WAlternate history or alternative history, sometimes abbreviated as AH, is a genre of speculative fiction consisting of stories in which one or more historical events occur differently. These stories usually contain "what if" scenarios at crucial points in history and present outcomes other than those in the historical record. The stories are conjectural but are sometimes based on fact. Alternate history has been seen as a subgenre of literary fiction, science fiction, or historical fiction; alternate history works may use tropes from any or all of these genres. Another term occasionally used for the genre is "allohistory".
WAetheric Mechanics is a graphic novella created by Eagle Award-winning writer Warren Ellis. It is 48 pages long, illustrated in black and white by Gianluca Pagliarini, and was published by Avatar Press in October 2008.
WArrowsmith is a fantasy comic book by writer Kurt Busiek and penciller Carlos Pacheco, published by Wildstorm's Cliffhanger imprint. It first premiered as a six-issue miniseries in 2003.
WAsterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a bande dessinée series about Gaulish warriors, who have adventures and fight the Roman Republic during the era of Julius Caesar. The series first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959. It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo until Goscinny's death in 1977. Uderzo then took over the writing until 2009, when he sold the rights to publishing company Hachette; he died in 2020. In 2013, a new team consisting of Jean-Yves Ferri (script) and Didier Conrad (artwork) took over. As of 2019, 38 volumes have been released, with the most recent released in October 2019.
WBaltimore is an American horror comic book series created by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. The series originally began with an illustrated novel, Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire in 2007. It followed the story of Lord Baltimore's hunt of the vampire Haigus as told by his three friends, Doctor Lemuel Rose, Thomas Childress Jr., and Demetrius Aischros. The series exists in a shared universe with Joe Golem.
WBatman: Holy Terror is an Elseworlds one-shot comic published by DC Comics in 1991. The story is written by Alan Brennert and illustrated by Norm Breyfogle. The graphic novel is significant in that it was the first to bear the Elseworlds logo.
WDMZ is an American comic book series written by Brian Wood, with artwork by Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. The series is set in the near future, where a Second American Civil War has turned the island of Manhattan into a demilitarized zone (DMZ), caught between forces of the United States of America and secessionist Free States of America.
WEx Machina is an American creator-owned comic book series, created by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris and published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint.
WGod Hates Astronauts is an American science fiction/comedy comic book series written and illustrated by Ryan Browne. Originally released as a webcomic, it was later published monthly by Image Comics. The series depicts The Power Persons Five, a superhero team that does not fight much crime. Instead, they bicker, have extramarital affairs, and pursue personal vendettas. A satirical take on superhero comics, the humor in the series is sometimes referential, sometimes absurdist. Browne was influenced by other humor comics such as Scud: The Disposable Assassin, Milk & Cheese, and The Tick.
WGotham by Gaslight is a DC Comics one-shot by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, with inks by P. Craig Russell. The story revolves around a 19th-century version of Bruce Wayne making his debut as Batman just as Jack the Ripper has arrived in Gotham City.
WGrandville is a Hugo Award nominated British graphic novel series written and drawn by Bryan Talbot. It is a mixture of the steampunk, alternative history and thriller genres. It is set in a world in which France won the Napoleonic Wars and invaded Britain, and in which the world is populated mostly by anthropomorphic animals. The main character is Detective Inspector Archibald "Archie" LeBrock of Scotland Yard, a British anthropomorphic badger.
WGrandville is the first of a planned five-part British graphic novel series written and drawn by Bryan Talbot. Published on 15 October 2009, it is a mixture of the steampunk, alternative history and thriller genres. It is set in a world in which France won the Napoleonic Wars and invaded Britain, and in which the world is populated mostly by anthropomorphic animals. The book follows a British anthropomorphic badger, Detective Inspector Archie LeBrock of Scotland Yard, investigating a murder which leads him to visit Paris in order to solve the crime, which itself leads him to uncover a political conspiracy.
WIgnition City is a five-issue science fiction comic book limited series, written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Gianluca Pagliarani. It was published in 2009 by American company Avatar Press.
WJoe Golem is a novel and comic book series created by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. It began with a promotional short story, Joe Golem and the Copper Girl, followed by an illustrated novel, Joe Golem and the Drowning City in 2012, both published by St. Martin's Press. The series was expanded as a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2015 to present.
WThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four volumes, an original graphic novel, and a spin-off trilogy of graphic novella. Volume I and Volume II and the graphic novel Black Dossier were published by the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. After leaving the America's Best imprint, the series moved to Top Shelf and Knockabout Comics, which published Volume III: Century, the Nemo Trilogy, and Volume IV: The Tempest. According to Moore, the concept behind the series was initially a "Justice League of Victorian England" but he quickly developed it as an opportunity to merge elements from many works of fiction into one world.
