KC: KC #1 Annotations - Final(?) Draft

[jnevins]

Kingdom Come #1 Annotations

(corrections and additions are of course welcome)

Unless noted otherwise - by quotation marks and/or question
marks - the names of the new characters, and new names for old
characters, have been confirmed by Waid and Ross at various
store signings and conventions and in the card set.

Cover Mark Waid, at a store signing, described the cover to
this, the first issue of _Kingdom Come_, as being filled with
the bad new "heroes" who have forgotten, or never knew, what
real heroism is like.
First row: Thunder, Von Bach, Lightning, 666, Joker's
Daughter, Catwoman II, Spectre, Captain Atom, Trix.
Second Row: Germ-Man, Swastika, Stealth II, Nightstar,
Cathedral, Phoebus, Stripes, Tokyo Rose, Magog, Huntress III.
Third Row: Blue Devil II, Shiva, Judomaster II, Nuculoid,
Demon Damselle, Manotaur, Kabuki Kommando.
Last Row: Buddha, Mr. Terrific II, Tusk, Pinwheel, Stars,
Black Mongul, and N-I-L-8.
Thunder is a new character; he is the _Kingdom Come_
version of the Golden Age hero Johnny Thunder. The card set
describes him as "a new Johnny Thunder with the mischievous
spirit of Thunderbolt," a reference to the impish nature of
the original Thunderbolt.
Von Bach is a new character. The card set describes him
as a "Yugoslavian would-be dictator."
Lightning is a new character; she is the _Kingdom Come_
version of the Golden Age hero Thunderbolt - Johnny Thunder's
pet genie. Alex Ross said, at the San Diego Con, that
Lightning is the daughter of the DC hero Black Lightning.
666 is a new character; the card set describes him as
"tattooed, self-mutilated man-machine of destruction."
Joker's Daughter, according to Alex Ross, is the daughter
of the Joker; this may be the same character as Duela Dent,
the "Joker's Daughter," who was a member of the Teen Titans
for a time. The card set describes her as "one of many to
follow the Joker's chaotic style."
Catwoman II is a new character; the card set describes
her as "armored meta-human, successor to Selina Kyle."
The Spectre we will learn more of below; the card set
describes him as "the wandering spirit of God's vengeance."
Captain Atom we will see again below; the card set
describes him as "human nuclear reactor and symbol of the
atomic age." Captain Atom has his eyes closed here; Alex Ross,
at the Chicago con, stated that his eyes are closed as
symbolic of his death in this issue, and his head is hung low
in shame of his actions.
Trix is a new character; the card set describes Trix as
"(after Matrix): a morphing biomechanism."
Germ-Man is a new character; the card set describes him
as "poison-gas spewing master of biological warfare."
Swastika is a new character; the card set describes him
as "American militia man and anarachist."
Stealth II is a new character; the card set describes her
as "cloaked one-woman war machine." Stealth II's helmet and
armor, as a few folks pointed out, seem to be based on the
armor worn by the Knights of the DC series _Checkmate_.
Nightstar is a new character; we will learn more about
her below.
Cathedral is a new character; the card set describes him
as "holy terror of the underworld."
Phoebus is a new character; the card set describes him as
"Earth's new champion fire elemental (after Firestorm)."
Stripes is _Kingdom Come_ version of the GA character
Stripesy, the partner to the GA Star-Spangled Kid. The card
set describes him as "modern Stripesy armed to the teeth."
Tokyo Rose is a new character; the card set describes her
as "Japanese martial arts assassin."
Magog is a new character; we will learn more about him
below.
Huntress III is a new character; the card set describes
her as "warrior queen of the African jungle."
Blue Devil II is a new character; the card set describes
him as "a true indigo demon from the netherworld."
Shiva is a new character; the card set describes him as
"four-armed defender of India, based on the Hindu god."
Judomaster II is the _Kingdom Come_ version of the GA
character; the card set describes her as "female inheritor of
the mantle."
Nuculoid is a new character; the card set describes him
as a "pliable nuclear-powered hero."
Demon Damselle is a new character; the card set describes
her as "would-be Legion member." I'm unaware if she actually
was actually a Legion applicant in the DC universe or whether
Ross/Waid made her up for _Kingdom Come_.
Manotaur is a new character; the card set describes him
as "classical Greek myth armed for the future."
Kabuki Kommando is a new character; the card set
describes him as "the Fourth World's Japanese champion." Alex
Ross said, at the Chicago Con, that he intended the name
"Kabuki Kommando" as a tribute to the work of Jack Kirby, "if
Kirby had ever got into a Japanese period."
Buddha is a new character; the card set describes him as
"sumo-sized scourge of China."
Mr. Terrific II is the _Kingdom Come_ version of the GA
character; the card set describes him as "over-equipped update
of the old version, with little understanding of "fair-play."
Tusk is a new character; the card set describes Tusk as
"elephant shaped man-o-war."
Pinwheel is a new character; the card set describes him
as "blade-laden, leather-clad master of pain."
Stars is the _Kingdom Come_ version of the GA character
the Star-Spangled Kid. His GA partner was named Stripesy; the
_Kingdom Come_ version is Stripes.
Black Mongul is a new character; the card set describes
him as "Mongolian shadow of death."
N-I-L-8 is a new character; the card set describes it as
"a sentient armory with one deadly purpose."

p 1 Quotes from Revelation 8:5. Waid and Ross are starting us off
with a reference to the book of the Bible which describes the
end of the world - not a good omen, and not the last time we
see implications of a bad ending for the world of _Kingdom
Come_.
The following quotes and interpretations of the Biblical
references are verbatim courtesy of Anthony (sorry, I didn't
get your last name):

"The eagle symbolism used with Superman:"
"In the book of Revelation, the eagle represents the
`power and swiftness of divine help.' In a larger sense, the
eagle is the symbol used for St. John (who wrote Revelation).
They (Catholics) use this symbol in referring to St. John
because his gospel focuses on Christ's divine and Heavenly
nature. In other parts of the Bible, eagles are also used to
represent the rise towards Heaven. `But they that wait upon
the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint," from the Old Testament (Isaiah
40:31) is an example of this." (I hate to ruin a nice theory
like this with shabby facts, but Waid/Ross meant for the eagle
to represent Wonder Woman, rather than Batman.)

"there were voices:"
"St. John refers to hearing voices *many* times...these
voices represent the souls of the martyrs begging God to take
vengeance out on the world for its sins."

