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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
What do we do if our heroes and protectors become our worse fears? It’s a question that secretly sends chills down every comic book fan’s spine, because we know the outcome isn’t going to be good. “Who watches the watchmen?” if you will. Kingdom Come aims to answer that question, and what follows is one of the grandest superhero stories ever.
It’s about 30 years into the future; the superheros we know are all in their 50s and are in hiding. The world doesn’t properly remember them. The current “heroes” are mostly children or relatives of the old heroes and don’t really have any morals, and are just fighting for the sake of fighting and killing millions during it. An old and tired Superman realises he has to make things better and dons the cape again and brings out all the old heroes to help fight and control the new heroes. But the world isn’t always happy with them, and is no longer accustomed to that lifestyle. The world wants them all gone, but they will put up with them to see if it is possible to fix their problems, but we can only bend so far before we break.
But as much as the normal people play a role in this, it’s the heroes’ tale. It’s a meditation on a world that can do without the heroes and just how will the supers adapt to that world. Superman goes into hiding because he can’t handle how the world is moving on without him and his true but outdated morals, Wonder Woman is abandoned by her people because she isn’t succeeding in her job to keep the peace, Aquaman refuses to go above the water ever again after all the ridiculing he got on land (he isn’t really important to the story but I like that little touch of character, because Aquaman gets so much shit), and Batman has gone and hidden inside a cave, controlling Gotham with giant “Batbots”. The only one that doesn’t seem to hid is the Flash, because he can’t be seen by any human being, portrayed as a flash of red that moves so quick he could enter multiple dimensions. It’s kinda creepy actually, but I love when comics look at the dark side of the Flash’s powers, because it’s probably like that.
In these kinds of situations, Superman and Batman interest me the most about how they adapt. Superman is like an old grandfather who speaks of a world long gone and morals no one listens to or cares about. He can try as much as he wants, but people don’t view him as a god of peace anymore, he is just a problem, a god that needs to be controlled, for nothing is worse than Superman on a rampage. Batman is a broken and shattered from years and years of putting his body on the line, with his whole body encased in an exoskeleton just to help him move at all. It seems that everyone has left him, with Alfred probably dying long ago. Someone decided to blow up all the prisons with criminals inside them, thus getting rid of all of Gotham’s supervillains, and you can’t ever really tell if Batman is happy about that. I think he is just happy to get even the smallest bit of rest, but is crushed that it had to end like that. There is just something about seeing your favourite heroes crushed and broken that kind of makes you look at your childhood with melancholy, remembering the grand old days when you did view them as gods on earth. Then you realise that that’s how they still see themselves and don’t properly understand how the world can no longer love them.
Now for the writing. I have always heard Mark Waid was something like a god with a pen, but now I’ve seen firsthand just how good he really is. The inner monologues and themes going on here are handled wonderfully and unlike Marvel’s Civil War, the questions asked are handled properly and Mark seems to know that you can’t have superheroes and human beings together without one killing the other, and after reading this you can’t quite grasp how right he actually is. It’s an interesting paradox.
And of course, Alex Ross does the illustrations. Holy shit he is good. I thought Marvels was awe inspiring, but Kingdom Come just knocks it out of the park. It’s inhuman how good he is…maybe Mark and Alex are gods themselves?
It’s hard to read sometimes for you just can’t look at some bits, it hurts you too much. You’ll also probably cry at some point, I nearly did at least. You’ll laugh as well as the heroes remind us of the goodness inside themselves, and how earth tries to remember why we loved them in the first place. With all the biblical references, I think I can safely describe this as the bible of superhero stories. It is without a doubt the best DC comics event ever, and you’ll never probably look at the heroes ever again, but no comic collection is complete without Kingdom Come. You need to see this, it’s life changing good. Hell, read it multiple times, it's just that good it demands multiple reads
It’s about 30 years into the future; the superheros we know are all in their 50s and are in hiding. The world doesn’t properly remember them. The current “heroes” are mostly children or relatives of the old heroes and don’t really have any morals, and are just fighting for the sake of fighting and killing millions during it. An old and tired Superman realises he has to make things better and dons the cape again and brings out all the old heroes to help fight and control the new heroes. But the world isn’t always happy with them, and is no longer accustomed to that lifestyle. The world wants them all gone, but they will put up with them to see if it is possible to fix their problems, but we can only bend so far before we break.
But as much as the normal people play a role in this, it’s the heroes’ tale. It’s a meditation on a world that can do without the heroes and just how will the supers adapt to that world. Superman goes into hiding because he can’t handle how the world is moving on without him and his true but outdated morals, Wonder Woman is abandoned by her people because she isn’t succeeding in her job to keep the peace, Aquaman refuses to go above the water ever again after all the ridiculing he got on land (he isn’t really important to the story but I like that little touch of character, because Aquaman gets so much shit), and Batman has gone and hidden inside a cave, controlling Gotham with giant “Batbots”. The only one that doesn’t seem to hid is the Flash, because he can’t be seen by any human being, portrayed as a flash of red that moves so quick he could enter multiple dimensions. It’s kinda creepy actually, but I love when comics look at the dark side of the Flash’s powers, because it’s probably like that.
