Summary
The"body swap"is a key storyline in a lot of science fiction and fantasy adventures. This is especially true in comic books. DC Comics launched several storylines featuring “body swaps” during the Silver Age of Comics that have continued into the modern age. However, the best “body swap” stories have plots that go beyond just the body swap.
DC Comicscreators were experts at mixing in humor and horror with their superhero body swap adventures. This “body swap” storytelling spilled over into animated series and films as well. It led to fantastic storytelling and superheroes learning a lot more about each other in unorthodox ways.
10Batman and Batwoman
In a 2010 episode of the animated seriesBatman: The Brave and the Bold, Batman and Batwoman swapped bodies. Katrina Moldoff was anoriginal version of Batwomancreated for the series, but she was forced into retirement after the Riddler unmasked her. Moldoff grew bitter against Batman for still being able to fight and planned to get revenge against the Riddler.
Batwoman worked with Felix Faust to swap bodies, but even with the strength of Batman, Moldoff was unable to beat the Riddler without help. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Batman convinced Faust to switch the bodies back.
9Superman and David Gundersen
Following theCrisis on Infinite Earthsstoryline,Action Comicsreturned with a rampaging Superman. It is revealed that Superman was helping a man named David Gundersen with an invention when the device switched their minds. Gundersen, angry at how society had treated him, began to use Superman’s body for evil.
TheNew Teen Titanstried to stop the new rampaging Superman but were beaten up rather handily until a new member, Jericho, was able to enter the body and restrain Superman. After a flip of a switch, Superman and Gundersen returned to their respective bodies.
8Ra’s al Ghul and Talia al Ghul
Ra’s al Ghul prolonged his life for centuries with the help of the Lazarus Pit. In an episode ofBatman Beyond, Talia al Ghul seemingly does the same thing. Talia is also able to convince an elderly Bruce Wayne to restore his youth using the pit. However, Bruce and his protege Terry McGinnis quickly learn it’s not Talia but Ra’s al Ghul guiding them to use the pit.
The episode reveals thatRa’s al Ghulswapped bodies with his daughter years earlier to stay in a younger body. He now planned to do the same thing with a rejuvenated Bruce until the former Batman discovered the secret.
7Black Canary, Wonder Woman, and Zenna Percik
Zenna Percik tried to kill a man running away from her whenBlack Canary stopped her. During the events, Zenna and Black Canary swap bodies. When Wonder Woman learns of the body swap, she tracks down a former Nazi scientist who built a machine to harness the mental potential of Roma children and return Zenna to her own body.
But when Zenna sees a chance to get revenge on the scientist for his experiments on Roma victims, she manages to switch bodies with Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman proved willing to sacrifice herself, in Zenna’s body, to save a military base. This caused Zenna to switch back and die along with the scientist.
6Clark Kent and Lionel Luthor
In the television showSmallville, body swaps were a more regular occurrence than they should’ve been. One of the earliest examples from theSupermanprequel series is when Lex Luthor’s father, Lionel, switches bodies with Clark Kent. Clark was visiting Lionel in prison when a Kryptonian stone caused the switch.
Lionel used the full extent of Clark’s powers and made a mess of Clark’s life until the future Superman was able to trick the criminal into touching the stone again. When Clark and Lionel returned to their designated bodies, the damage to Clark’s life had already been done.
5Superman, Batman, Power Girl, and Huntress
Moving to Earth-2, Super and Batman woke up to find they had been body-swapped with their closest relatives who just happened to be Power Girl and the Huntress. This was a different body swap because when the Ultra-Humanite put the heroes' minds in Power Girl and Huntress' bodies, he inadvertently gave them control over Clark and Bruce’s bodies.
The four DC heroes use the two bodies to properly recover the Superman and Batman’s bodies with the help of Brainwave and mirrors. The entire story was presented in a way where the heroes perceived it to be a dream.
4The Justice League
While most body swap stories involve two characters, Len Kaminski and Val Semeiks went all in withthe entire Justice Leaguein the graphic novelJLA: Foreign Bodies. The villain, Kobra, telepathically shuffled the entire Justice League’s minds, so he could take over the body of Batman while Superman’s mind sat in Kobra’s incarcerated body.
Batman was able to get used to Superman’s body, but the rest of the Justice League had major struggles trying to get acclimated. However, once they learned the new powers they had to master, the Justice League defeated Kobra and returned to their original bodies with a new appreciation for each other.
3Justice League and Secret Society of Super-Villains
TheForeign Bodiesstoryline wasn’t the first time the Justice League has had its bodies swapped. TheSecret Society of Super-Villainsmanaged to escape a void and switch bodies with the Justice League. The swapped villains then tried to kill the captured members of the Justice League while corrupting the rest of the team.
Green Arrow’s skepticism was the only reason the Justice League wasn’t defeated until DC retconned the event with Zatanna, wiping the memories of the Secret Society. Still, the body swap led to distrust between the members of the Justice League.
2Flash and Lex Luthor
In theJustice League Unlimitedanimated series,the Flash swapped bodieswith Lex Luthor in a freak accident. Two psychic experiments went haywire at the exact moment when Dr. Fate was using Flash to track Gorilla Grodd while Luthor was trying to steal Grodd’s intelligence.
Luthor tried to use the Flash’s powers against the Justice League but was unable to identify him when he was unmasked in a mirror. Meanwhile, the Flash was trying to protect his identity from the Legion of Doom. Dr. Fate swapped them back, and neither had learned anything about the other.
1Superman and Ambush
In the funniest body swap from DC Comics, a well-intentioned gift led to the man of steel becoming an insect. Ambush Bug gave Superman a polished piece of red Kryptonite that led to the two switching bodies for two days. During this time, Kobra tried to steal Ambush Bug’s teleportation suit.
While Ambush Bug struggled with Superman’s powers, Kal-El tried to learn how to teleport. When the effect wore off, Superman had to put out a fire started by Ambush Bug.
