The Kingdom [Paperback]

Mark Waid (Author), Ariel Olivetti (Author), Mike Zeck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

The incredible sequel to the bestselling and multi award-winning Kingdom Come! In that story, it was judgement day, and war was waged between superheroes old and new to determine the fate of the entire planet. A fully painted Elseworlds saga, it featured one of the most astounding visions of the DC universe ever presented. Now in this stunning sequel, the impossible has happened...Superman has been killed. Not once, but countless times, murdered over and over again by the being known as Gog. If he isn't stopped, the whole structure of reality will collapse!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563895676
• ISBN-13: 978-1563895678
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.6 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bad, bad, bad!, July 1, 2001

By 

Devlin Tay (Adelaide, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom (Paperback)

Coming after the excellent "Kingdom Come", this must surely rank as the worst sequel ever written or published in the comics industry.

"The Kingdom" starts promisingly enough where "Kingdom Come" ended, a couple of decades in the future, with a very pregnant Wonder Woman about to give birth to the son of an older Superman on Paradise Island. The villain Gog appears, and after a brief battle with some of the younger surviving heroes from "Kingdom Come", manages to kidnap the newborn child, which he then brings back to the past (i.e. the present) for his own nefarious purposes. "As I am Gog, so you shall be my Magog". Will the baby boy become the very same Magog that precipitated the events in "Kingdom Come"?

Suffice to say, the rest of the story does not live up to the promise of that exciting first chapter. What follows is mostly author Mark Waid's personal rant against comic fans who insist on continuity in their favorite comic books as against comic fans who aren't opposed to reading "good" stories (i.e. the "kingdom of wonder" touted by "The Kingdom") regardless of whether such stories follow the established continuity of a comic book character's life.

The premise of "The Kingdom" is a good one, but the execution could have been much better. Plus, turning a story into a personal rebuke to a selected few in an audience who did not happen to concur with his views must have been the worst thing that an author could have done. And the art in the final chapter is really awful.

All in all, a very bad sequel that most fans of "Kingdom Come" must have wished had never seen the light of day. Alex Ross had minimal involvement, the blame is solely Mark Waid's.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good and bad; the bad does it in, March 22, 2000

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom (Paperback)

As single issues, the comics that make up The Kingdom" were fairly good, some better than others. As a collection, they don't work very well together.

The storytelling is very patchy. The beginning gives a great set-up: the creation of Gog, the birth of Superman and Wonder Woman's child, the deaths of multiple Supermen, the appearance of the Linear Men, and the reappearance of many supporting characters from Kingdom Come. The middle of the book, however, breaks the flow by setting aside this storyline and focusing waaaaaaay too much on a select few supporting characters, even one who wasn't IN Kingdom Come. By the end of the book, when the original storyline resumes, you'll be hard-put to still be interested in what's happening, and the horrible art in the last chapter was an insult to Jerry Ordway's and Ariel Olivetti's beautiful work in the beginning.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad story, but don't expect to see Kingdom Come part 2, March 13, 2001

By 

Brad C (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom (Paperback)

Overall, I'd have to say I found the book to be an enjoyable read, but if you're expecting storytelling at the level of the original Kingdom Come novel, you'll be sorely disappointed. The initial setup for the creation of Gog and the multiple "deaths" of Superman are all well-handled.

Additionally, I feel that the middle stories were basically interesting and well-drawn. The characters were unique enough and infused with just enough mystery to keep me reading.

It was the final chapter of the book I found most disappointing. Mike Zeck's artwork was simply awful (a shame considering some of the work he turned in back in the '80s). And the story seemed to simply lose steam. I think Mark Waid got trapped by the "trying to accomplish too much" bug. Not to mention that this story effectively cancels out the entire Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline (which happens to be one of my favorite comic book stories ever).

Note that as mentioned previously, Alex Ross has nothing to do with this graphic novel. Don't expect to see any of his artwork contained within.