| Kingdom Come | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cover of the originaltrade paperback edition (1997), art byAlex Ross. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Miniseries |
| Publication date | May–August1996 |
| No. of issues | 4 |
| Main character(s) | Superman Batman Wonder Woman Shazam The Spectre Norman McCay |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Mark Waid |
| Artist | Alex Ross |
| Letterer | Todd Klein |
| Collected editions | |
| Trade Paperback | ISBN 1563893304 |
| Hardcover | ISBN 1563893177 |
| Absolute Edition | ISBN 1401207685 |
| Deluxe Edition | ISBN 1401260829 |
| 2019 Trade Paperback | ISBN 1401290965 |
Kingdom Come is anepicsuperherocomic bookminiseries published in 1996 byDC Comics under theirElseworlds imprint. It was written byMark Waid and painted ingouache byAlex Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea.[1]
The story is set in an alternate future of theDC Universe. The new generation of heroes have lost their moral compass, becoming as reckless and violent as the villains they once fought. The previous regime of heroes—theJustice League—returns under dire circumstances, which sets up a battle of the old guard against these uncompromising protectors in a conflict that will define what heroism truly is and determine the future of the planet.[2][3]
When comic book artistAlex Ross was working onMarvels, published in 1994, he decided to create a similar "grand opus" about characters fromDC Comics. Ross wrote a 40-page handwritten outline of what would becomeKingdom Come and pitched the idea toJames Robinson as a project similar in scope toWatchmen (1986–1987) andAlan Moore's infamous "lost work"Twilight of the Superheroes. Ultimately, Ross teamed with writerMark Waid, who was recommended by DC editors due to his strong familiarity with the history of DC superheroes.[4]
In the near future, the new generation ofmetahumans becomes increasingly violent and reckless, engaging in destructive battles with little distinction between heroes and villains. Notably, a superhero namedMagog kills theJoker in retaliation for a mass murder of theDaily Planet staff, includingLois Lane. Magog being acquitted during the trial and subsequently gaining public support promptsSuperman to retire andWonder Woman to be exiled fromThemyscira, with other superheroes following suit. Ten years later, with the apocalypse drawing near, theSpectre recruits ministerNorman McCay, having received visions from a dyingWesley Dodds, to help pass judgement when the moment arrives.
An attack on theParasite inKansas, led by Magog, goes awry when Parasite tears openCaptain Atom. Much of theAmerican Midwest is irradiated, killing millions and devastating the economy.[5] Coaxed back into action by Wonder Woman, Superman returns toMetropolis and re-forms theJustice League.[5] He begins recruiting several heroes to his cause, stopping battles around the world while facing opposition from Wonder Woman's militant leadership style. In response to Superman's idealist notions and embittered by his decision to abandon humanity ten years earlier,Batman forms his own network of heroes called theOutsiders, andLex Luthor organizes the Mankind Liberation Front (MLF), a group of classic and third-generation villains who works to take back control of the world from heroes, with defeating the Justice League as its priority.
Superman's Justice League gathers more captives than converts, and after talking toOrion, who has succeeded his fatherDarkseid as the leader ofApokolips, he builds a prison on the wastelands of Magog's fight with Parasite. His prison, nicknamed the Gulag, is quickly filled to capacity. He unsuccessfully attempts to convince the inmates to redeem themselves, and pressure starts to build between the heroes and villains locked inside. Batman and his Outsiders reluctantly ally themselves with the MLF, and Batman learns that Luthor has brainwashedBilly Batson to his side. When the inmates riot and killCaptain Comet, Luthor reveals that he intends to use Batson to break open the Gulag and incite a battle between the inmates and the Justice League. The Outsiders ambush the MLF, and although Batman confronts Billy, he transforms intoCaptain Marvel and flies off.
While Wonder Woman leads the Justice League to stop the prison riot, Superman confronts Batman and tries to convince him one last time to fight. Moved by Superman's sentiments, he tells him that Captain Marvel is on his way to the Gulag, and later enters the battle with the Outsiders as Superman and Captain Marvel fight. TheUnited Nations authorizes the deployment of three nuclear warheads on the battlegrounds to defeat the metahumans once and for all. Batman and Wonder Woman stop two bombs from deploying but miss one. Seeing the third one about to land, Superman plans to stop the last bomb, and reverts Captain Marvel back to Billy Batson. Norman is given his opportunity to pass judgement, and, having experienced life as a mortal and as a superhero, Batson is presented with a choice: Either let the bomb hit and free humans of being controlled by superheroes, or destroy it and let the battle rage across the world. He chooses the second option, sacrificing himself to let the bomb detonate prematurely.
Despite Batson's sacrifice, most of the metahumans are still obliterated in the explosion. Blinded by rage, Superman flies to the UN'sheadquarters and threatens to kill the delegates as punishment for the massacre. Norman convinces Superman to back down, reminding him of the fear his actions can instill onto others. Superman stops his rampage, admitting that these events were caused by his inability to adapt to the future, and promises to work alongside the surviving heroes and humans to better humanity. Wonder Woman's exile ends as she helps rehabilitate the surviving metahumans, and Batman gives up his crusade on crime and turns hismanor into a hospital. Superman begins restoring the farmlands destroyed by Magog in the battle with Parasite, reconciling with his past after being gifted a pair of glasses by Wonder Woman. Norman resumes his pastorship, delivering a message of hope for humanity.
