What If, sometimes rendered as What If. . . ?, is the title of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, exploring "the road not traveled" by its various characters. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Events in the series are considered separate from mainstream continuity in the Marvel universe. The Marvel Universe is the fictional Shared universe where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place
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1977-1984 series
The stories in this initial, 47-issue series (Feb. 1977 - Oct. 1984) utilized the alien Uatu the Watcher as narrator. Uatu often simply known as The Watcher is a Fictional character created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in A narrator (or the extremely rarely used female equivalent narratress) is within any story (literary work movie play verbal account etc The observer of events transpiring on Earth from his base on the moon, Uatu, a member of an immortal race of Watchers, is also able to observe what transpires in alternate realities. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 The Watchers are a Fictional Extraterrestrial race of Cosmic entities that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Parallel universe or alternative reality is a self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own The What If stories usually began with Uatu briefly recapping a notable event in the mainstream Marvel Universe. He then indicated a particular point of divergence in that event, and demonstrated what would have happened if events had taken a different course from then. In discussion of Counterfactual history, a divergence point (DP also referred to as a departure point or point of divergence ( POD) is a historical The first What If story, entitled "What if Spider-Man Had Joined the Fantastic Four?" presented an alternate version of events seen in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. Spider-Man is a Fictional character appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Fantastic Four is a fictional Superhero team appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Amazing Spider-Man is the name of several media Presentations which feature the Marvel Comics Superhero Spider-Man, 1 #1.
Some storylines involved individual characters choosing to take (or not to take) a particular action, when in "reality" they had made precisely the opposite decision. For example, a Captain America storyline published circa 1980 saw the hero being offered the opportunity to run for President of the United States as a third-party candidate. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by In the end, he declined the invitation. Nevertheless, issue #26 of What If ("What if Captain America became President?") showed him accepting the nomination, and ultimately winning the 1980 Presidential Election.
Due to their nature, stories presented in the What If format were allowed to break the rules of the characters' respective series that kept the status quo intact; major characters could be (and often were) killed off in the alternate realities, and many stories were based on the premise of a particular Marvel superhero, upon gaining/discovering his or her special abilities, choosing a life of crime instead. Status quo is a Latin term meaning the present existing state of affairs or "the state in which" One issue used what had been the original plot for the conclusion of the Dark Phoenix saga in the X-Men where instead of committing suicide Jean Grey submits to a lobotomy that removes her powers. The Dark Phoenix Saga is an extended X-Men storyline in the fictional Marvel Comics Universe, focusing on Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force Jean Grey-Summers ( née Jean Grey is a Fictional Comic book superheroine appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. In the What If version though Jean Grey is powerless to later prevent the death of Scott Summers the resulting shock causing Dark Phoenix to be restored resulting in a Galactic cataclysm. Cyclops ( Scott Summers) is a Fictional character, a Superhero that is the field leader of the X-Men in the. However, not all What If stories were quite so serious in nature. Issue #11, for instance, offered a tongue-in-cheek view of what might have happened if members of the original Marvel Bullpen — specifically, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Flo Steinberg, and Sol Brodsky — had been given the powers and abilities of the Fantastic Four. Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922) is an American Writer, editor, creator of comic book characters Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg, August 28, 1917 &ndash February 6, 1994) was an American Comic book Florence "Flo" Steinberg Month date, Year, City, State, United States)--> is an American Publisher Sol Brodsky (born April 22, 1923, Brooklyn, New York City New York, United States; died June 4, 1984) was an
The series occasionally ran a backup feature, "Untold Tales From the Marvel Universe," depicting the development of some of Marvel's superhuman races such as the Eternals and the Inhumans. The Inhumans are a fictional race of Superhumans created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Following the cancellation of the series, Marvel published a one-shot What if? Special (June 1988) with the story "What if Iron Man Had Been a Traitor?" Ironically, Iron Man was revealed nearly eight years later to be a traitor in the mainstream Marvel Universe as well. Iron Man is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The letter page was dubbed "What Now ?" with the words used by an exasperated Uatu, already up to his eyes in letters, receiving another bag-full from the postman.
1989-2000 series
What If was revived for a 114-issue monthly series running July 1989 - Nov. 1998.
Originally the second series adopted the format of its predecessor, with Uatu serving as series narrator and providing the historical context. However, due to events in the Fantastic Four comic book in which Uatu was punished for destroying another Watcher, he was phased out. The Fantastic Four is a fictional Superhero team appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. The stories themselves began to take center stage, with no need for a framing device; Uatu's last appearance in this role was in issue #76. The second What If series became notable for revisiting and revising ideas seen in earlier issues, often updating them for the times in the process. Additionally, stories could now span multiple issues (whereas before each "What If" had been self-contained), and sometimes multiple takes on the concept could be seen in the same issue, with at least one issue offering three possible endings to its story ("What If War Machine Had Not Destroyed the Living Laser?") and allowing the reader to decide for himself or herself which one "should" have happened. War Machine ( James Rupert Rhodes) is a Fictional character, a Comic book Superhero from the Marvel Comics universe The Living Laser is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics.
