Here is an archive of all the past top five lists I've done over the years.
Everyone knows that What If...? comics often end up with generally sad endings (like Spider-Man joins the Fantastic Four, but ultimately it leads to the Invisible Woman leaving the team to be with Namor or the Hulk having Bruce Banner's intelligence that leads to the Thing ultimately becoming a mindless savage) or outright sad endings (lots of them end with pretty much the entire cast of the comic dead). But what about the ones with HAPPY endings? Check out the top five What If...? comics where everything actually turned out okay!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
What if Daredevil Became an Agent of Shield?
What If...? #28 (by Mike W. Barr, Frank Miller and Klaus Janson) ends with Matt Murdock being an accomplished agent of SHIELD and even saving his father's life! It's only a little bit low on the list because of the relatively low stakes of the ending...
What if Elektra had lived?
What If...? #35 (by Frank Miller and Terry Austin) ends with Matt and Elektra (who was not killed by Bullseye) running away together...
Again, somewhat low stakes, but still, great issue.
What if Rick Jones had become the Hulk?
What If...? #12 (by Don Glut, Sal Buscema and Bill Black) has Rick Jones, as the Hulk, still end up becoming Captain America's new Bucky and then sharing a body, sort of, with Captain Marvel. Just like in the original comics, Rick would be in the Negative Zone while Captain Marvel was out doing superhero stuff. However, while Rick was in the Negative Zone, Bruce Banner and Reed Richards figured out a plan where they could split Rick and Hulk in the Negative Zone...
Everything worked out for Rick and the Hulk became the champion of the Negative Zone!
What if Spider-Man had kept the Captain Universe powers?
What If...? #31 (Vol.2) (by Glenn Herdling, Scott McDaniel, Tim Sanders III and Sam De La Rosa) has Spider-Man keep the Captain Universe, which ultimately causes him to run afoul with the Avengers, who are all, "Dude, absolute power corrupts absolutely!" and Doctor Doom, who is all, "I was to be corrupted absolutely!"
Doom DOES kill the original human host of the Uni-power, but after that, everything goes well for the world...
Spidey DOES lose his powers, but come on, dude unifies the world! That counts as a happy ending!
What if the Illuminati's rocket carrying Hulk hadn't been knocked off course?
What If...?: Planet Hulk #1 (by Greg Pak, Rafa Sandoval and Gary Erskine), we see what happened had Hulk landed on the peaceful planet that the Illuminati intended for him to land on. Well, as it turns out, things went well!
Go to the next page for the start of the top five!
5. What if Jane Foster Had Found the Hammer of Thor?
What If...? #10 (by Don Glut, Rick Hoberg and Dave Hunt) had one of the biggest cop-out endings, but not before it was very cool seeing that had Jane Foster become "Thordis," well, not much would have changed. She was actually a good Thor, just like how she is currently a good Thor. I like that. Anyhow, in the end, the original Thor returns and Glut pulls a major cop out move to give everyone a happy ending...
"Oh yeah, Odin is not married in this reality." Hilarious! Still, I dig the happy ending.
4. What If the Fantastic Four's Second Child Had Lived?
What If...? #30 (Vol.2) (by Ron Marz, Rurik Tyler and Ian Akin) was the second of two stories where the second child had lived. The first story was your standard "everything goes wrong" tale. The second one, though, has her grow up to become a healer and a voice of unity for the people of the world. The government tries to assassinate her, but instead, she survives and cures all of the distress...
3. What If Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers?
What If...?: Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers #1 (by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos) sees Jessica decide to take the Avenger and SHIELD up on their offer for her to be a superhero liaison between SHIELD and the Avengers.
She' so attentive that she figures out that Scarlet Witch has some problems, so she helps head off Avengers Disassembled years before it took place.
Then she and Cap end up getting married!
I guess you argue that this didn't work out for Luke Cage and Danielle Cage, but otherwise, it worked out pretty well.
Go to the next page for the top two!
2. What if Iron Man and Captain America Joined Forces During Civil War?
What If...?: Civil War #1 (by Christos Gage and Harvey Tolibao) had another story where Captain America led all of Earth's heroes against the Superhuman Registration Act in a world where Iron Man died before Civil War began. It did not go well. The second story, the one by Gage and Tolibao, had a happier ending...
1. What If Mary Jane Had Not Lost the Baby...and Spider-Man Had a Spider- Girl?
What If...? #105 (by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Bill Sienkiewicz) is one of the most famous What If...? comics of all-time, and certainly the happiest of endings, as the "ending" was the launch of a long-running, beloved comic book series starring the teanage superhero, Spider-Girl! Yay!
That's the top five! Agree? Disagree? Let us know!