From: Jess Nevins <[j j nevins] at [ix.netcom.com]>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info,rec.arts.comics.dc.universe
Subject: Kingdom Come #1 Annotations
Date: 27 Jun 1997 10:11:00 -0700
Kingdom Come #1 Annotations
Cover: Mark Waid described this as being filled with the bad new
"heroes" who have forgotten, or never knew, what real heroism is
like.
Front Row: Thunder, Von Bach, Lightning, 666, Joker's
Daughter II, Catwoman II, Spectre, Captain Atom.
Second Row: Germ-Man, Swastika, Stealth II, Nightstar,
Cathedral, Phoebus, Stripes, Tokyo Rose, Magog, Trix.
Third Row: Blue Devil II, Shiva the Destroyer ,
Judomaster II, Nuculoid, Demon Damsel, Manotaur, Huntress III.
Last Row: Buddha, Mr. Terrific II, Tusk, Pinwheel, Stars,
Black Mongul, Kabuki Kommando, and N-I-L-8.
Thunder is a new character; he is the _Kingdom Come_
version of the Golden Age hero Johnny Thunder. The card set
describes him as "a new Johnny Thunder with the mischievous spirit
of the Thunderbolt." The _Kingdom Come_ Revelations
supplement notes that, contrary to many fan speculations, he is
unrelated to Black Lightning.
Von Bach is a new character, described in the card set as
"Yugoslavian would-be dictator." The Revelations supplement says
this about him: "This is one of my earliest new-breed designs and
one of the most important. This German-speaking superhuman and
would-be dictator is the example of the Hitleresque villain that had
so much symbolic importance in the Golden Age of superheroes.
The blocky cross on his chest is evocative of the kind of bold
symbols used by Fascists. Von Bach has the words `liebe' (love)
and `hass' (hate) tattooed on his arms and, in fact, his entire body
has been covered with one large tattoo of that dark color that most
tattoos become, with his natural flesh color only coming through in
the designs on his body."
Lightning is a new character; she is the _Kingdom Come_
version of the Golden Age hero Thunderbolt - Johnny Thunder's
pet genie. The Revelations supplement adds the following: "The
future daughter of Black Lightning glows like a photo-negative
with a more physically transformed quality than her father. The
similarity to the 1980s Jonni Thunder's thunderbolt is coincidental
but provides an interesting suggestion for her mother." The
Revelations genealogy positively establishes that Lightning is the
child of Black Lightning and "Jonni Thunder w/Thunderbolt."
666 is a new character; the card set says this about him:
"tattooed, self-mutilated man-machine of destruction." The
Revelations supplement adds this: "Our second tattooed
troublemaker is an aesthetic superhuman in the vein of the old-style
punk rockers, with his body-piercings, hairstyle and physical
mutilation. Three large 6's are tattooed, one on each breast and one
over his face. The leather clothing, oversized boots, kneepads and
gargoyle resting on the left shoulder are a parody of the British
character Judge Dredd's police uniform." [The Revelations
supplement also adds that writer/artist Brian Azzarello is the
physical model for 666]
Joker's Daughter II is unofficially called Harlequin III,
according to Alex Ross. The card set calls her "one of many to
follow the Joker's chaotic style." The Revelations supplement adds
the following: "Along with Batman's apparent influence on others
to follow his style, so has the Joker inspired a few to take after his
chaotic clown style. The original Joker's Daughter (who actually
turned out to be Two-Face's Daughter) was a former member of
the Teen Titans and has no direct relation to this new "riot girl"
version, nor is there a true familial relation to the Joker."
Catwoman II is a new character; the card set says this about
her: "armored meta-human, successor to Selina Kyle." The
Revelations supplement says this: "This modern, armored, spiked,
cat-eyed heir to the role may be even more feline than her
predecessor, Selina Kyle."
The Spectre is a current DC hero; the card set describes him
as "the wandering spirit of God's vengeance." We will learn more
about him as the series progresses.
Captain Atom is a current DC hero; the card set describes
him as "human nuclear reactor and symbol of the atomic age."
Germ-Man is a new character; the card set calls him a
"master of biological warfare who spews poison gas."
Swastika is a new character; the card set describes him as a
"American militiaman and anarchist." The Revelations supplement
says this about him: "This was originally the tattoo design for Von
Bach which I still wanted to save for its own namesake character.
This American militia extremist with a malformed face is simply a
well-armed skinhead."
Stealth II is a new character; the card set calls her a
"cloaked one-woman war machine." Her helmet and armor, as a
few folks pointed out, seem to be based on the armor worn by the
Knights of the DC series _Checkmate_.
Nightstar is a new character. We will learn more about her
as the series progresses.
Cathedral is a new character; the card set describes him as
the "holy terror of the underworld." The Revelations supplement
adds this: "Instead of dark-clad, cloaked figures roaming around on
building rooftops and edifices, I threw together someone who
would blend in better."
Phoebus is a new character; the card set calls him
"Firestorm's successor as Earth's fire elemental." The Revelations
supplement adds this about him: "This is a fire-powered superhero
design from age 11. I had my own super-group lineup which
supplied heroes of all the standard power types - fire, ice, lightning,
stretching, etc. Phoebus, which is another name for Apollo, is the
fire elemental replacement for Firestorm."
Stripes is the _Kingdom Come_ version of the GA hero
Stripesy, who was the adult sidekick to the youthful Star-Spangled
Kid and was a member of the GA DC superhero group the Seven
Soldiers of Victory. The card set describes Stripes as a "modern
Stripesy armed to the teeth." The Revelations supplement says of
him that "the military technical expertise that Tony Akins could
draw upon is what I wanted to apply to a modern urban vigilante
version of Stripesy."
Tokyo Rose is a new character; the card set calls her a
"Japanese martial arts assassin." The Revelations supplement says:
"This would be the martial arts master of Japan whose nom de
plume has World War II roots."
Magog is a new character. We will learn more about him as
the series progresses.
Trix is a new character; the card set has this to say about
her: "after `Matrix,' a morphing biomechanism." The Revelations
supplement adds this: "This is a favorite of mine based strongly on
the paintings and design aesthetic of artist H.R. Giger, with
biomechanical abilities that form complex hand weapons and allow
it to repair itself."
Blue Devil II is a new character; the card set describes him
as "no longer a human, this indigo demon harkens from the
netherworld." Blue Devil II seems to be visually based on
Tchernabog, the demon from the final segment of Disney's
_Fantasia_. The Revelations supplement confirms this: "The Blue
Devil here is a literal demon from the netherworld that was visually
inspired by the classic Disney cartoon _Fantasia_."
Shiva the Destroyer is a new character; the card set
describes him as a "four-armed defender of India, based on the
Hindu god."
Judomaster II is based on the Charlton and DC hero
Judomaster; the card set calls her the "female inheritor of the
mantle."
Nuculoid is a new character; the card set describes him as a
"pliable nuclear-powered hero." The Revelations supplement adds:
"Apparently this is Mark's favorite dumb character design from
those I did as a kid. Nuculoid is a nuclear-powered stretching
super-hero. His circulatory system glows with a fluorescent `black
light' effect through his costume."
Demon Damsel is a new character; the card set calls her a
"would-be Legion of Superheroes member." Gail informs me that
Mark Waid says Demon Damsel is a new character, and not
someone who actually applied, in the comics, to be a LSH member.
The Revelations supplement adds this about her: "This is my sexy,
childhood design for a villainess with a Legion of Super Heroes
member sound to her name."
Manotaur is a new character; the card set describes him as a
"classical Greek myth armed for the future."
Huntress III is a new character; the card set describes her as
the "warrior queen of the African jungle."
Buddha is a new character; the card set calls him the
"Sumo-sized scourge of China." The Revelations supplement
describes him this way: "As a kid I created an alien-like version of
this one but I've reinvented him here as the hulking sumo-sized
scourge of China, wearing a cracked ceramic mask of Buddha's
visage."
Mr. Terrific II is the _Kingdom Come_ version of the GA
DC hero Mr. Terrific. The card set describes him as an "over-equipped update of the old version, with little understanding of his
predecessor's motto of `fair play.'"
Tusk is a new character; the card set calls him a "elephant-shaped man-o-war." The Revelations supplement adds: "This is a
Japanese giant robot armor design crossed with an elephant. Notice
that the suit is manned."
Pinwheel is a new character; the card set describes him as
a "blade-laden, leather-clad master of pain."
Stars is the _Kingdom Come_ version of the GA DC hero
the Star-Spangled Kid, who, with Stripesy, was in the Seven
Soldiers of Victory. The card set calls him a "hip-hop, modern Star-Spangled Kid with cosmic rod and belt." The Revelations
supplement says this: "Beginning my revamping of the individual
members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, the new Star-Spangled
Kid has a much rougher edge with a certain irreverence to his
patriotic aspect. He bears two Starman-derived pieces of equipment
that the original Kid used at different times, first, the cosmic rod...
and second, the cosmic belt. Design by artist Tony Akins."
