Kingdom Come is widely regarded as one of the best super hero comics made, and it's easily one of the most popular and beloved books that populate the DC multiverse. There have been revisits to it over the years, such as Geoff Johns' run on Justice Society of America, and even the inclusion of Brandon Routh's Superman in CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths being a version of the Kingdom Come Superman. And whilst these have been really fun, enjoyable stories that have made good use of that world this is perhaps the first time that it feels like we're going back to Kingdom Come in a big, important way, as the original writer is taking us there.
This issue opens with The Flash running through the multiverse, checking out other worlds for fun, which also gives Dan Mora the chance to draw some of these awesome alternate universes. During his run, Barry finds himself running beside the Kingdom Come Flash, and sees into that universe, sensing David. Travelling back to his own universe, he meets up with Batman and Superman and tells them what he's found. Modifying the cosmic treadmill for inter-dimensional travel, he sends the two heroes on their way to find and save David.
They arrive in the other world, though far into the future, and see older versions of themselves, and David, at a cemetery filled with the graves of fellow heroes. They're eventually deposited further back in time, just a few years ahead of their own universe, and begin to gather information. After a trip to Planet Krypton (the restaurant, not the planet, they discover David fighting a villain under the name Thunderman. After helping him out, however, David turns on Superman, having waited years for revenge.
We get to see the events of the Kingdom Come story, the future time where the characters are the old men that we know; but the main bulk of the issue is set during the past of Kingdom Come offering us a new era of this world to discover. And the fact that Waid is writing it makes it feel all the more special. He crafted that world to begin with, it's his creation, so he's the best person to go back and give us more of it, to show us more of how it got to that point; and the best person to craft new origins for characters like Magog, as well as cross it over with the main universe.
There's not a huge amount of action in this issue, just enough to show us how much darker and violent David has become over the years. The bulk of the story is more of a character piece, showing us what the loss of David has done to Clark, how much he blames himself, his hopes at getting him back, and how his friendship with Bruce is helping him through it. The fact that these are younger versions of the characters helps too, as we don't have to have a Batman who grumbles and dislikes everything he sees, but seems mildly bemused at the Planet Krypton displays, and has hope that things aren't as bad as Clark fears. It's interesting to essentially see the two characters having swapped roles, but it works.
Going to Planet Krypton also means that Dan Mora gets to draw some really cool stuff. Whether it's the servers in costume, display costumes, vehicles, or merchandise, the restaurant is filled with really cool Easter eggs and nods to things that fans will recognise. The same for the pages where the Flash is travelling through the multiverse, where we get to see glimpses of worlds such as Dark Knights of Steel, Superman: Red Son, and Batman: Red Rain to name just a few. Dan Mora is the kind of artist where I want to see him draw everything, I want to see his versions of every character and every universe, and this comic has ticked off some amazing things from that list.
In a lot of ways this feels like the big story of this series, the thing that the book has been building towards for a long while. It's exciting to finally get my hands on the first issue, and the only downside is that it ended too soon, and I've got to wait a month for the next part. This series has been consistently fantastic throughout, and this story could easily become a modern classic that people will talk about for decades to come; just like Kingdom Come.
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