For 40 years, Marvel has shown us hundreds of peeks into alternate history.
Here are the better moments from the multiverse.
What Ifis one of my all-time favorite Marvel series.
But even when its bad, youre going to find something interesting.
The rules are out the window and for better or worse, youre probably going to get something creative.
Continuity is only a building block and is not a goal.
Heroes and villains can die, succeed, and fail in ways that would be unlikely in the mainstream.
Some of them would be based on a gimmick or specific event.
Overall, there have been over 200 issues ofWhat If.
Ive read every single one of them.
Rather than list the best issues, Id rather talk about the best moments from the series.
The awesome moments in a series where nothing is sacred.
For instance,What If?
Featuring Planet Hulkhas two separate storylines in there and both will be included here.
THE MONSTROUS FOUR
What If the Fantastic Four All Had the Same Power?
In one world, they all became monsters.
Like regular Man-Thing, Sue didnt speak or even gesture.
Instead, she just stood around with tears forming around her eyes.
SCAR OF THE DOG
What If?
It wasnt much because, really, there arent enough differences between the characters to make it compelling.
We later discover that this isnt Al Capone.
No, this Scarface gets his name from the three claw marks decorating his face.
This universes Scarface is none other than Logans brother Dog fromWolverine: Origins.
THE FANTASTIC BLUNDER
What If the Fantastic Four Had Lost the Trial of Galactus?
factor of it all.
Once upon a time, Reed Richards could have killed Galactus but decided not to for reasons.
The Shiar put Reed on trial for letting Galactus live.
Nova convinced Galactus to defend Reed and explain why Galactus survival is important to the universe.
In thisWhat Ifreality, Galactus decided not to and Reed is executed.
This is like bringing a nuke to a knife fight.
MINDS OVER GALACTUS
What If the Age of Apocalypse Had Not Ended?
Galactus death, on the other hand, was a bit better.
THE BEST FOUR HORSEMEN EVER
What If?
They included Storm, Namor, Hulk, and Juggernaut.
MEPHISTOS FRIGHTFUL FOUR
What If This Was the Fantastic Four?
He takes on biblical threats!
This culminated in a new Frightful Four made up of Sandman, Abomination, Sabretooth, and Venom.
Each one with horns and pentagrams on their heads along with a little extra power.
THE PUNISHERS PUBLICITY
What If the Punishers Family Hadnt Been Killed?
One of the points of the Punisher is that the world fucking sucks and is overrun with violent corruption.
Since the Castles werent shot up by the mob, Frank went on to become a police officer.
He was assumed to be among the dead.
The Punisher went on the expected killing spree, but with a difference.
He actually cared about how people thought of him.
Pulling the trigger was no longer enough and he instead started sending evidence to newspapers to explain his actions.
WITH YOUR POWERS COMBINED…
What If the Hulk Had the Brain of Bruce Banner?
(1977)
Roy Thomas and Herb Trimpe
It only took two issues forWhat Ifto get really weird.
Rather than being a huge jerk or a simple-minded monster, Hulk retained Banners personality and intellect.
This alteration led to the end of the three major Marvel teams.
Hulk wasnt so easily tricked by Loki, meaning the Avengers never came to be.
He helped Reed Richards cure the Thing, meaning the Fantastic Four broke up.
Galactus showed up and the shit hit the fan.
Galactus flew off to space because he really didnt have time for this crap.
THE SINISTER JAMESON
What If Spider-Man Had Never Become a Crimefighter?
Hes just a well-meaning loud mouth with an axe to grind and a very vocal opinion.
Spider-Man became sort of an asshole version of El Santo.
A guy whod keep his identity a secret while starring in superhero movies as himself.
In the media war between the two, Spider-Man won out.
THE DEATH OF GAMBIT
What If?
The punishment was excommunication for however long that lasted.
TheWhat Ifdecided that maybe Archangel would feel more than a little raw over the whole ordeal.
Rather than letting Gambit be, he decided to hunt him down himself.
Archangel won, but chose to spare Gambit, saying he never wanted to see him again.
FALL OF THE CARNAGE COSMIC
What If?
It went back to Cletus Kasady before anything much could happen and that was that.
Naturally, there was an issue about the symbiote staying with Surfer.
Instead of just Spider-Man, it was opposed by the Avengers.
Spider-Man made it apparent that only one hero had a shot at taking him down.
THE SIEGE MASSACRE
What If?
It made little sense, but at least it was well-drawn murder porn.
SOMETHING MOVES THE BLOB
What If the Hulk Killed Wolverine?
Pyro blasted flames at Hulk, hoping to be able to burn into his hide.
Not when Hulks around.
SPIDER-MANS SPECIAL TRIGGER
What If?
TheWhat Ifversion of it had Wolverine offer Peter redemption by saving her sister, Alex.
Trained by the legendary spy known as The Rook, Spider-Man saved Alex and became a black ops specialist.
Spider-Man, Alex, and Wolverine became a tight-knit trio of mercenaries who gave their money to various charities.
Spider-Man attempted to web him, but he chopped through the webs and laughed it off.
Spider-Man then shrugged, made a handgun gesture, and shot him in the head.
Clayton Henry using the unusedSpider-Manmovie costume for this issue was inspired.
THE MAD CAPTAIN
What If?
Remember that time Superman wielded Caps shield and Mjolnir?
That was the stuff.
Thanos ended up killing Cap and convinced everyone that he died alongside him on the battlefield.
is some damn fine alternate universe shit.
THE LAST DAYS OF WILSON FISK
What If the Kingpin Owned Daredevil?
The Fixer overstepped his boundaries.
The Kingpin adopted Matt and won him over via eliminating anyone who had anything to do with Jacks death.