Black Mongul is a new character; the card set describes him
as the "Mongolian shadow of death," and the Revelations
supplement calls him "a Genghis Khan-like spectre of death with a
Russian/Asian background."
Kabuki Kommando is a new character; the card set
describes him as "the Fourth World's Japanese champion." Alex
Ross said that he intended the name and character as a tribute to the
work of Jack Kirby, "if Kirby had ever got into a Japanese period."
N-I-L-8 is a new character, described in the card set as "a
sentient armory with an appetite for destruction."
Page 1 (11). Quotes from Revelation 8:5. Waid and Ross start us
off with a reference to the final book of the Bible, in which the end
of the world is vividly described - not a good omen, and not the last
time we see implications of a bad ending for the world of
_Kingdom Come_.
The following quotes and interpretations of the Biblical
references are verbatim courtesy of Anthony:
"The eagle symbolism:"
"In the book of Revelation, the eagle represents the `power
and swiftness of divine help.' In a larger sense, the eagle is the
symbol used for St. John (who wrote Revelation). They (Catholics)
use this symbol in referring to St. John because his gospel focuses
on Christ's divine and Heavenly nature. In other parts of the Bible,
eagles are also used to represent the rise towards Heaven. `But they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount
up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint,' from the Old Testament (Isaiah 40:31) is
an example of this."
"there were voices:"
"St. John refers to hearing voices *many* times...these
voices represent the souls of the martyrs begging God to take
vengeance out on the world for its sins."
"...and thunderings, and lightnings..." and "And there followed hail
and fire mingled with blood:"
"These are probably meant to be taken literally. These are
natural disasters that God will use to punish people. Throughout
the Bible, natural disasters were a sign of God's displeasure. The
fire refers back to the Old Testament. In the book of Genesis, after
the flood, God tells Noah that He will not destroy the earth again
with water, but the next time with fire." (This is also echoed in the
verses of old spiritual hymn: "God gave Noah the rainbow sign: no
more water, the fire next time." This was in turn used for the title
of James Baldwin's book, _The Fire Next Time_, a title somewhat
apropos to _Kingdom Come_ - Annotator).
"... and an earthquake:"
"Earthquakes are used to represent God's presence, such as
in the Gospels when Jesus dies, there are earthquakes mentioned."
(notably the earthquake which rocked Hell, as seen in Dante's
_Inferno_ - Annotator)
The Waid/Ross Annotations point out that "the symbol of
the bat represents The Batman" and, despite what everyone else
assumed, "the symbol of the eagle represents Wonder Woman."
Much time, and some interesting speculation, was spent analyzing
this as if the eagle represented Superman. Our mistake.
Page 2 (12). Quotes from Revelation 8:7, 8:10.
Andrew: "There fell a great star from Heaven, burning as if
it were a lamp...:"
"In Revelation, this star is named `Wormwood'. Wormwood
is a bitter plant, and is used to represent God's punishment, as in the
Lamentations of Jeremiah. Revelation also mentions other falling
stars, which refer to the fallen angels. Could these `fallen angels' be
the fallen super heroes?"
The Waid/Ross Annotations say the following about this
page: "red lightning represents The Flash, green flame represents
The Green Lantern. The large female figure with a spear and male
archer figure represent the warring forces of Wonder Woman and
The Batman. The hand holding the lightning bolt represents Captain
Marvel, and the angel is, of course, Superman."
Page 3 (13). Quotes from Revelation 8:13.
Page 4 (14). This is our introduction to the narrator, Norman
McCay, who is a new figure, introduced in _Kingdom Come_; he is
to be our Everyman guide through this DC dystopia. Alex Ross on
McCay: "Norman McCay is just simply what my dad looks like, a
figure who might well have been around for every age of the
superhero." Norman is the middle name of Alex Ross' father.
Norman McCay's name is also an homage to Winsor
McCay, the great artist of the classic comic strip _Little Nemo in
Slumberland_. The titular character, Little Nemo, dreamed himself
into an art deco fantasy paradise every night; as we'll see, Norman
McCay undergoes something of the opposite phenomenon.
The aged man McCay is talking to - "Wesley" - is, as we
shall see, Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman (note his
mentioning that "the sands run out"), one of DC's earliest heroes.
Wesley was driven by dreams, as shown in _Sandman Mystery
Theater_, to fight crime - but his dreams have turned here into
Biblical-themed nightmares. Or, just maybe, premonitions from
God, or the Spectre...
As Wesley is getting out his old Sandman hat in panel 5, he
looks, as Mark Coale points out, like the writer William S.
Burroughs.
Wesley is quoting here from Revelation 10:3.
Jonathan Woodward points out the cracked Lexcorp
Building over Norman's shoulder; it matches the damaged skyline
of the city, and is another indication that the effect of all the
superhumans on the society of _Kingdom Come_ is a dire one.
Anthony, on Wesley's "seven thunders" quote:
"Seven thunders will utter their voices..."
"This refers to the anti-Christ. The number seven probably
refers to the first beast in Revelation, which had seven heads `each
containing insulting names to God.' The seven heads refer to the
seven Roman emperors, and the names are the names of these
emperors. They are revolting to God, because they claimed to be
deities, and had people refer to them with such titles as `our lord
and god.' Interestingly, this beast is supposed to rise out of the sea,
and on page 2 (12) we see what looks like an arm coming out of
the water holding a lightning bolt."
Wesley's quote that "Babylon falls" is a reference to the
function of Babylon in the book of Revelation, in which Babylon
stands for the city of the Anti-Christ.
Page 5 (15). Panel 2 is what the GA Sandman looked like in
costume, for those of you who've never seen him. As Scott Casteel
caught, but I somehow missed, Wesley is seeing the doctor and
nurse as the Sandman, with the same red tone as the dream images.
The horned, winged figure landing on the rooftop in panel 5
is Demon Damsel, who can be seen on the cover of this issue (issue
#1).
Wesley is quoting, in panel 1, from Revelation 11:3.
Anthony says, regarding this: "Who these two witnesses are is still
being debated by theologians. It could refer to two Old Testament
prophets, St. Peter and St. Paul, or it could be symbolic of the
Church as a whole. The reason there are two of them, though, is
because in the Gospels Jesus always sent out the Apostles in groups
of two to witness to the faith. Also, at the time Revelation was
written, you needed two witnesses to prove that something was
true."
Page 6 (16). Andrew Lannen points out that, in panel 1, you can
just make out a man with a white streak in his red hair standing near
a small gravestone marked "Corrigan." That man is, of course, Jim
Corrigan - aka the Spectre - who we'll see again, in a few pages.
Corrigan's presence here also fits, as Eric Dittman and Loki Carbis
pointed out, as the Spectre is one of the last surviving members of
the Justice Society of America (although Alan Scott's absence here
is puzzling, or perhaps just an indication of how distanced Wesley
was from the rest of the world). Joel Shin notes that we can see
Corrigan, still standing by his grave but seeming to fade away, in
panel 3. Austin Loomis notes the dates on Corrigan's grave marker
- 1914-1939 - and points out that the Spectre's first appearance was
in _More Fun Comics_ #52, in February 1940.
Note the Hall of Justice, from the _Superfriends_ tv
cartoon, in the picture on the front page of the Daily Planet.
William Cavanaugh points out that the sparsely-attended,
rainy funeral of a former superhero is a clear homage to
_Watchmen_.
The Waid/Ross Annotations point out that panel 4 gives us
our only glimpse of Ellen, Norman McCay's late wife.
Page 7 (17). The long-haired Korean man in panel 1 with the
cigarette dangling from his mouth is Sung Koo, the former
proprietor of Halley's Comics, a Chicago comic-book store; Alex
Ross is from Chicago. The owner of the damaged car is, as Craig
Kostelecky points out in his _Wizard_ article on _Kingdom Come_,
visually quite similar to Non, one of the villains from the film
"Superman 2."
Joel Shin points out that, in panel 2, we can see the words
"City College" written on the graffiti-sprayed building. This is
Metropolis, but it may also be a tip of the hat to the City College of
New York - perhaps the alma mater of Waid or Ross?
In panel 4 we get a nice homage by the authors to three
comic book characters and their books: _Alternate Egos_, by John
Law (aka the Golden Age hero The Tarantula); _Behind the
Mask_, by Jessie Chambers (daughter of the Golden Age heroes
Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, and a heroine in her own right in
the pages of Mr. Waid's current book, _The Flash_); and _Under
the Hood_, by Hollis Mason (aka the Golden Age Nite Owl from
_The Watchmen_). As Scott Hollified (my inspiration for
annotations) has pointed out, the original title of John Law's book
was _Alter Egos_. But as Joel Shin points out, in James Robinson's
_The Golden Age_ miniseries, John Law's book was called _Behind
the Mask_. The Waid/Ross Annotations acknowledge these
discrepancies.
