Elseworlds is a series of mostly one-shot comic books produced by DC Comics, best defined through its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places - some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist. The result is stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as tomorrow."

The first Elseworlds title is Gotham by Gaslight which featured a Victorian Age version of the superhero Batman hunting Jack the Ripper who has come to Gotham City. This title was not originally published as an Elseworlds comic, but the success of this concept lead to the Elseworlds concept and this title was retroactively declared the first Elseworlds.

Other Elseworlds titles include The Nail, which theorizes a world without Superman - where the Justice League of America has still been formed, but chaos still reigns without a proper champion of the world's ideals; I, Joker, where a futuristic Gotham City is led by a cult that follows a self-proclaimed god known only as "The Bat"; and Flashpoint, where Barry Allen (The Flash) took a bullet meant for John F. Kennedy, paralyzing him from the neck down, moving him to found a philanthropic business company focusing on space exploration, befriending Vandal Savage in the process.

Perhaps one of the most famous Elseworlds titles is Kingdom Come, a miniseries that shows a new, violent generation of superheroes replacing the stalwart idealists of yesterday, and an effort by Superman to bring order back to the world. The Kingdom is the sequel to Kingdom Come

The Marvel Comics equivalent is What If...?

See also List of Elseworlds publications