For the most part, his own supporting cast moved on to have better lives without him.
This angered Richard Fisk, who already felt jealous over how much his father loved Matt.
Richard shot up his father and within minutes, Matt murdered Richard in revenge.
VISION OF THE DARK FUTURE
What If Vision of the Avengers Conquered the World?
One issue ofWhat Ifembraced this in two separate ways.
One had Vision aid all the heroes in turning Earth and later the universe into a utopia.
It was kind of boring.
The second story had those heroes nuked by a nervous foreign government trying to wipe out Vision.
Vision survived, as you could guess, but the world fell to chaos.
Together, they conquered Earth.
Centuries later, Visions forces continued to conquer the universe.
Sorry, Kingpin, but history forgot about your ass.
DEVIL WITH A RIFLE
What If?
Rich Veitch threw in a nice curveball.
The Shogun unknowingly revealed that he was behind Foggys death, making him Bullseyes true target.
After the adventure, Masahiro and Elektra were married with Murdock as the best man.
Murdock went on to become the first ambassador to Japan.
BADASS OF THE SEA
What If Invisible Girl of the Fantastic Four Married the Sub-Mariner?
TO A MAN ON FIRE!
Reed should have just bowed out of his little war from there because holy shit!
STRANGE, MARTIAL ARTIST SUPREME
What If Daredevil Was the Disciple of Doctor Strange?
Strange joining the Chaste instead of seeking out the Ancient One.
Now, if you really want answers, I know a place that can help you.
Then lots of cool fight scenes happened.
Its a good issue.
NATASHAS VALKYRIES
What If?
Doing so caused havoc across the multiverse and random figures started simply dying of aneurisms.
In one world, Tony Stark keeled over before the Armor Wars could end.
In another world, Steve Rogers had an aneurism right before falling into the ocean during World War II.
But for the issue in question, Thor died while fighting the serpent Jormungand.
Their ultimate plan to stop Jormungand was to have cause a distraction and get Black Widow to Mjolnir.
And he called him Lieberman.
WE ARE POISON
What If?
Arguably noble, but a very, very bad idea.
It left Mac Gargan and found the cocooned body of Peter.
After Peters rebirth as Poison, Aunt May summed it up by crying, No…no, it…
It cant be… No… God couldnt be that cruel…
78.
JANE FOSTER JOINS THE AVENGERS
What If Jane Foster Had Found the Hammer of Thor?
The one panel of Thordis joining the Avengers always got a laugh out of me.
60s super teams in Marvel each had a token female member who was one-dimensional at best.
CAPTAIN AMERICAS WEIRDO AVENGERS
What If Captain America Had Formed the Avengers?
Cap would be revived, but in a very, very different world.
With this different world, he would create a very different Avengers roster.
Namor, still looking like a jacked Alan Moore from his hobo days.
Iron Man, worn by the super soldier turncoat Frank Castle (still hella racist).
Giant Man, real name Sam Wilson (the colorist screwed up in that above image).
Thor, who is just Thor.
The team ended Red Skulls hold over the country and died heroically against hundreds of super soldier henchmen.
As America gradually began to heal, a statue of the Avengers last stand was built in their honor.
LOKIS OUT OF TIME
What If the X-Men Had Stayed in Asgard?
In this timeline, nine remained while eight returned to Earth.
The X-Men that stayed were all worked into Asgard in interesting ways.
Cant I rule it now?
And so, they agreed to his terms.
Except, they tossed him into the far future.
Loki would rule the empty remains of Asgard at the end of time.
THE OSBORN GENOCIDE
What If?
Granted, that came with some subtle psychological control, but Ive seen worse alternate worlds.
Wakanda was the last bastion for superheroes who oppose the Skrulls.
Behind everyones back, Spider-Man contacted Skrull convert and queens consort Norman Osborn to help make that strain work.
After all, he was smart enough to pull it off and its success would be out of self-preservation.
Sad to say, Osborn went full dickhead on the offer.
LOGAN THE FAILED FATHER
What If?
If only Logan was there for Daken growing up.
This issue ofWhat Ifshowed that, actually, not really.
He became the leader of the Japanese underworld at age 22.
ROGUE BECOMES WORTHY
What If Rogue Possessed the Power of Thor?
But what if she tried the same trick on Thor?
Loki courted the distraught Rogue as an ally and convinced her that Odin was totally deserving of a bruising.
CABLE AND STRYFE VS. APOCALYPSE
What If Stryfe Killed the X-Men?
That was only the beginning, as Apocalypse and Stryfe took out a whole lot of X-Men.
Cable would go on to lead the X-Men, deciding to mesh Xaviers ideals with his own.
BLINK UNLEASHES HELL
What If Blink of Generation X Had Not Died?
Blink overpowered the god and took over his domain, allowing her to alter history as she saw fit.
Like she treated reality as aChoose-Your-Own-Adventurebook and kept pushing towards the happier endings.
Blink couldnt understand that sometimes tragedy builds towards good and went too far with her powers.
Kind of wish this was just part of continuity, to be honest.
SPIDER-MAN VS. RED SKULL
What If Captain America Were Revived Today?
(1994)
Chuck Dixon and Dario Carrasco Jr. All the while, there remained a small resistance out to defeat both factions.
During the climactic battle against Red Skulls army, Spider-Man snuck off to do his own thing.
His eyes bulged from his head as webbing covered his mouth.
On the other side of the room, Spider-Man weakly said he wondered if that trick would work.
Then he revealed that before Red Skull went down, he caught Spider-Man with a fatal gunshot wound.