If this is all taking place twenty years in the future, then that
poster of the alterni-pop singer Bjork (ex-frontwomen of the
Sugarcubes) in panel 3 must be really, really old. Loki points out
that the Bjork poster here is the same one that was used to promote
her song "Violently Happy." Given the Image-like heroes we see
here, that title is entirely appropriate.
Note also in panel 2 that you can just make out the "Who
Watches The Watchmen?" graffiti, which is the quote of the Roman
satirist Juvenal that was so thematically central to Alan Moore's
_Watchman_ series, and in some ways quite relevant to _Kingdom
Come_.
Alex Tam points out that the statue of Lady Justice in panel
3 seems to have fallen into "Knight's Past," the store of Jack Knight
(current hero of DC's _Starman_ and son of the GA Starman); Alex
notes that the symbol above the door to the store is quite similar to
the symbol Jack Knight wears on his jacket, and that the store has a
turret, which evokes images of the past and of knights.
Also in panel 2, as Bern Walker points out, is a set of kanji -
a reference to the anime _Tenchi Muyou_. The phrase can be
translated as "Heaven and Earth are useless," which is quite
apropos to the themes of the story so far.
Mark Stephenson points out that the "Buy Me!" messages
on the laptops might be a reference to John Carpenter's film "They
Live."
The signed ball in the shop window, from the "Last - ever
World Series" in 2002, symbolizes, as Donald MacPherson notes,
that this future is much bleaker; few things are as synonymous with
innocence and American pride as baseball.
Page 8 (18). Those figures on the billboard around Planet Krypton
are: Batman, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, Wonder Woman, Flash,
Lobo, and Marvin. All are drawn exactly like Alex Toth's character
designs from the early _Superfriends_ cartoon, and are done in
cartoon style, suggesting how this current generation sees the older,
more traditional heroes. As Dave Van Domelen points out, putting
Marvin (in some ways the epitome of harmless superheroic fun)
next to Lobo (the epitome of the violent, amoral new breed of
"hero") is a disturbing juxtaposition.
The rocket on the Planet Krypton sign is the Golden Age,
pale-blue/silver rocket seen in Action Comics #1 delivering the
infant Superman to Earth. The poster in panel 4 is a copy of the
cover of Batman #1.
The smirking waiter is dressed like the Silver Age Green
Lantern, Hal Jordan. As we see on the next page, even the waiter
doesn't know who exactly he's supposed to be dressed like - and
Hal Jordan was one of the best and noblest of the Silver Age's
heroes. This is not a very enjoyable future.
The Waid/Ross Annotations note that the other two waiters
visible in panel 5 are dressed in the uniforms of Captain Marvel and
the Silver Age Flash.
Page 9 (19). More of those costumed waiters, dressed like Captain
Marvel, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Carrie Kelly
Robin from _Dark Knight Returns_, and the Silver Age Flash,
Barry Allen (but in the costume of the Flash of the _Legends of the
Superheroes_ television show from the 1970s). The costumes,
though, are just a little bit off - faux heroes inside Planet Krypton to
match the faux heroes outside.
Planet Krypton is clearly meant to be a riff on Planet
Hollywood; Jason Langlois also notes that Ron Perleman, part
owner of the Marvel Entertainment Group, has "a deal with Planet
Hollywood to develop and open a line of restaurants themed on
Marvel Superhero characters."
That costumed mannequin in the vacuum tube looks like
Batman - but the Adam West Batman of the 1960s television show,
rather than a Batman that has ever appeared in any comics. Scott
Rogers notes that the Batman costume appears here exactly as it
does in the Planet Hollywood in Chicago.
Note the old DC logo - or, as Sean MacDonald says,
Johnny DC's body - to the right of the Batarang.
Those two kids cavorting on the screen above the room are
Sugar and Spike, two long-time DC child characters. Hanging
from the ceiling are the GA Batplane and the rocket in which
Superman, as a child, was rocketed to Earth - the rocket here is the
dark blue, 1970s Earth-1 design. And on the near wall in the upper
left are one of Batman's batarangs and Green Arrow's bow and
boxing glove arrow.
The "Bea" asking for Booster Gold is Beatriz DaCosta, aka
Fire, from the Giffen Justice League. It's typical of Booster Gold, a
somewhat mercenary hero at his best, to own a place like the Planet
Krypton, which seems to be a soulless merchandizing/selling-out of
the Silver Age heroic tradition.
David A. Carr notes that all the lanterns in Planet Krypton
are green. Ed Mathews points out that the salt shaker on the table
at which the Carrie Kelly Robin is taking an order is a figure of
either Doll Man or Superman. Dean Velasco points out that the
"Green Lantern" here has his ring on his left hand - the Hal Jordan
Green Lantern on whom he's modeled always wore the ring on the
right hand. And Scott Casteel notes that the bowls/ashtrays used in
Planet Krypton are replicas of Jay Garrick's Flash helmet.
The Waid/Ross Annotations point out that the 1950 camera
Batarang is visible (next to the boxing glove arrow).
Page 10 (20). More cool/kitsch points to Messrs. Waid and Ross
for including Turtle Olsen in panel 2. In the modern, post-Crisis,
post-Zero Hour (_Crisis on Infinite Earths_ and _Zero Hour_ were
two DC mini-series in which DC's complicated diegetical history
was revised and streamlined, with much of their characters' pasts
being eliminated) _Superman_ series Jimmy Olsen was briefly a
children's tv hero - "Turtle Boy" - a la the Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers; the adventures of "Turtle Boy" may be what is shown on-screen. Of course, I prefer to believe that Waid is hearkening back
to Olsen's original, Silver Age incarnation as Turtle Olsen; as Scott
Hollifield pointed out, this idea is reinforced by the on-screen Turtle
Olsen menacing a bridge, which he originally did back in the 1960s.
The hotel in the background of panel 2 is the "Siegel" - a
reference to Superman creator Jerry Siegel.
As the Waid/Ross Annotations point out, we catch our first
glimpse of Flash IV in panel 2; she is the red and yellow blur
zooming by Norman McCay.
Tony Pi notes that the Chinese ideograms underneath Turtle
Olsen in panel 2 read "done" or "finished;" The Waid/Ross
Annotations indicate that the intended meaning was "finished."
Chris Sypal adds that in Japanese the ideograms can be interpreted
as either "completion" or "perfection."
Panel 3 has a sign with the name "Barta," a reference to the
inker Hilary Barta. Thad Doria points out that, just as Barta is a
friend of Alex Ross, so is Barry Crain, whose name is above the
view screen of Turtle Olsen in Panel 3.
As Thomas Howard caught, there's a flyer for the
alternative band XTC on the telephone pole in panel 3.
The Steve Darnall marquee is a reference to the former
editor for Hero magazine who is now a freelance writer; The
Ultimate Career Move is a band with which Darnall plays.
Norman McCay's quote here is from Matthew 5:5.
Page 11 (21). Fight Scene #1. This page introduces us to the new
breed of superhumans; their fight here doesn't seem to have much
purpose, and is quite destructive - but that's the whole point, of
course. They are:
Stars, the new Star-Spangled Kid (the flying African-American with the glowing rod and the blue kerchief). The original
SSK was a Golden Age hero who with his older sidekick Stripesy
fought crime in the 1940s and was a part of the short-lived Justice
Society of America imitators the Seven Soldiers of Victory. SSK
later took Starman's cosmic rod, and still later used a "cosmic
converter belt" and eventually was killed in action as Skyman. The
new Star-Spangled Kid, you'll note, is using the cosmic rod and
wearing the cosmic converter belt - and both his kerchief and
armband are spangled with stars. Doug Limmer also points out that
the _Kingdom Come_ SSK has an upside down American flag on
his shirt - more symbolism.
Manotaur - the minotaur figure with the gun. This is one of
the new characters for _Kingdom Come_.
Nuculoid - the glowing blue figure wrestling with the big
robot. Another character introduced here; Alex Ross' comment is
"I made this one up when I was 11. Be kind."
Phoebus - the red-and-white costumed figure flying and
leaving a flaming trail behind him.
The flying women with flowing black hair is Nightstar - the
daughter of Nightwing (aka Robin, aka Red Robin, who we'll see in
issue #2) and Starfire, from the Teen Titans. She seems to have
received their approach to battle but none of their sense of
responsibility.
The man with the gun, running next to Nuculoid, is Stripes,
the sidekick to the new Star-Spangled Kid.
The flying, "thorned" woman shooting lightning at
Manotaur is Lightning, another new character.
The figure in black body armor and white hair shooting at
Phoebus is Trix, a new character made up for _Kingdom Come_.
The giant robot with the two long horns is Tusk. Tusk, like
the other characters in this scene, can also be seen on the back
cover. (Eric Harding points out that Tusk is visually very similar to
Zugok-E from the anime' _Mobile Suit Gundam_)
The man getting out of the truck would seem to be, as Eric
Fritzius notes, Reginald Denny, perhaps the most famous victim of
the L.A. riots/revolt.
