Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come was a critically acclaimed limited series released in 1998 by writer Mark Waid and painter Alex Ross of Marvels fame. As an Elseworlds tale, Kingdom Come spans the entire DC universe and tells us what could happen if the old heroes were shunned by a public that wanted darker, ruthless superheroes. It's clearly a poke at the 1990s trend of dark superhero comics, and it unfortunately doesn't make sense in any other context except that. Why would any sane person want darker superheroes in real life? Thankfully the concept has another angle, that the superheroes have lost sight of saving people and are just fighting for thrills, which does a much better job of carrying the story.

So the story begins with a forced Biblical angle, as a pastor is brought to bear witness on the events of Kingdom Come by a mysterious Angel of Death... or something like that. I admit that I find Biblical references hard to grasp generally, but I really didn't understand what Mark Waid was trying to get at with this in Kingdom Come. Apparently the pastor was supposed to pass judgement on Superman at some point, but when the moment came, I swear that nothing actually happened. The moment passed without comment, and I was just left confused by it.

But anyway, the story goes that a new superhero called Magog kills the Joker and is praised by the general public. Superman loses faith in justice and hides in the Fortress of Solitude for ten years. Wonder Woman appears and reveals that the new superheroes are killing people with their excessive fighting, culminating in Magog getting the entire state of Kansas destroyed in a nuclear explosion. So Superman gets the old Justice League back together in order to recruit the new heroes under traditional morals and bring peace back to the world.

But Superman has a problem. Wonder Woman wants to be forceful and militant against the heroes that stand against Superman, and she encourages the building of a prison to hold the rebels until they accept Superman's rules. Batman, on the other hand, believes that excessive force won't change minds, and that patience and methodical movement is the only solution. But since Batman refuses to return to the Justice League, Wonder Woman has her way, which almost leads to disaster.

I have to say, Mark Waid does a really good job of getting us feeling the oppressive nature of this new world of ruthless dominance and fighting from superheroes. The atmosphere is a pitch perfect demonstration of why Superman decided to leave humanity in the first place. The characterisations of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman is equally top-notch. Their emotions are relatable, their personalities are distinct and you can practically feel the friction as they exchange ideologies with each other. The story in general does a really good job of exploring new philosophical territory and how the DC superheroes react under extreme pressure.

However, the Biblical angle comes back to bite and an already complicated moral dilemma is made even further complicated by a series of false dilemmas. For example, we're supposed to believe that if the superheroes fight each other, the result will be Armageddon. Umm... why doesn't it just end like every other superhero team-up fight? Why are there no third options? The problem here is that when every character talks about dire consequences like this, it feels like an overexaggeration to play into the Biblical abstracts, when it should be a realistic threat that can be solved with a bit of common sense. As such, I found Kingdom Come to be headache-inducing at times because the story didn't make much real sense.

It's funny that Alex Ross's artwork seems to reflect Mark Waid's writing in every way. The characters are incredibly detailed in their design, the location scenes capture the mood of the scenes perfectly; everything about it just oozes quality. You can turn any panel into a poster and it would look just as good as a stand-alone image. It's fascinating to see so many DC heroes rendered in this realistic painted style, and I even found an easter egg in the form of characters from Monty Python's Life of Brian. But just like Waid's writing, Ross's artwork at times suffers from overcomplication. Namely in the action scenes, where multiple characters are fighting in a single panel and it's hard to tell which way is supposed to be "up", Ross's lack of distinct outlines makes it difficult to see what exactly's happening in the panel and it can be headache-inducing at times. It's a general criticism I have of 1990s comics, where the panels are simply too busy, but I never thought I'd see it in an Alex Ross book.

So in conclusion, Kingdom Come showcases some very strong performances from both Mark Waid and Alex Ross, but in general suffers from a severe case of TOO MUCH! I still think the book's strengths far outweigh the flaws, but I can't help but think how good this book could have been with streamlining.

A Raien Review