In an epilogue scene, Clark Kent and Diana Prince meet with Bruce Wayne at the superhero-themed restaurant Planet Krypton. Bruce deduces that they are expecting a child, and Diana asks him to serve as his godfather. While Bruce is initially surprised, Clark tells him that he still trusts him, even after all these years, and that he can count on him to be a balancing force for the child. Bruce agrees, and as the three leave the restaurant, he notices Norman andJim Corrigan, the Spectre's host, discussing a menu item named after him.
Due to the popularity of the series,Mark Waid andAlex Ross began to plot a sequel/prequel titledThe Kingdom. Alex Ross's original intent was forGog to be an alien, twice the size of a human, from the planet Urgrund that split into two and createdApokolips andNew Genesis and for Magog to be the grown son ofSuperman andWonder Woman, who would be mentored by Gog. Waid and Ross disagreed on several concepts, and Ross decided to leave the project.[6][page needed]
Without Ross's involvement, Waid continued the story in theNew Year's Evil: Gog one-shot.The Kingdom miniseries soon followed, featuring a two-part series and several one-shots focusing on specific characters. The series was used to presentGrant Morrison'sHypertime concept.
The final issue of52 reveals that Earth-22 is the designation of theKingdom Come alternate universe.
InJustice Society of America (vol. 3), a new Starman appears wearing a costume identical to that of the Starman from theKingdom Come series. It is soon revealed that this individual is the Starman fromKingdom Come and that he is alsoLegion of Super-Heroes memberThom Kallor. Due to a time-travel error, Starman traveled to Earth-22 before arriving in 21st-century New Earth.
The "Thy Kingdom Come" story arc of theJustice Society of America title features the involvement of Alex Ross, as well as the appearance of theKingdom Come Superman. Seeing the connection between Gog of New Earth and Magog of Earth-22, Superman from Earth-22 and the JSA seek to prevent New Earth from going the way of his own world by stopping Gog in his crusade to rid the world of false gods, and before he can choose a successor one day in Magog. The JSA is split in their opinions on Gog; some believe he is truly benevolent, while others are suspicious of his true intentions. To prove himself, Gog heals certain JSA members such as Starman,Doctor Mid-Nite, andDamage, and he resurrects Lance to make him his successor, Magog.
Soon, the JSA learns that Gog is forming a parasitic relationship with the planet Earth. If he remains long enough, the planet will not be able to survive without him. The JSA remove Gog's head, and Superman and Starman take it to theSource Wall. Starman sends Superman back to Earth-22 in time to see the carnage caused by Captain Marvel detonating the bomb. The events ofKingdom Come continue from there and conclude in its entirety, with additional scenes depicting Superman's life and legacy for the next 1,000 years.
Alex Ross states that this story is not intended as a sequel toKingdom Come since that would negate the purpose of the original story.[7]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
A major subplot ofJudd Winick andKeith Giffen's 2010 maxiseries,Justice League: Generation Lost concerns the events ofKingdom Come. The story seesMaxwell Lord being tasked bythe Entity with killing Magog before he can inadvertently trigger an apocalyptic war between Earth's superhumans, which ultimately brings Magog and Lord into conflict withJustice League International. To drive the point home, the Entity shows Lord a series of visions taken directly fromKingdom Come, including Magog and the Justice Battalion attacking Parasite. Lord eventually succeeds in arranging Magog's demise, and his life is returned by the Entity.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
During the first arc of theSuperman/Batman series written byJeph Loeb, what appears to be theKingdom Come Superman appears in the Batcave with the intent to kill Clark Kent, because according to him, Clark is responsible for the destruction of the Earth.Kingdom Come Superman suddenly vanishes while being distracted by his past self calling him "Clark". It is eventually revealed that this Superman came from a future in which akryptonite meteorite crashed to Earth.
Later, due to a burst of quantum energy,Captain Atom arrives in this future. With advice from this future Superman, he returns to the present and destroys the meteor, preventing the bad future.
In a follow-up to this story,Captain Atom: Armageddon, the titular Captain Atom finds himself in theWildStorm universe and in another homage toKingdom Come, his appearance mysteriously changes to that of his Earth-22 counterpart.