"...and thunderings, and lightnings..." and "And there
followed hail and fire mingled with blood:"
"These are probably meant to be taken literally. These
are natural disasters that God will use to punish people.
Throughout the Bible, natural disasters were a sign of God's
displeasure. The fire refers back to the Old Testament. In the
book of Genesis, after the flood, God tells Noah that He will
not destroy the earth again with water, but the next time with
fire." (This is also echoed in the verses of old spiritual
hymn: "God gave Noah the rainbow sign: no more water, the fire
next time." This was in turn used for the title of James
Baldwin's book, _The Fire Next Time_)

"... and an earthquake:"
"Earthquakes are used to represent God's presence, such
as in the Gospels when Jesus dies, there are earthquakes
mentioned." (notably the earthquake which rocked Hell, as seen
in Dante's _Inferno_)

p 2 Quotes from Revelation 8:7, 10.
Andrew: "There fell a great star from Heaven, burning as
if it were a lamp...:"
"In Revelation, it says the name of the star is
`Wormwood'. Wormwood is a bitter plant, and is used to
represent God's punishment. Revelation also mentions other
falling stars, which refer to the fallen angels. Could these
`fallen angels' be the fallen super heroes?"

p 3 Quotes from Revelation 8:13.

p 4 This is our introduction to the main narrator, Norman McCay,
who is a new figure, introduced in _Kingdom Come_; he is to be
our Everyman guide through this DC dystopia. Alex Ross on
McCay: "Norman McCay is just simply what my dad looks like, a
figure who might well have been around for every age of the
superhero." Norman is the middle name of Alex Ross' father.
Norman McCay's name is also an homage to Winsor McCay,
the great artist of the classic comic strip _Little Nemo in
Slumberland_. The titular character, Little Nemo, dreamed
himself into an art deco fantasy paradise every night; as
we'll see, Norman McCay undergoes something of the opposite.
The aged man McCay is talking to - "Wesley" - is, as we
shall see, Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman (note his
mentioning that "the sands run out"), one of DC's earliest
heroes. Wesley was driven by dreams, as shown in _Sandman
Mystery Theater_, to fight crime - but his dreams have turned
here into Biblical-driven nightmares. Or, just maybe,
premonitions from God, or the Spectre...
As Wesley is getting out his old Sandman hat, he looks,
as Mark Coale points out, like William S. Burroughs.
Wesley is quoting here from Revelation 10:3.
Jonathan Woodward points out the cracked Lexcorp Building
over Norman's shoulder; it matches the damaged skyline of the
city, and is another indication that the effect of all the
superhumans on the society of _Kingdom Come_ is a dire one.
Anthony, on Wesley's "seven thunders" quote:
"Seven thunders will utter their voices..."
"This refers to the anti-Christ. The number seven
probably refers to the first beast in Revelation, which had
seven heads `each containing insulting names to God.' The
seven heads refer to the seven Roman emperors, and the names
are the names of these emperors. They are revolting to God,
because they claimed to be deities, and had people refer to
them with such titles as `our lord and god.' Interestingly,
this beast is supposed to rise out of the sea, and on page 2
we see what looks like an arm coming out of the water holding
a lightning bolt."
Wesley's quote that "Babylon falls" is a reference to the
function of Babylon in the book of Revelation, in which
Babylon stands for the city of the Anti-Christ.

p 5 Panel 2 is what the GA Sandman looked like in costume, for
those of you who've never seen him. As Scott Casteel caught,
but I somehow missed, Wesley is seeing the doctor and nurse as
the Sandman, with the same red tone as the dream images.
The horned, winged figure landing on the rooftop in panel
5 is Demon Damselle.
Wesley is quoting, in panel 1, from Revelation 11:3.
Anthony says, regarding this: "Who these two witnesses are is
still being debated by theologians. It could refer to two Old
Testament prophets, St. Peter and St. Paul, or it could be
symbolic of the Church as a whole. The reason there are two of
them, though, is because in the Gospels Jesus always sent out
the Apostles in groups of two to witness to the faith. Also,
at the time Revelation was written, you needed two witnesses
to prove that something was true."
Matthew Daly points out that the end of the quote in
panel 5 is this: "But we shall all be changed in a flash."
Whether this is a deliberate omission on Waid's part, or just
a coincidence, is arguable.

p 6 Andrew Lannen points out that, in panel 1, you can just make
out a man with a white streak in his red hair standing near a
small gravestone marked "Corrigan." That is, of course, Jim
Corrigan - aka the Spectre - who we'll see again, in a few
pages. Corrigan's presence here also fits, as Loki Carbis
pointed out, since the Spectre is, most likely, the last
surviving member of the Justice Society of America. Joel Shin
notes that we can see Corrigan, still standing by his grave,
in panel 3. Austin Loomis notes the dates on Corrigan's
gravemarker - 1914-1939 - and points out that the Spectre's
first appearance was in _More Fun Comics_ #52, in February
1940.
Note the Hall of Justice, from the _Superfriends_ tv
cartoon, in the picture on the front page of the Daily Planet.
William Cavanaugh points out that the sparsely-attended,
rainy funeral of a former superhero is a clear homage to
_Watchmen_.

p 7 The long-haired Korean man in panel 1 with the cigarette
dangling from his mouth is Sung Koo, the former proprietor of
Halley's Comics, a Chicago comic-book store; Alex Ross is from
Chicago.
Joel Shin points out that, in panel 2, we can see the
words "City College" written on the graffiti-sprayed building.
This is Metropolis, but it may also be a tip of the hat to the
City College of New York - perhaps the alma mater of Waid or
Ross? That is, unless "Metropolis City College" has some
deeper meaning in the Superman mythos.
In panel 4 we get a nice homage by the authors to three
comic book characters and their books: _Alternate Egos_, by
John Law - aka the Golden Age hero The Tarantula; _Behind the
Mask_, by Jessie Chambers - daughter of the Golden Age heroes
Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, and a heroine in her own right
in the pages of Mr. Waid's current book, _The Flash_; and
_Under the Hood_, by Hollis Mason - aka the Golden Age Nite
Owl from _The Watchmen_.
As Scott Hollified (my inspiration for annotations) has
pointed out, the original title of John Law's book was _Alter
Egos_. But as Joel Shin points out, in James Robinson's _The
Golden Age_ miniseries, John Law's book was called _Behind the
Mask_.
If this is all taking place twenty years in the future,
then that poster of the alterni-pop singer Bjork (ex-
frontwoman of the Sugarcubes) in panel 3 must be really,
really old. Loki points out that the Bjork poster here is the
same one that was used to promote her song "Violently Happy."
Given the Image-like heroes we see here, that title is
entirely appropriate.
Note also in panel 2 - you can just make out the "Who
Watches The Watchmen?" graffiti - the quote of the Roman
satirist Juvenal that was so central to Alan Moore's
_Watchman_ series.
Alex Tam points out that the statue of Lady Justice in
panel 3 seems to have fallen into "Knight's Past," the store
of Jack Knight (current hero of DC's _Starman_ and son of the
GA Starman); Alex notes that the symbol above the door to the
store is quite similar to the symbol Jack Knight wears on his
jacket, and that the store has a turret, which evokes images
of the past and of knights.
Also in panel 2, as Bern Walker points out, is a set of
kanji - a reference to the anime' _Tenchi Muyou_. The phrase
can be translated as "Heaven and earth are useless," which is
quite apropos to the themes of the story so far.
Mark Stephenson points out that the "Buy Me!" messages on
the laptops might be a reference to John Carpenter's film
"They Live."
The signed ball in the shop window, from the last World
Series in 2002, symbolizes, as Donald MacPherson notes, that
this future is much bleaker; few things are as synonymous with
innocence and American pride as baseball.