DR. DOOM DIES SO FRANKLIN CAN BE BORN
What If the Fantastic Five Fought Doctor Doom & Annihilus?
It was a confusing mess and this is the only issue youll see on the list.
This time, Sue Storm returned to the team instead of marrying known underwater headbutter Namor.
Doom then took on Annihilus himself and passed Reed the Cosmic Rod for the safety of his son.
The battle seemingly killed them both.
SILVER SURFER VS. CAPTAIN MARVEL
What If Captain Marvel Had Not Died?
The bad news: doing so created a special strain of space cancer thats very contagious.
Silver Surfer figured this out and flew off to stop Mar-Vells inadvertent reign of terror.
This led to a pretty rad knock-out-drag-out fight between the two.
Things worked out for the most part regardless.
Although Thing died, Reed came up with a cure and Mar-Vell was able to quarantine himself.
KINGPIN
What If Daredevil Had Saved Nuke?
This made him a bigger target to the Kingpin, who was quick to bring in Bullseye.
Bullseye kidnapped Karen Page so that Daredevil could get her back in exchange for Nuke.
Daredevil attempted to talk Nuke down and went after Kingpin alone.
Able to make enough sense of what was going on, Nuke followed regardless.
He snapped Bullseyes neck, punched Daredevil aside, and made a go at Kingpin.
THE LIVING LASER BANISHES HIMSELF
What If War Machine Had Not Destroyed the Living Laser?
(1994)
Dan Slott and Manny Galan
As I said earlier, Im using one moment per story.
This ones a little different.
ThisWhat Ifissue featured a crossroads point where the story branched off into three possible endings.
All three possible endings are on this list because its a damn good issue.
In canon, Tony Stark, stricken with a horrible illness, faked his own death.
Jim Rhodes took over Stark Industries and became Iron Man, not knowing that his friend was still alive.
Then the Living Laser showed up to kill Stark and Rhodes said, Hes already dead.
While youre here with nothing left on your agenda, want a job?
Everyone had a hard time adjusting, especially with Laser making everyone else antsy.
But then the two of them discovered that Stark was alive and thats when the endings diverged.
In one ending, Laser attacked Starks body and then had a big fight with Rhodes.
Laser used the satellite to blast himself across space, making things similar to how they actually played out.
What If Dr. Doom Had Become the Thing?
Doom befriended Reed, which led to less room for Ben Grimm in Reeds life.
When in space, Doom attempted to betray his so-called friends and absorbed a bit too much cosmic radiation.
The four crashed to Earth, each with their special powers.
Doom, meanwhile, was a big rock creature.
The fight led to the site of another big science experiment, overseen by Sgt.
Ben Grimm (Doom scheduled it that way to overshadow it).
PUNISHER VS. DRUGGED-UP PETER PARKER
What If the Punisher Killed Daredevil?
For instance, shooting Daredevil with a tranquilizer dart.
So what if he did that while Daredevil was too close to the edge of a building?
Well, then you get this gritty Punisher story.
Then everyone found out his secret identity and the Silvermane family blew up Aunt Mays house.
On his way to go after the Kingpin, Punisher was attacked by Peter Parker.
A vengeful, mindless Peter that wasnt holding back.
He easily overpowered Punisher and prepared to throw him off a rooftop.
Frank then pleaded with him and said he had some info on Aunt May.
But hey, at least the Punisher didnt eat his face.
SPIDER-MANS DELICIOUS FACE
What If Kraven the Hunter Had Killed Spider-Man?
(1990)
Richard Howell
When Kraven the Hunter caught Spider-Man, he didnt simply bury him alive.
He shot and killed him, removing all hope.
Mary Jane convinced Human Torch, Daredevil, and Captain America to look into this.
Honorable mention goes to Mary Jane getting confirmation of Peters death.
One of the more heartwrenching moments in anyWhat Ifcomic.
HULK VS. THOR TO THE DEATH
What If the Hulk Went Berserk?
That sure is an alternate universe, right?
In this story, were talking about a Hulk who ismurderously angryin how furious he is.
A Hulk with a psychic connection to Rick Jones, who was tortured to death.
A Hulk whose every waking moment is experiencing the echoes of Ricks painful death on repeat.
A Hulk capable of killing Thing, Human Torch, and Iron Man with zero remorse.
This culminated in Hulk and Thor duking it out while not holding back.
With no other choice, he grabbed Hulk by the head and snapped his big, green neck.
An instant later, Thor turned into Donald Blake and acted saddened by the dead Bruce Banner before him.
A FACEFUL OF KITTY
What If?
Think of all of Wolverines advantages mixed with Hydras ability to teleport him at will.
Nobody could stop the wild mutant and he ended up swiping at an intangible Kitty Pryde.
NORMAN OSBORNS COSMIC SELF OWN
What If?
Osborn pulled his abusive father out into the present to show him all that he had done.
Annoyed, Norman snapped his finger and made his father love him.
Thanos arrived shortly after to point out that thats not exactly how that works.
Thanos never made Death love him because that kind of love is pointless and meaningless.
After wasting Thanos, Norman confronted his dad and asked him why he loved him.
THE COMFORT OF THE PHOENIX
What If?
Then he sacrificed himself somehow to prevent the Phoenix Force from going nuts and wiping out reality.
The final pages showed Phoenix talking about how Gabriel Summers backstory is sort of gross.
All the while, despite his chiseled features, hes still just a little boy.
Thats not a supervillain origin!
Thats just pure sadism!
Young Gabriel cried, apologized profusely, and said that he should have tried harder.
The Phoenix hushed him and gave him a maternal comfort.
SLAUGHTER IN THE NAME OF SET
What If the Marvel Super Heroes Lost Atlantis Attacks?