There was also a subtle crossover with the Acts of Vengeance storyline: in the pages of Quasar, the hero pursued the Living Laser into the Watcher's lair on the moon, who then fled through Uatu's portal into other universes. Acts of Vengeance is a Comic book crossover storyline that ran through several titles published by Marvel Comics from 1989 - 1990 A quasar (contraction of QUASi-stellAR radio source) is an extremely powerful and distant Active galactic nucleus. The Laser had a brief appearance in that month's What If as a streak of light. (This storyline would later be followed up by one in which Uatu directs Quasar to track down the Living Laser through several What If universes, eventually ending up in the New Universe, where Quasar receives the Star Brand. The New Universe is a Comic book Imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989 The Star Brand is the name of a number of similar Fictional Comic book objects of power all of which exist in the multiverse created by the Shared universes )
By issue #87 the by-then-well-known convention of stating the actual point of divergence in the issue's title was dropped. Instead, each issue's cover was made to more closely resemble an issue from the actual series being featured, with only a "What If. . . " logo denoting its "alternate universe" status.
In one of the last issues of this run (#105), What If introduced the character of Spider-Girl. The Amazing Spider-Girl ( May "Mayday" Parker) is a fictional Comic book Superheroine active in an alternate future of Marvel Comics She proved popular enough to be spun off into her own series, which in turn spawned the MC2 line. MC2 ( Marvel Comics 2) is an Imprint from Marvel Comics whose Comic books depict an alternative future timeline
2005 series
"What If" was revived again for six one-shot comics cover-dated February 2005. Although several followed the traditional style of narration by the Watcher, two titles written by Brian Michael Bendis — What if Karen Page Had Lived? and What If Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers? — replaced the Watcher as host with a representation of himself. Brian Michael Bendis (born 1967 is an American Comic book writer and erstwhile artist Karen Page is a Fictional character in Marvel Comics ' Daredevil series created by writer Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett Jessica Campbell Jones is a Fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Also, another story showed a conversation between a comic shop customer and worker, where the customer posed the question, "What if Aunt May had died instead of Uncle Ben?" This idea had been visited previously in the original What If series though under the name of What if Uncle Ben had Lived? and follows an altogether different course of events in the 2005 incarnation. May Reilly Parker commonly known as Aunt May, is a Supporting character in Marvel Comics ' Spider-Man series Benjamin "Ben" Parker, usually called Uncle Ben, was a Supporting character in the Marvel Universe ’s Spider-Man stories
A parody by Marvel, Wha. . . Huh?! was published August 2005.
2006 series
Another series of six one-shots was released cover-dated February 2006, but these more closely resembled their DC Comics equivalent, Elseworlds. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Elseworlds is the publication Imprint for a group of Comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon While traditionally, What If. . . ? posed a specific question and told a story based on a divergence from regular continuity via a different outcome of a specific event, Elseworlds are usually simply new continuities that tell stories which are alternate versions of established characters based around the different time period or location the story is set in (for example, Superman: Red Son, in which Superman was raised in the Soviet Union instead of the United States). Superman Red Son is a Comic book published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in April 2003 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
All but one of these new What If. . . ? one-shots followed this approach, focusing on different time periods within the shared universe of Earth-717 which first diverged during the feudal Japan era with the emergence of a Daredevil hero known as The Devil Who Dares. In the fictional Marvel Comics Multiverse, Earth-717 or Earth 717 is a designation used to identify a continuity in which most of early 2006's Daredevil is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. The stories go through other historical eras and heroes, including Captain America battling "The White Skull" during the Civil War, Wolverine taking the role of The Punisher and fighting mobsters in 1920s Chicago, Sub-Mariner being raised by his father on the surface during World War II, Thor becoming a herald of Galactus and a Russian version of Fantastic Four known as The Ultimate Federalist Freedom Fighters being a part of the Cold War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Thor is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Galactus is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Fantastic Four is a fictional Superhero team appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the
All of these stories are portrayed as historical documents from an alternate dimension discovered by a talented young hacker, calling himself The Watcher.
2006 Series 2
At the end of 2006 Marvel released five new One-Off comics, this series focusing on alternate outcomes of major storylines, such as Age of Apocalypse, Avengers Disassembled, Spider-Man: The Other, Wolverine: Enemy of the State, and X-Men: Deadly Genesis. The "Age of Apocalypse" is a popular X-Men Story arc. Avengers Disassembled, referred to in some participating series as Disassembled, is a crossover event between several Marvel Comics " Spider-Man: The Other" is a Comic book crossover published by Marvel Comics from October 2005 to January 2006 X-Men Deadly Genesis is the name of a Comic book Limited series published by Marvel Comics in late 2005 and early 2006 They were later gathered in a trade paperback entitled What If: Event Horizon.
