Origin

The Alternates were hand-picked by The Continuum to investigate The Ledge, a rip in space and time. They were chosen for being the best heroes the Continuum didn't need. They ended up spending three years in a mirror world, created by Ledgerstone, a reality warping god. There, they were premiere heroes with spiritually enhanced abilities.

Creation

The Alternates debuted in The Alternates #1 by Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, and Tess Fowler. Inspired by the number of B-list DC Comics heroes who got trippy makeovers by Vertigo, it wonders what would happen if those characters had to return to their B-list status.

Major Story Arcs

Return from The Ledge

Since returning from The Ledge, they struggled to acclimate back into their old lives. Member Tripper does his best to run group therapy meetings so that they can lean on each other. Unfortunately, one of their own members, The Divider, turns up dead, and leader of the Continuum, The Searcher, says traces of The Ledge energy signature are being tracked around Twilight City. The group decide to return to superhero duties since getting home, tracking the energy signature to a designer drug, called Prestige, made from leftover Ledge energy.

Tripper would use his abilities to locate the drug-dealer, which led them to his supplier, an airship made of pure imagination. On board was Ledgerstone, who had been taken hostage by a the original versions of The Alternates. The Alternates who returned to Twilight City were simply splinters of the Ledge with the original heroes' memories. This is why they struggled so much to return to their normal lives.

The original Alternates master plan was to flood the real world with Presitge, spiritually transforming everyone, and killing these false version of themselves. The Alternates couldn't allow that to happen, but they were severely outmatched by their original versions. Instead, they decided to switch enemies so that they weren't fighting themselves. They helped each other fight their darkest elements like a true support group.

With the original Alternates and Ledgerstone now dead, Kid Curious was able to access Ledgerstone's power to become a god. Once his power was amplified, he was able to stop the Prestige from spreading, and then left this plane of existence. The Alternates returned to their lives with more closure and continued their support group, now joined by The Searcher, who had her own problems to work through.