p 8 Those figures on the billboard around the Planet Krypton are:
Batman, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, Wonder Woman, Flash, Lobo,
and Marvin. All are drawn exactly like Alex Toth's character
designs from the early _Superfriends_ cartoon, and are done in
cartoon style, suggesting how this current generation sees the
older, more traditional heroes. As Dave Van Domelen points
out, putting Marvin (in some ways the epitome of harmless
superheroic fun) next to Lobo (the epitome of the violent,
amoral new breed of "hero") is a disturbing juxtaposition.
The rocket on the Planet Krypton sign is the Golden Age,
pale-blue/silver rocket seen in Action Comics #1. The poster
in panel 4 is a copy of the cover of Batman #1.
The smirking waiter is dressed like the Silver Age Green
Lantern, Hal Jordan. As we see on the next page, even the
waiter doesn't know who exactly he's supposed to be dressed
like - and Hal Jordan was one of the best and noblest of the
Silver Age's heroes. This is not a very enjoyable future.

p 9 More of those waiters, dressed like Captain Marvel, Supergirl,
Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Carrie Kelly Robin from _Dark
Knight Returns_, and the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen (but in
the costume of the Flash of the _Legends of the Superheroes_
television show from the 1970s). The costumes, though, are
just a little bit off - faux heroes inside Planet Krypton to
match the faux heroes outside.
Planet Krypton is clearly meant to be a riff on Planet
Hollywood; Jason Langlois also notes that Ron Perleman, part
owner of the Marvel Entertainment Group, has "a deal with
Planet Hollywood to develop and open a line of restaurants
themed on Marvel Superhero characters."
That costumed mannequin in the vacuum tube looks like
Batman - but the Adam West Batman of the 1960s television
show, rather than a Batman that has ever appeared in any
comics. Scott Rogers notes that the Batman costume appears
here exactly as it does in the Planet Hollywood in Chicago.
Note the old DC logo - or, as Sean MacDonald says, Johnny
DC's body - to the right of the Batarang.
Those two kids cavorting on the screen above the room are
Sugar and Spike, two long-time DC child characters. Hanging
from the ceiling are the GA Batplane and the rocket in which
Superman, as a child, was rocketed to Earth - the rocket here
is the dark blue, 1970s Earth-1 design. And on the near wall
in the upper left is one of Batman's batarangs and Green
Arrow's bow and boxing glove arrow.
The "Bea" asking for Booster Gold in panel 2 would appear
to be Beatriz DaCosta, aka the heroine Fire, from the Global
Guardians and the Giffen Justice League. It's typical of
Booster Gold, a somewhat mercenary hero at his best, to own a
place like the Planet Krypton, which seems to be a soulless
merchandizing/selling-out of the Silver Age heroic tradition.
David A. Carr notes that all the lanterns in Planet
Krypton are green. Ed Mathews points out that the salt shaker
on the table that the Carrie Kelly Robin is taking an order at
is a figure of either Doll Man or Superman. Dean Velasco
points out that the "Green Lantern" here has his ring on his
left hand - the Hal Jordan Green Lantern on whom he's modeled
always wore the ring on the right hand. And Scott Casteel
notes that the bowls/ashtrays used in Planet Krypton are
replicas of Jay Garrick's Flash helmet.

p 10 More cool/kitsch points to Messrs. Waid and Ross for including
Turtle Olsen in panel 2. In the modern, post-Crisis, post-
Zero Hour _Superman_ series Jimmy was briefly a children's tv
hero - "Turtle Boy" - a la the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers;
the adventures of "Turtle Boy" may be what is shown on-screen.
Of course, I prefer to believe that Waid is hearkening back to
Olsen's original, Silver Age incarnation as Turtle Olsen; as
Scott Hollifield pointed out, this idea is reinforced by the
on-screen Turtle Olsen menacing a bridge, which he originally
did back in the 1960s.
The hotel in the background of panel 2 is the "Siegel" -
a reference to Superman creator Jerry Siegel.
Tony Pi notes that the Chinese ideograms underneath
Turtle Olsen in panel 2 read "done" or "finished." Chris Sypal
adds that in Japanese the ideograms can be interpreted as
either "completion" or "perfection."
Panel 3 has a sign with the name "Barta," a reference to
the inker Hilary Barta. Thad Doria points out that, just as
Barta is a friend of Alex Ross, so is Barry Crain, whose name
is above the viewscreen of Turtle Olsen in Panel 3.
As Thomas Howard caught, there's a flyer for the
alternative band XTC on the telephone pole in panel 3.
The Steve Darnall marquee is a reference to the former
editor for Hero magazine who is now a freelance writer; The
Ultimate Career Move is a band with which Darnall plays.
Norman McCay's quote here is from Matthew 5:5.

p 11 Big Fight Scene #1. This page introduces us to the new breed
of superhumans; their fight here doesn't seem to have much
purpose, and is quite destructive - but that's the whole
point, of course. They are:
Stars, the new Star-Spangled Kid (the flying African-
American with the glowing rod and the blue kerchief). The
original SSK was a Golden Age hero who with his older sidekick
Stripesy fought crime in the 1940s and was a part of the
short-lived Justice Society of America imitators the Seven
Soldiers of Victory. SSK later took Starman's cosmic rod, and
still later used a "cosmic converter belt" and took the
identity of Skyman; he was eventually killed in action. The
new Star-Spangled Kid, you'll note, is using the cosmic rod
and wearing the cosmic converter belt - and both his kerchief
and armband are spangled with stars. Doug Limmer also points
out that the _Kingdom Come_ SSK has an upside down American
Flag on his shirt - more symbolism.
Manotaur - the minotaur figure with the gun. This is one
of the new characters for _Kingdom Come_.
Nuculoid - the glowing blue figure wrestling with the big
robot. Another character introduced here; Alex Ross' comment
is "I made this one up when I was 11. Be kind."
Phoebus - the red-and-white costumed figure flying and
leaving a flaming trail behind him.
The flying women with flowing black hair is Nightstar -
the daughter of Nightwing (aka Robin, aka Red Robin, who we'll
see in issue #2) and Starfire, from the Teen Titans. She
seems to have received their approach to battle but none of
their sense of responsibility. The card set describes
Nightstar as daughter of "the late Starfire," but the
backstory of her death is never explained.
The man with the gun, running next to Nuculoid, is
Stripes, the sidekick to the new Star-Spangled Kid.
The flying, "thorned" woman shooting lightning at
Manotaur is Lightning.
The figure in black body armor and white hair shooting at
Phoebus is Trix, a new character made up for _Kingdom Come_.
Tusk is the giant robot with the two long horns. When I
asked Alex Ross at a store signing what this character's name
was, he said it was "just a robot." Oh well. (Eric Harding
points out that he is very similar to Zugok-E from the anime'
_Mobile Suit Gundam_)
The man getting out of the truck would seem to be, as n
Eric Fritzius notes, Reginald Denny, perhaps the most famous
victim of the L.A. riots/revolt.

p 12 Thomas Howard points out that Manotaur being shot through a
window, beneath a sign reading "Golden," is a nice allusion to
the Golden Calf; in Biblical terms, the Golden Calf is money -
or, more explicitly, the golden calf made by Aaron when Moses
was absent on Mount Sinai, in Exodus 23, and worshipped by the
people.

p 13 The laughing man in panel 4 is 666, a new character made up
for _Kingdom Come_. His name is a reference to the "number of
the Beast" in the book of Revelation (13:18).

