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''Kingdom Come'' is a Comic Book Limited Series published in 1996 by DC Comics , written by Mark Waid and painted by Alex Ross . It concerns the efforts of Superman and the Justice League in the near Future to control the growing population of new Superhero es. Alex Ross painted each page of the comic using watercolors. The Absolute version of ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' catalogued this timeline as Earth-96. STORY Disaster The Narrator of the story is a Reverend named Norman McCay, suffering from a crisis of faith, who is approached by The Spectre to observe and pass judgement on the approaching superhero Apocalypse . In the near future, The Joker is killed by Magog (a golden helmed Cyborg based on Marvel Comics ' Cable ) after a massacre at the Daily Planet offices, and Superman abandons his never-ending battle for truth and justice after a jury delivers an acquittal, causing many other heroes of his generation to withdraw from the world at large, leaving a power vacuum that is soon filled by a new generation of heroes. These new heroes battle openly, using lethal force against each other without concern for collateral damage. This comes to a head when the Justice Battalion, led by Magog, attacks the Parasite, who manages to tear Captain Atom open and release the nuclear force within him, obliterating Kansas and parts of the surrounding states. The Second Coming of Superman With coaxing from . Lex Luthor and his ''Mankind Liberation Front'' (a group of Silver Age villains) work to wrest control of the world away from the new heroes, and he claims to have an ace in the hole, a man the Spectre calls "the captain of the lightning and the thunder." With the Justice League gaining more captives than converts, they have to hold them somewhere, and end up building a penal colony called the Gulag in the Kansas wastelands, filling it to capacity faster than they built it. With hostile villains like 666, Kabuki Kommando, and Von Bach locked up together, the pressure builds. The Pact The MLF ally with Batman and his cadre of heroes ( Blue Beetle , Green Arrow , Black Canary , and a group of second and third-generation superheroes, (referred as "Outsiders" by fans, though not explicitly stated in the series), and Norman McCay's apocalyptic visions continue to increase in intensity. When the Gulag's inmates start rioting, Batman and Luthor's forces clash, and Luthor's ace, a severely brain-scrambled Captain Marvel , speaks his word of power to carry out the mission Luthor had for him: bust open the Gulag and unleash the prisoners. When the Gulag breaks open, the Justice League clash with the bloodthirsty inmates, while Superman and Captain Marvel battle (Marvel wounding Superman by summoning lightning with his magic word " Shazam !") The Spectre and Norman watch, helpless (or unwilling) to do anything. As the conditions worsen, the United Nations Secretary General Wyrmwood authorizes the deployment of three tactical Nuclear Warheads , hardened against metahuman powers, to save the world from their uncontrollable powers. Armageddon Batman and Wonder Woman clash in the middle of the warzone, taking to the skies, where they see the incoming nukes. They manage to stop two of them, but the third slips past and drops from its carrier. Captain Marvel is continuing to beat Superman by using his magic lightning bolt. However, as Marvel says the name again, Superman grabs him and the lightning finds its mark; Marvel turns back into Billy Batson. Holding Batson's mouth shut, Superman tells Batson that he is going to stop the nuke, and Batson must make an important choice: either stop Superman and allow the nuke to kill all the metahumans, or let Superman stop the bomb and allow the metahumans' war to engulf the world. , shown here as depicted in ''Kingdom Come'' by Alex Ross , battles Superman at the climax of the miniseries.]] Superman releases him and flies off to stop the incoming bomb. Batson, his mind now clear, says the name, turns into Marvel, flies past Superman, and takes hold of the bomb. Marvel says "Shazam!" three more times, and the lightning sets the nuke off. Most of the metahumans are obliterated in the explosion, but because Captain Marvel detonated it far above the ground, a few survive beneath Green Lantern's force field, and Superman is virtually untouched. Enraged, he flies to the UN Building and starts bringing it down. The surviving metahumans arrive, but Norman McCay is the one who talks him down. Superman produces Captain Marvel's cape and tells the UN representatives that they will use his wisdom to guide, rather than lead, humankind. Epilogue Later, Waid and Ross developed an epilogue for the trade paperback collection of the series. The epilogue features Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman (in their secret identities) eating at Planet Krypton, a theme restaurant based on superheroes. It is revealed that Superman and Wonder Woman are expecting a child, with Batman accepting the role of godfather and mentor of the child. CHARACTERS Superman's Justice League Many of the new Justice Leaguers are either old characters in new forms or brand new adaptions of old names. Partial list:
Batman's "Outsiders" Batman has formed a group of metahumans, similar to his Outsiders many of which are second-generation heroes, to combat the Justice League and the Mankind Liberation Front. Partial list:
Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front Since Superman's depature ten years ago, Luthor and the MLF have been conducting events behind the scenes in an attempt to destroy metahumans and rule the world at last.
Rogue Metahumans The superheroes of the future have virtually no regard for human life. Many of them were killed in the Gulag battle, but most have already made their mark in the world as monsters. Listed below are the major, supporting, or otherwise notable characters.
