Top 10 alternate versions of characters

[sps1000]

This was posed in the chat and it would make for some very interesting conversation so what are your top 10 alternate versions of characters? I'll have mine up later...

[Elliot Kane]

Good thread idea, SPS

1. Ult Gwen Stacy. The original is a whiney doormat. The Ult version is arguably the best character in the entire Ult line. By far surpassing the original, Ult Gwen easily wins the number one spot.

2. All Star Superman. This is the Superman I always wanted to read without knowing it. I always thought the character had something more going for him than his stories ever conveyed, and Grant Morrison showed me what.

3. Superman: Red Son. Yes, two supermen, but this one really is worthy of inclusion. A unique take on the Supes legend.

4. Ult Sue Storm. For the first time ever, it is possible to see why Reed actually wants to be with her - and vice versa. By making her brilliant in her own right, it makes the core relationship that defines the FF work as never before.

Hmmm... This gets tricky. I'll add more later...

[Gray Lensman]

Hmm. Not an easy one for me. Though in no particular order...

1. Ultimate Gwen. The one character in the whole Ultimate line that is clearly superior to the original. To the point where she became such an essential part of USM that it didn't work half as well without her.

2. The Maestro. The Hulk of an alternate future... powerful, intelligent, evil, and completely insane. Easily the greatest villain Peter David created during his run on Hulk. The Maestro worked because he showed the absolute worst the Hulk could become. A truly fearsome, brutal, and complex villain. It really is a shame this character was never used to great effect again.

3. All-Star Superman. Grant Morrison found the core of this character and made him shine. He's mythic and larger than life, infallibly heroic... and yet there's also a real humanity to him as well. This is really the model for how Supes should be written.

4. Pre-Crisis Supergirl. Because Supergirl has never worked better than she did originally, for all the countless attempts to reinvent her in the years since. (That is, unless you count Moore's Suprema. ) PAD illustrated this well in his final arc on Supergirl.

5. Spider-Girl. A very well-constructed and believable young heroine. It's no accident that Mayday's been around for 100 issues and counting after Marvel's best efforts to bury her.

6. Spider-Man 2099. A great twist on the Spider-Man concept for its time, and it worked rather well. Also managed to be ahead of its time by giving Miguel O'Hara organic webshooters. Another character usually resigned to the dustbin of continuity, sadly.

I'm kind of blanking myself after those six. This is rather a tricky question. I'll think about it some more and see if any other names stand out to me.

[Alrik]

I only know one : Darth Vader in blank white armor. In the Infinitives series. I don't own a comic of that series, but Wikipedia has an article about it. ;D

[hector]

That was a "cute" idea. The Infinities series are OK.