Thoughts on Kingdom Come
**SPOILERS for Kingdom Come.**
So after finishing The Silmarillion (man, what a downer), I finally got around to reading Kingdom Come. For anybody who hasn't heard of it, it's basically about the future of the DC universe, wherein a lot of the children/grandchildren of today's superheroes are, in the words of introduction writer Elliot S! Maggin, "schmucks." This prompts Superman et. al. to come out of retirement/self-imposed exile to teach them a lesson. It... sort of ends well, I suppose, but I don't want to give too much away.
I will say that it is DEFINITELY worth reading. A real page-turner, that one, especially the bits with Captain Marvel, whose future self has suffered a particularly tragic fate. I genuinely teared up when he sacrificed himself to try to save everyone else. His whole subplot was just so darn sad. :,(
It was also interesting hearing the story told from an outsider's POV. Seeing the superhero community through the eyes of a regular guy isn't something I see a lot of, and I kind of liked it. And the art was utterly spectacular, so kudos to Alex Ross. The only things about the art I didn't like was 1) how some people sort of looked the same (e.g. a couple of times I thought Xu'ffasch was Dick Grayson, and I know that's not just me because Ross apparently used the same model for both characters), and 2) some of the panels seemed to lack a sense of movement. Sometimes, all it looked like was a pretty painting, which is fine when you're not illustrating a superhero comic, where having the characters move around is very important. But other than that, the art was great.
I do have one question, though, and maybe if somebody who is reading this knows the answer you can clear it up for me--is this supposed to be canon or not? Temporarily disregarding the reboot, you can see quite a few elements from Kingdom Come in current or recent DC continuity, for example the Red Robin and Red Arrow costumes and the concept of "worldwide Batmen" (which makes a ton more sense when Bruce is physically incapable of being Batman himself and doesn't already have a thousand operatives running around, btw). On the other hand, a lot of minor but important characters, such as Ted Kord and Scott and Barda Free, are currently dead, thus preventing Kingdom Come from really being canon. So does DC consider this an Elseworlds or the true future of the DCU? They can't have it both ways... :/
In any event, Kingdome Come is certainly worth a read, so if you ever see it, you should absolutely pick it up. It is NOT a particularly cheerful story, though. Hopeful, yes, but not cheerful, so be warned.