Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross: A Review

 

    Since I was a little kid, I've always shared a love of comic books with my Dad, who first introduced me to them when I was 6. He's always been a big fan of them,  and just mentioning one of his favorite characters will end up with him talking about some story he read 15 years ago for half an hour. I suppose some of that passion was passed down because comics have been one of my favorite genres since I read Superman: Secret Origin for the first time years ago. 

    The first thing that caught my eye about Kingdom Come was the art, which cemented it in my to-be-read list. (along with my dad claiming it to be one of the best comics ever but he says that about everything) One thing about the art that's unique is the artist, Alex Ross, and his style. It uses a mixture of gouache and wash, which gives the colors their smooth quality and even smoother blending. Another aspect that I really like about the art is its use of lighting, which you can see in the eerie green glow on the cover image to the left. Kingdom Come has a much darker take on Superman than many other adaptations, which is also reflected in how Alex Ross draws him. Most of the time when Superman is shown, there's a shadow on his face, and that combined with his demeanor in the books he's a lot different than the Superman many people are used to, which matches the serious tone of the comic. Even though I did enjoy the story, I would still say that the art would be my favorite part, and I found myself sometimes stopping reading to just admire the atmosphere of a scene or the masterfully painted structures like Green Lantern's castle in space. 

Alongside the art, I think that the story was also well done, and it lived up to the pretty high expectations my dad's descriptions set. The story takes place sometime in the near future when the new and colder generation of superhumans are constantly fighting among themselves blurring the line between hero and villain with little to no regard for human life. Superman has always been a character who cares a lot about morals, and avoids killing as much as possible, so is very disturbed by the changes in superhero values. When he confronts the leader, Magog, of these new superhumans who killed Superman's wife Lois Lane, he loses the will to fight for humanity and isolates himself in the fortress of solitude. Years later, the superhuman situation has only gotten worse, with the death of millions, the near-complete destruction of the Midwest by Magog, and the end of the world approaching, Wonder Woman convinces Superman to bring back the Justice League to save the world. The story was somewhat predictable, and the ending was pretty much exactly what I was expecting, but I didn't really mind because the journey getting there was enjoyable, and I thought that it had some interesting takes on some of the characters, specifically Batman and Shazam. 

Even if comics aren't really your thing, or you have no prior knowledge about DC, I would still encourage you to try reading Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, because it easily became one of my favorite comics only a few pages in, and is just a good story overall. The atmosphere that the authors set for you is so incredibly well done and memorable. It's one of the books that I would pay to be able to read again for the first time and experience the story again without knowing anything. Definitely a 5/5 for me.

- Chloe N.H.