In these kinds of situations, Superman and Batman interest me the most about how they adapt. Superman is like an old grandfather who speaks of a world long gone and morals no one listens to or cares about. He can try as much as he wants, but people don’t view him as a god of peace anymore, he is just a problem, a god that needs to be controlled, for nothing is worse than Superman on a rampage. Batman is a broken and shattered from years and years of putting his body on the line, with his whole body encased in an exoskeleton just to help him move at all. It seems that everyone has left him, with Alfred probably dying long ago. Someone decided to blow up all the prisons with criminals inside them, thus getting rid of all of Gotham’s supervillains, and you can’t ever really tell if Batman is happy about that. I think he is just happy to get even the smallest bit of rest, but is crushed that it had to end like that. There is just something about seeing your favourite heroes crushed and broken that kind of makes you look at your childhood with melancholy, remembering the grand old days when you did view them as gods on earth. Then you realise that that’s how they still see themselves and don’t properly understand how the world can no longer love them.
Now for the writing. I have always heard Mark Waid was something like a god with a pen, but now I’ve seen firsthand just how good he really is. The inner monologues and themes going on here are handled wonderfully and unlike Marvel’s Civil War, the questions asked are handled properly and Mark seems to know that you can’t have superheroes and human beings together without one killing the other, and after reading this you can’t quite grasp how right he actually is. It’s an interesting paradox.
And of course, Alex Ross does the illustrations. Holy shit he is good. I thought Marvels was awe inspiring, but Kingdom Come just knocks it out of the park. It’s inhuman how good he is…maybe Mark and Alex are gods themselves?
It’s hard to read sometimes for you just can’t look at some bits, it hurts you too much. You’ll also probably cry at some point, I nearly did at least. You’ll laugh as well as the heroes remind us of the goodness inside themselves, and how earth tries to remember why we loved them in the first place. With all the biblical references, I think I can safely describe this as the bible of superhero stories. It is without a doubt the best DC comics event ever, and you’ll never probably look at the heroes ever again, but no comic collection is complete without Kingdom Come. You need to see this, it’s life changing good. Hell, read it multiple times, it's just that good it demands multiple reads
Para el aficionado a DC es un tesoro; para el lector ocasional, imagino que se hará cuesta arriba. Una (Otra) exploración del futuro de la Edad Heroica de los Superhéroes Dc en clave Bíblica. Una crítica no muy sutil a la deriva ultraviolenta de los 90 contrapuesta a las edades de oro y plata. Con un guión no demasiado trabajado que se sujeta gracias a los maravillosos paneles de [a:Alex Ross|13265|Alex Ross|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1529789688p2/13265.jpg], que crea momentos icónicos para Superman y Batman así como escenas que pasarán al imaginario del Universo DC.
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was recommended to me as a stand-alone comic. The illustrations were beautiful, but I think it would be liked better by someone who was a DC fan. I didn’t recognize half the characters and wasn’t invested in them. The concept was interesting - The Boys meets DC superheroes. I couldn’t help but think the old minister looked like Jigsaw and was waiting for him to be evil
I like this comic. It's a good tale of what might happen if the justice league disbanded and superman turned his back on the world.
Spoilers ahead.
Its interesting that with superman being as old as he is, his morals and ways of getting justice seems totalitarian. That's what the book wants me to believe and I can kinda see it, it just feels weird to me at least.
Batman teaming up with lex to take down the rogue supes was interesting. Of course their were ulterior motives, from both sides, but it was an interesting direction.
I might be going blind, but I didn't recognize some of the people without their costume on. It got easier as I kept reading but yeah it was hard to recognize the U.N people, especially Billy, that didn't have specific features.
Overall: good comic and loved the story.
Spoilers ahead.
Its interesting that with superman being as old as he is, his morals and ways of getting justice seems totalitarian. That's what the book wants me to believe and I can kinda see it, it just feels weird to me at least.
Batman teaming up with lex to take down the rogue supes was interesting. Of course their were ulterior motives, from both sides, but it was an interesting direction.
I might be going blind, but I didn't recognize some of the people without their costume on. It got easier as I kept reading but yeah it was hard to recognize the U.N people, especially Billy, that didn't have specific features.
Overall: good comic and loved the story.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The art was absolutely gorgeous! Also feel like it's kind of relevant now, with the turn to darker/more violent superheroes? Definitely will be revisiting this in the future.
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Clark using his heat vision to heat up Bruce's steak to well done just as he likes it was cute as heck
fast-paced
Absolutely gorgeous artwork, probably one of my favorite artists now. I've never read a Superman comic before and this blew me out of the water. I have a new respect for Superman after reading this and look forward to reading more superhero stories.