DC Comics brings us one of the most celebrated comic book stories of all time in compact format with Kingdom Come.

When it comes to comic books, we all have our favorite stories. For some it’s Batman: Year One and for others it might be an Elseworlds tale like DCeased or the Injustice saga. Now, personally I am a fan of the Elseworlds stories because of how different and unique they are and while I have enjoyed the majority of them, one stands out above the rest: Kingdom Come!

Released in May of 1996 and running until August of that year, this four issue series from Mark Waid and Alex Ross takes us to an Earth where the line between heroes and villains really no longer exists. Sure, the younger heroes of this world strive to protect those in need but they don’t look at how many people are hurt in the process and they neglect any collateral damage they may have caused in their various fights. After a catastrophic event in Smallville, Superman is convinced by Wonder Woman to come out of exile to reestablish the Justice League and to stop a major threat on the horizon. I won’t get into anymore details here because this is an incredible story and it is one I encourage you all to read.

As I was reading, this story from Mark Waid reminded me of why I fell in love with comics in the first place. It’s the larger than life heroes coming in to save the day and reminding us that we can be better. The message that even in the darkest of times, there is light. I also love the use of passages from the book of Revelation from the Bible as they are used to not only build this world but to also put the events of the story into clearer context. In these events, we see these larger than life heroes at their most vulnerable. The Superman we meet is older and he has suffered through great loss but he still finds a way to be there when the world needs him most. Wonder Woman becomes the beacon of life and hope that Clark needs and it’s through her that we see The Man Of Tomorrow emerge once again. This version of Batman is broken as well, he is physically and mentally unable to carry the mantle of Batman, so he finds other ways to try and “improve” things but it ends up backfiring. This leads to some incredible moments of tension and it’s also one of the best character arcs in the series. All of these things prove that Mark Waid loves these characters and has so much respect for all of them.

The art by Alex Ross is absolutely stunning and every time I see any piece from him, I get emotional. Ross does an incredible job of showcasing how legendary these heroes truly are. His character designs are fantastic and the version of the Superman suit he designed might be my favorite of all the iterations that have come before. I also love the way that he uses light and the way he uses shadows in his work. Every single hero that he puts on the page looks like they have a natural light shining on them. They look so realistic that they could just walk off the page and live in our world. Speaking of worlds, there is so much detail in every panel of this book. When you look at the fields of Kansas before the incident, you see the detail in the grain! Every city and town is designed so perfectly that you feel like you live there and you know the history of these places. The use of angles in his work is top notch and it helps tell the story. One example I have of that is when the panel showcases the everyday citizens looking up and seeing their heroes flying in to save them, it gives me chills every time. In fact as I write this, I am tearing up thinking about these moments and I am reminded of why Alex Ross is one of the greatest comic book artists of all time.

I honestly can’t find any flaws with this story or this printing of the book. Kingdom Come is absolutely perfect and it is a story of hope and rebirth in times of despair. It’s a story that we could all use right now as we are living in very uncertain times. During these times we look to our heroes and we look to each other for hope and that is so powerful. If you are looking for an incredible superhero story and an incredible DC Elseworlds tale, check this one out.

I give Kingdom Come 5 out of 5!

Have you read Kingdom Come yet and if you did, what did you think? Let us know in the comments!