Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come – Revisiting DC’s Superheroes

I’ve always been a fan of DC comics. I remembered watching the Justice League on television, seeing costumed heroes save the day, defeating one foe after another. Entering into high school, I still loved the costumed hero world, and yet the stories rarely drew me in for long; they didn’t feel like they dealt with the human aspects of the heroes much at all, and so I started my search for other stories. One such story was Kingdom Come.

            Kingdom Come uses a hyper realistic style, pushed through proportions to make the heroes seem larger than life. His style is particularly great for Kingdom Come, as it makes us feel like we are spectating the event; and as a matter of fact we are, as it is told from a character seeing the events from a third person’s perspective. This creates a closer relationship between the reader and the narrator, as we see his visions through his eyes; being able to project ourselves into Norman McCay’s shoes.

            The Central theme, or at least, the main theme I got out of the graphic novel, is the question of what is justice? This question could be further extrapolated to, who has the right to decide what is just? And what are the responsibilities of those in power? Superman, as the protagonist of the story, is ultimately shown, as the gleaming beacon, the good ‘boy scout’ figure, and thus, it is easy to conclude that Superman is right. Everyone else, however, has questionable choices, difficult decisions and different goals and opinions. What this reflects is a whole spectrum of what right truly is, and the conflicts in the story are often between characters that believe they’re all doing the right thing.

            Even Superman is slightly morally tainted compared to the typical depictions of the character, which is symbolized in his Kryptonian shield, this time colored black in place of yellow (explained as Superman being in mourning over Lois Lane, as well as his position as a meta-human). Batman’s actions have always been questionable; in Kingdom Come this is brought to the extreme side, Bruce having evolved into the Big Brother Authoritarian in Gotham, ruling through fear, intimidation, and surveillance. Magog, the main antagonist of the first half, is a killer. He is also a very effective crime fighter, causing the public to phase Superman out of the public spotlight. Magog’s position on vigilantism raises another interesting question: Does the public get to decide what is right? And Can killing ever be justified?

            The character I feel to be at the heart of this conflict is a very much conflicted and confused Captain Marvel (Shazam). Billy Batson is being mind controlled, and that is enough to provide him the benefit of the doubt for attacking the Justice League. The comic shows that Captain Marvel and Superman are almost toe-to-toe in combat. It is at the very end, however, that the conflict emerges. Amidst his confused thoughts, Captain Marvel had a choice to make: Kill Superman, or let Superman stop the nuclear bomb; in other terms, Batson is told to pick between destroying the meta-humans and restoring the world, or letting the meta-humans live, and they engulf the world in violence. His ultimate sacrifice shows a third, middle-ground option. Here, we see the graphic novel’s most difficult decision, being carried out in a split second by a boy who lives between the meta-human and human world, and between the worlds of good and evil.