p 14 Note the poor woman in panel 1 who's just been shot in the
eye. In any real world with violent superhumans, bystanders
would constantly be getting injured in this way.
Unfortunately, we're going to be seeing a lot of this sort of
"collateral damage" in _Kingdom Come_.
The "Secret Asian Man" on the billboard in panel 1 is a
riff on the Patrick McGoohan series "Secret Agent Man," the
supposed prequel to "The Prisoner;" Lance Smith points out
that "Secret Asian Man" was in turn a comic strip in _The
Comics Journal_ based on a Chicago comic book store owner.
Thad Doria points out that "Secret Asian Man" is a `zine
written by Sung Koo, who we saw back on page 10; Alex Ross has
done a few covers for this `zine.
Marc Singer wonders how the car that Manotaur is lifting
in Panel 1 - with the license plane 28IF - made it to America,
as the last time it was seen was on the cover of the Beatles
"Abbey Road" album. Kudos to Marc for catching this, and to
Ross for putting it in there. (As has been pointed out, Ross
also put that cab into _Marvels_)
Eric Fritzius points out that the man taking pictures in
panel 2, just to the left of Phoebus' head, might well be an
allusion to one of the main characters in _Marvels_, Alex
Ross' first major project.

p 15 The big bulletin board the superhumans are looking at is from
the Daily Planet - the main newspaper of Metropolis, of
course, and the one at which Superman's secret identity, Clark
Kent, worked at. In this future time they've apparently gone
high-tech and developed video-broadcast capabilities. What
we're seeing on the board is the sad news of the Bad Thing
that has happened in Kansas. A Very Bad Thing, indeed. Donald
MacPherson also speculates that "the Planet's conversion to a
broadcast medium could be Waid's small comment on the state of
the newspaper industry at present."
Note that the brandname of the board is "Sonny" - a
futuristic variant on Sony, perhaps.

p 16 There's a sad irony in Norman McCay's sermon here; he's
preaching from the Book of Revelation (8:7, 9:2, 14:7), and
what he's saying parallels the Bad Thing that took place in
Kansas. Anthony adds that "the natural disasters described are
again supposed to be taken literally. Two of the disasters
(hail and no more green grass) refer back to the plagues of
Egypt. The `no more green grass' is symbolic of the locusts
that eat all of the crops and cause famine." It also has
resonance with the results of the Kansas Incident.
Although the figures in panels 3 and 4 look like George
and Barbara Bush, Alex Ross says that any resemblance is
purely coincidental.
As Johanna Draper points out, there are few people in the
church, and they're all older; this is a parallel to what is
happening to many churches today, and to the loss of faith in
superheroes among the young of _Kingdom Come_.

p 17 McCay's ripping up of the pages of his Bible, in panels 3 and
6, doesn't forebode well; if a man of the cloth can undergo
such a severe attack of doubt, to the point where he's
literally destroying his Bible, something is obviously deeply
wrong.
Bill Jennings points out that the name of Pastor McCay's
church is "Gethsemane Evangelical," as we can see in panel 1.
This would fit with McCay's attack of doubt and anguish;
Gethsemane was the garden outside Jerusalem mentioned in Mark
14 that was the scene of Jesus' agony and arrest; McCay's
"betrayal" of his congregation somewhat mirrors Judas'
betrayal of Jesus.
Guess notes that not only was Gethsemane the place where
Jesus had a crisis of faith regarding his role in the Will of
God, but that it was also the place where an Angel of God
appeared to reassure Jesus that God has not abandoned him
(Luke 22:43). This clearly has some resonance with the
appearance of the Spectre and his role in Norman McCay's life.

p 18 Enter the Spectre. Another Golden Age hero, the Spectre was
originally Jim Corrigan, a policeman killed in the line of
duty. But rather than go to Heaven, he was told by a Voice
that his mission on Earth was not finished, and that he was to
return and fight evil. In the decades since then he was
evolved and become the manifestation of God's judgment and
wrath.
As a few people have pointed out, the Spectre is naked
here, missing his traditional shorts, boots, collar and
buttons; this might be a parallel to Dr. Manhattan's nakedness
in _Watchman_. Alex Ross, in the card set, says of this that
"Jim Corrigan is completely out of touch with the man he once
was. He's disconnected from human vanity. Underneath the
cloak, he's as naked as the day he was buried."
Also, the Spectre's actions in the church scene appear to
echo the stained glass windows of the church. Andrew says, of
this: "The window that he (the Spectre) walks through is
depicting the Agony in the Garden. This could represent the
fact that we all will `go through' temptation, trials, and
tribulations. Also, the Agony in the Garden is where Jesus
says, `Not My will, but Your will be done.' This is referenced
in one of the Kingdom Come ads that states, `Whose will be
done?'"

p 19 The Spectre says, in panel 4, "long ago, I would have judged
swiftly, with clarity...but my faculties are not what they
once were." This somewhat mirrors the Spectre's history; he
has had his powers increased and decreased at various times,
going from being nearly omnipotent to being simply very
powerful.
Dave Van Domelen speculates that his depowering is not
random, but meant to "reflect the idea that even the Wrath of
God has been weakened by the evil of the times. The loss of
faith has had effects from the mundane to the cosmic." As
we'll see, this is not quite true; the Spectre has not lost
his power, but rather the human contact that previously made
his judgment accurate.
The Spectre's conversation with McCay is counterpointed
by the picture, in the background, of Jesus talking with -
someone. The figure raising his/her hand might be Thomas, who
doubted Jesus' resurrection, but it looks - to my eyes, anyhow
- more like a woman, which would make it Mary Magdalene, most
faithful and penitent of Jesus' followers. Young J. Kim says,
conversely, that the painting depicts the meeting of Saul with
Jesus on the road to Damascus, which is where Saul underwent
his transformation of faith and become Paul the Apostle.
Note the gleam in the Spectre's eye in panel 5. It's a
skull. -Not- a good sign.

p 20 The Spectre originally came for Wesley Dodds. I'm glad that
Mr. Waid gives Wesley respect in this manner; as has been
endlessly reiterated on the DC newsgroup, the Golden Age
heroes of DC have not generally been treated well - which
makes every instance of them being given some dignity and
respect that much more important.

p 21 Norman McCay says "I see a midwestern farmland...but that's
not--possible." Obviously, whatever it was that happened in
Kansas was really, really bad.
As a number of folks, Alan Turniasky among them, have
pointed out, the shot of Superman here, with the beard,
turned-down left hand, and plank behind his shoulder, are all
reminiscent of Jesus on the Cross. Given the overwhelming
Biblical imagery in _Kingdom Come_, that probably isn't
coincidental. Neither, I think, is it a coincidence that we
see Kal-el here as a carpenter - Jesus' traditional
occupation. Finally, Michael Denton points out that we can
see three spikes sticking out of Kal-el's pocket - a
reference, perhaps, to the three spikes used to crucify
Christ.
William H. Sudderth, among other people, points out that
Superman's pose in panel 3 is very similar to his pose on the
cover of _Superman_ #1.

p 22 Superman has obviously aged somewhat here; he is much closer
in appearance to the original, later Earth-2, Superman than to
the Superman of today's DC.
We begin to get some of _Kingdom Come_'s back-history
here. Superman began his "self-imposed exile" after a "trial"
of some kind; we'll see more about this later.
The menagerie of animals on this page - a cat (sitting on
the hay bales in the barn), horse, dog, and a grinning monkey
peeking from behind a horse's legs - are an homage to the
Silver Age Superman's Legion of Superpets - Streaky, Comet,
Krypto and Beppo, respectively. The dog in panel 3
particularly looks like Krypto.
Thomas Howard points out that Superman, lifting the
tractor, could be taken as an allusion to the cover of _Action
Comics_ #1.

