Kingdom Come

If I had to choose one comic story to take with me on a desert island it would be the four issue KINGDOM COME mini-series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. I even have the two cassette audio version of the story (complete with voice actors and full sound effects). It postulates a future where the next generation of heroes have run wild and a despondent Superman must come out of self imposed exile to make things right again. By his mere prescience he draws around him all the old school heroes we know and love. But no story is great without great conflict and Superman learns that forcing change on others can lead to its own kind of problems and soon things spin out of control and we see events push the world to the edge of destruction. Only through the efforts of Batman, Wonder Woman and the humanity and sacrifice of a grown up Billy Batson (Captain Marvel) is Armageddon avoided. The photorealistic art of Alex Ross is simply gorgeous but what impresses me most is the way the story has been tweaked over the years adding final pages and final chapters to a story that only NOW feels truly finished. This year the Superman from the KINGDOM COME universe appeared in the main DC universe (JSA) in a tale that was set between KINGDOM COME #3 and #4. I have a feeling that the whole tale was an excuse to just include these final four pages that round out the original story beautifully and creates one of the 'tears in my eyes' moments. I hope they include them in any future reprinting of KINGDOM COME.