What If (comics)

What If
Cover to What If? #1 (February 1977). Art by George Pérez and Joe Sinnott.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	(vol. 1-2) Ongoing series (vol. 3-7) One-shots
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	(vol. 1) February 1977 – October 1984 (vol. 2) July 1989 – November 1998
Number of issues	(vol. 1) 47 (plus #0) (vol. 2) 114 (plus #-1) (vol. 3-7) 6
Collected editions
What If? Classic: Volume 1	ISBN 0-7851-1702-4

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. Events in the series are considered separate from mainstream continuity in the Marvel Universe.

Uatu the Watcher

The stories in the initial 1977–1984 series featured the alien Uatu the Watcher as narrator. 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. Thus, What If stories usually began with Uatu briefly recapping a notable event in the mainstream Marvel Universe, then indicating a particular point of divergence in that event. He would then demonstrate, by way of looking into a parallel reality, what could have happened if events had taken a different course from that point.

The second What If series — which ran from 1989–1998 — 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 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.

With future series of What If, whether or not the Watcher appeared was decided upon by the writer, and many elected to have alternative narrators or none at all. Brian Michael Bendis chose to use a version of himself in the 2005 What If issues of Daredevil and Jessica Jones; and in the early 2006 series, a hacker whose online alias is "The Watcher" opens all six issues.

Publication history

Volume 1

The initial 47-issue series ran from February 1977 to October 1984. The first What If story, "What If Spider-Man Had Joined the Fantastic Four?", presented an alternate version of events seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (1963).

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 in 1980 saw the hero being offered the opportunity to run for President of the United States as a third-party candidate. 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 some 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. One issue used what had been the original plot for the conclusion of "The Dark Phoenix Saga" in the X-Men series, where instead of committing suicide, Jean Grey submits to a lobotomy that removes her powers. In the What If version, though, Jean Grey eventually regains her powers and kills all of the X-Men, including Scott Summers, the resulting shock causing Dark Phoenix to create a galactic cataclysm. Another story focused on the events of the Avengers/Korvac saga where Korvac (Michael)'s mate Corina (the daughter of the Elder known as the Collector) showed him an expression of unqualified support (instead of the wavering doubt from the original story) which prompted him to kill the Avengers. Subsequently, he revives some of them to become his own corps and decides to take over the universe, the result of which causes that particular universe (shown as Eternity at the end of the story) to be annihilated. 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.

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, and of characters like Tigra. Later issues contained one-page or one-panel throwaway gags as backups. The title's letter page was dubbed "Why Not?", with the words used by an exasperated Uatu, already up to his eyes in letters, receiving another bag-full of mail from the postman. In later issues, the letters page was titled "What Now?"

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?"

Volume 2

What If vol. 2, #105 (February 1998), the debut of Spider-Girl. Cover art by Ron Frenz.

What If was revived for a 114-issue monthly series running from July 1989 to November 1998. The second 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 story 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.

The humorous aspect of the original series was retained early on, culminating in the all humor issue #34, titled "What If No One Was Watching the Watcher?" This issue mostly consisted of single page gags, with a few longer stories.

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. 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.)

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. She proved popular enough to be spun off into her own series, which in turn spawned the MC2 line.

Volume 3

What If was revived again for six one-shot comics (cover-dated February 2005) based, according to What If? editor Justin Gabrie, on a suggestion by C. B. Cebulski. 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. 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 title "What If Uncle Ben Had Lived?" It follows an altogether different course of events in the 2005 incarnation.

A parody by Marvel, What... Huh?!? was published in August 2005.

Volume 4

Another series of six one-shots was released (cover-dated February 2006), but these more closely resembled their DC Comics equivalent, Elseworlds. 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 stories are usually simply new continuities that tell stories which are alternative 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).

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". The stories go through other historical eras and heroes, including Captain America battling the "White Skull" during the American 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 the Fantastic Four, known as the Ultimate Federalist Freedom Fighters, being a part of the Cold War.

All of these stories are portrayed as historical documents from an alternate dimension discovered by an entity known as the Watcher.

Volume 5

At the end of 2006, Marvel released five new one-shot 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". They were later gathered in a trade paperback entitled What If: Event Horizon.

Volume 6

What If?: Planet Hulk was the first announced title for 2007 and was released in October. It was followed in November by What If?: Annihilation. December saw two more What If? specials for "Civil War" and "X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire". January 2008 saw the release of What If: Spider-Man vs. Wolverine. These issues were later collected into a trade paperback titled What If...? Civil War.

