I'll be the first to admit. I'm not a fan of Superman. I don't even like him. He's the ultimate boy scout. There's no depth to his character and no matter what, he always takes the moral high ground. He's so strong that even when he dies, it's only temporary. But after reviewing Knightfall someone suggested Kingdom Come. Some people believe that it's the best Superman story ever written. Even with that, I did not come into Kingdom Come with high hopes.The name Kingdom Come comes from The Lord's Prayer where Kingdom Come is used as a synonym for Heaven. Outside of the name the story does have a heavy religious presence. The narration of the story is split between Pastor Norman McCay, who is seeing apocalyptic visions from The Book of Revelation as well as The Spectre, a spirit sent by God to punish the guilty but is bonded to a man.
When the story begins Superman has exiled himself after the public chose a new hero in Magog who rose to fame after killing Joker. With Superman gone the heroes changed. Jay Garrick moved fast enough to become the embodiment of Speedforce and his city has become a utopia. After Arkham and Blackgate were bombed killing all the prisoners, Batman took control of his city as well as forming a non-metahuman alliances with Ted Kord, Green Arrow, Black Canary and a few other human heroes. Wonder Woman has been exiled by her people. Lex Luthor has created a new alliance of villains. Catwoman and Riddler want to save the world while Lex and Vandal Savage want to rule it still.
Batman didn't like the new murderous heroes so he adapted and kept them out of his city while alining with other heroes who agreed. He has never been the prime example of how heroes behaved, but he didn't leave and people respected him for that even after his identity had been revealed long ago. Superman always operated in the idealistic way, but the most powerful being in the universe, just left. Batman isn't great, but he'll always be there.
When Superman looks to King Arthur Curry for help he sees that Arthur has expanded Atlantis greatly. Superman and Wonder Woman spend time praising him before Arthur stops them. He lets them know he always thought the Aquaman name they gave him was a joke but he desired the friendship he found amongst other super humans. He reminds them that he's long outgrown the name Aquaman. Superman asks for help again and Arthur tells them that he can't bring his problems below sea anymore. He points out that he rules 70% of the world and to him Superman just has a few islands that he can't take care of with all his power.
Eventually Superman imprisons all heroes that won't commit to his ways while Batman convinces Luthor that he's finally teaming up with him to stop Superman and forward humanity. Batman actually has Martian Manhunter spy on Luthor who has brain washed an adult Captain Marvel. Martian Manhunter is a shell of himself after overexerting himself to pick up Superman's Slack but still trying to help. Batman assures him that he's been helpful when he starts to break down and tells him to finally get some rest.When Luthor finds out Batman has crossed him he sends Marvel to free the prisoners finally sparking the war against Superman. The war comes down to Superman and his Justice League vs Captain Marvel and The New Generation of Heroes vs Batman, human heroes and robots. The United Nations catch wind and send three nukes to wipe out the metahumans once and for all. Batman stops one nuke and Wonder Woman stops a second. Superman is able to hold off Captain Marvel long enough to rush at the third before Captain Marvel throws him down and detonates the nuke.Superman attacks the United Nations in anger only to be stopped by Batman, Wonder Woman and a few others. They inform him that thanks to heroes like Green Lantern (Alan Scott) who could form shields protecting most of the people. Norman begs The Spectre not to punish anyone because everyone is at fault and asks what the man inside of him thinks. Fast forward and Superman is building a mass graveyard to the dead and restarting farms in the destroyed land. Wonder Woman is teaching the heroes not to kill and Batman is being Batman. The Spectre attends Norm's church in his human form. Fast forward a year later and Norm is helping Spectre regain his humanity. Wonder Woman is pregnant with Superman's child and they ask Batman to be the godfather.
I don't like Superman. He acts as if he's a God amongst man. Kingdom Come addresses that. He believes himself to be a God amongst man and it doesn't work. He only created a war between 4 different parties. It took millions of people to die before he realized he wasn't a God. He even talked to New God Orion who had overthrown Apokolips and brought in democracy only for people to vote for him because they feared him. He told Superman that they aren't Gods and they can't rule no matter how they try.
There's a ton of religious overtones but it's not just for show. It serves a purpose. It's not an attempt to throw it in for show or subtly bring people to religion. It's simply showing that you can't play God no matter how you might try. Superman, Magog, Luthor, and even Wonder Woman claimed to be Gods at some point. All it brought was war. It's a masterfully written. They show Superman as the iconic and true idea of what a hero is. They crown him as the greatest, but then they pull him off that God pedestal that writers so often place him on. They throw him on the ground, kick dirt in his eye and show him that he's no better than the rest of us no matter how much better he thinks he is. This isn't a comic where in the end either Superman or Batman was right. Because at the end of the day neither was right. They were both wrong. Sure it's a one off and not cannon, but it's a reality check for Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. They're so often right but this time they all got thrown in the dirt and spit on. Kingdom Come is what I always wanted in a story. I love that good ultimately prevails in comics, and it did here too. The difference is it didn't come from a few heroes saying a few magical words about the kindness of men. Everyone had to be proven wrong for peace to come. Nobody is right and that's the joy. Too often in comics everything is black or white when it shouldn't be. Kingdom Come is a beautiful and colorful portrait painted in shades of gray.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He's also playing Pokemon Liquid Crystal on YouTube
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