Page 12 (22). Thomas Howard points out that the Manotaur being
shot through a window, beneath a sign reading "Golden," is a nice
allusion to the Golden Calf; in Biblical terms, the Golden Calf is
money - or, more explicitly, the golden calf made by Aaron when
Moses was absent on Mount Sinai, in Exodus 23, and worshiped by
the people.
Page 13 (23). The laughing man in panel 4 is 666, a new character
made up for _Kingdom Come_. His name is of course a reference
to the "number of the Beast" in the book of Revelation (13:18).
Page 14 (24). Note the poor woman in panel 1 who's just been shot
in the eye. In any real world with violent superhumans, bystanders
would constantly be getting injured in this way. Unfortunately,
we're going to be seeing a lot of this sort of "collateral damage" in
_Kingdom Come_.
The "Secret Asian Man" on the billboard in panel 1 is a riff
on the Patrick McGoohan series "Secret Agent Man," the supposed
prequel to "The Prisoner;" Lance Smith points out that "Secret
Asian Man" was in turn a comic strip in _The Comics Journal_
based on a Chicago comic book store owner. Thad Doria points out
that "Secret Asian Man" is a `zine written by Sung Koo, who we
saw back on page 10 (20); Alex Ross has done a few covers for this
`zine.
Marc Singer wonders how the car that Manotaur is lifting in
Panel 1 - with the license plane 28IF - made it to America, as the
last time it was seen was on the cover of the Beatles "Abbey Road"
album. Kudos to Marc for catching this, and to Ross for putting it
in there. (As has been pointed out, Ross also put that cab into
_Marvels_)
Eric Fritzius points out that the man taking pictures in panel
2, just to the left of Phoebus' head, might well be an allusion to one
of the main characters in _Marvels_, Alex Ross' first major project.
The Waid/Ross Annotations point out that Trix's
biomechanical powers allow her to regenerate and fix the fatal head
wound she is receiving in panel 1.
Page 15 (25). The big bulletin board the superhumans are looking
at is operated by the Daily Planet - the main newspaper of
Metropolis, of course, and the one at which Superman's secret
identity, Clark Kent, worked. In this future they've apparently gone
high-tech and developed video-broadcast capabilities. What we're
seeing on the board is the sad news of the Bad Thing that has
happened in Kansas. A Very Bad Thing, indeed. Donald
MacPherson also speculates that "the Planet's conversion to a
broadcast medium could be Waid's small comment on the state of
the newspaper industry at present."
Note that the brand name of the board is "Sonny" - a
futuristic variant on Sony, perhaps.
Page 16 (26). There's a sad irony in Norman McCay's sermon here;
he's preaching from the Book of Revelation (8:7, 9:2, 14:7), and
what he's saying parallels the Bad Thing that took place in Kansas.
Anthony adds that "the natural disasters described are again
supposed to be taken literally. Two of the disasters (hail and no
more green grass) refer back to the plagues of Egypt. The `no more
green grass' is symbolic of the locusts that eat all of the crops and
cause famine." It also has resonance with the results of the Kansas
Incident.
Although the figures in panels 3 and 4 look like George and
Barbara Bush, Alex Ross says that any resemblance is purely
coincidental.
As Johanna Draper points out, there are few people in the
church, and they're all older; this is a parallel to what is happening
to many churches today, and to the loss of faith in superheroes
among the young of _Kingdom Come_.
Page 17 (27). McCay's ripping up of the pages of his Bible, in
panels 3 and 6, doesn't forebode well; if a man of the cloth can
undergo such a severe attack of doubt, to the point where he's
literally destroying his Bible, something is obviously deeply wrong -
another pointer that the Event in Kansas was very, very bad.
Bill Jennings points out that the name of Pastor McCay's
church is "Gethsemane Evangelical," as we can see in panel 1. This
would fit with McCay's attack of doubt and anguish; Gethsemane
was the garden outside Jerusalem mentioned in Mark 14 that was
the scene of Jesus' agony and arrest; McCay's "betrayal" of his
congregation somewhat mirrors Judas' betrayal of Jesus.
Guess notes that not only was Gethsemane the place where
Jesus had a crisis of faith regarding his role in the Will of God, but
that it was also the place where an Angel of God appeared to
reassure Jesus that God has not abandoned him (Luke 22:43). This
somewhat parallels the appearance of the Spectre and his role in
Norman McCay's life. (The Revelations supplement points out that
the Gethsemane Church of _Kingdom Come_ is modeled on a real
Gethsemane Church)
Page 18 (28). Enter the Spectre. Another Golden Age hero, the
Spectre was originally Jim Corrigan, a policeman killed in the line
of duty. But rather than go to Heaven, he was told by a Voice that
his mission on Earth was not finished, and that he was to return and
fight evil. In the decades since then he was evolved and become the
manifestation of God's judgment and wrath.
As a few people have pointed out, the Spectre is naked
here, missing his traditional shorts, boots, collar and buttons; this
might be a parallel to Dr. Manhattan's nakedness in _Watchman_.
Also, the Spectre's actions in the church scene appear to
echo the stained glass windows of the church. Andrew says, of this:
"The window that he (the Spectre) walks through is depicting the
Agony in the Garden. This could represent the fact that we all will
`go through' temptation, trials, and tribulations. Also, the Agony in
the Garden is where Jesus says, `Not My will, but Your will be
done.' This is referenced in one of the Kingdom Come ads that
states, `Whose will be done?'"
The KC Revelations segment add the following take on the
Spectre: "The original ghost-super-hero was a creation of Jerry
Siegel's, and that made it appropriate he be given the important
story position we did. Having been around as long as the oldest
superheroes, it didn't seem offensive to place him in a godlike
position, above his contemporaries. His portrayal took a cue from
Alan Moore's use of him in _Swamp Thing_. In those stories he
was losing much of his humanity due to his near-infinite power. The
visual came from Neil Gaiman's _The Books of Magic_ and Scott
Hampton's painting of him as a glowing, very ethereal figure with a
connection to an earlier portrayal of a host of seven Archangels
(painted by John Bolton). The host appear as great, white, nude
giants, each wearing a hooded cloak of a different color, similar to
the Spectre's.
"The Spectre's exact metaphysical nature has been more
clearly defined in recent years, and the angelic allusion to his role in
the DC Universe is more or less left to visual interpretation. Our
version certainly uses less of the fearsome nature shown by his
more classic persona. He simply needed to supply us with a
presence of dread and religious belief come true, not limited by
super-hero trappings. This is the reason for eliminating his gloves,
footwear and shorts: to present him removed from any 20th-century
costuming, adding to his dislocation from human concerns and
modesty."
Page 19 (29). The Spectre says, in panel 4, "long ago, I would have
judged swiftly, with clarity...but my faculties are not what they once
were." This somewhat mirrors the Spectre's history; he has had his
powers increased and decreased at various times, going from being
nearly omnipotent in the 1940s to being simply very powerful but
mortally flawed in today's comics.
Dave Van Domelen speculates that his depowering is not
random, but meant to "reflect the idea that even the Wrath of God
has been weakened by the evil of the times. The loss of faith has
had effects from the mundane to the cosmic." While this theory did
not pan out, as we shall see, it's still an interesting interpretation.
The Spectre's conversation with McCay is counterpointed
by the picture, in the background, of Jesus talking with - someone.
The figure raising his/her hand might be Thomas, who doubted
Jesus' resurrection, but it looks - to my eyes, anyhow - more like a
woman, which would make it Mary Magdalene, most faithful and
penitent of Jesus' followers. Young J. Kim says, conversely, that the
painting depicts the meeting of Saul with Jesus on the road to
Damascus, which is where Saul underwent his transformation of
faith and become Paul the Apostle. Any of these scenes would
symbolically fit the Spectre's encounter with McCay.
Note the gleam in the Spectre's eye in panel 5 - it's a skull.
Page 20 (30). Note that the Spectre originally came for Wesley
Dodds. I'm glad that Mr. Waid gives Wesley respect in this
manner; the Golden Age heroes of DC have not generally been
treated well, which makes every instance of them being given some
dignity and respect that much more important.
McCay's question about why the Spectre won't stop the
coming catastrophe, and the Spectre's response ("That is not my
task") is important to this series. The Spectre's brief has
traditionally been to punish, rather than prevent. Moreover, one of
the central themes of this series is about taking responsibility, and if
the Spectre was to prevent the disasters to come the individuals
who need to take responsibility for their actions would not do so.
Page 21 (31). Norman McCay says "I see a midwestern
farmland...but that's not--possible." Obviously, whatever it was
that happened in Kansas was really, really bad.
As a number of folks, Alan Turniasky among them, have
pointed out, the shot of Superman here, with the beard, turned-down left hand, and plank behind his shoulder, are all reminiscent of
Jesus on the Cross. Given the overwhelming Biblical imagery in
_Kingdom Come_, that probably isn't coincidental. Neither, I
think, is it a coincidence that we see Kal-el here as a carpenter -
Jesus' traditional occupation. Finally, Michael Denton points out
that we can see three spikes sticking out of Kal-el's pocket - a
reference, perhaps, to the three spikes used to crucify Christ.