(1991)
Jim Valentino and Rik Levins
I love this stupid issue because it cheats so hard.
But man, of all those types ofWhat Ifs, this is arguably the craziest.
This included a quick appearance by Lizard Jameson and his tiny Hitler mustache.
Set had brainwashed several key Marvel women and turned them into his brides.
One group would go after Set himself while the others would fight the lizard goons and the brainwashed brides.
Scarlet Witch turned Wolverine into antimatter and had him thrown into Aquarius, killing them both.
She also hexed Hulk into turning back into Banner just in time to get his head punched into goo.
The others didnt fare much better.
Doom and Thor got roasted while Set feasted on the Phoenix and depowered Rachel.
She was flying at the time.
THE SKELETAL NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
What If?
Galactus and the Beyonder killed each other, taking out Reed Richards in the process.
25 years have passed and the surviving heroes and villains have mostly settled down.
His little panel time showed him as rather creepy and threatening while referring to himself as we.
Human Torch seemed in no way surprised about this and the whole situation raises more questions than it answers.
RICK REMENDER GETS SOMETHING OFF HIS CHEST
What If Venom Possessed Deadpool?
The whole thing focused on Venompools desire to be seen as a big deal.
Sentry started to go on a rant about bad costumes and bad character redesigns.
But for real, Frankencastle was the best and I would read the hell out of Mummy Moon Knight.
GATOR-THING
What If The Man-Thing Had Regained Ted Sallis Brain?
Dr. Oheimer was able to run some experiments on Man-Thing and ultimately help him regain his old intellect.
Usually, that would be cause for celebration.
Kind of like having Hulk with Banners mind because Banner is a good person.
Unfortunately, Ted Sallis…not so good a person.
He horribly killed Oheimer and burned down his lab.
The swampy reptilian confronted the corrupted Man-Thing and they started grappling.
Ted Sallis knew fear.
Man-Thing fried at Gator-Things touch and the Nexus had a new champion.
THE SUICIDE THING
What If the Hulk Had Evolved into the Maestro?
Fantastic chased him around a zoo and the Hulk started to war with himself.
Bruce told Betty he loved her and ran behind Thing (who was extra-mutated due to extra radiation).
With a scream of, HULK SMASH!
Banner convinced Thing that Hulk was right behind him.
Thing let loose with a punch strong enough for the Hulk and hit a fragile, puny man instead.
The future would be imperfect, but it wouldnt beFuture Imperfect.
AFTERMATH OF A DEAD SPIDER
What If the Punisher Had Killed Spider-Man?
This time, Punisher killed Spider-Man on purpose, thinking him to be part of the criminal underworld.
Frank immediately found out he was wrong and it was a setup by the Jackal.
He evaded every one of them, but was discovered by the Vulture in a bar.
Vulture introduced him to a collection of Spider-Man villains, all toasting him.
Frank turned lemons into lemonade by opening fire on all of them.
THE OMNIPOTENT SURFER
What If the Silver Surfer Possessed the Infinity Gauntlet?
Strange brought over Shalla-Bal to help out.
At first, Surfer shared some of the power with her and she lashed back.
DOOMS DECISION
What If Dr. Doom Had Become a Hero?
Things were pretty great…except Mephisto was not happy about losing Cynthia Von Dooms soul.
He needed his kingdom and his kingdom needed him.
He allowed Mephisto to take Valeria.
STAR-LORD LAYS DOWN THE LAW
What If?
Rocket Raccoon decided to hack into Tony Starks Iron Man armor to spy on him for entertainment reasons.
The Guardians fought the Illuminati and Rocket was able to free Thanos.
Nobody was allowed off the big, blue ball.
The Guardians were going to guard the galaxy from Earth itself.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN KILLS US ALL
What If Wolverine Battled Conan the Barbarian?
Wolverine fell backwards into a Conan the Barbarian story.
Clear-headed Wolverine lost against Conan, but then he went all berserker rage and won the rematch.
Conan, meanwhile, saw the X-Men trying to calm down Phoenix.
To him, it looked like demons attacking Sonja.
So he beaned Cyclops in the back of the head with a rock.
That just set Phoenix off and the last thought before the universe died was, CROM!
THE AGENTS OF ATLAS TOTALLY HAPPENED
What If the Avengers Had Fought Evil in the 1950s?
They went their separate ways and so ended the story.
The modern Avengers spent a couple pages pointing out the similarities in teams.
But Uatu the Watcher brought up an interesting question.
Were they simply looking at an alternate universe or their own history?
Who is to say that there were no secret Avengers in the 1950s?
TASTES LIKE ASGARD
What If?
Thor and company could put up a fight, but they were rightly screwed.
That is, until Thor took down Galactus nameless herald (a Silver Surfer/Nova hybrid).
Galactus offered to spare Asgard if Thor took over as his herald.
Thor reluctantly accepted and dropped his hammer, no longer feeling worthy to carry it.
That…did not bode well for Lokis rule.
The story was relayed by Balder, who went on to become Chicagos top superhero.
REEDS REVENGE
What If Invisible Girl Had Died?
His grief was special and dangerous.
Reed ultimately decided that his life was pointless without Sue.
All he had left was his vengeance.
Despite Annihilus villainous role in Marvel, he came off as sympathetic.
Three dudes showed up intent on stealing his property and he defended himself.
Now one of them wants to kill him.
Despite Thing, Torch, and Namor trying to save him, Reed chose to die in a murder-suicide.
WOLVERINE: DIRECTOR OF SHIELD
What If Wolverine was an Agent of SHIELD?
Regularly teaming up with Black Widow, Wolverine proved his worth quickly and helped Fury kill Von Strucker.