What If: This Was the 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. It was eventually released as a tribute to the late author in June 2008 as a 48-page special, with all proceeds going to support the Hero Initiative.

Volume 7

Starting weekly in December 2008, five more What If specials were released, continuing the theme of alternatives for recent events coupled with classic ones. The ones announced were for "Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America", "House of M", "Spider-Man: Back in Black", "Secret Wars", and "Infinity Gauntlet"; and the new Fantastic Four consisting of Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Wolverine. In addition, a storyline featuring the Runaways as the Young Avengers ran throughout all five comics.

Volume 8

In December 2009, a new volume was released, again focusing on three recent events in the Marvel Universe — in this case, the Spider-Man: House of M mini series, World War Hulk, and Secret Invasion, plus one for the Astonishing X-Men ongoing series and a classic What If? centered round Daredevil and Elektra. With the exception of the last one, each comic featured two alternatives for the event as opposed to one.

Volume 9

In September 2010, Marvel announced details on further What If? one-shots due out in December 2010 as part of a ninth series of What If?. What If? #200 is extra-sized and features two stories, with an alternative possibility for the recent "Siege" event, asking what might have happened if the Sentry had not lost control and Norman Osborn had conquered Asgard; and the classic 1960s three-part Fantastic Four story "The Coming of Galactus", the latter of which is being written by Stan Lee, the writer of the original story, and shows what may have transpired if the Watcher had elected to kill Galactus in order to stop him from consuming the Earth. The second issue announced features a What If? for "Dark Reign" and is sub-titled The Osborn Assassination, asking what may have occurred had Clint Barton succeeded in his mission to kill Norman Osborn. The third What If? revealed features Spider-Man during the recent "Grim Hunt" storyline, similarly asking what might have happened if Peter had elected to kill Kraven the Hunter rather than letting him live. The fourth revealed is called Wolverine: Father and focuses on Wolverine and his turbulent relationship with his long-lost and wayward son, Daken, asking what would have happened if Logan had known about his existence and raised him from birth rather than losing him. The final What If? is called "Demon in an Armor" and focuses on the armored characters Iron Man and Doctor Doom, asking what might have happened if the young Tony Stark had become involved in a body switching incident and found himself in the body of Victor Von Doom, whilst Doom takes his body to control Stark Industries. There is also a back-up story running through the four non-numbered What If? issues that shows what would have happened if the Venom symbiote had possessed Deadpool.

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.

Bibliography

Main article: List of What If issues

Collected editions

A number of the stories have been collected into trade paperbacks.

• What If? Classic:
  • Volume 1 (collects What If #1-6), January 2005, ISBN 0-7851-1702-4
  • Volume 2 (collects What If #7-12), January 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1843-8
  • Volume 3 (collects What If #14-15, 17-20), January 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2081-5
  • Volume 4 (collects What If #21-26), December 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2738-0
  • Volume 5 (collects What If #27-32), January 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3086-1
  • Volume 6 (collects What If #33-38), December 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3753-X
  • Volume 7 (collects What If #40-42,43 (backup only), 44-47), February 2011, ISBN 0-7851-5311-X
• X-Men: Alterniverse Visions (collects What If vol. 2, #40, 59, 62, 66, 69), August 1996, ISBN 0-7851-0194-2 (Boxtree, May 1996, ISBN 0752203428)
• What If?: Why Not? (collects What If vol. 3), March 2005, ISBN 0-7851-1593-5
• What If?: Mirror Mirror (collects What If vol. 4), May 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1902-7
• What If?: Event Horizon (collects What If vol. 5), July 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2183-8
• What If?: Civil War (collects What If vol. 6), April 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3036-5
• What If?: Secret Wars (collects What If vol. 7), April 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3341-0
• What If?: Secret Invasion (collects What If? vol. 8), May 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4109-X
• What If?: Dark Avengers (collects What If? vol. 9), April 2011, ISBN 0-7851-5278-4

See also

• Canon (fiction)
• Elseworlds
• Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
• What The--?!
• Wha...Huh?

External links

• What If (vol. 1) at the Grand Comics Database
• What If (vol. 1) at the Comic Book DB
• What If (vol. 2) at the Grand Comics Database
• What If (vol. 2) at the Comic Book DB
• Alternity