In the second arc ofBatman/Superman: World's Finest, entitled "Strange Visitor" and written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Dan Mora, a young boy named David Sikela arrives on Earth-0, where he is found byBatman, Superman, andRobin. They quickly realized the unique properties of David's biology give him powers upon exposure to the Earth's sun, and is brought toKandor to be examined by the Kandorian scientist Kim-Da. While there, Kim-Da fabricates David a costume inspired by Hel-Oz, an ancient Kryptonian hero. After a brief, but traumatic, excursion toGotham, Robin takes David to the base of theTeen Titans, where he introduces David to his friends and partners. David joins the Titans and becomes Superman's sidekick, Boy Thunder.[8]
While things start out well, a team-up between theJoker and theKey results in David being tortured by the Joker, which heavily traumatized him. In a fit of rage, David attempts to kill the Joker. While he was unsuccessful, David vows that he will one day kill the Joker, as it is revealed he is a younger version of Magog.[9] David's actions concern Superman, Batman and the Titans, with Superman briefly considering siphoning David's powers, but decided against it, believing that David deserved a chance to fix his mistakes. The Key took this opportunity to attempt to use David's ship to unlock the secrets of the multiverse, triggering the ship's systems and causing it and David to be transported into an unknown world in the Multiverse, where he meets an alien being going by the name of Gog.[10]
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
A boxed-set of the four individual issues was packaged in a die-cut cardboard sleeve with a Skybox trading card, part of a short-lived experimental program to package comics for resale atToys "R" Us and other mass-market retailers.
The original trade paperback from 1997 collects the entire series along with twelve additional pages by Ross, including the epilogue. Promotional artwork and sketches of the major characters were also included. The trade was also printed as a hardback (without dustjacket) by Graphitti Designs.Alex Ross provided a new cover painting for a new trade paperback (ISBN 1401220347) released in 2008 that features a deluxe foldout cover only on its first printing (subsequent printings will not include the foldout).
A separate deluxe slipcased two-volume hardback edition, also copublished by DC and Graphitti Designs, added a second volume (entitledRevelations) to the text, containing further sketches and developmental artwork from Ross, showing the development of the character designs and the storyline.
A 1998 special fromWizard magazine contains the original proposal for the series by Ross, providing notes on what was changed and why. Ross's comments onThe Kingdom are also included.
DC released anAbsolute Kingdom Come hardcover edition in 2006. It collects the entire series in a significantly larger page format, along with interviews with Waid and Ross, character artwork, sketches, and a complete annotation for the series. It was released again in the second quarter of 2018.
The novelization was written byElliot S. Maggin. It was published by Warner Aspect as a hardback, and (in limited numbers) a slip-cased, signed edition. It fleshes out characters such as Magog, the world leaders, and the Batman/Ib'n connection. The book contains four new color pages by Ross, as well as four black and white sketches of the major players.
Hatchette Audio released an audio dramatization of the story, adapted by John Whitman from the novelization by Elliot S. Maggin,[16] featuring the voice talent of Mike Mearian, Don Peoples, Garet Scott, John Cunningham, Kent Broadhurst, Jeff David, Chuck Cooper,Harry Goz, Barbara Rosenblat, Craig Zakarian, Mike Arkin, Bob Lydiard, Peter Newman, Birgit Darby, Mark Finley, Igot Goldin, Macintyre Dixon, and Chloe Patellis, along with the guest voices ofDennis O'Neil,Mark Waid,Mike Carlin,[17]Dan Raspler, Charles Kochman,Peter Tomasi, Greg Ross, Janet Harvey, andElisabeth Vincentelli. The music for the audio version was composed by John Bauers.AudioFile magazine gave it a negative review, calling it "hokey and stilted", with "a hollow, echo-chamber feel, as if recorded in a fish bowl".[18]
In January 1999, Harbor Press published the first (special) issue of their comics magazineComicology. The 272-pageComicology Volume One: The Kingdom Come Companion, edited by Brian Lamken, focuses heavily onKingdom Come, featuring an A-Z of almost everything, with extensive illustrations by Ross and various other commentary on the miniseries. It was the subject of a swiftcease-and-desist notice from DC, objecting that the volume "constitute[d] an unauthorized derivative work that infringe[d] upon [DC's] copyrights, violates [their] trademark rights, and misappropriates [their] good will".[19] Lamken acquiesced to the recall, despite protesting that DC had prior knowledge of the project. It is likely that the similarities between the material contained in theRevelations volume (available only with the purchase of the considerably-more-expensive Graphitti/DC two-volume set) contributed to the recall of theComicology volume. The recall made theCompanion arguably the most difficultKingdom Come item to find.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1996,Fleer/Skybox released a set of trading cards based onKingdom Come, entitledKingdom Come eXtra. Alongside the 50 basic cards, featuring art by Ross and text by Waid, there are 15 "sketchboard" cards, three "Kingdom Classics" (featuring Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in iconic poses), six "Alex Ross Original" cards, and some rarer autograph cards.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
DC Direct (the exclusive collectibles division ofDC Comics) has produced three waves of action figures based onKingdom Come's artwork. The first wave of figures includedSuperman,Wonder Woman,Green Lantern andHawkman. The second wave includedBatman,Red Robin,Captain Marvel andKid Flash. The last wave includedMagog,Flash, Armored Wonder Woman andDeadman. An exclusive figure ofRed Arrow was released throughToyFare magazine. DC Direct also released several other characters through theirElseworlds toylines. These figures included theSpectre,Norman McCay,Jade,Nightstar,Aquaman andBlue Beetle. An updated version of Kingdom Come Superman was released inJSA series2, which was based on the covers that Alex Ross worked on.
An action figure of Superman based onKingdom Come's artwork was released as part of Wave 10 ofMattel's DC Multiverse toyline.
