT SO FAR AS TO PUBLISH ANNUALS FOR MOST
OF THEIR CHARACTERS WITH AN ELSEWORLDS THEME. |
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MY
PROPOSAL WAS TAILORED TO FALL INTO DC'S ELSEWORLDS GUIDELINES.
I MENTIONED THIS IN THE COVER LETTERS I SENT OUT ALONG WITH MY
SPRINGBOARD. I HAD SPECIFICALLY INTENDED FOR IT TO BE PUBLISHED
AS AN ELSEWORLDS MINI-SERIES, WHICH WAS ACKNOWLEDGED BY MIKE
CARLIN IN HIS REJECTION LETTER. IT WAS NOT A PASSING IDEA I HOPED
MIGHT GET PUBLISHED IN ANY SUPERMAN TITLE; I EVEN TARGETED EDITORS
WHO HAD TIES TO THE ELSEWORLDS LINE WHEN SENDING OUT THE PROPOSAL.
THE FACT THAT IT WAS PUBLISHED IN THE FORM THAT IT WAS (TRUNCATED
THOUGH IT MAY HAVE BEEN) FURTHER INCREASES SUSPICION AS TO THE
BOOK'S TRUE SOURCE OF ORIGIN. |
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