William H. Sudderth, among other people, points out that
Superman's pose in panel 3 is very similar to his pose on the cover
of _Superman_ #1.
The shift from the darkness of McCay's church to the
cheerful, sky-blue of Superman's farm is a perhaps-conscious
parallel to Miller's treatment of Superman in _The Dark Knight
Returns_, in which Superman's scenes are colored with bright,
cheery shades, unlike the grim darkness of Batman's scenes.
Page 22 (32). Superman has obviously aged somewhat here; he is
much closer in appearance to the original Golden Age (later Earth-2) Superman than to the Superman of today's DC.
We begin to get some of _Kingdom Come_'s back-history
here. Superman began his "self-imposed exile" after a "trial" of
some kind; we'll get more on this later.
The menagerie of animals on this page - a cat (sitting on the
hay bales in the barn), horse, dog, and a grinning monkey peeking
from behind a horse's legs - are an homage to the Silver Age Legion
of Superpets: Streaky, Comet, Krypto and Beppo, respectively.
(Krypto was Superboy's dog, Streaky and Comet were Supergirl's
pets, sort of, and Beppo was a free agent stowaway from Krypton).
The dog in panel 3 particularly looks like Krypto.
Thomas Howard points out that Superman's lifting of the
tractor could be taken as an allusion to the cover of _Action
Comics_ #1.
Ian John points out that the Spectre's line in panel 1 is from
the monologue of _The Adventures of Superman_.
The Revelations supplement has this to say about
Superman: "To get to the personal roots of the character, I wanted
to illustrate the farmer's son, revisited in his later years, after he had
removed himself from the superhero business for a time. His gray
temples extend into his beard and long hair, betraying a sense of his
surrendering to his age. While I played up the carpenter role as well
for its obvious symbolism, the bare-armed, workman look for
Superman is one of his earliest, coming partly from the 1942
George Lowther novel and many pre-costume drawings by
Shuster."
Page 23 (33). Enter Wonder Woman. According to a Ross
interview, this Wonder Woman has her immortality back. Ross also
said that Wonder Woman's loincloth is meant to hearken back to
the GA Wonder Woman's skirt.
The Revelations supplement said this about Wonder
Woman's new look: "Wonder Woman is the most important female
hero in comics history and has always held my respect. I tried to
present her in a way that was as impressive as I thought she should
be perceived. Isolating her as the most obvious, non-aged member
of Superman's hierarchy made all the classic bikini-like qualities of
her uniform possible, but I wished to make it more appropriate to
her background. Converting the current "WW" symbol into more of
its original eagle shape and then making it into more of a metallic
breastplate added a warrior-like believability for me. The classic
star-spangled trunks I transformed into more of what they truly
were, a piece of the American flag, worn in a loincloth fashion more
akin to the Greek costuming worn by the Amazons. Her bulkier
physique offsets the perfect beauty queen she's too often seen as....I
must admit that while I pursued a "back-to-the-roots" aesthetic for
nearly all the characters I redesigned, I didn't do as much with
Wonder Woman. Outside of giving her somewhat of a skirt (as in
her original appearance), I was aiming to do a version of her I had
been planning for years, with my intention being to enhance her
heroic appeal for a modern audience."
I found the panel of Krypto licking Superman's face
particularly gratifying; Krypto is long since gone, but some of us
still remember him with fondness. Guess and Scott Christensen
point out that the black splotch on Krypto's back means (as was
established in a Superboy story of the early 1980s) that this is
Krypto in his secret identity, as "Skippy;" the black splotch
disappears when Krypto is in his "public" identity.
Wonder Woman's line in panel 4 - "you can't live forever in
solitude" - cuts two ways, as we'll soon see; Superman can't live
alone and apart from the world forever - and he can't live here, in
his Fortress of Solitude, either. Also, as a few people pointed out,
the line "I'm Superman. I can do anything" might be a reference to
the R.E.M. song "Superman."
Panel 5, where Wonder Woman is moving the strand of hair
out of Kal-el's face, is a very nice touch. Have I mentioned how
wonderful this book looks yet?
Also note that in panel 5 Kal-el says, "Earthlings die. You
know that," with the "die" and "you" being in boldface. I take this
implication to mean that, in the _Kingdom Come_ future, Wonder
Woman's long-time lover, Steve Trevor, has already died.
Diana and Kal speak of "him," with Kal denying that he's
afraid of "him." Luthor? Mxyzptlk? Brainiac? Nope - someone
potentially worse - Magog, who we'll meet later.
"They were your parents, Cla--Kal. And she was your wife."
We knew that Ma and Pa Kent were bound to die - originally,
before Crisis, they were dead before Superman began fighting
crime. But Kal's wife, Lois Lane? Again, whatever happened to
drive Superman away from Metropolis, it must have been quite sad
- sad enough to make him give up his Clark Kent identity and
become Kal-el again.
The "here, things grow" line is obviously meant to be
important. Here as opposed to where? Rural heartland America,
where Clark Kent grew up, as opposed to Metropolis? Isn't
Metropolis the city of hope? Something _bad_ must have
happened. In fact, the Event in Kansas is a symbolic slap at
Superman; he's from somewhere very like Kansas (in post-Crisis
DC, his hometown of Smallville is in fact in Kansas), and the new
breed of superhumans would seem to have destroyed it.
Page 24 (34). Wonder Woman reveals that we aren't actually in the
heartland, but in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, his Arctic
(Antarctic, post-Crisis) keep and hideaway. This is a new and
interesting twist on the Fortress of Solitude; it has traditionally been
shown as a literal fortress in the side of a cliff, somewhat cold and
antiseptic, but this Fortress seems closer to the vast London
Pyramid of the Eclipse hero Miracleman. William H. Sudderth adds
that the post-Crisis Fortress of Solitude was underground.
The holographic technology used here seems to be quite
similar to the "holodeck" used in _Star Trek: The Next
Generation_.
As the keen-eyed Donald MacPherson notes, all of the
doors in the Fortress of Solitude are shaped like Superman's
emblem.
"He's out of control." Magog, it seems, has become the
symbolic leader of the new breed - in much the same way that
Superman was the symbolic leader of the original heroes.
Unfortunately, Magog is no Superman - quite the reverse.
To quote Benet's _Reader's Encyclopedia_: "Gog and
Magog: In British legend, the sole survivors of a monstrous brood,
the offspring of the thirty-three infamous daughters of the Emperor
Diocletian, who murdered their husbands, and, being set adrift in a
ship, reached Albion, where they fell in with a number of demons.
Their descendants, a race of giants, were extirpated by Brute (the
mythological first king of the Britons) and his companions, with the
exception of Gog and Magog, who were brought in chains to
London and were made to do duty as porters of the royal palace, on
the site of the London Guildhall, where their effigies have been at
least since the reign of Henry V. The old giants were destroyed in
the Great Fire, and the present ones, fourteen feet high, were
carved in 1708 by Richard Saunders.
"In the Bible, Magog is spoken of as a son of Japhet
(Genesis 10:2), in the Revelation Gog and Magog symbolize all
future enemies of the kingdom of God; and in Ezekial Gog is a
prince of Magog, a terrible ruler of a country in the north, probably
Scythia or Armenia. By rabbinical writers of the 7th century AD
Gog was identified with the Antichrist."
Additionally, note the gray/white hair, white right eye and
scars around the right eye of Magog; Marvel's Cable also has these
features, and is another exemplar of the violent, Image-like heroes
that Waid and Ross are implicitly attacking in _Kingdom Come_.
The Revelations supplement says this about Magog: "As I
remember, Mark originally told me, `Make him look like everything
we hate in modern superhero design.' Magog is a reference to a
tribe in the Book of Revelation that will war against God's people
(the people of Israel) in the battle of Armageddon. His appearance
is meant to invoke a sense of pagan idolatry, with the golden arm
and ram's horns reminiscent of the golden calf from Bible lore.
There is also a sense of Egyptian style in his staff, which focuses his
power, and the scar around his right blind eye in the symbol shape
of the `eye or Ra.' As much as we wanted to hate him, we wound
up liking his design a great deal."
Page 25 (35). The statue of Jor-el and Lara, holding up the planet
Krypton, was a part of the pre-Crisis Fortress of Solitude. The
Kryptonian Battlesuit and orange Servitor Robot are from the post-Crisis Fortress of Solitude. The T-Rex robot is another feature of
the pre-Crisis Fortress of Solitude. The super-large journal in the
background is also a part of the pre-Crisis Fortress; Superman
writes his adventures in the journal in Kryptonian. Also, we can see
the bottle city of Kandor (like the T-Rex robot, part of the pre-Crisis Fortress of Solitude) next to the statue of Lara and Jor-el.
The Waid/Ross Annotations point out that a Kryptonian
"spaceplane" is also visible here.