Fury cleared it with the Canadian government to have Wolverine work for SHIELD for good.
Shortly after, a Von Strucker LMD attacked Nick Fury.
Fury destroyed the robot, but died in the process.
Dum Dum was too heartbroken by Furys death to stay around.
Instead, he told Logan that he wanted him to become Director of SHIELD.
Logan was skeptical that it would fly, but Fury already cut through the red tape in advance.
And so, Wolverine stepped up and used his government shadiness to counter the anti-mutant government shadiness.
Sentinels were nixed, meaning Jean Grey never became possessed by the Phoenix.
Senator Kelley was discredited, meaning no Mutant Registration Act and noDays of Future Past.
In the end, the once-savage anti-authority brute brought peace to humans and mutants by using his authority wisely.
REED THREATENS GALACTUS
What If the Silver Surfer Had Not Betrayed Galactus?
Earth was doomed and not even the Avengers had a chance.
Once again, Reed came across the Ultimate Nullifier, but this time he wasnt gambling.
This time he was going to end Galactus no matter what the cost!
…but he couldnt bring himself to do it.
The Fantastic Four became his new heralds, but made sure to search for uninhabited planets.
In return, they would help Galactus relearn the humanity he buried away.
UNCLE BEN SILENCES PETER
What If Spider-Mans Uncle Ben Had Lived?
In trying to understand Peters grief, Ben pieced it together that he was Spider-Man.
Then he sat him down and confronted him about it.
Peter explained his guilt over not stopping Mays death.
In that one moment, we were saved years of Spider-Man moping about his mistake.
The last time I saw a Ben so savage, he starred inBoy Meets World.
THE INVINCIBLE LIVING LASER
So to recap: Tony Stark pretended to be dead.
He noticed that Living Laser was on the payroll and was doing a fantastic job.
And so, he asked Laser to continue on as an employee.
Laser gladly accepted and a disgusted Rhodes stormed out.
POPUP RETURNS
What If?
So how about an annoying comedy character for a change of pace?
All well and good.
Then he realized that he could get revenge on Galactus for eating his planet Poppup.
Surfer convinced him that he could just use the Gauntlets power to bring the planet and its people back.
He did just that.
I do like howHeroes RebornBucky got a cameo despite this taking place years earlier.
RICHARD FISK: DAREDEVIL
What If Daredevil Killed the Kingpin?
The act of murdering his longtime enemy caused Matt to go insane with guilt.
Another man affected was Richard Fisk, otherwise known as The Rose.
He had a love/hate relationship with his father and didnt know how he felt about his untimely death.
Before he could decide one way or another, the Hobgoblin appeared to cause some trouble.
Matts final moments were to sacrifice himself by blowing up Hobgoblin.
Richard chose to forgive Matts actions and felt inspired by his selflessness.
Finally, Richard knew where he sided.
VENOM VS. HOBGOBLIN
What If Spider-Man Had Kept His Cosmic Powers?
Normally, such a thing is temporary, but not for this iteration of Spider-Man.
Permanently cosmic-level, Peter had to understand how the whole great power/great responsibility thing works out when youre all-powerful.
Before he became corrupted, he rubbed elbows with his usual villains.
SURFERS ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
What If the Silver Surfer Had Not Escaped Earth?
Mephisto eventually caught the team and had this plan to keep Surfer as his prisoner in Hell.
Therefore, Surfer signed his stupid contract that stated that his soul would be bound to Hell for eternity.
In the decade that followed, Earth became peaceful without Mephistos influence.
Both Captain America and the Punisher hung up their weapons, realizing that they were no longer needed.
Mephisto watched this from Hell, taunting Surfer and saying that humanitys actions would make him even more powerful.
Surfer razzed Mephisto enough that Old Scratch decided he was bored with his shiny toy and killed him.
Mephisto was forever stuck in a Hell of his own creation.
Because of that, the US absolutely shredded through the Germans in World War II like a chainsaw.
Hitler was easily caught, the Japanese quickly surrendered, and the bombs were never dropped.
Captain America led his soldiers into liberating Auschwitz.
He would grow up to become Magneto, but not the anti-human monster we know.
Negating that development sucks, but this scene on its own is rather great.
LOGANS MIRROR MATCH
What If Wolverine Battled Weapon X?
He lacked the healing factor, but the adamantium did cause jagged knife-like protrusions in his knuckles.
Desjardins then escaped, went on a killing rampage, and gradually took out all of Alpha Flight.
It was the fucking best.
One of his many victims was also a friend of Logans and he investigated the whole thing.
Logan with his healing factor vs. Desjardins with his adamantium.
Then he decapitated the psychotic monster with a swing of a katana.
NEW FANTASTIC FOUR VS. SINISTER SIX
What If the New Fantastic Four Had Remained a Team?
Well, the good news was that they still had the numbers on their side.
The bad news was that it was six against four.
ACTUALLY, THIS IS HOW A GOD DIES
What If?
When Thanos shrugged off Black Bolts vocal attacks duringInfinity, he decided he had use of the Inhuman king.
Not that Earth would be in the best shape under Thanos rule.
Luckily, Black Bolts people were able to smuggle what they considered the ultimate weapon.
Once it came time to unveil, Dazzler revealed herself under a cloak.
Her deal is that she can turn sound into energy attacks.
In other words, Black Bolts voice plus Dazzlers mutant power meant Thanos charred skeleton.
IRON MAN VS. NAMOR AND THE HULK
What If the Avengers Had Never Been?
He certainly made it count.
After Hulk left the Avengers, the rest of the team decided that maybe the Neanderthal was right.
Especially when he teamed up with fellow human-hater Namor.
