9 Mind Blowing "What If?" Scenarios That Almost Changed Comics Forever

2. DC Loses Superman

While the thought of a Superman-less DC Universe is pretty hard to comprehend, it's come close to happening on more than one occasion.

Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Clark Kent is a man who needs no introduction. He gave birth to the modern superhero as we know it, made us believe a man could fly, and is pretty much the face of the medium today. The thought of him not being around to be that face is, quite frankly, bizarre.

But it's come close to happening plenty of times, with DC having duked it out with both Siegel and Shuster for pretty much every decade since the forties in regards to who rightfully owns the character. Both creators sold their character to DC prior to the Man of Steel's rapid ascent to stardom, and - feeling slightly aggrieved that they hadn't seen much income from it - went onto battle their former employers in the courtroom until their deaths.

Both their estates have been involved in legal issues with DC since, and while no decision has ever erred in favour of the creators or their families, ol' Supes has come close to becoming a universe-less, creator-owned work as a result. Had a different ruling been handed down, Superman wouldn't be in the Justice League (or have any team-up with Batman), and potentially would've been out of a film too.

While Batman's more than capable of picking up the slack when needed to, his red and blue counterpart is a DC Comics staple. Without him, the company would be lacking something very, very special.