Page 26 (36). The word balloons here are from various newscasts
in Spanish, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, French and German; in
order, they are saying, "The world was shocked by horrible acts"
(Anglicized Spanish), "Tragedy in America" (Korean), "paralyzed
by the news of Magog" (Portuguese), "fierce brutality of Magog"
(Italian), "American by the name of Magog" (French), and "We
have learned that Magog has endangered us" (German).
We see, in various panels:
A shot of the famous painting "American Gothic," which is
a subtle, dark commentary on a "typical" American farming father
and his daughter. As Guess caught, but somehow the rest of us
missed, the painting is reversed here - in the original, the daughter
is on the left and the father is on the right. As Guess says, this can
presumably be taken as a comment on the reversal of the fortunes
not only of the Midwestern farmers but also of the status of the
U.S.
A shot of four heroes: The Question, Peacemaker II, Peter
Cannon - Thunderbolt, and Blue Beetle II. All four are heroes from
the Charlton line of comics who were later purchased by DC. Peter
Cannon, however, is dressed in the costume of the Golden Age
hero Daredevil; Alex Ross said that this was done "just because I
wanted an excuse to draw Daredevil's costume." As well,
Peacemaker here has a modified costume that makes him look
similar to the bounty hunter Boba Fett, from the _Star Wars_
movies - perhaps a further commentary by Waid/Ross on how
Peacemaker in particular has evolved?
A shot of the Judomaster II next to Peter Cannon -
Thunderbolt. The original Judomaster was a World War Two hero
from Charlton; this new Judomaster is a woman, and is wearing a
jacket/vest which was absent from the first Judomaster's costume.
Our first view of Magog. Say, isn't he in an Image comic?
A shot of Captain Atom, an atomic-powered character who
was originally a Charlton hero but was later bought by DC; he
became the most prominent of the (formerly-) Charlton heroes, and
nearly became the evil tyrant-from-the-future Monarch. He's in a
new costume here, one that combines his original red and yellow
colors and his more recent silver/chrome look.
Jonathan Woodward speculates that the deliberate grouping
of the Charlton heroes together might be another reference to the
_Watchmen_, whose heroes were originally based on the Charlton
characters. Still another _Watchmen_ reference here, as Alan
Turniasky points out, is the lone figure watching the bank of
television screens - quite similar to Ozymandias in _Watchmen_.
However, I'm certain that the idea of exposure to several tv screens
at once as a way of receiving mass media/information input
predates _Watchmen_; it might be from either Marshall McLuhan
or William S. Burroughs.
A shot of large metal figure saving Magog from a blast; that
is Alloy the Metal Man, of whom we'll learn more later.
Page 27 (37). Big Fight Scene #2. As the television narrator tells
us, it's Magog and his "Justice Battalion" vs the Parasite.
The Justice Battalion is clearly the successor to the Justice
League. Note the word choice - "Justice Battalion." The "Justice
Society" and "Justice League" have a somewhat civil tone to them,
while the "Justice Battalion" is much harder-edged - fitting for this
Dark New World Messrs. Waid and Ross have created, but a sad
step down from the Silver Age. (gregg and Mark Coale both point
out that the JSA, once upon a time during the second World War,
_was_ the Justice Battalion. Magog seemingly believes that his
heroes are at war with their opposition - quite a difference from the
old, Silver Age Justice League). Dan Shoemaker also points out
that "the characterization of the Justice Battalion as ruthless and
fearsome has resonances with the dream-universe JLA depicted in
Dan Jurgens' run on the book" from a few years back.
The Justice Battalion apparently consists of: Peacemaker II,
Peter Cannon - Thunderbolt, Judomaster II, Magog (as Alex Ross
notes, "giving him a gold metal motif and huge ram horns was
intended to give a sense of pagan idolatry like a golden calf."
Again, more Biblical symbolism at work here), Captain Atom,
Nightshade II (another Charlton character), and Alloy the Metal
Man, the tall figure in metal. They are facing off against the
Parasite, one of Superman's deadliest enemies and a superhuman
capable of draining the life and powers out of anyone. Here,
though, he seems weakened - rather than being big, strong, and
purple/green/orange, his musculature and veins are visible - perhaps
he's been reduced to feeding on his own life-force?
The Parasite is seen here as "fearful" - one more note that
these superhumans are _not_ the heroes that we know and admire.
The bad guys were never really afraid of the Justice League, even
though they knew they'd be beaten. This Justice Battalion,
however, seems to be somewhat more deadly; as the narrator notes,
they ignored the Parasite's pleas for mercy. This would be out of
character for the original Charlton/DC Captain Atom, Nightshade,
Judomaster and Peter Cannon, but this is a new age, and these
aren't the heroes we knew.
More backhistory: "Magog--one of the new breed of
heroes, known to many as the one responsible for Superman's
farewell to Metr--" Perhaps Magog was responsible for the death
of Lois Lane?
The Parasite lays hands on Captain Atom in panel 3, which
gives him Captain Atom's powers - this is how he can blast Captain
Atom so badly in panel 4. And, as in _The Last Avengers Story_,
where Wonder Man is cracked open, we're about to learn that
breaking open a nuclear-powered man just isn't a good idea.
Michel Alpert points out that in DC continuity Captain Atom was
once cut open without nearly so drastic side-effects.
The Revelations supplement says this about Captain Atom:
"This major power player in the DC Universe would certainly have
played a larger role in the _Kingdom Come_ drama had he lived. I
devoted a lot of thought to his design before I knew how soon he
would be sacrificed in our story. The current silver chrome look is
transformed into a gold finish with an enlarged atom symbol, giving
a mask-like feel similar to his original 1960s Charlton Comics look.
Captain Atom is important to me as the basis for Dr. Manhattan in
Alan Moore's _Watchmen_, and thereby holds an intriguing
presence in a miniseries of a similar mold." Captain Atom has his
eyes closed on the cover of this issue; Alex Ross, at the Chicago
Con, stated that his eyes are closed as symbolic of his death in this
issue, and his head is hung low in shame of his actions.
Page 28 (38). Chernobyl, USA. Hundreds of thousands dead, a
panicked world economy, global famine...oy. When Waid and Ross
go for broke, they don't play around.
The tall metal figure we saw on pages 12 (22) and 13 (23) is
identified here as "the Metal Man Alloy." The Metal Men were a
group of robots, created by Dr. Will Magnus, that were each made
out of a different element - Lead, Mercury, Tin, etc. Alloy seems
to be, as the word implies, a combination of all of them - hence his
size and multi-colored costume, as well as the element mark on his
forehead, which all of the Metal Men also possessed. David
Goldfarb notes that Alloy's appearance is somewhat similar to the
element hero Metamorpho. Jonathan Woodward points out that
Gold is dead as of 1996 DC continuity and that one of Alloy's arms
is gold colored; this could be a mistake on Waid/Ross' part, or
merely another indication that this is an Elseworlds, after all, and
not strictly bound to current continuity. The Revelations
supplement says this about Alloy: "This is another character loosely
based on a childhood creation. The full name here is Alloy, the
Metal Man, obviously derived from the sentient robot group, the
Metal Men. He appears as a combination of the original group's six
members formed into a giant, faceless robot devoid of the individual
personalities. Platinum is the head, Mercury the left arm, Tin the
left leg, Iron the midsection, Lead the right leg and it appears that
the late Gold has been resurrected as the right arm."
The DCU FAQ, as Joel Shin points out, states that
Keystone City is in Kansas. The _Kingdom Come_ Keystone City
survives the irradiation of Kansas because this is an Elseworlds -
and, of course, because it doesn't suit Ross/Waid's purposes to wipe
out Keystone City this early.
Page 29 (39). Kal-el tells Wonder Woman to "go back to your
island." Wonder Woman is from Paradise Island, the legendary
home of the Amazons; in _Kingdom Come_, she has apparently
moved back to it, perhaps in response to Steve Trevor's death.
Donald MacPherson notes the similarity of poses between
Wonder Woman and Lara in panel 2; this might be an implication
by Waid/Ross as to who the literal as well as symbolic/figurative
parents of a new generation of superheroes should be.
That desolate landscape Wonder Woman is flying over in
panel 3 is the Antarctic; we can just make out the traditional, old-style keyhole door to the Fortress of Solitude. However, the door is
in the shape of Superman's emblem.
Page 30 (40). Johanna Draper points out that the imagery of the
curtain being parted by the Spectre is similar to "the Biblical
imagery of the curtain hiding the Holy of Holies, which was rent at
Christ's crucifixion."
Page 31 (41). Keystone City here looks like Metropolis does in
current DC continuity: bright and hopeful. The Spectre calls it a
utopia, and it certainly seems to be. Why? Well, as the Spectre
points out, it's the home of the Flash, who here seems to
incorporate bits of several of the figures who have borne the name:
he's got the winged metal hat of the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick;
he's got the lightning-bolt-backdraft (a residue of the Speed Force)
of the current Flash, Wally West; he's got the in-several-places-at-once appearance of Mort Meskin's Johnny Quick; and his color and
skin-tight costume are similar to the Silver Age Flash (and first
patron saint of DC) Barry Allen. Ross' original character design of
the Flash called for him to be called "Mercury," as a way of
showing how far above mere humans, and how close to god-like,
the Kingdom Come Flash has become.