At first, Stark tried making Iron Man armor for Rick Jones, Giant Man, and Wasp.
Hed take out one and focus on the other, but the numbers eventually caught up with him.
The other armored heroes showed up to bail him out, but Iron Man was still too weak.
THE SPECTRE OF MARVEL
What If?
Why doesnt he just kill all of Batmans villains?
Any and all villains?
What would that world be like?
Wolverines rage overwhelmed his loyalty and he turned on Apocalypse, killing him.
While his Horsemen powers were never explained, he appeared to have some level of omnipresence.
He was Frank Castles wet dream.
Nobody could stop his reign of terror.
That led to the world taking a stand and banding together out of fear.
No more war or ruining the environment.
There was a boogeyman and nobody was safe.
And thats just exposition!
THE VOICE OF A SLAVE
What If?
Absorbing the power of Sakaar into herself, she chose to go to Earth and wage war.
Hulk may have been vengeful, but he was still soft and caring compared to Caieras intentions.
Iron Man and Sentry noticed a huge chunk of the moon had shattered.
Namely, the area where the Inhumans lived.
As Sentry and Dr.
Under Caieras orders, Black Bolt was forced to speak, vaporizing Sentry and Strange.
Caiera conquered the planet within minutes.
CIVIL PEACE
What If?
Its not abadissue, but nothing about it stands out.
Well, except the framing equipment.
Have fun with your shitty life.
It was pointless and, when you get down to it, needlessly mean.
Marvel did an issue aboutCivil Warand they used the same pop in of framing equipment.
Uatu, obscured by an umbrella, checked up on Tony Stark at Steve Rogers grave.
He then told him of two different alternate realities.
One was where Iron Man died months beforeCivil War, meaning Captain America was unopposed in the superhero community.
Things ended up very badly for him there.
Not only did Steve Rogers live, but so did their friendship.
Suddenly, unlike the Daredevil/Elektra issue, this Uatu appearance had meaning behind it.
What If Professor X of the X-Men Had Become the Juggernaut?
Xaviernaut did finally get out and took over the world.
Before we could see Xaviers true reaction, the floor beneath him detonated and sent him spiraling through space.
THE PROTO-EVENT COMIC
What If the Avengers Fought the Kree-Skrull War Without Rick Jones?
It was a bit anticlimactic, at least compared to todays standards.
By taking Rick out of the equation, the story suddenly became amazing.
Despite clocking in at less than 40 pages, this issue ofWhat Iffeels like a full-on six-issue event story.
Giant Man got help from SHIELD.
Thor brought in his Asgardian brethren.
Silver Surfer chose to blast incoming ships out of the sky.
Outside of maybe the Fantastic Four wedding, this was the first massive hero team-up on this scale.
DOOM FOREVER SUPREME
What If Doom Became Sorcerer Supreme?
It was a decision that worked well in some ways and turned dark in others.
Sure, it helped Stranges situation, but Strange didntlearnanything.
Oh, and Mordo became Dooms version of Wong.
Like Wong mixed with Suicide Squad.
Although he sealed away Dormammu, he was still fatally wounded.
Strange tried to operate on him, but nothing could be done.
Strange then found out how critical Dooms death truly was.
Doom saw Stranges magic potential and had him kidnapped by robots.
Strange was brought to Dooms home, horrified to see Mordos smoldering head in the corner.
As Uatu put it, Doom would have both the shortest and longest tenure in that position.
THE BEATER OF BALLS
What If the Avengers Had Fought Galactus?
Namor wouldnt have regained his memory and that means Captain America would have stayed frozen.
Dr. Doom would have become a close ally of Nick Fury.
Biggest of all, if the Fantastic Four didnt exist, who would have stopped Galactus from eating Earth?
Uatu would have asked the Avengers for help.
Hercules demanded Uatu help him out, but Watchers cant interfere, so nope on that front.
He too was zapped into unconsciousness.
Pissed off, Hercules then punched Galactus RIGHT IN THE DICK!
He punched him in the dick and talked up how Swordsman had more fight in him that Uatu.
THE GREEN GOBLIN
What If?
Kind of likeTeen Wolf, but with less background penis.
Peter Parker lost his leg years ago and retired from being Spider-Man.
May suited up as Spider-Girl and came to her fathers rescue.
THE SPIDER-PRESTIGE
What If Spider-Mans Clone Lived?
The Spider-Man clone never got shot and instead sucker-punched the original.
He put the original in stasis and decided to go back to his normal life.
Only…it wasnt so normal.
After all, the clone was made from the DNA of a younger Peter Parker.
A lot had changed in that time.
The whole I dated Gwen Stacy and then she died thing really ran him for a loop.
Then he realized that his last real memory was giving a blood sample to Dr. As Spider-Man and Peter Parker, the two made short work of Kingpin and his goons.
JAMESON THE VILLAIN-SLAYER
What If J. Jonah Jameson Adopted Spider-Man?
The rocket crashed and exploded, killing Chameleon, John Jameson, Aunt May, and many others.
A crying J. Jonah Jameson discovered Peter Parker in the wreckage, cradling the dead body of May.
Jameson adopted Parker and the two helped each other with their grief and survivors guilt.
Jameson genuinely loved his son, but hated Spider-Man just as much.
Against expectations, Jamesons reaction was not anger but sadness.
IM THE CAPTAIN NOW.
What If the Punisher Became Captain America?
He was badly injured and his health was very much in jeopardy.
There needed to be a new Captain America.
Several took up the mantle and they all failed.
It was only after Castles family was killed by the mob that he finally agreed to be Captain America.
Hed moonlight as the Punisher, raising huge alarms for both the government and his fellow Avengers.
