KINGDOM COME by Mark Waid (author) and Alex Ross (illustrator)


Published in 2008.
Originally published in 1996.

This edition collects the original four volumes of this limited series into one complete volume.

If you liked the feel of the recent Batman v Superman movie, you will likely enjoy this graphic novel. If not, you are probably better off skipping this introspective spectacle.

 We start Kingdom Come with a world out of control. A new generation of Meta-humans abound. They have the skills of the old Justice League but none of their standards. The good ones still fight with the bad ones but they do it with little regard to the regular people who live all around them. Cars explode, buildings crumble and people get hurt. In a single fight Kansas was obliterated in a massive explosion caused by the death of a nuclear-powered Meta-human.

Where is old Justice League? It has disbanded since Superman retreated from the world and is living on a pretend hologram Kansas farm inside of his Fortress of Solitude. He is sick of watching his regular friends age and die. He is sick of "The Never Ending Battle" - the non-stop parade of criminals and human depravity. But, even a depressed Superman can't just let his second home (Kansas) be nuked without any sort of response.
Superman's new "coming out
of retirement" logo.

 So, Superman comes back with his old friends to restore order, reign in the new heroes and fight the new enemies. But, things aren't as simple as all of that. Some don't want to submit. Some have to be rounded up and jailed in a special prison to be rehabilitated.

There are questions everywhere.

Will Superman become the world's dictator in order to save the world from itself?

Why is Wonder Woman so fired up to fight everyone?

 Why is Batman working with Lex Luthor? 

 Speaking of Lex, his comments about the need for regular humans to reclaim the planet from the Meta-humans aren't so crazy when you consider the devastation caused by the Meta-humans. And, of course, Lex has a plan.

 Brooding and filled with too many characters - but also brilliantly conceived, I especially like the way that the story is told through a neutral third party human.

 This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Kingdom Come. 

 I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5.

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