Kingdom Come #1

History

The concept originated with Alex Ross while he was completing Marvels for Marvel in 1994; wanting to craft a comparable 'grand opus' for DC, he wrote a 40-page handwritten outline and first pitched the project to writer James Robinson, who ultimately walked away. DC editors then recommended Mark Waid — then in the middle of a celebrated run on The Flash — for his encyclopedic knowledge of DC character history, and the two forged an intense collaboration that Ross has noted was sometimes contentious but ultimately productive. Ross drew on Alan Moore's Miracleman as a key structural influence (explicitly placing Billy Batson in the role analogous to Kid Miracleman opposite Superman) and has publicly denied that Moore's unpublished 'Twilight of the Superheroes' proposal was a direct source, characterizing Kingdom Come instead as a 'reconstructionist' celebration of classic heroism. Ross later stated that part of the script credit was his, though DC's official credit listed Waid as sole writer.

Trivia · 7 facts

• Written by Mark Waid; fully painted in gouache by Alex Ross, who also co-developed the story concept — all four issues were painted, not penciled and inked in the traditional sense.
• Issue #1, titled 'Strange Visitor,' marks the first appearance of Magog (the antihero whose acquittal for killing the Joker triggers Superman's retirement) and Lightning (daughter of Black Lightning).
• Issue #1 also contains the first unnamed appearance of this continuity's Mr. Terrific; Norman McCay, the elderly pastor and series narrator, was physically modeled by Ross on his own father, United Church of Christ minister Clark Ross, and the character's surname is a homage to cartoonist Winsor McCay.
• The series won five Eisner and Harvey Awards collectively, including the 1997 Eisner Award for Best Finite/Limited Series and the 1997 Harvey Award for Best Artist (Alex Ross).
• The Kingdom Come alternate future was later designated Earth-22 in the DC Multiverse, introduced in the final issue of 52 (2006) and later confirmed post-Flashpoint.
• Issue #1 has been reprinted in the Millennium Edition: Kingdom Come #1 (2000), the trade paperback collection, the DC/Graphitti Designs deluxe hardcover (with 12 additional story pages), the 2006 Absolute Kingdom Come slipcase edition, a 2008 trade paperback with a new Ross cover painting, and a DC Black Label edition with over 150 pages of behind-the-scenes material.
• The series generated a broad merchandise and media ecosystem: a 1996 Fleer/SkyBox trading card set, three waves of DC Direct action figures, a 1998 novel by Elliot S. Maggin, a 1999 Hachette Audio dramatization, and a 2025 full-cast audio adaptation by Dirk Maggs released through Penguin Random House Audio.

Full credits

Key issues in Kingdom Come

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#2 1st appearance — Cyclone

Variants (1)