BEHIND THE STORY ''Kingdom Come'' is interpreted by many as a clash between the Silver Age of comics and the "modern age," (1994), highlighted by the Image Comics revolution in two-dimensional Stereotypical anti-heroes, laden with excess muscle and guns, committing graphic Violence for its own sake. The series contains numerous references to Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 's Watchmen . (The League's replacements, the Justice Battalion, is comprised mostly of superheroes from Charlton Comics , several of which -- Captain Atom , Peacemaker and Blue Beetle -- were the basis for Alan Moore 's '' Watchmen '', one panel from the first issue of ''Kingdom Come'' shows a bookstore window displaying the book ''Under the Hood'' by Hollis Mason a.k.a. Nite-Owl , a fictional book in ''Watchmen''. Another panel on the same page shows graffiti that clearly reads, "Who Watches the Watchmen?", although part of it is cut off as it always is in Watchmen. Also Rorschach appears in the bar/nightclub scene.) Ross admitted Watchmen was an influence on this series (i.e. apocalyptic themes and the conflict between superhumans and humans) as well as the series often blamed (rightly or wrongly) for catlysing a trend towards violence in comics that led to the ''grim and gritty'' 1980's era and the subsequent Image style of the early 90's. The iconic leader of KC's "new heroes," Magog, is an amalgam of the Biblical Golden Calf and Marvel Comics 's Cable , considered to be the prototype of the Image style. Ross and Waid originally planned to have Magog lead the final Gulag riot and die, but admitted they had grown too fond of him. Superman is a Christ -like figure, depicted as a carpenter, walking on water (in Batman's flooded Batcave), and when he returns, a reporter refers to it as "the Second Coming of Superman". The Book Of Revelation and Apocalyptic imagery heavily influence the story. Captain Marvel is often, fittingly enough, interpreted as a stand-in for Marvel Comics itself, even though the character was never in any way related to Marvel. Like the company, which introduced human frailties to superheroes, the Captain is simultaneously "man and god." The artist, Alex Ross, took the opportunity to insert many visual references in the story: Norman McCay is based on his own father, and the bar/nightclub features many "washed-up" Silver Age figures and a stage performance by the , while the superhuman gulag is styled as the Legion Of Doom 's Darth Vader -helmet shaped dome. Marvin, a supporting character created for the early seasons of that series, also appears in a couple of panels -- one in his familiar appearance, and another in his current, older appearance, apparently emulating Lobo's clothing and drinking habits. A gang of urban criminals stalked by Batman robots, inspired by the Griffon labor from '' Patlabor '', in Gotham City are based on '' Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids ''. Other visual references included depictions of the Monkees , John Steed and Emma Peel , Village People , Riff Raff and Colombia from the Rocky Horror Picture Show as well as Captain America and Thor from Marvel Comics. Many of the heroes who were members of the Justice Society of America became the living embodiments of their namesakes. Hawkman is a hawk/man hybrid. Wildcat is an anthropomorphic panther. Dr. Mid-Nite is a walking cloud of the dark smoke he uses to disorient his enemies. Several visual references to 's armor; the Batcave's light panels and multi-level interior structure recall the carbon-freezing chamber on Bespin ; and Peacemaker's helmet is clearly modeled after the one made famous by Boba Fett . And in three panels, the protagonist from Marvel Comics' '' Marvels '' (also painted by Alex Ross) can be seen. A novelization of the comic book was written by Elliot S! Maggin and published in 1999. A fully-dramatized audio adaptation of this novelization also exists. EFFECTS ON MAINSTREAM CONTINUITY Due to the popularity of the series it was suggested that DC attempt to steer the DCU towards the world depicted in ''KC''. This was dismissed, but Alex Ross began work on a Prequel titled ''Kingdom'' (see below) that would address how certain characters came to be (including the new Wildcat ) and tie mainstream continuity to that shown in ''KC''. Due to a falling out with co-creator Mark Waid , Ross's series was never produced and Waid produced the prequel/ Sequel '' The Kingdom '' without any input from Ross. Cyborg for a time displayed the same powers/appearance as he does in ''KC''. The character of Nuklon was permanently given the name 'Atom Smasher' and costume he displays in ''KC''. A new Johnny Thunder ( Jakeem Thunder ) was introduced based on Ross's new design and has since shaved his head, making him even closer in appearance to his Kingdom Come counterpart. In James Robinson 's '' Starman '', it was revealed that - as in ''KC'' - Star Boy of the Legion Of Superheroes will, at some point, travel back in time to assume the identity and costume of Starman. In the pages of JSA, Northwind , a Hawkman supporting character, appears to have taken on the exact look of Hawkman from ''Kingdom Come''. During the Infinite Crisis , Dr. Fate became independent of his human host Hector Hall , existing now as Nabu 's helmet, cloak, and amulet, no longer requiring a human host, much like ''Kingdom Come'''s Fate. SEE ALSO
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