This file created by Jess Nevins, jjnevins@ix.netcom.com. 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. 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, Azrael@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 This file created by Jess Nevins, jjnevins@ix.netcom.com.