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The Kingdom (comic book)
Encyclopedia
"The Kingdom" is a story arc that ran through a two-issue, self titled comic book
limited series
and multiple one shot comics published by DC Comics
in 1999, written by Mark Waid
and drawn by Ariel Olivetti
/Mike Zeck
. This is both a sequel
and, in some ways, prequel
to Kingdom Come, also by Mark Waid. Both books form an Elseworlds
saga, meaning they are abstracted from official DC Comics
continuity. The storyline extended into one-shot books entitled Gog
, The Kingdom: Kid Flash
, The Kingdom: Nightstar
, The Kingdom: Offspring, The Kingdom: Planet Krypton, and The Kingdom: Son of the Bat. The entire storyline was later collected into a trade paperback.
The Kingdom does not use the same visual style created by Alex Ross
, which was used in the four-issue Kingdom Come series. The storyline in The Kingdom is a direct continuation and extension of the original storyline fleshing out areas of the future that were not explored in the original four-part series. While Kingdom Come can easily exist as a stand-alone story, The Kingdom is not a complete storyline in and of itself and exists only as a continuation of the previous storyline.
(Shazam
, Ganthet
, Zeus
, Izaya Highfather
, and the Phantom Stranger
), who dub him Gog
. The power drives him mad, and he takes out his anger on Superman
, killing him and carving his "S" shield on the ground. He then travels a day backward in time and kills him again...and again. The Stranger opposes this action, as Gog now intends to accelerate the Kansas Holocaust, but the other four are prepared to let things unfold; Shazam hopes that Captain Marvel
will no longer have to die, Ganthet hopes that Green Lantern
will avert the catastrophe and become more renowned than Superman, Zeus hopes that the ancient gods may be 'worshiped' once more as Earth seeks something to believe in, and Highfather feels that a new war may fracture Earth in a manner similar to New Genesis and Apokolips
.
As Gog travels closer to the modern DC universe, the Linear Men
panic when they see that their ordered index of time is unraveling; Superman is dead in the 21st century, yet alive in the 853rd, and their instruments register no error. When Rip Hunter
tries to stop Gog from killing Superman on the day his and Wonder Woman
's child is born (that being a day when 'anything seemed possible'), Gog manages to steal the infant (named Jonathan), whom he plans to raise and name Magog
. (In issue #2, this was revealed to be a red herring. The child did not grow up to become Magog; instead, he became a Hypertime-traveling super-hero wearing a costume based on the costumes of his parents and his godfather, Batman, giving him a vague resemblance to the Phantom Stranger.)
Although the other Linear Men object to the idea of the heroes of that time travelling back to defeat Gog, Rip Hunter recruits Superman
, Batman
, and Wonder Woman
from the Kingdom Come era to stop Gog in 1998, the heroes concluding that, since innocent people will die if they do or don't take action, they will take the heroic option and go back despite the apparent loss of their own reality. Four young heroes - Kid Flash
, Offspring
, Nightstar
, and Ibn al Xu'ffasch - come together to try stopping Gog on their own, and are recruited by Rip Hunter to assist in his plan. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman team up with their 'past selves' and battle Gog to a final confrontation in a "Planet Krypton" restaurant outside of reality, where they use various weapons gathered from across Hypertime
against Gog. During the fight, the future Wonder Woman reveals to the Superman of the present why Gog is after him, and Superman vows that the timeline of Kingdom Come will never happen in his universe, as he strikes back at Gog, finishing the battle once and for all. As the heroes return to their proper places in time, Rip Hunter explains the existence of timelines, so the Kingdom Come reality still exists, but it will no longer be the future of the DC universe.
The Kingdom was also criticized by some, and lauded by others, for the concept of Hypertime
. Hypertime was an in-story metaphor for reader response and canonicity, variously described as a river and tributaries of continuity, a geometric construct, and in various other deliberately mutable ways.
:
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
and multiple one shot comics published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
in 1999, written by Mark Waid
Mark Waid
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
and drawn by Ariel Olivetti
Ariel Olivetti
Ariel Olivetti is an Argentine comic book penciller best known for his work on American comic book titles such as Daredevil, X-Man, Space Ghost and Punisher War Journal.-Career:...
