As a fan, if you could recommend an Elseworlds story, what would it be?
Mine would be called Power of the Bat. Story of a young Bruce Wayne, who after making his pledge to avenge his parents deaths meets the Wizard Shazam. In this story he still takes up the mantle of the Bat, though he has the powers of the Wizard.
He can start at a young age, similar to Billy. His villains can also be amalgamations between his rogue gallery and Captain Marvel’s (Still Captain Marvel to me).
I’d like to see a story where everyone had aged naturally. (I know they did one in the past but now they would be over 80 instead of 50)
A world without “superheroes”. Bruce Wayne is just a rich guy but he isn’t playboy Bruce, he’s do-good with his money Bruce. Clark Kent is a respected reporter. Diana is a ambassador from Paradise island but she has no powers. etc. Essentially, take all the capes, masks, and powers away and see if they can still be heroes. You could even adapt the villains. Joker is just a guy that creates chaos without technically breaking any laws. Luthor is pretty much the same but no giant robots and death rays.
I’ve got tons up in my head but these are two of my favorites.
I had an idea many years ago that would work for this…
Since I always liked The Teen Titans as a group of sidekicks rather than just teen heroes, I always thought it might be fun to see some of the ones who were not sidekicks portrayed as if they had been at one time.
I thought a fun Elseworlds story might be to cast Steel (John Henry Irons) in the 50s and 60s era of DC comics with Cyborg as his sidekick, who would end up being a founding member of the original Teen Titans, alongside Aqualad, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Robin, and Speedy.
Steel and Cyborg cover a lot of the same ground as tech experts using machinery to enhance their abilities, albeit in different ways. Yes, I am well aware that Cyborg’s existence as a character pre-dates Steel’s, but Steel was always portrayed as a confident, noble adult and most of Cyborg’s existence portrayed him as a young teen, associating with other young teens. I think having them team-up, even for a one-shot, as mentor and sidekick would make for a fun, throwback-style comic, starring characters who didn’t even exist in the era being saluted by the story.
I think you’d have to wait til the late 60’s. Cyborg is a function of the integrated circuit which wasn’t really commercially developed until the late ‘60s.
However, setting him with Steel at that time, as it parallels the rise of the “Black Power Movement”, would have all the makings for an interesting run.
The super heroes of the era putting an end to WWII. Would love to see the ramifications. Or the original Squadron Supreme miniseries with the real dc characters.