Both Mark Waid and Alex Ross said that the identities of
Flash, Hawkman and the Green Lantern (who we'll see in the next
few pages) would not be explicitly stated, and that this ambiguity
was intentional, as the main point of their appearances here was
their iconic significance. Ross added that his character designs
were meant to incorporate elements of the characters from all the
comic eras. Thanks to Thomas Howard for passing Ross' comments
along.
Page 32 (42). We get a glimpse of another of the old-timers -
Hawkman. The "environmental terrorist" angle is new to the
character, but his sympathy for the "beasts and birds" is a logical,
in-character extrapolation. His hawk-like helmet is something that
was added to the character in the 1970s; his original helmet showed
at least part of Hawkman's face. The pendant around Hawkman's
neck is an Egyptian hawk (a falcon, perhaps?) - symbolic of the
Golden Age Hawkman being the reincarnation of an Egyptian
prince (and, yes, ancient Egypt did have princes).
What we are seeing is not Hawkman's new costume, but is
in fact his new body. He's become a real hawk-man; this is in
keeping with his new, post-Zero Hour nature as a hawk avatar, as
well as being a nice twist by Waid and Ross on the Egyptian origin
of the Golden Age Hawkman - Hawkman has become a hawk-headed figure, just like the Egyptian gods Horus (who had a falcon
head) and Ra (who had a hawk's head).
Guess usefully notes that Hawkman's amulet is an exact
copy of the necklace found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen. The
necklace represents the sun god, Ra, with a sun disk on his
forehead. In his talons Ra holds the symbols for infinity (a sun
inside a circle) and life (the ankh).
The Revelations supplement adds this about Hawkman:
"Hawkman had a less developed extended family as we strove to
make him a lone figure, removed from the presence of similar
Thanagarians or a Hawkgirl. Hawkman's body is that of a recent
storyline's character, the Hawkgod, an extradimensional being
whose physical might was the power source which fueled the
famous "Nth Metal's" anti-gravity ability. Reusing the character's
body (the physical appearance), his soul was supplanted with that of
the original, Golden Age Hawkman (a reincarnated Egyptian
prince, if you recall). This Hawkman cannot speak in a normal
fashion..."
Page 33 (43). Enjoy the good life in the off-world colonies! Green
Lantern has seemingly taken his role as protector of the Earth so
seriously that he's removed the citizens under his protection (the
Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was always as closely
identified with Coast City - *his* city - as The Batman was/is with
Gotham City) from Earth altogether, and put them in an orbiting,
"self-made Emerald City." (_love_ the Wizard of Oz homage
there), which the Waid/Ross Annotations call New Oa, after the
homeworld of the Guardians of the Universe. We aren't sure which
Green Lantern this is, of course; he's got Alan Scott's (the Golden
Age Green Lantern) silver/blond hair, but his costume has the
symbolism of the poorly-treated Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal
Jordan, and the fact that it is armor, rather than a costume of some
kind, is resonant of the new Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner and (as
Austin Loomis notes) Hal Jordan's final super-identity, Parallax.
Note, also, that the lamp, the source of the Green Lantern's power,
is now a part of the costume - which must make recharging
relatively simple.
I find it interesting that the Green Lantern is now "ever
vigilant, ever waiting for signs of threats extraterrestrial." The
implications behind this phrase are made clearer later in the series.
Alex Ross said that he originally wanted GL to be called the
Green Knight, which explains the knightly armor that the Lantern
now wears, as well as perhaps being a reference to the medieval
poem _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_. If Ross did mean for
the Lantern's new name to be a reference to the poem, and the
_Kingdom Come_ Lantern to have become like the poem's Green
Knight, then the Lantern would seem to have changed dramatically
from being a noble hero to being a somewhat arrogant, even
monstrous figure.
Some people have posted saying that GL's Emerald City is
empty; I don't think this is so - note the shuttle/plane landing in a
space port in the foreground.
Bill Sodeman points out that Portland, Oregon, is known as
the "Emerald City" in our Earth - Earth-Prime. Since, as he points
out, Coast City (the Silver Age Green Lantern's home) is on the
West Coast, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, an implication
that can be drawn here is that GL simply boosted Portland, Oregon
into space to create his "Emerald City."
A few other people have pointed out that the lower part of
GL's space-city is the mothership from ELO's "Out of the Blue"
album cover.
David A. Carr notes the similarity between GL's pose here
and the classic Buscema Dr. Doom pose.
The Revelations supplement had this to say about Green
Lantern I: "Our Green Lantern is the original Alan Scott version,
having reclaimed that title and forged his lantern into armor,
thereby becoming a self-renewing power source. He partly
embodies the ambitions of the Hal Jordan Green Lantern,
particularly his creation of an Emerald City. This floating satellite in
orbit around Earth protects the planet from any savage alien attack
- this last bit reflecting the high science-fiction concepts of the
Silver Age GL."
Page 34 (44). We see, in panel 1, the domed cities of Atlantis &
Poseidonis - home of Aquaman; in panel 2 we see Paradise Island,
Wonder Woman's home. Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green
Lantern, Hawkman, the Flash, Superman - as the Spectre says,
these were the "gods of yesteryear," the Justice League of America,
the most noble of the heroes of DC's Silver Age. But they've long
since retired and set themselves apart from humanity. A grim
prospect, indeed. However, there are a few of the JLA we've yet to
see...
Somehow I knew Mr. Waid wouldn't let me down. Yes,
that is the Legion of Superheroes in panel 3. I didn't know how,
but I knew a long-time Legion fan such as Mr. Waid would
somehow put them in here. Their costumes seem to be an
agglomeration of the traditional, Silver Age costumes and the
modern costumes the post-Zero Hour Legion wears - but Messrs
Waid and Ross seem to have included almost all of the
Legionnaires, regardless of the period they appeared in. They are
(according to the Waid/Ross Annotations), in order, from the lead:
Superboy, Supergirl, Saturn Girl, Live Wire (formerly Lightning
Lad), Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Light Lass, Mon-El, Karate Kid,
Inferno (formerly Sun Boy), Dream Girl, Ultra Boy, Timber Wolf,
Invisible Kid, Alchemist (formerly Element Lad), Apparition
(formerly Phantom Girl), Leviathan (formerly Colossal Boy), Star
Boy, Chameleon (formerly Chameleon Boy), Matter-Eater Lad,
Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Princess Projectra, Chemical King,
Dragonmage, Ferro (formerly Ferro Lad), Triad (formerly
Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel), Bouncing Boy, and XS. Waid and
Ross have taken Legionnaires from all points of the group's history;
the ones missing are Andromeda, Blok, Celeste McCauley,
Computo, Dawnstar, Echo, Gates, Impulse/Kent Shakespeare,
Invisible Kid II, Kid Quantum, Kinetix, Kono, Magnetic Kid,
Nemesis Kid, Quislet, Tellus, Tyroc, the White Witch, and Wildfire.
As we'll see in later issues, a contradiction arises from this
scene; two Legionnaires are present in this panel who are also
present in the time of Kingdom Come. I suppose this is yet another
of those delightful Time Travel Paradoxes (tm), however.
As a couple of people have pointed out, both Superboy and
Supergirl are from the 20th century, and are presumably who the
Spectre is referring to as having "lost themselves" in the future.
This would of course refer to the post-Zero Hour Superboy, who is
only a partial clone of Superman, rather than the Silver Age
Superboy, who had a long and intimate association with the LSH
but was also the younger Superman - a chronological impossibility
now.
Note the old, Silver Age Legion of Superheroes club house
at the lower left of the LSH panel.
The Revelations supplement says this about Superboy &
Supergirl: "The current inheritors of these classic Superman family
roles may not have the same blood relationship to Superman that
the former had, but they could still join the Legion just as the
originals did. The 30th Century's interplanetary Legion of Super
Heroes could well invite the super-youths to join their ranks and
offer them a second home in the future. The implication in
_Kingdom Come_ is that at some point they will leave our modern
era behind for the more settle society of superhumans in the future.
Designing these costumes was a real joy, combining the modern
Legion design aesthetic with the classic Silver Age outfits of
Superboy and Supergirl. Superboy's current "mod" hairstyle is
grown out like Superman's recent `do, but pulled back to give a
sense of the original Boy of Steel's clean-cut look."
Page 35 (45). We're now in Gotham City, not New York - although
that looks like the Statue of Liberty in the background, it's actually
Gotham City's own Sentinel of Liberty.
The influence of the design of the Gotham City of the
Batman movies and _Batman: The Animated Series_ on the
Gotham City of _Kingdom Come_ seems clear here. The
Waid/Ross Annotations specifically credit the shield-bearing
Sentinel of Liberty statue to _Batman: The Animated Series_.
Another nice, subtle touch on this page is the variety of
styles of the cars in panel 1 - ranging from classic 1920s to
futuristic. A very nice job by Mr. Ross.