p 23 Enter Wonder Woman. According to a Ross interview, this Wonder
Woman has her immortality back. Ross also said that Wonder
Woman's loincloth is meant to hearken back to the GA Wonder
Woman's skirt. On the card set, Ross writes that "the armored
chest emblem (which we see later in the series) and belt,
along with the loincloth, suggest a more primitive warrior's
garb."
I found the panel of Krypto licking Superman's face
particularly gratifying; Krypto is long since gone, but some
of us still remember him with fondness. Guess and Scott
Christensen point out that the black splotch on Krypto's back
means (as was established in a Superboy story of the early
1980s) that this is Krypto in his secret identity, as
"Skippy;" the black splotch disappears when Krypto is in his
"public" identity.
Note Wonder Woman's line in panel 4: "you can't live
forever in solitude." As we'll soon see, this line cuts two
ways; Superman can't live alone and apart from the world
forever - and he can't live forever in the Fortress of
Solitude, either. Also, as a few people pointed out, the line
"I'm Superman. I can do anything" might be a reference to the
R.E.M. song "Superman."
Panel 5, where Wonder Woman is moving the strand of hair
out of Kal-el's face, is a very nice touch. Have I mentioned
how wonderful this book looks yet?
Also note that in panel 5 Kal-el says, "Earthlings die.
You know that." with the "die" and "you" being in boldface.
I take this implication to mean that, in the _Kingdom Come_
future, Wonder Woman's long-time lover, Steve Trevor, has
already died.
Diana and Kal speak of "him," with Kal denying that he's
afraid of "him." Luthor? Mxyzptlk? Braniac? Nope - someone
potentially worse - Magog, who we'll meet later.
"They were your parents, Cla--Kal. And she was your
wife." We knew that Ma and Pa Kent were bound to die -
originally, before Crisis, they were dead before Superman
began fighting crime. But Kal's wife, Lois Lane? Again,
whatever happened to drive Superman away from Metropolis, it
must have been quite sad - sad enough to make him give up his
Clark Kent identity and become Kal-el again.
The "here, things grow" line is obviously meant to be
important. Here as opposed to where? Rural heartland America,
where Clark Kent grew up, as opposed to Metropolis? Isn't
Metropolis the city of hope? Something _bad_ must have
happened. In fact, the Event in Kansas is a symbolic slap at
Superman; he's from somewhere very like Kansas (in post-Crisis
DC, his hometown of Smallville is in fact in Kansas), and the
new breed of superhumans destroyed it.

p 24 Wonder Woman reveals that we aren't actually in the heartland,
but in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, his Arctic (Antarctic,
post-Crisis) keep and hideaway. This is a new and interesting
twist on the Fortress of Solitude; it has traditionally been
shown as a literal fortress in the side of a cliff, somewhat
cold and antiseptic, but this Fortress seems closer to
Miracleman's vast London Pyramid. William H. Sudderth adds
that the post-Crisis Fortress of Solitude was underground.
The holographic technology used here seems to be quite
similar to the "holodeck" used in _Star Trek: The Next
Generation_.
As the keen-eyed Donald MacPherson notes, all of the
doors in the Fortress of Solitude are shaped like Superman's
emblem.
"He's out of control." Magog, it seems, has become the
symbolic leader of the new breed - in much the same way that
Superman was the symbolic leader of the original heroes.
Unfortunately, Magog is no Superman - quite the reverse.
To quote Benet's _Reader's Encyclopedia_: "Gog and Magog:
In British legend, the sole survivors of a monstrous brood,
the offspring of the thirty-three infamous daughters of the
Emperor Diocletian, who murdered their husbands, and, being
set adrift in a ship, reached Albion, where they fell in with
a number of demons. Their descendants, a race of giants, were
extirpated by Brute (the mythological first king of the
Britons) and his companions, with the exception of Gog and
Magog, who were brought in chains to London and were made to
do duty as porters of the royal palace, on the site of the
London Guildhall, where their effigies have been at least
since the reign of Henry V. The old giants were destroyed in
the Great Fire, and the present ones, fourteen feet high, were
carved in 1708 by Richard Saunders.
"In the Bible, Magog is spoken of as a son of Japhet
(Genesis 10:2), in the Revelation Gog and Magog symbolize all
future enemies of the kingdom of God; and in Ezekial Gog is a
prince of Magog, a terrible ruler of a country in the north,
probably Scythia or Armenia. By rabbinical writers of the 7th
century AD Gog was identified with the Antichrist."

p 25 The statue of Jor-el and Lara, holding up the planet Krypton,
were parts of the post-Crisis Fortress of Solitude. The
Kryptonian Battlesuit and orange Servitor Robot are from the
post-Crisis Fortress of Solitude. The T-Rex robot is another
feature of the pre-Crisis Fortress of Solitude. The super-
large journal in the background is also a part of the pre-
Crisis Fortress; Superman writes his adventures in the journal
in Kryptonian. Also, we can see the bottle city of Kandor next
to the statue of Lara and Jor-el.

p 26 The word balloons here are various newscasts in Spanish,
Korean, Portuguese, Italian, French and German; in order, they
are saying, "The world was shocked by horrible acts"
(Spanish), "Tragedy in America" (Korean), "paralyzed by the
news of Magog" (Portuguese), "fierce brutality of Magog"
(Italian), "American by the name of Magog" (French), and "We
have learned that Magog has endangered us" (German).
Note also that the Spanish is Anglicized.
We see, in various panels:
A shot of the famous painting "American Gothic" - a
subtle, dark commentary on a "typical" American farming father
and his daughter. As Guess caught, but somehow the rest of us
missed, the painting is reversed here - in the original, the
daughter is on the left and the father is on the right. As
Guess says, this can presumably be taken as a comment on the
reversal of the fortunes not only of the Midwestern farmers
but also of the status of the U.S.
A shot of four heroes: The Question, Peacemaker, Peter
Cannon, and the Blue Beetle. All four are heroes from the
Charlton line of comics who were later purchased by DC. Peter
Cannon, however, is dressed in the costume of the Golden Age
character Daredevil; Alex Ross said that this was done "just
because I wanted an excuse to draw Daredevil's costume." As
well, Peacemaker here has a modified costume that makes him
look similar to Boba Fett, from the _Star Wars_ movies -
perhaps a further commentary by Waid/Ross on how Peacemaker in
particular has evolved?
A shot of the Judomaster II next to Peter Cannon. The
original Judomaster was a World War Two hero from Charlton;
this new Judomaster is a woman, and is wearing a jacket/vest
which was absent from the first Judomaster's costume.
Our first view of Magog. Note the gray/white hair, white
right eye and scars around the right eye of Magog; Marvel's
Cable also has these features, and is another exemplar of the
violent, Image-like heroes that Waid and Ross are implicitly
attacking in _Kingdom Come_.
A shot of Captain Atom, an atomic-powered character who
was originally a Charlton hero but was later bought by DC; he
became the most prominent of the (formerly-) Charlton heroes,
and nearly became the evil villain-from-the-future Monarch.
He's in a new costume here, one that combines his original red
and yellow colors and his more recent silver/chrome look, as
well as featuring what Ross described as "an oversized atomic
symbol."
Jonathan Woodward speculates that the deliberate grouping
of the Charlton heroes together might be another reference to
the _Watchmen_, whose heroes were originally based on the
Charlton characters. Still another _Watchmen_ reference here,
as Alan Turniasky points out, is the lone figure watching the
bank of television screens - quite similar to Ozymandias in
_Watchmen_. However, I'm certain that the idea of exposure to
several tv screens at once as a way of receiving mass
media/information input predates _Watchmen_; it might be
either from Marshall McLuhan or from William S. Burroughs.
A shot of large metal figure saving Magog from a blast -
we'll learn more of this figure later.