/Mike Zeck
Mike Zeck
Mike Zeck is an American comic book illustrator.-Biography:Zeck was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania to Michael and Kathryn Jean Zeck...
. This is both a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
and, in some ways, prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to Kingdom Come, also by Mark Waid. Both books form an Elseworlds
Elseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
saga, meaning they are abstracted from official DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
continuity. The storyline extended into one-shot books entitled Gog
Gog (comics)
Gog is the name of several different fictional characters in the comics published by DC Comics. The first version first appeared in New Year's Evil: Gog #1, , and was created by Mark Waid and Jerry Ordway.-The Kingdom:...
, The Kingdom: Kid Flash
Kid Flash (Iris West)
Kid Flash is a superheroine in the alternate future of Kingdom Come in the DC Comics universe. She first appeared in Kingdom Come #3 .-Publication history:...
, The Kingdom: Nightstar
Nightstar
Nightstar is a fictional character from DC Comics, the daughter of Starfire and Dick Grayson, who was the first Robin and Nightwing. Her superhero name is a play on those of her parents but her civilian identity is that of Mar'i Grayson.-Kingdom Come:Nightstar first appears in Kingdom Come #1 ...
, The Kingdom: Offspring, The Kingdom: Planet Krypton, and The Kingdom: Son of the Bat. The entire storyline was later collected into a trade paperback.
The Kingdom does not use the same visual style created by Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
, which was used in the four-issue Kingdom Come series. The storyline in The Kingdom is a direct continuation and extension of the original storyline fleshing out areas of the future that were not explored in the original four-part series. While Kingdom Come can easily exist as a stand-alone story, The Kingdom is not a complete storyline in and of itself and exists only as a continuation of the previous storyline.
Plot summary
Twenty years after the events of Kingdom Come, a survivor of the Kansas disaster is granted power by the QuintessenceQuintessence
Quintessence, literally fifth essence , can refer to:-Science:* Aether , the fifth classical element after earth, fire, water, and air...
(Shazam
Shazam (comics)
Shazam is a comic book character created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. He is an ancient sorcerer who gives young Billy Batson the power to transform into the superhero Captain Marvel...
, Ganthet
Ganthet
Ganthet is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in the 1992 graphic novel Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale , by Larry Niven and John Byrne.- Background :Ganthet is one of the Guardians of the Universe...
, Zeus
Zeus (DC Comics)
Zeus is a fictional deity in the DC Comics universe, an interpretation of Zeus from Greek mythology. His appearances are most significant in stories of Wonder Woman .-Fictional character biography:...
, Izaya Highfather
Highfather
Highfather is a fictional comic book character in the . He is chief of the New Gods of New Genesis in the Fourth World and ruled the fictional planet. Highfather first appeared in The New Gods #1 ....
, and the Phantom Stranger
Phantom Stranger
The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.-Publication history:...
), who dub him Gog
Gog (comics)
Gog is the name of several different fictional characters in the comics published by DC Comics. The first version first appeared in New Year's Evil: Gog #1, , and was created by Mark Waid and Jerry Ordway.-The Kingdom:...
. The power drives him mad, and he takes out his anger on Superman
Superman (Kingdom Come)
The Superman of Kingdom Come is a fictional character, an alternate version of Superman in the DC Comics universe...
, killing him and carving his "S" shield on the ground. He then travels a day backward in time and kills him again...and again. The Stranger opposes this action, as Gog now intends to accelerate the Kansas Holocaust, but the other four are prepared to let things unfold; Shazam hopes that Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
will no longer have to die, Ganthet hopes that Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
will avert the catastrophe and become more renowned than Superman, Zeus hopes that the ancient gods may be 'worshiped' once more as Earth seeks something to believe in, and Highfather feels that a new war may fracture Earth in a manner similar to New Genesis and Apokolips
Apokolips
In the DC Comics fictional shared Universe, Apokolips is the planet ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series. It is also integral to many DC Comics stories. The planet is considered the opposite of New Genesis....
.
