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Kingdom Come (DC Comics)

Author: Mark Waid
Creator: Alex Ross
Publisher: Titan Books Ltd
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

34 reviews
Sales Rank: 5227

Media: Paperback
Pages: 236
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5

ISBN: 1852868163
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9781852868161
ASIN: 1852868163

Publication Date: October 10, 1997
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 2 to 4 weeks

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Kingdom Come
•	Hardcover - Kingdom Come
•	Mass Market Paperback - Kingdom Come

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk Review
As comic books gained in respectability, the superhero comic has remained a much-maligned medium. Oh sure, Batman was given new levels of sophistication by the likes of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, and Watchmen added a dose of reality to the concept of superheroes, but the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman have for years watched their lesser-powered colleagues gain critical acceptance while they were left behind to keep the kids happy. Until, that is, Kingdom Come accorded DC's premier superheroes the respect they have long deserved.

In the near future, Superman has retired, plagued by an inability to accept a world where his generation's super-powered descendants run roughshod over the values he fought for. When tragic events force his return, he gathers his former team-mates and colleagues to once again lead the fight for justice and order. However, their return sparks a chain of events that could lead the world to Armageddon.

With its intelligent storyline and superb painted artwork, writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross have created a thoroughly believable world where superheroes could exist, paying particular attention to the social and political implications of such a world. Why bother with the Olympics when there are beings who can bench-press buildings and run faster than light? What's the point of normal humans making laws when they are powerless to enforce them against superhumans? Above all, where Kingdom Come succeeds is by adding new depths of humanity to some of DC's timeless characters--including icons like Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman--as well as offering interesting future glimpses of the lesser known (but no less interesting) likes of Orion, Blue Beetle and Aquaman. --Robert Burrow

Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Possibly the best April 20, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is how to tell a story and tell it extrememly well.
This is how all comics should be like, a perfect marriage of art and story.
After you get passed the "Oohh, pretty pictures" stage you find a story that make you want to read. The possible future of the DC Universe reflected how comics were turning at the time. All the older and original characters being over looked for action and violence.
A Change had to happen.
And what a change.
Another title that brought people back to comics.
I can't think of another graphic novel that welcomes you in and gives you a story worth reading and one that you are more than happy to read again and again.
The story starts with a man seing vision of the end of the world and follows this seemingly insignifacant character as he is witness to what happens. You feel for each of the characters, no long two dimensional, you empithise with them and find yourself getting involved in the story, thanks in part to the narrator.
Alex Ross' art is as perfect as you can get, with each character looking different to the rest. Every face is unique, each is very human, instead of reproductions of the same face that sometimes happens in comics.
While Knowledge of the DC universe would be helpfull the way that somethings are explained as you go you feel like you don't really need to know as you learn as the narrator does.
I'm not sure if this review makes much sense but this is a must have for comic fans anywhere. .

2 out of 5 stars

Beautiful and cliched nonsense November 24, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book gets great reviews from most, but I found it remarkably dull. Like Ross's "Earth X" the story employs an observer to narrate the future. Perhaps this is necessary in order to make sense of what's going on (what indeed?), but it acts as a handbrake on the action, creating a feeling of passivity and inevitability. In this respect the book is the exact opposite of Miller's Dark Knight Returns, which is an all out direct assault on a possible future for Batman and Superman, upon which Ross has drawn directly and unsuccessfully.

Kingdom Come sounds great on paper and looks great on paper but is ultimately hot air. Lots of polemics, no real reason why anything in the possible future has occurred. Unless I've missed something and this is a postmodern treatise on the nature of chaos, this book isn't worth your time - especially not if you're looking for a good old-fashioned superhero asskicking.

5 out of 5 stars

The Zenith of Graphic Novels February 7, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Simply put, this is by far and away the best graphic novel you will ever read!
And it earns the full five stars for the following reasons;
1/The plot is superb and is genuinely original.It is fast paced and has really good ideas that constantly challenge you.There is a real sense of the authors 'loving' the characters and knowing their inner-most thoughts, strengths and weaknesses and this really shines through.
2/ The artwork is the best you will ever see!When you see Alex Ross on form like this you are just blown away.It is fair to say that nearly all of the artwork could be on posters and t-shirts ; it is THAT good.
3/ It has all the best DC universe characters in it.Your favourites and some that you will maybe not have met before.The standouts are Superman,Batman and Wonderwoman.

This graphic novel stands head and shoulders above every other.It is superior in every way imaginable.My copy is bent and battered by the number of times i have read this !!I ended up buying the Absolute Edition (also available from Amazon) as a 'best' copy.

THIS IS MY DESERT ISLAND GRAPHIC NOVEL

5 out of 5 stars

Best Graphic Novel I've Read In A Ten-Year History Of Doing So... July 19, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I started reading comics in 1996. Fortunately, for me, this was the year that 'Kingdom Come' was published.

Any self respecting comic-book fan should be ashamed if they do not appreciate Alex Ross' incomparable, airbrushed artwork. Similarly, Mark Waid's writing leaves you hanging on. So much so that, to this day, a full ten years after reading the story, I still class it as one of my top ten books (the rest, obviously, being regular, prose ones).

Put simply, I've always been fussy about the condition my possessions are kept in - usually this would lead to me only reading books at home, where nothing could happen to them (as opposed to damage possible in travel, etc.)...

..Honestly, however, I couldn't do this with 'Kingdom Come': I even remember sitting at my sister's school parents' evening with my nose in it; the damage done to the book (from carrying it with me everywhere) was worth it - my copy of 'Kingdom Come' has since been joined by two newer editions! I think this is evidence enough that the book is worth a read, isn't it? A book all comic-book fans (at least those who read comics in the era of the book's publication) should (have) read.

5 out of 5 stars

spectacular armageddon! April 23, 2003
13 out of 15 found this review helpful

Don't know where to begin! This is an incredible four part story, and Ross's art is simply beautiful, not whatyou would expect in a graphic novel. a classy piece of work!
Set in the future, Superman has failed to keep up with the times; he isn't brutal or violent enough. After a terrible personal tragedy, he leaves, becoming a hermit. As he began the modern heroic age, so he ends it. With Superman gone, many of the other great heroes fade away from the world stage; Wonder woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Batman.
A new generation of younger super powered beings begins to rampage, fighting for no reason, slowly tearing cities apart, making lesser mortals fear them.But all is not well. A Golden Age hero (Sandman) begins to have visions of an apocalyptic future, visions he passes on to a priest. The priest fears Superman and his allies, who return to help bring about order and peace, will in fact set off events as written in the book of revelation. With Batman conspiring with Lex Luthor to defeat the heores of the past, and the Spectre himself coming to bring justice, how can disaster and destruction be avoided?
This is a cool story, with strong mythic and apocalyptic undertones. You don't have to know much about the DC heroes to enjoy it. The art is brilliant, the story chugs along, the dialogue isn't corny, and the ending isn'y schmaltzy. What more could you want? The graphic novel has an advantage over the original comic release in that it has a delightful little epilogue which i won't spoil for you, a meeting between superman and batman, who have ever seemed at odds with each other despite having the same objectives of defeating evil and protecting the innocent. Batman does come across as a little too smug at times, though Superman is too idealistic and naive, while wonder woman has become cold and martial.
Cannot recommend this enough!