Favorite superhero dystopia

[PozrDu]

There is a thread going on now about Dark Knight Returns & DK2.
It got me thinking about other superhero utopias gone wrong.

Watchmen, Kingdom Come, Age of Apocalypse,
Earth X, Irredeemable, Halcyon, a smattering of
What Ifs & Elseworldses, & many more.

So what's your favorite?  What do you like about it?

[Scotchlander]

Kingdom Come just now, though I will be reading Age of Apocalypse in the pretty near future

[Brian G]

I enjoyed the world set up in the original AoA storyline. The AoA they're using now doesn't resemble that world at all, but that's okay.

[ValorPhoeniX]

Aoa for sure. But wasn't there one in morrisons jla run? If so that was great.

[Jon_Samuelson]

Kingdom Come and Hulk: Future Imperfect.

[PozrDu]

I've been playing a lot of DC Universe Online lately.
With all the super-powered crazies flying around
it feels like Kingdom Come.

[Brian G]

Aoa for sure. But wasn't there one in morrisons jla run? If so that was great.

Fo sho. JLA: Rock of Ages.

[Tom Scioli]

This never came out in comic form, but Alan Moore's Twilight of the Superheroes pitch is pretty great.

[evaD]

I think X-Men days of Future Past is at the top for me. It's a tough call since there've been so many good ones.

[Jay Tomio - Part Deux]

Batman Beyond.

[Doug!]

This never came out in comic form, but Alan Moore's Twilight of the Superheroes pitch is pretty great.

I wish that had been made.  It sounded so good.

[lugaru]

Age of Apocalypse for sure...

... but why not cheat and say "almost every issue of Exiles".     

Also: Watchmen. The book and especially the movie establishes an america where counter culture and civil rights where squashed and hyper conservatisim is the norm.

[PozrDu]

Batman Beyond.

You know, I've read an issue here & there, but I don't really have a sense of the world.
Batman stuff is always grim & night-timey.

Not doubting you, but what else is wrong with this future world?

[RobCVela]

I kinda liked the world in Old Man Logan run. A married Ultron, Venom Dinosaur and all that in a western type landscape.

[Jeppe]

The future as depicted in Transmetropolitan  
... wait, Spider Jerusalem isn't a superhero?  

[Jay Tomio - Part Deux]

Oh damn, the future part of the time line in VALIANT is that hot shit. Magnus and Rai

The future as depicted in Transmetropolitan  
... wait, Spider Jerusalem isn't a superhero?  

Yeah, that superhero part took out like a dozen of mine too.

Do people think the 2099 stuff would fit? I quite like Doom and Spidey.

[PozrDu]

There is a difference between a dystopia & an apocalypse/post-apocalypse.

A dystopia is a false utopia or utopia gone awry.
Like in utopias, some ideal is achieved or is claimed to have been achieved.
Usually utopias have a contented populace in a society of perpetual balance
that makes for a really boring story with maybe a few cool maps.

Dystopias superficially carry the same traits,
but have at least one tragic flaw that is artificially held at bay.
The interesting stories come from characters caught within the flaws
by being victim to them, trying to conceal them, or both.
This is what makes the Future Past and Watchmen stories so good.

An apocalypse is a series of escalating events between conflicting ideologies
or their proponents culminating in a climactic event.  The result of which is a universal,
final resolution of the conflict.  This final resolution could be the
obliteration of all parties (or everything), but that makes post-apocalyptic stories
pretty short, and irrelevant.*  The end result, however, could be a utopia or dystopia.

...but, ya know?  For the greater discussion, I'll take either.
Apocalypse?  Dystopia?  It's all "bad day in a big, bad way."
Bring on the Bad Worlds!

So what is Watchmen then dystopian or apocalyptic?
Tell me.

I really liked the post-Galactus alternate earth of Ben Grimm
in Marvel Two-In-One #100.
Hope & survival post digestion?



* See What if the Avengers Were Made the Pawns of Korvac?
   (What If Vol. 1 #32) & its follow-up short in
   What If Vol. 1 #43.


For more "We're all gonna die!" intellectual goodies see "eschatology" on wikipedia.