p 27 Big Fight Scene #2. As the television narrator tells us, it's
Magog and his "Justice Battalion" vs the Parasite.
The Justice Battalion is clearly the successor to the
Justice League. Note the word choice - "Justice Battalion."
The "Justice Society" and "Justice League" have a somewhat
civil tone to them. The "Justice Battalion" is much harder-
edged - fitting for this Dark New World Messrs. Waid and Ross
have created, but a sad step down from the Silver Age. (gregg
and Mark Coale both point out that the JSA, once upon a time
during the second World War, _was_ the Justice Battalion.
Magog seemingly believes that his heroes are at war with their
opposition - quite a difference from the old, Silver Age
Justice League). Dan Shoemaker also points out that "the
characterization of the Justice Battalion as ruthless and
fearsome has resonances with the dream-universe JLA depicted
in Dan Jurgens' run on the book" from a few years back.
The Justice Battalion apparently consists of: Peacemaker,
Peter Cannon, Judomaster II, Magog (as Alex Ross notes,
"giving him a gold metal motif and huge ram horns was intended
to give a sense of pagan idolatry like a golden calf." Again,
more Biblical symbolism at work here), Captain Atom,
Nightshade (another Charlton character), and the tall figure
in metal. They are facing off against the Parasite, one of
Superman's deadliest enemies and a superhuman capable of
draining the life and powers out of anyone. Here, though, he
seems weakened - rather than being big, strong, and
purple/green/orange, his musculature and veins are visible -
perhaps he's been reduced to feeding on his own life-force?
The Parasite is seen here as "fearful" - one more note
that these superhumans are not the heroes that we know and
admire. The bad guys were never really afraid of the Justice
League, even though they knew they'd be beaten. This Justice
Battalion, however, seems to be more vicious and deadly - as
the narrator notes, they ignored the Parasite's pleas for
mercy. This would be out of character for the original,
Charlton/DC Captain Atom, Nightshade, Judomaster and Peter
Cannon, but it's a new age, and these aren't the heroes we
knew.
More backhistory: "Magog--one of the new breed of heroes,
known to many as the one responsible for Superman's farewell
to Metr--"
The Parasite lays hands on Captain Atom in panel 3, which
gives him Captain Atom's powers - this is how he can blast
Captain Atom so badly in panel 4. And, like Wonder Man being
cracked open in _The Last Avengers Story_, breaking open a
nuclear-powered man just isn't a good idea, as we're about to
see. Michel Alpert points out that in DC continuity Captain
Atom was once cut open without nearly so drastic side-effects.

p 28 Chernobyl, USA. Hundreds of thousands dead, a panicked world
economy, global famine...oy. When Waid and Ross go for broke,
they don't play around.
The tall metal figure we saw on pages 12 and 13 is
identified here as "the Metal Man Alloy." The Metal Men were
a group of robots, created by Dr. Will Magnus, that were each
made out of a different element - Lead, Mercury, Tin, etc.
Alloy seems to be, as the word implies, a combination of all
of them - hence his size and multi-colored costume, as well as
the element mark on his forehead, which all of the Metal Men
also had. Jonathan Woodward points out that Gold is dead as of
1996 DC continuity and that one of Alloy's arms is gold
colored; this could be a mistake on Waid/Ross' part, or merely
another indication that this is an Elseworlds, after all, and
not strictly bound to current continuity.
The DCU FAQ, as Joel Shin points out, states that
Keystone City (home of the Flash) is in Kansas. The _Kingdom
Come_ Keystone City survives the irradiation of Kansas because
this is an Elseworlds - and, of course, because it doesn't
suit Ross/Waid's purposes to wipe out Keystone City at this
point in the story.

p 29 Kal-el tells Wonder Woman to "go back to your island." Wonder
Woman is from Paradise Island, the legendary home of the
Amazons; in _Kingdom Come_, she has apparently moved back to
it, perhaps in response to Steve Trevor's death. However, as
we'll see, her residency on Paradise Island was not
particularly long-lasting.
Donald MacPherson notes the similarity of poses between
Wonder Woman and Lara in panel 2; Waid/Ross may be implying
who they feel should be the parents of a new generation of
superheroes.
That desolate landscape Wonder Woman is flying over is
the Antarctic; we can just make out the traditional, old-style
keyhole door to the Fortress of Solitude. However, the door is
in the shape of Superman's emblem.

p 30 Johanna Draper points out that the imagery of the curtain
being parted by the Spectre is similar to "the Biblical
imagery of the curtain hiding the Holy of Holies, which was
rent at Christ's crucifixion."

p 31 Keystone City here looks like Metropolis does in current DC
continuity: bright and hopeful. The Spectre calls it a
utopia, and it certainly seems to be. Why? Well, as the
Spectre points out, it's the home of the Flash, who here seems
to incorporate bits of several of the figures who have borne
the name: he's got the winged metal hat of the Golden Age
Flash, Jay Garrick; he's got the lightning-bolt-backdraft (a
residue of the Speed Force) of the current Flash, Wally West;
he's got the in-several-places-at-once appearance of Mort
Meskin's Johnny Quick; and his color and skin-tight costume
are similar to the Silver Age Flash (and first patron saint of
DC) Barry Allen. Which one of these he is, if any, however,
remains to be seen.
Alex Ross, at the San Diego Con, said that the identities
of Hawkman, Flash and the Green Lantern would not be
explicitly stated, and that this ambiguity was intentional, as
the main point of their appearances here was their iconic
significance. Ross added that his character designes were
meant to incorporate elements of these characters from all the
comic eras. Thanks to Thomas Howard for passing Ross' comments
along.
The card set says this about the _Kingdom Come_ Flash:
"The Wally West of _Kingdom Come_ is doomed to personify the
loneliness of the long-distance runner. Driven by an even
closer connection to the Speed Force, The Flash, whom artist
Alex Ross also referred to as Mercury, literally never slows
down. Thanks to his increased powers of speed and vibration,
he can fly - and even live in more than one reality
simultaneously."

