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With the Marvel Cinematic Universe debuting What If? on Disney+, newer fans are being introduced to the Multiverse. However, long time fans are already familiar with the concept. Marvel Comics has explored this idea in various comics titled What If?
Many of the stories in What If? have been very serious, showing where the Marvel Universe might have gone differently. What If? often altered the Marvel Universe, showing how things could have been darker. There have been happy endings, and then there have been the downright strange ones.
10 “What If Secret Wars Ended Differently, 25 Years Later” Had Unconventional Couplings
In 1998, Jae Faerber, Gregg Schigiel, and Jose Marzan Jr depicted a story where the heroes and villains stayed behind on the Beyonder’s Battleworld. The children of these heroes are the result of rather unconventional pairings. Two pairings, Storm & Wolverine and Thor & the Enchantress, are the most expected.
Without the heroes returning, the children return to an Earth ruled with mutant persecution. It’s uncharacteristically upbeat and optimistic for a 1990s story. Given the other stories being told by Marvel during this period, that might be the strangest aspect of this tale.
9 “What If Professor X Had Become The Juggernaut?” Had Odd Character Redesigns
In the 1990s What If? #13, Charles Xavier accidentally gets Juggernaut’s powers. Crafted by Kurt Busiek and Vince Mielcarski, What If #13 shows mutants taking over the world under the orders of Charles Xavier. Unfortunately, the world quickly turns into a dystopia.
What becomes strange is the costume choices, especially the ornate helmet worn by Cyclops. Even a great cover by Jim Lee can’t make it something taken seriously. Ultimately, the unusual redesigns get in the way of the story.
8 “What If The X-Men Had Stayed In Asgard?” Featured A Faceoff Between Storm and Frog Thor
What If? #12 by Jim Valentino featured the artist doing his best to emulate the style of Art Adams, who drew much of the original story. While putting many X-Men into Thor and Balder’s world is odd, the strangest moment is reflected on the cover. Storm, Goddess of Thunder fights hammer against hammer with Thor, who transformed into a frog.
Thor’s desire to stay on Earth once again brings him to the decision to abdicate the throne of Asgard. This time the turn of events brings Storm to rule Asgard, relying upon Cypher to translate the old law of Asgard. That doesn’t change the fact that she had to fight a giant frog to get there.
7 “What If The Invaders Had Stayed Together After World War II?” Was Actually Canon
What If? #4 was the first to become canon, although the stranger elements have been all but forgotten. Marvel would readily acknowledge two other patriotic heroes becoming Captain America. However, they would gloss over a mad android creating a duplicate of John F. Kennedy.
The evil android Adam II had been created as an improvement over the original Human Torch. He launched a plan to replace key political figures with android duplicates. Senator John F. Kennedy was to be one of the first to be replaced, but the All-Winners Squad, formerly known as the Invaders, stopped him, destroying Adam II in the process.
6 “What If Sgt. Fury Had Fought World War II In Outer Space?” Was An Anachronistic Gaggle of Bizarre Elements
What If #14 had a dramatic departure from the Marvel timeline. This story featured Sergeant Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos fighting World War II in outer space against lizard-like aliens.
Among the stranger elements is Nick Fury smoking a cigar in his space helmet. He also bristles with a commanding officer that’s a super-computer. Least surprising of all, Baron Strucker is a traitorous Admiral commanding German troops against the Commandos.
5 “And Thus Are Born The Cat People!” Rewrote History With Marvel Magic
What If #35 had three stories, but the oddest one was a story not set in an alternate reality. This story featured the origin of the cat-people that gave Tigra her cat-like form and abilities. Roger Stern and Steve Ditko crafted a tale with elements from Doctor Strange that rewrote history.
Centuries before evolution was discovered, a sorcerer named Ebrok evolved his house cats into anthropomorphic servants. Ebrok provided servants for his colleagues, but the cat-people were exiled for being uncontrollable. Ebrok’s original servants escaped, but were discovered and accidentally spread the Black Death through Europe.
4 “What If The Impossible Man Claimed The Infinity Gauntlet?” Takes The Classic Event on A Bizarre Turn
What If #104 had a bizarre turn where the Impossible Man from Popup claimed the Infinity Gauntlet. He ran wild, spreading absurdity with his power, forcing Galactus and Silver Surfer to take action.
The Impossible Man recreated his home planet, which made him happy enough to relinquish the stones. He resurrected the Elders of the Universe, returning their gems to them. Popup became a green and purple duplicate of Earth.
3 “What If No One Was Watching The Watcher?” Was A Second Attempt At An All-Humor Issue
The second What If? #34 mirrored its predecessor with an all humor issue. It wasn’t as zany as the first one, but opened strong with Galactus transformed into Elvis Presley. The next longest story was Spider-Man having a muppet-like infant son. That story featured Hydro-Man trapped in a super-absorbent diaper.
While the issue did well with the zaniness, the execution was lacking. There was a lot of attention paid to the Punisher, changing his methods for various scenarios. The strongest story is a one-panel gag featuring his family surviving instead of him, all wearing Punisher-inspired garb.
2 What If The Marvel Universe Went Crazy? Had Numerous Gags That Were Sheer Lunacy By Some Legendary Creators
The first attempt at an all-humor issue was What If #34. It featured a wide variety of writers and artists. It included Frank Miller on Daredevil, Bill Sienkiewicz on Moon Knight, Brent Anderson on Ka-Zar, and Marie Severin on Doctor Strange. It drew heavily from Marvel’s humor magazine Crazy.
What If? #34 featured many gags, such as Cyclops shooting energy blasts from his ears, Black Widow eating Spider-Man on their wedding night, and gender-swapping Wonder Man and Power Man. That last one, of course, was vetoed by DC’s lawyers.
1 “What If The Original Marvel Bullpen Were The Fantastic Four?” Was Kirby’s Contribution To Multiversal Lunacy
The strangest tale from an alternate universe comes from a Jack Kirby-created What If? #11. It features the original Marvel Bullpen – Stan Lee, Sol Brodsky, Flo Steinberg, and Kirby, becoming the Fantastic Four. It gets even crazier with the foursome turning their adventures into the basis for their comics.
The team also encounters the Skrulls, who are revealed to be the source of their superpowers. They also run up against Sub-Mariner, but he helps them against the Skrulls. Working together, they neutralize the Skrulls’ plans to transform and enslave the human race. Kirby treats the nonsense with the grandeur of a space opera.
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