I'd never have caught this, nor believed it, had others not
pointed it out, but in panel 2, that's Fat Albert and his gang who've
just shot those civilians. Fat Albert, Dumb Donald, Bucky, Old
Weird Harold, Rudy, Russell, and Mushmouth, what has become of
you? The same thing that happened to the rest of _Kingdom
Come_, of course - a decline into depravity.
Page 37 (47). The Waid/Ross Annotations state the following about
the Bat-robots: "The robotic custodians of Gotham are in two
classes, the Bat-Knights (long-legged, walking types) and Bat-Monitors (bat-like flyers), both of which were intended to look like
his classic Batmobiles come to life."
Page 38 (48). "Batman has his city under control." Indeed.
Although it seems more like his the Bat Knights doing his dirty
work for him.
An ongoing subject of debate on the newsgroup
Rec.Arts.Comics.DC.Universe is the meaning of this scene. Does
the presence of the Bat Knights and the Spectre's word choice
somehow signify, as many people believe, that Batman has
instituted a fascist/totalitarian reign in Gotham? I'm of the belief
that this isn't necessarily so - but we will see the answer to this
question in later issues. On this issue, Waid said: "...due to
Batman's perseverance and Superman's absence, Metropolis has
become Gotham and Gotham has become Metropolis. Batman just
kept fighting the good fight."
Page 39 (49). Big Fight Scene #3. That's Manotaur, Swastika, and
Trix again in panel 4. The young African American is Thunder, the
_Kingdom Come_ Johnny Thunder; the original, GA version of the
character commanded a genie called the T-Bolt, but this version has
separate powers all his own. The design on his shirt is the original,
GA T-Bolt, as drawn on page 2, panel 4 of _All-Star Comics_ #3 -
the Golden Age comic book which had the first appearance of the
Justice Society of America. (The shirt design is more clearly seen
on the cover of this issue)
Note that Manotaur and Trix were fighting each other
before, but are on the same side now. These superhumans seem to
be fighting just for the sake of fighting, with no regard to who gets
hurt - which is, in a way, a neat encapsulation of the new comic
book ethos which this series is decrying.
Jonathan Woodword points out the Daily Planet in the
background - Metropolis being the only suitable place for
Superman to make his return.
Page 40 (50). The big skull-faced robot at the end of the cable-car
is N-I-L-8, a character made up for _Kingdom Come_. He can also
be seen on the cover.
The figure standing in the middle of the cable-car, draped in
armor and guns and wearing the sign "fair play" on his chest, is Mr.
Terrific II, the _Kingdom Come_ version of the Golden Age hero
Mr. Terrific. The Revelations supplement says this about Mr.
Terrific: "To achieve the perfect absurdity of the overarmed
superhero, I enlisted the limitless technical creativity of Barry Crain
again. The joke here is that the original character's kindly chest
slogan is completely contradicted."
The figure in the foreground of the cablecar, clad in motley
and firing a handgun, is Joker's Daughter II
Elayne points out that the figure inside the cable car, in the
middle window, looking up in terror, is modeled on Mark Chiarello,
and the figure in the right-hand window is modeled on Vince
Letterio. Both are DC employees. The wounded man, who has
just been shot, is (according to the Waid/Ross Annotations) Charlie
Kochman, the _Kingdom Come_ novelization editor. Martha
Thomases adds that Jason Liebig, another DC employee, is in the
crowd scenes. She also says that the figure of Joker's Daughter II
is modeled on Jill Thompson, a writer/artist; Thompson is Chicago-based, as is Alex Ross. Austin Loomis adds that Thompson has
occasionally drawn herself into stories that she was illustrating for
Vertigo.
Page 42 (52). This is the sort of dramatic entrance that is
symbolically fitting for Superman, as well as appealing most
gratifyingly to the fanboys in the audience (such as myself).
Page 43 (53). Breathes there an American who doesn't feel
_something_ stir inside themselves at the words "Look! Up in the
sky!"? The women saying those classic words in this case are
visually modeled on Heidi MacDonald (comics editor of Disney
Adventures magazine and Friends of Lulu board member) and
Maureen McTigue (Assistant Manager of Retailer Services for
DC). Elayne speculates that that's Kurt Busiek looking back up as
Vince and others attend to the wounded DC employee.
As Mark Coale pointed out, the "bending steel....changing
the very course of the mighty river" is an echo of the words at the
beginning of the old Superman tv show.
Page 44 (54). Someone whose name I didn't get pointed out the
words "Good sport" written on the hands of Mr. Terrific II.
A few people, including Henry Chen, pointed out that
Superman's emblem is now red-on-black - not the red-on-yellow we
are all used to. This is similar to the Max Fleischer cartoons of the
1940s, but is also meant, according to Ross, to reflect the darker
tenor of _Kingdom Come_. Chris Sypal points out that the "S"
itself is different; it contains only the upper curve, rather than the
second, descending curve.
The Revelations supplement has the following to say about
Superman's new look: "Superman's design was certainly the
starting point of the entire series' look. If I wasn't as inspired by his
appearance, the rest of the characters would have held no interest
for me. Fortunately DC allowed me to hark back to the classic
Shuster-style broad body and bone structure with the wide head,
short hair (a big request at the time) and a constant squint.
"I was heavily influence by the Fleischer cartoon features
based on Joe Shuster's designs, with his old-fashioned "S" logo on
a black shield. This same look can be found in a few other places in
the early comics themselves and always stood out to me as a
dramatic way to go with the design. The stylistic change I brought
to the letter is meant to show the passage of time. As it has changed
since 1938, it could further transform into the simplest graphic
possible.
"In the earliest visual concepts for this project I was aiming
in the Frank Miller/_Dark Knight Returns_ direction, where
Superman hadn't aged in 20 years. As others had pointed out to
me, my drawings already gave him a time-worn, weathered look. It
occurred to me that it better suited the character to experience as
many of the humbling aspects of humanity as he could, and aging
naturally would offset his more godlike attributes. My version of
Superman was the most satisfying visual and emotional
accomplishment of _Kingdom Come_ to me, as he stands out as the
most compelling figure I've ever illustrated."
Page 45 (55). McCay's vision of a burning Superman does not bode
well, and ends this issue on an ominous note, rather than the
hopeful one that Superman's return should engender.
Ross apparently decided to have some fun with the
character appearances here. Not only do we see Bjork again, but
also Freddie Prinze, Dick Van Dyke and Floyd the barber. Go
figure.
The following folks were mighty helpful, providing comments,
criticisms, and loads and loads of information:
Deane Aikins, Michel Alpert, Anthony, Marie E. Antoon,
[A--ra--l] at [grfn.org], Brian Bailie, Don Brinker, Michael Brown, Loki
Carbis, David A. Carr, Scott B. Casteel (who did his own list of
annotations), William Cavanaugh, "Cheese," Henry Chen, Scott
Christensen, Mark Coale (who is responsible for turning me into a
DC fanboy), Paul A. Cooper, Jon Crowhurst, Dwayne Chun,
Matthew Daly, Michael Denton, Mike Dietsch, Eric Dittman, Thad
Doria, Johanna Draper, Robert Faires, Andrew Farrell, Jason
Fliegel, Eric Fritzius, Gail, Mark Gallaher, Grant Giandonato,
David Goldfarb, Gregg, Guess, Eric Harding, Rob Harris, David
Hawkins, Rick Haikeeba Hodge, Scott Hollifield, Thomas Howard,
Bill Jennings, Ian John, Just Joe, Young J. Kim, David Lacina,
Jason Langlois, A. Chilton Lannen, Yeechang Lee, Len Leshin,
Doug Limmer, Austin Loomis, Sean MacDonald, Donald
MacPherson, Jonathan Maske, Edward Mathews, Rudolf
Mammitzsch, "Mr. Miracle," David Morefield, [P--l] at [discordia],
Tony Pi, John Quiring, Ray Randell, Scott Rogers, Greg Schienke,
Espana N. Sheriff, Joel Shin, Dan Shoemaker, Marc Singer, Don
Smith, Lance Smith, David J. Snyder, Bill Sodeman, Mike Solko,
Craig Stenseth, Mark Stephenson, William H. Sudderth, Chris
Sypal, Alex Tam, Matt Terl, Martha Thomases, Gtribb, Alan
Turniansky, Dave Van Domelen, Yves Vallois, Dean Velasco, Bern
Walker, the ever-helpful Elayne Wechsler-Chaput, Andrew D.
Woodard, Jonathan Woodward, and Allen W. Wright.
[Annotator's Note: the page number in parentheses is the page
number of the bound edition; I've retained the original numbering
of the separate issues]
All characters mentioned and described and text quoted herein are
copyright 1997 DC Comics. No infringement of copyright or
trademark is intended by this annotations, nor has permission been
given by DC Comics to quote from _Kingdom Come_. The text to
this annotation is copyright 1997 Jess Nevins. This annotation may
be quoted in its entirety as long as this acknowledgement is
included.
jess