2007-8
What If?: Planet Hulk was the first announced title for 2007 and was released in October. This article is about the comic book character and series For all other media appearances see Hulk in other media. [1] It was followed in November by What If?: Annihilation. Annihilation is a Marvel Comics 2006 crossover storyline highlighting several relatively under-used Outer space -related characters December will see at least two more What If? Specials for Civil War, and X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire. The Shi'ar, pronounced /ʃiː'ɑːɹ/ ("Shee-ARR" are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. January sees the release of What If: Spider-Man vs Wolverine. Spider-Man is a Fictional character appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. What If: The New Fantastic Four, featuring Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and Hulk was intended to be released in November but was cut short due to the passing of Mike Wieringo. The Fantastic Four is a fictional Superhero team appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Spider-Man is a Fictional character appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. This article is about the comic book character and series For all other media appearances see Hulk in other media. Michael Lance "Mike" Wieringo ( June 24, 1963 &ndash August 12, 2007) who sometimes signed his work under the name ' Ringo [2]
Alternate Earths
Marvel has given several What If? stories official numerical designations as continuities within the Marvel Comics Multiverse, differentiating them from the main Marvel Universe of Earth-616. Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. The Marvel Universe is the fictional Shared universe where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 or Earth 616 is the name used to identify the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics
References in other works
In the theatrical version of 28 Days Later, the alternate ending Danny Boyle originally filmed is shown after the end credits, preceded with the words "what if. 28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic Science fiction film directed by Danny Boyle. . . ", resembling the What If comic books.
Two episodes, Anthology of Interest I and II, of the animated television series Futurama feature a What-If machine, showing alternative shorter stories
An episode of Ben 10 entitled Gwen 10 functions similarly to a What If comic showing Gwen obtaining the Omnitrix instead of Ben. For the Stratovarius album see Episode (album. An episode is a part of a Dramatic work such as a serial television "Anthology of Interest I" is episode sixteen in season two of Futurama. " Anthology of Interest II " is the eighteenth episode of the third season of Futurama. An animated cartoon is a short hand-drawn (or made with computers to look similar to something hand-drawn Film for the cinema, Television or computer Futurama is an Emmy Award -winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, and developed by Groening and Ben 10 is an American Animated television series created by "Man of Action" (a group consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, The following is a list of episodes for the American Animated television series Ben 10. This is a list of characters in the American Animated television series Ben 10 and its sequel Ben 10 Alien Force. This is a list of aliens stored within the fictional Omnitrix device in the American Animated television series Ben 10 and its This is a list of characters in the American Animated television series Ben 10 and its sequel Ben 10 Alien Force. However, Ben somehow recalls everything that happened in the original universe prior to the episode.
In the game "Spider-Man" for the playstation console, there is a code that you can put in to access "What if mode". In this mode "The Watcher" appears and tells you that some things will be different. There are various changes in the game. For instance when you rescue black cat she can't stop dancing.
See also
- Alternaverse
- Canon (fiction)
- Elseworlds
- List of What If issues
- Marvel Comics Multiverse
- Marvel Comics Universe
- Exiles (Marvel Comics)
External links
Bibliography
- What If Vol. This article is not about Literary canons of influential works of fiction but about the concept of a canon which defines the world of a particular fictional series Elseworlds is the publication Imprint for a group of Comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon The Marvel Comics Anthology series What If? tells alternate reality stories outside mainstream Marvel Universe continuity Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. The Marvel Universe is the fictional Shared universe where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place This article is about the Marvel Comics series for other uses in comics see Exiles (comics The Exiles are a group of Fictional characters 1, #1-47 (Feb. 1977 - Oct. 1984)
- What If Special #1 (June 1988)
- What If Vol. 2, #1-114 (July 1989 - Nov. 1998)
- What If Vol. 3 (six #1 issues, Feb. 2005)
- What If Vol. 4 (six #1 issues, Feb. 2006)
- What If Vol. 5 (five #1 issues, Nov. 2006)
- What If Vol. 6 (five #1 issues, Oct. 2007 - Jan. 2008)
Collections
- X-Men: Alterniverse Visions - Contains What If Vol 2 #40, #59, #62, #66 and #69
- What If? Classic Volume 1 - Contains What If Vol 1 #1-6
- What If? Classic Volume 2 - Contains What If Vol 1 #7-12
- What If? Classic Volume 3 - Contains What If Vol 1 #14-15, 17-20
- What If? Classic Volume 4 - Contains What If Vol 1 #21-26
- What If?: Why Not? - Contains What If Vol 3
- What If?: Mirror Mirror - Contains What If Vol 4
- What If?: Event Horizon - Contains What If Vol 5
- What If?: Civil War? - Contains What If Vol 6
References
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