Kingdom Come

DC rushed to get Lois and Clark married to tie into the TV series in 1996 and irony of all ironies, Kingdom Come made its mark upon the world that year too. Everyone knows by now it was a commercial and critical success. All single issues sold extremely well and the graphic novel continues to be a perennial best seller. DC has mined this story for many plots and characters in current canon. It also has its own earth, Earth-22, in the current Multiverse. Kingdom Come was originally an Elseworld title, with a middle aged Superman and Lois Lane was dead. Two huge changes that actually did more for Superman as a relatable character to people who never got him than many other stories put together. Alex Ross' art played a major part in making this series because of the emotion and realism he was able to convey. The original concept was also his idea. But DC needed a writer to compliment Ross. This is where Mark Waid came in. The collaboration was not always an easy one, as they both had firm ideas about what they wanted but they both loved the subject matter and what they did produce was pure gold.

Kingdom Come is a look at a possible future of the DCU. It is really what happens when the world changes and two generations come into conflict with each other. Can our heroes bridge the gap? And can they evolve and change to fit the times without compromising their principles? Sometimes we all need to grow up. To me, this is what Kingdom Come is about. It's great art and great prose. It is the Return, the third step in the Hero's Journey. It is political commentary. Its themes can be applied to the world today. Not every opponent or rival in the world is all evil and everyone has a point of view. We do what we must for the greater good but who decides that? Do we appoint ourselves as the world's judge, jury and executioner or work with each other? You want to read a simple book with good guys fighting bad ones and everyone looking like pretty clones of each other? Then this book is not for you.

Superman is older and world weary and he has lost some of his human touch stones. He retires because he thinks the world does not want or need him. But, in fact, we find that they do. Desperately. He also learns this as well and that he has more to offer still, and his work and life would have only just begun. The same applies to the other heroes, like Wonder Woman and Batman. They all sort of come full circle and find themselves again even as they had temporarily lost sight of what they believed in. Even heroes can become tired and disillusioned because heroes are reflections of us looking in at ourselves as we try to do our best and sometimes we falter.

The book makes these titans seem flesh and blood. Larger than life but still humanly flawed like everyone of us. It shows that even the best of intentions sometimes can still lead to mistakes. And what makes up for it is the maturity to stand up and face your mistakes and make reparation. To never give up. It also has some of the best written sequences done for Captain Marvel. A character that largely gets left behind in today's climate of Superman and Batman as being the top dogs in comics.

Superman and Wonder Woman's romance is at the heart of this book. It lends a kind of relief in a world that at times seems so dark and devoid of hope. It shows the love of best friends finally finding each other and really, as emotional beings, we all have the propensity to love and live and be happy despite loss. If anything the gift of Clark's humanity is that life goes on and gets better. Also Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship is based off current canon. Whereby they have a romantic past and unresolved sexual tension. They are comrades in arms and close friends and do their share of supporting and disagreeing of and with each other. And so it should be with intellectual and physical equals. In Kingdom Come, the inevitable finally happens and the obstacles ( Lois, his own lack of self worth, their youth and inexperience, etc) finally have been overcome, and they start their love affair. Two mature adults who know each other very well, with none of the hangups and mind games we have and play in our youth. There has always been a tenderness and honesty in the relationship that super/wonder fans adore.

The Epilogue of the book is a gem by itself because it showcases Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman at their best. People who have a lot of love and trust for each other. Clark and Diana are a couple and they want to share a surprise with Bruce. But he already knows. They stun him back though by giving him the biggest compliment they could as a man and their friend. To be the godfather to their child. The book ends on a high note.Hope. Hope in the future. Hope in the new life and child that is going to possibly define the new generation. The child of Superman and Wonder Woman mentored by Batman. Can't get a better ending than that. Well, maybe The Justice Society of America # 22 by Ross and Johns which shows even more Kingdom Come scenes left us sighing in satisfaction even more. But that's for another time.