Some gunfire split the two up, leaving Rogers to knock out one Costa and Frank to corner another.
In a rare moment of self-reflection, Frank realized the repercussions of his actions.
He also asked himself about what his slain family would think of what he had become.
Then he turned around to see Rogers standing there, having watched the whole incident unfold.
Rogers handed over the shield and from that day on, Frank Castle remained Captain America.
SYMBIOTE THOR MEETS HIS MATCH
What If the Alien Costume Had Possessed Spider-Man?
Over time, it would leave Peter Parker an elderly husk and trade up onto the Hulk.
Then it would leave a powerless Bruce Banner behind and latch onto Thor.
Only on further review, it realized the grave danger it was in.
HARRY STANDS UP FOR NORMAN
What If Spider-Man Had Rescued Gwen Stacy?
Even if Peter Parker was Spider-Man, he was still their friend.
Norman swatted his son back and called him spineless just in time for Spider-Man to arrive and throw down.
Spider-Man won out and threatened to end things once and for all, but Harry wouldnt allow it.
Harry got ready to fight Spider-Man because crazy criminal or not, Norman was his father.
Seeing his son stand up for him snapped Norman out of his madness.
HULK DOESNT DIG BUG-MAN
What If Rick Jones Had Become the Hulk?
It was Hulks angry caveman speak mixed with a 70s comic book writers idea of teenage lingo.
Soldiers dont fight fair!
Use shivs… Heaters!
So I am called Hulk, huh?
Well, Hulk wont rumble with soldiers…but will cut out instead!
This culminated in a trip to the Negative Zone, where Hulk went one-on-one with Annihilus.
In the end, everyone was happy.
WOLVERINES X-MEN
What If Magneto Took Over the USA?
The latter group was led by Wolverine and he did indeed kill Cable.
Sentinels came into power to keep the mutant threat in check and wiped out much of the worlds superheroes.
Wolverines bloodlust got the best of him.
How else would he get by?
NAIL HYDRA
What If the Punisher Became an Agent of SHIELD?
No longer was he wasting petty drug dealers.
Now he was burning the crops and taking out the men in charge.
Not only did he survive, but he decided to use the belief in his death to his advantage.
He had Microchip hack into SHIELDs files and get him all the info they had on Hydra Island.
From there, Frank stole an aircraft and dove down into the base.
Frank went to town on the many Hydra goons and set up the bases reactor core to meltdown.
JUGGERNAUT RUINS EVERYTHING
What If?
All that remained was the Juggernaut, who soon ran out of Sentinels to smash.
Juggernaut spent decades alone, finding that being a destructive force and being immortal made for a horrific combination.
Then one day, he came across Magneto.
Magneto was off-planet during the genocide, a captive of the Stranger.
The good news was that he was able to escape and find survivors.
Magneto died from exposure and Juggernauts tantrum caused him to fall through the ground.
There, he found the entrance to where the survivors were living.
Spiritually broken over knowing that he just killed everyoneagain, Juggernaut walked off to endure his eternity alone.
Iron Man quickly took his spot, which made sense in a meta way.
They fought Thanos anyway, but lost as badly as can be expected.
The difference was that Wolverine was able to notice how Thanos played off of Mephisto and Death.
All the power in the universe, and Thanos was still being molded by their actions.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN VS. CAPTAIN AMERICA
What If Conan the Barbarian Were Stranded in the 20th Century?
A few years later, they did an alternate version where Conan didnt return to his era.
Instead, he was imprisoned, escaped, and learned to adapt to the new surroundings.
They were too blown away by the realization that Conan, cool as he was, BEAT CAPTAIN AMERICA!
Sometime later, the two met again and Cap offered him membership into the Avengers.
The issue ended with Conans gang falling apart and him considering that offer.
FURMAN AND SENIORS REVENGE
What If Deaths Head I Had Lived?
His co-creators had nothing to do with it.
As Deaths Head I hung back, the heroes got horribly murdered by Charnal.
Even for a 90s comic, it was rather graphic.
Deaths Head I stood victorious while his would-be replacement and lots of Marvel heroes died horrible deaths.
Maybe they shouldnt have screwed with Furman and Seniors brainchild, yes?
VULCAN VS. DARWIN
What If?
Buuuut it wasnt all sunshine.
Then he secretly killed others over the years to hide any of his mistakes.
Xavier and the rest of the living team found out about this and confronted him.
Vulcan prepared to slaughter them all to protect his name, but Sway slowed him down to a standstill.
Darwins powers protect him from all attacks, but that wasnt going to be enough.
He needed to protectothersfrom Vulcan and that meant using his powers offensively.
Stark reluctantly kept Laser on the payroll, but told Rhodes to keep an eye on him.
In the days that followed, Laser came to realize that Rhodes didnt truly trust him.
Or how hed attack Laser without taking a second to realize that he was trying to save Starks life.
A Stark Enterprises satellite was taken over and Living Laser volunteered to investigate.
Horrified by the loss of life up there, he was confronted by a being called the Technovore.
Living Lasers unique biology made it an easy fight, but he took the incident as an opportunity.
Stark and Rhodes looked on in silence, realizing that their own natures led to this.
YOU WOULDNT LIKE ME WHEN HES HUNGRY
What If?
Instead of depowering Hulk and Sentry, Tony Starks satellite could have caused a massive, radioactive explosion.
Many would have died.
Not only the heroes, Warbound, and civilians, but also the Skrull Queen disguised as Spider-Woman.
With her out of the picture, a Skrull bishop took control of their plan to conquer Earth.
Months later, a surviving Bruce Banner worked to dig graves for all the victims of his epic tantrum.