p 32 We get a glimpse of another of the old-timers - Hawkman. As
far as I know, the "environmental terrorist" angle is new to
the character, but his sympathy for the "beasts and birds" is
a logical, in-character extrapolation. The pendant around
Hawkman's neck is an Egyptian hawk (a falcon, perhaps?) -
symbolic of the Golden Age Hawkman being the reincarnation of
an Egyptian prince (and, yes, ancient Egypt did have princes).
Note that what we are seeing (as a number of people
pointed out) is not Hawkman's new costume, but is in fact his
new body. He's become a real hawk-man; this is in keeping
with his new, post-Zero Hour nature as a hawk avatar, as well
as a nice twist by Waid/Ross on the Egyptian origin of the
Golden Age Hawkman; Hawkman has become a hawk-headed figure,
just like the Egyptian gods Horus (who had a falcon head) and
Ra (who had a hawk's head).
Guess usefully notes that Hawkman's amulet is an exact
copy of the necklace found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen.
The necklace represents the sun god, Ra, with a sun disk on
his forehead. In his talons Ra holds the symbols for infinity
(a sun inside a circle) and life (the ankh).
The card set says this about Hawkman: "Katar Hol's
appearance in _Kingdom Come_ signals his full merger with his
mystical hawk nature (in fact, artist Alex Ross originally
conceived of him as Hawkgod)..."

p 33 Enjoy the good life in the off-world colonies! Green Lantern
has seemingly taken his role so seriously that he's removed
the citizens under his protection from Earth altogether, and
put them in New Oa, an orbiting, "self-made Emerald City."
(named after the home planet of the Guardians of the Universe,
the Hal Jordan Green Lantern's cosmic masters) (_love_ the
Wizard of Oz homage). Like the Flash, the _Kingdom Come_
Green Lantern has aspects of several of the DC figures to bear
that name: he's got Alan Scott's (the Golden Age Green
Lantern) silver/blond hair, but his costume has the symbolism
of the poorly-treated Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan,
and the fact that it is armor, rather than a costume of some
kind, is resonant of the new Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner and
(as Austin Loomis notes) Hal Jordan's new super-identity,
Parallax. Note, also, that the lamp, the source of the Green
Lantern's power, is now a part of the costume - which must
make recharging relatively simple.
I find it interesting that the Green Lantern is now "ever
vigilant, ever waiting for signs of threats extraterrestrial."
Is this a reflection of _Kingdom Come_ Green Lantern's
relationship with the Guardians of the Universe (the Silver
Age Green Lantern's bosses), or just an indication of how
remote GL has become from humanity, and how remote the Earth
has become from the rest of the Universe?
Alex Ross said at the Chicago Con that he wanted the
_Kingdom Come_ Green Lantern to be called the Green Knight -
which explains the knightly armor that the Lantern now wears,
as well as perhaps being a reference to the medieval poem _Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight_. If Ross did mean for the
Lantern's new name to be a reference to the poem, and the
_Kingdom Come_ Lantern to have become like the poem's Green
Knight, then the Lantern would seem to have changed
dramatically from being a noble hero to being a somewhat
arrogant, even monstrous figure.
The card set says this about the _Kingdom Come_ Green
Lantern: "This man is the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott -
and his emerald sabre was added by artist Alex Ross when he
redesigned the character as the Green Knight. The name change
was nixed, but the sword remained as a symbol of the tougher
times the heroes faced."
Some people have posted saying that New Oa is empty; I
don't think this is so - note the shuttle/plane landing in a
space port in the foreground.
Bill Sodeman points out that Portland, Oregon, is known
as the "Emerald City" in our Earth - Earth-Prime. Since, as
he points out, Coast City is on the West Coast, somewhere in
the Pacific Northwest, an implication that can be drawn here
is that GL simply boosted Portland, Oregon into space to
create New Oa.
A few other people have pointed out that the lower part
of GL's space-city is the mothership from ELO's "Out of the
Blue" album cover.
David A. Carr notes the similarity between GL's pose here
and the classic Buscema Dr. Doom pose.

p 34 We see the domed cities of Atlantis in panel 1 - traditionally
the home of Aquaman - and a glimpse of Paradise Island in
panel 2 - Wonder Woman's home. Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green
Lantern, Hawkman, the Flash, Superman - as the Spectre says,
these were the "gods of yesteryear," the Justice League of
America, the most noble of the heroes of DC's Silver Age. And
now they've retired and gone apart from humanity. A grim
prospect, indeed. However, there are a few members of the JLA
we've yet to see...
Somehow I knew Mr. Waid wouldn't let me down. Yes, that
is the Legion of Superheroes in panel 3. I didn't know how,
but I knew a long-time Legion fan such as Mr. Waid would
somehow put them in here. Their costumes seem to be an
agglomeration of the traditional, Silver Age costumes and the
modern costumes the post-Zero Hour Legion wears - but Messrs
Waid and Ross seem to have included almost all of the
Legionnaires, regardless of the period they appeared in. In
order, from the lead, we see Superboy, Supergirl, Saturn Girl,
Light Lass/Gossamer, Lightning Lad/Live Wire, Brainiac 5,
Cosmic Boy, Mon-el/Valor/M'Onel, Karate Kid, Sun Boy/Inferno,
Dream Girl, Ultra Boy, Timber Wolf, Invisible Kid, Element
Lad/Alchemist, Star Boy, Colossal Boy/Leviathan, Phantom
Girl/Apparition, Chameleon Boy/Chameleon, Shadow Lass,
Shrinking Violet, Matter-Eater Lad, Princess Projectra,
Chemical King, Ferro Lad/Ferro, Dragonmage, Triplicate
Girl/Duo Damsel/Triad, Catspaw, Bouncing Boy/Chuck Taine, and
XS. (Waid and Ross have taken Legionnaires from all points of
the group's history; the ones missing are Tyroc, Wildfire,
Dawnstar, Computo, Kid Quantum, Gates, Kinetix, Andromeda,
Blok, the White Witch, Invisible Kid II, Magnetic Kid, Echo,
Kono, Impulse/Kent Shakespeare, Celeste McCauley, Tellus,
Quislet, and Nemesis Kid.)
As a couple of people have pointed out, both Superboy and
Supergirl are from the 20th century, and are presumably who
the Spectre is referring to having "lost themselves" in the
future. This would of course refer to the post-Zero Hour
Supergirl, who is a shape-changing alien, and the post-Zero
Hour Superboy, who is only a partial clone of Superman, rather
than the Silver Age Superboy (who I originally thought it
was), who had a long and intimate association with the LSH but
was also the younger Superman - a chronological impossibility
now. To further complicate matters, Mark Coale informs me
that, according to Mark Waid, Alex Ross painted this panel
before Zero Hour took place.
Note the old, Silver Age Legion of Superheroes club house
at the lower left of the LSH panel.

p 35 We're now in Gotham City, not New York - although that looks
like the Statue of Liberty in the background, it's actually
Gotham City's own Sentinel of Liberty.
The influence of the design of the Batman movies and
_Batman: The Animated Series_ on the Gotham City of _Kingdom
Come_ seems clear here.
Another nice, subtle touch on this page is the variety of
styles of the cars in panel 1 - ranging from classic 1920s to
futuristic. A very nice job by Mr. Ross.
I'd never have caught this, or believed it, had others
not pointed it out, but in panel 2, that's Fat Albert and his
gang who've just shot those civilians. Fat Albert, Dumb
Donald, Bucky, Old Weird Harold, Rudy, Russell, and Mushmouth,
what has become of you? The same thing that happened to the
rest of _Kingdom Come_, of course - a decline into depravity.