WMarvel 1602: Fantastick Four is a five-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 2006. It was the second sequel to the successful Marvel 1602 series, the other sequels being 1602: New World and Spider-Man: 1602. It is written by Peter David and pencilled by Pascal Alixe.
WMarvel 1602 is a limited series eight-issue comic book published in 2003 by Marvel Comics. The limited series was written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Andy Kubert, and digitally painted by Richard Isanove; Scott McKowen illustrated the distinctive scratchboard covers. The eight-part series takes place in a timeline where Marvel superheroes exist in the Elizabethan era; faced with the destruction of their world by a mysterious force, the heroes must fight to save their universe. Many of the early Marvel superheroes — Nick Fury, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man — as well as villains such as Doctor Doom and Magneto appear in various roles.
WMinistry of Space is a three-part alternate history mini-series written by Warren Ellis, published by American company Image Comics in 2001-2004. The book's art is by Chris Weston, and depicts retro technology in "British" style.
WThe New Adventures of Hitler was a comic series written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Steve Yeowell which first appeared in Cut, a Scottish arts magazine in 1989 before being reprinted in the anthology Crisis in 1990.
WThe New Deadwardians is an eight issue comic book series by Dan Abnett with artwork by I.N.J. Culbard. The series began publication in March 2012 by Vertigo. Abnett has stated that The New Deadwardians will span eight issues but that "We already have a very, very nice idea where we would go next with it, both in terms of the geopolitics of the world but a very specific other case for a second series".
WPapyrus is a Belgian comic book series, written and illustrated by Lucien de Gieter. The story takes place in Ancient Egypt. It was first published in 1974 in Spirou magazine in the form of episodes.
WRex Mundi is an American comic book series published by Image Comics (2003–2006) and Dark Horse Comics (2006–2009), written by Arvid Nelson and drawn by Argentinian artist Juan Ferreyra. In all, 19 issues were published by Image before the series moved to Dark Horse, where a further 19 were published before the title ended.
WScarlet Traces is a Steampunk comic series written by Ian Edginton and illustrated by D'Israeli. It was originally published online before being serialised in 2002, in the British anthology Judge Dredd Megazine. A sequel, Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, followed in 2006.
WSuperman: Red Son is a three-issue prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in 2003. Author Mark Millar created the comic with the premise "What if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union?" It received critical acclaim and was nominated for the 2004 Eisner Award for best limited series.
WSuperman: War of the Worlds is a DC Comics Elseworlds comic story, published in 1998. Written by Roy Thomas with Michael Lark as the artist. The story is a rough adaptation of the H. G. Wells 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, but is primarily based on the Superman mythology. Wells' story is transported from early 20th century Britain to Metropolis in 1938, where the Martian invasion is met with a Golden Age-style Superman who is not blessed with the full range of powers that he typically has in modern comics.
WThe Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer is a steampunk graphic novel written and drawn by Sydney Padua. It features Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage in an alternative universe where they have successfully built an analytical engine and use it to "fight crime".
WWatchmen is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987, and collected in a single volume edition in 1987. Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. As Moore's proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor Dick Giordano convinced Moore to create original characters instead.
WWonder Woman: Amazonia is a 1997 one-shot comic book, written by William Messner-Loebs, illustrated by Phil Winslade, and published by DC Comics under its Elseworlds imprint. As with all Elseworlds it tells a non-canon story of a DC hero, this time Wonder Woman, outside regular continuity. The story is set between 1888 and 1928 in an alternate history with steampunk overtones, previously considered "Earth-34" in the post-Infinite Crisis DC multiverse, now considered "Earth-19" in The New 52 (post-Flashpoint) universe.
WY: The Last Man is a post-apocalyptic science fiction comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published by Vertigo from 2002 through 2008. The series centers on Yorick Brown and his pet Capuchin monkey Ampersand, the only males who survived the apparent global androcide. The series was published in sixty issues by Vertigo and collected in a series of ten paperback volumes. The series' covers were primarily by J. G. Jones and Massimo Carnevale. The series received three Eisner Awards.
WZipang is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. Just like his previous work, The Silent Service, Zipang talks about the members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It was first serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Morning magazine from 2000 until 2009, and published in 43 volumes. Four volumes have been translated into English by Ralph McCarthy for the Kodansha Bilingual Comics library. It was adapted into an anime in 2004.