DC Comics’ legendary Elseworlds story Kingdom Come remains one of the most seminal comic book story arcs, with its popularity still as strong as ever nearly three decades after its debut. Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Alex Ross, Kingdom Come takes place in an alternate dystopian future in which in the former DC superhero community has largely been disbanded, with a new, more violent generation of heroes taking their place. After a nuclear disaster in the American heartland caused by the renegade superhero Magog, the retired Superman and Wonder Woman reform the Justice League, only to find themselves at odds with Batman’s own band heroes known as the Outsiders. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor plots to defeat Earth’s heroes once and for all with his own team, the Mankind Liberation Front.
The impact and popularity of Kingdom Come was immediate upon its 1996 release, with the four-part mini-series still a major DC Comics pillar. With such a legacy to its name, it is truly no exaggeration to call Kingdom Come one of the greatest and most popular DC Comics stories of all time. Here are five essential reasons behind the long-standing popularity of Kingdom Come.
1) Kingdom Come Centers on Older Versions of DC’s Most Iconic Heroes
One of the most fascinating concepts in superhero storytelling is the notion of showing the heroes at a more advanced age after decades of protecting the world. Marvel’s Old Man Logan springs to mind as one of the most impactful 21st century examples, and DC dove headfirst into the same idea with Kingdom Come. With its grey-templed Superman, elderly Batman donning a supporting mech suit, and many other new versions of the heroes, Kingdom Come fully committed itself to showing DC’s most legendary characters as elder statesmen.
That also made the contrast of the younger, more ruthless generation of heroes to emerge in the Justice League’s stead stand out, with Kingdom Come emphasizing a kind of superhero generational divide. With the addition of alternate but equally iconic costumes for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and so many other heroes, Kingdom Come is one of the most enduring stories that uses the foundation of older versions of iconic heroes to superb effect.
2) Kingdom Come Is an Epic Heroes vs. Heroes Tale
The only thing superhero aficionados love as much as seeing heroes form teams is seeing heroes duke it out. Kingdom Come tells just that kind of story in its portrayal of a future in which DC’s superhero community has become fractured and factionalized. The brawl of Superman and Captain Marvel (the name Shazam was still going by at the time in the comics) in particular is an epic smackdown that hits with all the power one would expect from two metahumans of their strength, with the ever sinister Lex Luthor pulling the strings on Captain Marvel’s sinister turn.
Additionally, Luthor’s brainwashing of Captain Marvel to his side leads to some epic action in Kingdom Come‘s story, while in turn facilitating how Batman and Superman resolve their differences after their previous falling out. Kingdom Come‘s heroes vs. heroes conflict is not a purely linear one, to be sure, especially with the aforementioned machinations of Lex Luthor and the newer generation of more brutal heroes playing a role. Nonetheless, Kingdom Come truly captures why battles within a superheroic community are inherently captivating.
3) Kingdom Come’s Artwork Is Some of the Greatest in Comic Book History
Kingdom Come also holds the distinction of being illustrated by one of the most respected and acclaimed comic book artists of all time, Alex Ross. Known for his near-photo-realistic art style, the artwork of Alex Ross is impossible for mistake for anyone else’s. It is no exaggeration to say that Kingdom Come is Alex Ross’s crowning achievement as a comic book artist, and that the story’s artwork is some of the finest and most unforgettable comic books have ever seen.
With DC’s pantheon of superheroes often portrayed and thought of as gods, Ross emphasizes that angle in every minute detail of his artwork on Kingdom Come. Panels and pages alike come across almost like Italian Renaissance paintings through every page of Kingdom Come, and some of the most iconic images of individual characters ever shown can be found throughout the pages of Kingdom Come. Without question, Kingdom Come‘s almost ethereal artwork is an essential element of its enduring popularity.
4) Kingdom Come Is the Quintessential DC Elseworlds Story
DC’s Elseworlds comic book tales have been a staple of DC for decades because of one simple fact – DC and the multiverse are absolutely inseparable. The concept of alternate realities and countless different versions of every character is simply baked into DC’s very essence, and is the reason why DC has such a long and acclaimed history of many Elseworlds stories and continuities co-existing. Few DC Comics stories exemplify its Elseworlds strengths as much as Kingdom Come does.
As a story set in an alternate future, Kingdom Come uses DC’s general history as its foundation to tell a singular story that could only thrive in its specific universe. Kingdom Come even embraces its Elseworlds status to the point of proudly carrying the “Elseworlds” logo on its cover art. With so many outstanding DC Elseworlds tales in its history from The Dark Knight Returns, Superman: Red Son, DC’s Earth One graphic novels, and DC’s ongoing Absolute Universe, Kingdom Come is a truly definitive embodiment of why Elseworlds is such an essential element of DC Comics.
5) Kingdom Come Embodies the Mythic Image of DC Like No Other Comic Book Story
The world of DC’s Kingdom Come universe carries with it an aura of re-telling a mythic legend of fallen gods and warriors, as seen in the story’s opening narration with Reverend Norman McCay and the Spectre. That coupled with Alex Ross’s timeless artwork also highlights another of the biggest reasons for Kingdom Come‘s popularity. Put simply, no other DC Comics story has portrayed its world and its heroes from the same kind of mythological perspective as Kingdom Come does.
Opening the first page of Kingdom Come, it is eminently clear that Waid, Ross, and DC are keenly aware of how universally known and loved the heroes of DC are. Because of that, Kingdom Come relates the tale of older versions of the Justice League in a dystopian future through the comic book equivalent of camp fire tales or cave paintings, portraying its heroes with a reverence that can only be found in a legend passed on from one generation to another. With DC’s heroes often looked up to like gods, Kingdom Come gives them the treatment they deserve with a comic book story told as a mythological tale, a quality that, alongside Kingdom Come‘s other major attributes, highlights why it remains one of the most beloved DC Comics stories ever written.