p 36 Our first good glimpse of one of the Bat-Knights, the Bat-
robots - whose heads look like Batman's old Batmobile - who
enforce Batman's will on Gotham City.

p 38 "Batman has his city under control." Indeed.
An ongoing subject of debate on the newsgroup
Rec.Arts.Comics.DC.Universe is the meaning of this scene. Does
the presence of the Bat-Knights and the Spectre's word choice
somehow signify, as many people believe, that Batman has
instituted a fascist/totalitarian reign in Gotham? On this
issue, Waid said, in his own words: "...due to Batman's
perseverance and Superman's absence, Metropolis has become
Gotham and Gotham has become Metropolis. Batman just kept
fighting the good fight."
The card set says this: "Batman's mechanically-assisted
obsession - coupled with Superman's withdrawal from his own
duties - produces one of _Kingdom Come_'s starkest changes:
Grim Gotham and bright Metropolis have exchanged identities,
just like their respective guardians."

p 39 Big Fight Scene #3. That's Manotaur, Swastika, and Trix again
in panel 4. The young African American is Thunder, the
_Kingdom Come_ Johnny Thunder; the original, GA version of the
character commanded a genie called the T-Bolt, but this
version has separate powers all his own. The design on his
shirt is the original, GA T-Bolt, as drawn on page 2, panel 4
of _All-Star Comics_ #3, from Winter 1940-1941 - the Golden
Age comic book which had the first appearance of the Justice
Society of America.
Note that Manotaur and Trix were fighting each other
before, but are on the same side now. These superhumans seem
to be fighting just for the sake of fighting, with no regard
to who gets hurt - which is, in a way, a neat encapsulation of
the Image ethos. <G>
Jonathan Woodward points out the Daily Planet in the
background - Metropolis is the only suitable place for
Superman to make his return, as we'll soon see.

p 40 The big skull-faced robot at the end of the cable-car is
N-I-L-8, a character made up for _Kingdom Come_. He can also
be seen on the front cover, in the upper-right-hand-corner,
next to the Huntress III and Kabuki Kommando.
The figure standing in the middle of the cable-car,
draped in armor and guns and wearing the sign "fair play" on
his chest, is Mr. Terrific II, the _Kingdom Come_ version of
the Golden Age hero and JSA member Mr. Terrific. Mr. Terrific
partisans will, with some justification, cry foul, as the
character has been portrayed badly first in _The Golden Age_
and now here - but at least he (or the name) is included here,
rather than ignored. (And as Jonathan Woodward points out, his
GA origin was of a man who decided to fight crime because he
was bored. In a way, the _Kingdom Come_'s Mr. Terrific is the
logical evolution of that sort of mentality. Still, though,
Mr. Terrific remains a character crying out to be used
properly.)
The figure in the foreground of the cable-car, clad in
motley and firing a handgun, is Joker's Daughter - who
(visually, at least) seems based on the the Batman figure who
claimed to be the Joker's daughter (but was really Two-Face's
daughter) and was, for a short time, a member of the Teen
Titans.
Elayne points out that the figure inside the cable car,
in the middle window, looking up in terror, is modeled on Mark
Chiarello, and the figure in the right-hand window is modeled
on Vince Letterio, both of whom are DC employees. The wounded
man is Charlie Kochman, an editor in DC's licensed
publications department who gave Alex Ross his first art
commission at DC - what a way to repay that kindness! Thanks
to Greg Aaron for identifying him. Elayne also speculates
that that's Kurt Busiek looking back up as Vince and others
attend to the wounded Charlie Kochman.
Martha Thomases adds that Jason Liebig and Charlie
Kochman, both former/current DC employees, are also in the
crowd scenes. She also says that the Joker's Daughter figure
is modeled on Jill Thompson, a DC artist; Thompson is a
Chicago-based artist, as is Ross. Austin Loomis adds that
Thompson has occasionally drawn herself into stories that she
was illustrating for Vertigo.

p 42 This is the fanboy in me, but I found this page _extremely_
gratifying. Go Supes!

p 43 Breathes there an American who doesn't feel _something_ stir
inside themselves at the words "Look! Up in the sky!"? The
women saying those classic words in this case are visually
modeled on Heidi MacDonald (comics editor of Disney Adventures
magazine and Friends of Lulu board member) and Maureen McTigue
(Assistant Manager of Retailer Services for DC).
As Mark Coale pointed out, the "bending steel....changing
the very course of the mighty river" is an echo of the words
to the beginning of the old Superman tv show.

p 44 Someone whose name I didn't get pointed out the words "Good
sport" written on the hands of Mr. Terrific II.
A few people, including Henry Chen, pointed out that
Superman's emblem is now red-on-black - not the red-on-yellow
we are all used to. This, according to Ross, an homage to the
Max Fleisher cartoons of the 1940s, but is also meant to
reflect the darker tenor of _Kingdom Come_. Chris Sypal
points out that the "S" itself is different; it contains only
the upper curve, rather than the second, descending curve.

p 45 McCay's vision here is a more detailed version of the vision
he had on page 17, panel 2; the image of a burning Superman is
an ominous one, as Waid/Ross no doubt intended.

The following folks were mighty helpful, providing comments,
criticisms, and loads and loads of information:

Greg Aaron, Deane Aikins, Michel Alpert, Anthony, Marie E. Antoon,
Azr...@grfn.org, Brian Bailie, Don Brinker, Michael Brown, Loki
Carbis, David A. Carr, Scott B. Casteel (who did his own list of
annotations), William Cavanaugh, "Cheese," Henry Chen, Scott
Christensen, Mark Coale (who is responsible for turning me into a
DC fanboy), Paul A. Cooper, Jon Crowhurst, Dwayne Chun, Matthew
Daly, Michael Denton, Mike Dietsch, Thad Doria, Johanna Draper,
Andrew Farrell, Jason Fliegel, Eric Fritzius, Mark Gallaher, Grant
Giandonato, David Goldfarb, Gregg, Guess, Eric Harding, Rob Harris,
David Hawkins, Henway, Rick Haikeeba Hodge, Scott Hollifield,
Thomas Howard, Bill Jennings, Just Joe, Young J. Kim, David Lacina,
Jason Langlois, A. Chilton Lannen, Yeechang Lee, Len Leshin, Doug
Limmer, Austin Loomis, Sean MacDonald, Donald MacPherson, Jonathan
Maske, Edward Mathews, Rudolf Mammitzsch, David Morefield,
Paul@discordia, Tony Pi, John Quiring, Ray Randell, Scott Rogers,
Lee Rosen, Greg Schienke, Espana N. Sheriff, Joel Shin, Dan
Shoemaker, Marc Singer, Don Smith, Lance Smith, David J. Snyder,
Bill Sodeman, Mike Solko, Craig Stenseth, Mark Stephenson, William
H. Sudderth, Chris Sypal, Alex Tam, Matt Terl, Martha Thomases,
Gtribb, Alan Turniansky, Dave Van Domelen, Yves Vallois, Dean
Velasco, Bern Walker, the ever-helpful Elayne Wechsler-Chaput,
Andrew D. Woodard, Jonathan Woodward, and Allen W. Wright.

Let's have a big round of applause for them, shall we? They made
these annotations what they are - without them, this would just be
the ramblings of one very confused fanboy.

jess