11 of the Best Marvel What If…? Comics

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The lad of a librarian, Chris M. Arnone's emotion of books was arsenic inevitable arsenic gravity. He holds an MFA successful Creative Writing from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. His novel, The Hermes Protocol, was published by Castle Bridge Media successful 2023 and the adjacent publication successful that bid is owed retired successful wintertime 2024. His enactment tin besides beryllium recovered successful Adelaide Literary Magazine and FEED Lit Mag. You tin find him penning much books, poetry, and acting successful Kansas City. You tin besides travel him connected societal media (Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, website).

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As a kid riding his bicycle to the comic publication store, my pockets stuffed with lawn-mowing money, Marvel’s What If…? comics ever held a peculiar fascination. Seeing Storm wield Mjolnir oregon Wolverine go a vampire meant that my friends and I sat around, speechmaking these comics, and past spitballing our ain “what if?” scenarios. None of them were immoderate good, I’m sure. Many of them progressive dreaming up our eventual superhero teams, giving our favourite characters outsized roles, and tons of imagining antithetic characters swapping powers.

Sure, those mutant-focused issues inactive ringing done the years successful my memory, but past I started to wonder, what are the champion What If…? comics? For me, the memories of puerility tin render everything done rose-colored glasses. After all, I truly got into comics successful the aboriginal ’90s, which was a chaotic clip of astronomically precocious income and a batch of middling storytelling. So alternatively of relying connected my recollections, I grabbed my iPad and my Marvel Unlimited relationship to excavation done decades of What If…? stories.

Some of these spell mode backmost earlier I started speechmaking comics. Others are overmuch much recent, playing with multiverses similar the Disney+ amusement of the aforesaid name, and making maine wonderment however non-canonical they truly are. For my money, present are the champion What If…? comics that you should perfectly read.

What If…? Annihilation Reached Earth by David Hine, Mico Suayan, Rafael Kayanan

This publication is portion of a much caller bid that reimagined the events of immoderate large Marvel crossovers. In the archetypal Annihilation, Annihilus invades our universe. The warring is large and epic and stays successful the furthest reaches of space. In this story, the penetration reaches Earth successful the midst of the Civil War event, and the nonaccomplishment of beingness is beauteous catastrophic.

What if the Avengers Had Become Pawns of Korvac? by Mark Gruenwald, Peter Sanderson, Greg LaRocque, Glynis Wein

Here’s a classic. In the archetypal Korvac saga, a antheral named Michael Korvac becomes fundamentally a god, but done his ain humanity, ends his menace and undoes the unspeakable demolition helium wrought. In this What If…?, things don’t spell the aforesaid mode astatine all. Korvac kills the Avengers and past resurrects them arsenic tools. This communicative spins rapidly retired of power and is simply a heartbreaking communicative of eventual powerfulness and destruction.

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What if Elektra Had Lived? by Frank Miller

Let’s spell the other absorption with this adjacent classical and different 1 of the champion What If…? comics. In Miller’s archetypal tale, Bullseye killed Elektra due to the fact that Kingpin enactment retired a deed connected her. In this version, Elektra survives due to the fact that Matt and Elektra fly New York City to fell and make caller lives.

What if…? Dark Reign by Jason Henderson, Sana Takeda

The archetypal Dark Reign story followed Secret Invasion and depicted Norman Osborn rising to powerfulness successful the vacuum that inevitably followed. In this What If…?, however, Hawkeye decides that Norman needs to die, and things instrumentality an adjacent darker crook than successful the archetypal story.

What if The Fantastic Four Had Not Gained Their Super –Powers? by John Byrne

Here’s different classical What If…? from the legendary John Byrne. The communicative is conscionable what you would expect, that the First Family of Marvel didn’t get their powers, but they’re heroes nonetheless. In fact, they combat Giganto conscionable similar successful the archetypal contented of Fantastic Four, and inactive negociate to bushed it with teamwork and ingenuity.

What if…? The Men Behind The Mask by Lysa Hawkins, Eric Battle

This is simply a amusive communicative from the precocious ’90s, backmost erstwhile Peter and Felicia (Black Cat) were together. Sort of like, um, close now, actually. Anyway, erstwhile Felicia accidentally endangers Flash Thompson, she sees the lone mode to hole the contented is to unmask Spider-Man arsenic Peter Parker. See however What If…? and canon tin get truthful mixed up implicit the years?

What if Miles Morales Became Captain America? by Cody Ziglar, Paco Medina, Sara Pichelli

A precise caller miniseries reimagined Miles Morales arsenic a antithetic Marvel superhero with each issue. My favourite of the clump imagined him arsenic Captain America. There’s thing astir the quippy, flippant quality of Miles donning the shield that is hilarious.

What if The Phoenix Had Not Died? by Mary Joe Duffy, Joe Bingham

In the archetypal Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean yet sacrificed herself to halt the Phoenix Force from overwhelming her and consuming, well, everything. In this alternate version, Jean was resurrected. While she starts well, stopping Galactus, the Phoenix Force is conscionable excessively much, and things extremity adjacent much tragically than successful the archetypal story.

What if…? Spider-Man: The Other by Peter David, Khoi Pham

Here, 1 of my favourite comic publication writers reimagines the Spider-Man: The Other storyline. Instead of Peter embracing his spider broadside and returning from the dead, Peter rejects it, though that means that erstwhile helium emerges from his cocoon, thing adjacent much bestial emerges.

What if Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben Had Lived? by Peter Gillis, Ron Frenz

You whitethorn person noticed a inclination successful the aged What If…? comics by now. They either extremity tragically oregon reenforce that heroes are ever heroes, nary substance the circumstances. This is different of the latter. Since Uncle Ben doesn’t die, those root events unfold successful a precise antithetic way, but of course, Peter finds his mode to knowing the work of his powers.

What if Wolverine Had Killed The Hulk? by Rick Margopoulos, Bob Budiansky

Wolverine was really introduced arsenic a one-off Hulk villain charged with capturing Big Green. In this classic, Wolverine disobeys orders and really kills Hulk. On the run, Wolverine is initially picked up by Magneto and the Brotherhood and sent to infiltrate the X-Men. He, of course, falls for Jean portion undercover, and you tin conjecture however the remainder of this goes.

I’ve surely near disconnected immoderate of your favourite What If…? comics. What are they? Have immoderate of them coiled up person to canon than not arsenic the years person gone on? How excited are you for play 2 of the Disney+ series?

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