Hulk and the last pockets of resistance worked together and went to war with the Skrulls.
Hulk would be able to find redemption.
Unfortunately, a Skrull Wasp impersonator infiltrated the group and wiped out everyone but the Hulk.
He was alone on a planet infested with Skrulls who considered him a prophet to their cause.
Here, his rage took a more creative route.
He summoned the Silver Surfer and demanded he send Galactus to feast on Earth.
FRANK CASTLE, VAMPIRE HUNTER
What If Wolverine Was Lord of the Vampires?
It became a prototype version ofMarvel Zombies, only localized to New York City.
Strange reading a special spell from the Darkhold.
Wolverine took care of that by turning Juggernaut and having him crush Strange.
Castle would have won the day had he not been distracted from chopping off Vamprie Kitty Prydes head.
Wolverine killed Castle, but came to his senses and used the Darkhold to wipe out his vampire kind.
APOCALYPSES RUDE AWAKENING
What If?
Archangel left Apocalypses side to rejoin X-Factor, much like in canon.
Then in this continuity, soon after, there was a serial killer going around killing mutants.
Shockers of shockers, it was Archangel behind the killings, still working for Apocalypse.
The final four pages kicked so much ass that it redeemed the issue.
Archangel turned his chair around and his new appearance even took Apocalypse aback.
Also, his wings appeared to be reshaped bones.
PUNISHER VS. VENOM
What If Venom Had Possessed the Punisher?
Franks methods became increasingly vicious and impulsive.
He bit a chunk off of Tombstones head and murdered the Kingpin in broad daylight.
The symbiote took over his body and almost made him kill Spider-Man.
Frank tried to rein in the beast, but it appeared to be a conflict he couldnt win.
In his mind, the Punisher and the symbiote fought for control.
Frank woke up and assured the others, Its over.
It works for me now.
Then he jumped off the rooftop and flew off, using the symbiote to create gliders.
THE OVERLOAD ARMOR
What If Iron Man Sold Out?
(1994)
After coming back from his origin story, Tony Stark wondered about the future.
In this version, he went with the latter.
The results were a bit mixed.
The world was nearly crime-free, but Sentinels were nigh-unstoppable.
Magneto arrived to cause a ruckus and the law couldnt stop him because he was their kryptonite.
He fought off the X-Men and then took on whatever retired heroes Spider-Man could scrounge up on short notice.
Tony Stark heard about this and jumped for joy, as it fit into his own master plan.
If he wasnt constructive instead of destructive, so many people would die.
Stark took this to heart and stomped over to Magneto.
If youve ever considered Magnetos powers to be cheap, then this is the perfect comeuppance.
Thor told him to show mercy and convinced him that maybe it was time Iron Man took up superheroics.
CALL ME VICTOR
What If?
Then he would have conquered Earth and turned it into a utopia.
It was not enough.
He conquered more civilizations.
Crushed those that wouldnt bow to him.
Garnered the Infinity Gauntlet to amplify his strength.
This culminated in his final challenge: fighting the Celestials to become the top of the cosmic food chain.
It took well over a century, but he destroyed them all.
During the battle, the shockwaves knocked Earth away from the sun.
Hulks initial anger was soothed by a world with no intelligent life, but beautiful nature.
Banner, on the other hand, tried to figure out a way to call for help and escape.
It was later decided that each personality was allowed one side of the planet.
The dragons were then scared away by a structure and flew off.
Wide-eyed, he sat on the throne while one of the cat-lizards purred next to him.
Untold years later, those cat-lizards had evolved into intelligent beings.
KING CREOLACTUS
What If No One Was Watching the Watcher?
Galactus, in his human form, landed near a trailer park with no memory of who he was.
Due to cosmic coincidence, he looked and sounded exactly like Elvis Aaron Presley.
Again, humor issue.
A waitress named Gertrude took him in, thinking he was the real deal.
Galactus spent his days bonding with Gertrude and her son while living the simple life.
As his career was right about to take off, Adam Warlock appeared, victoriously brandishing the Infinity Gauntlet.
He willed Galactus his memory back and offered him a chance to return to godhood.
The story has some hilarious moments, but the ending is just as sweet as it is strange.
GET UP SO I CAN KNOCK YOU DOWN!
What If Captain America Were Revived Today?
The government put them on ice and they thawed out long after the real Captain America had returned.
In this story, the Avengers never found Captain America, so the imposters were unearthed first.
The public thought they were legit.
Fake Cap and Fake Bucky became unwilling puppets to the Secret Empire and Sons of the Serpent.
He was able to be reintroduced to Nick Fury, head of the resistance alongside Sam Wilson and Spider-Man.
Fake Cap repeatedly called his rival a commie traitor while the real Cap called his doppelganger a dirty Nazi.
What a wonderful issue.
What If Annihilation Reached Earth?
Pro-Registration, Anti-Registration, supervillains, Inhumans, and so on fought side-by-side against the first wave.
The planet was decimated and there were untold casualties, but Earth won.
Uatu the Watcher saw that Annihilus was leading a much more massive wave and chose to help.
It worked too well.
Sure, it did away with the entire Annihilation Wave, but it also destroyed the moon itself.
That was the end of the story.
The bad guys lost, but mankind lost so much that you couldnt call it a win.
In most stories, Uatu would only go against his oath to aid humanity in its darkest hour.
When its life or death.
In this story, Uatu broke his code to instead give hope to the world.
Despite the Terminus Devices power, Annihilus could have easily shut it off if unopposed.
Nova volunteered to stick around and protect the gadget.
Knowing he wouldnt be enough alone, Captain America and Iron Man agreed to fight by his side.