As Gog travels closer to the modern DC universe, the Linear Men
Linear Men
The Linear Men are fictional characters, a fictional superhero team in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Adventures of Superman #476 .-Fictional history:...
panic when they see that their ordered index of time is unraveling; Superman is dead in the 21st century, yet alive in the 853rd, and their instruments register no error. When Rip Hunter
Rip Hunter
Rip Hunter is a DC Comics character who first appeared in Showcase #20 . Following three more appearances in Showcase , Rip Hunter was given his own series, which ran for 29 issues . He later starred in the six-issue Time Masters series , written by Bob Wayne and Lewis Shiner...
tries to stop Gog from killing Superman on the day his and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
's child is born (that being a day when 'anything seemed possible'), Gog manages to steal the infant (named Jonathan), whom he plans to raise and name Magog
Magog (comics)
Magog is a fictional character in the comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Kingdom Come #1 , and was created by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. In 2009, Magog was ranked as IGN's 75th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time....
. (In issue #2, this was revealed to be a red herring. The child did not grow up to become Magog; instead, he became a Hypertime-traveling super-hero wearing a costume based on the costumes of his parents and his godfather, Batman, giving him a vague resemblance to the Phantom Stranger.)
Although the other Linear Men object to the idea of the heroes of that time travelling back to defeat Gog, Rip Hunter recruits Superman
Superman (Kingdom Come)
The Superman of Kingdom Come is a fictional character, an alternate version of Superman in the DC Comics universe...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
from the Kingdom Come era to stop Gog in 1998, the heroes concluding that, since innocent people will die if they do or don't take action, they will take the heroic option and go back despite the apparent loss of their own reality. Four young heroes - Kid Flash
Kid Flash (Iris West)
Kid Flash is a superheroine in the alternate future of Kingdom Come in the DC Comics universe. She first appeared in Kingdom Come #3 .-Publication history:...
, Offspring
Offspring (comics)
Offspring is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is the son of Plastic Man, and has the same stretching powers as his father.-Kingdom Come:...
, Nightstar
Nightstar
Nightstar is a fictional character from DC Comics, the daughter of Starfire and Dick Grayson, who was the first Robin and Nightwing. Her superhero name is a play on those of her parents but her civilian identity is that of Mar'i Grayson.-Kingdom Come:Nightstar first appears in Kingdom Come #1 ...
, and Ibn al Xu'ffasch - come together to try stopping Gog on their own, and are recruited by Rip Hunter to assist in his plan. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman team up with their 'past selves' and battle Gog to a final confrontation in a "Planet Krypton" restaurant outside of reality, where they use various weapons gathered from across Hypertime
Hypertime
Hypertime is a fictional concept presented in the 1999 DC comic book series The Kingdom, both a catch-all explanation for any continuity discrepancies in DC Universe stories and a variation or superset of the Multiverse that existed before Crisis on Infinite Earths.- The Kingdom :The basic premise...
against Gog. During the fight, the future Wonder Woman reveals to the Superman of the present why Gog is after him, and Superman vows that the timeline of Kingdom Come will never happen in his universe, as he strikes back at Gog, finishing the battle once and for all. As the heroes return to their proper places in time, Rip Hunter explains the existence of timelines, so the Kingdom Come reality still exists, but it will no longer be the future of the DC universe.
Reaction
The Kingdom received some criticism at its time of publication: Originally intended to be simply a prequel bridging the gap between the mainstream DC Universe and that portrayed in Kingdom Come, Ross left the project and Mark Waid revised his intentions into what finally saw print. In a Wizard magazine special, Ross also criticized such things as having the birth of Superman and Wonder Woman's child be a major world affair (Ross thought they would keep such a thing secret to give their child a normal life) and the number of characters he Ross had intended to be have been killed in the first series that are alive here (such as Zatara, Hawkman, and Kid Flash).The Kingdom was also criticized by some, and lauded by others, for the concept of Hypertime
Hypertime
Hypertime is a fictional concept presented in the 1999 DC comic book series The Kingdom, both a catch-all explanation for any continuity discrepancies in DC Universe stories and a variation or superset of the Multiverse that existed before Crisis on Infinite Earths.- The Kingdom :The basic premise...
. Hypertime was an in-story metaphor for reader response and canonicity, variously described as a river and tributaries of continuity, a geometric construct, and in various other deliberately mutable ways.
Publications
The various comics have been collected in a single trade paperbackTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
- The Kingdom (232 page, 2000, Titan BooksTitan BooksTitan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
, ISBN 1-84023-122-X, DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, ISBN 1-56389-567-6)