[.ca] Kingdom Come (ISBN 0446606693)

From Amazon.co.uk:
As comic books gained in respectability, the superhero comic has remained a much-maligned medium. Oh sure, Batman was given new levels of sophistication by the likes of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, and Watchmen added a dose of reality to the concept of superheroes, but the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman have for years watched their lesser-powered colleagues gain critical acceptance while they were left behind to keep the kids happy. Until, that is, Kingdom Come accorded DC's premier superheroes the respect they have long deserved. In the near future, Superman has retired, plagued by an inability to accept a world where his generation's super-powered descendants run roughshod over the values he fought for. When tragic events force his return, he gathers his former team-mates and colleagues to once again lead the fight for justice and order. However, their return sparks a chain of events that could lead the world to Armageddon. With its intelligent storyline and superb painted artwork, writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross have created a thoroughly believable world where superheroes could exist, paying particular attention to the social and political implications of such a world. Why bother with the Olympics when there are beings who can bench-press buildings and run faster than light? What's the point of normal humans making laws when they are powerless to enforce them against superhumans? Above all, where Kingdom Come succeeds is by adding new depths of humanity to some of DC's timeless characters--including icons like Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman--as well as offering interesting future glimpses of the lesser known (but no less interesting) likes of Orion, Blue Beetle and Aquaman. --Robert Burrow

Perhaps the best superhero novel ever written:
I heartily recommend Elliot S. Maggin's novel Kingdom Come. It has been quite some time since I have so thoroughly enjoyed a novel by an author I was not familiar with. Kingdom Come is about DC Comics superheroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and many more. But this novel bursts free from the constraints of its subgenre, turns convention on its head, and masterfully and respectfully deconstructs an entire mythos. Kingdom Come may be one of the best superhero novels every written, and there have been well over fifty prose novels published in this subgenre. Moreover, Kingdom Come is excellent science fiction, and is simply a fine novel, period. If you only read one comic-book based novel ever, make it Maggin's Kingdom Come. If you enjoy good novels and have ever been a comic book reader, you will love this book. Kingdom Come is more than simply an extremely well written, page-turning science fiction adventure. It is a tour de force journey through modern myth, spirituality, ethics, and the whole human condition.

One of the better comic book stories ever made:
In all this time, the best of the "single-shot" stories I have read are Marvel Comics' The Secret Wars and the Infinity Gauntlet, and DC's Kingdom Come. With comics no longer just for kids, Kingdom Come deals with the current issue we're all facing: how do we live in a world where, with each generation, it's getting more and more violent? Using the rarer paint format, Alex Ross gives a fine rendering of the story to us. Mark Waid did a fine job developing a story like this. I'm 28 years old, I've been collecting comics since 1983 and I can attest that this is one book no one should pass up. Just don't buy the lousy sequel, The Kingdom. That one was pathetic!

Especially important in these times:
There is no doubt in my mind that this novel is great literature. The fact that the key characters of this book happen to be Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Captain Marvel should not dissuade anyone from reading this or the equally compelling graphic novel by Waid and Ross. That's because on the surface, this book is about superheroes (or meta-humans as they're called here), but in reality, this book is about us. And as I was reading it, the message of this book took on added significance because of the events of September 11, 2001. Indeed, there's an almost prophetic scene that takes place at Ellis Island. But as you read the book, you understand the reason for Superman's banishment from society was not just a self-imposed exile. We have cast aside the message of Superman in our times. Now the fight for "truth, justice and the American Way" is either castigated, minimized, or prone to cynical interpretations of each word of the phrase. But by rejecting this simple yet not simplistic philosophy, the world has, as we've seen, become a troubling place. We've seen people do terrible things in the name of good causes, both in this book and in our own society. They key line to this book belongs to Superman, who once he's coaxed to come out of exile and face this new troubling wave of "meta-humans", tells the imprisoned new generation, "In this world there is right and there is wrong. And that distinction is not hard to make." Indeed, as events have shown, it is not.

AudioBook/Radio Play version is great!:
I am so impressed with the audio book version of Kingdom Come. I am a big fan of full cast audio productions (Radio Plays) so I was really looking forward to this. I don't know how they managed to get the voices so perfect. The story is great and the audio format really adds a new dimension. As Captain Marvel is my personal favorite, I was a little nervous to hear Billy say "Shazam!" Wow! I got goosbumps. My only wish is that they offered this on CD.

As good, in its own way, as the graphic novel:
\oThis review refers to the novelization of the graphic novel, written by Elliot Maggin\c I honestly didn't expect this book to be very good. I loved the graphic novel when it came out. I had been a DC fan for several years, and this story seemed somehow more human and worldly than the usual run-of-the-mill comics story. Now, to be sure, I haven't picked up a comic book in years, nor have I read the graphic novel version of Kingdom Come to compare with this novel. But I have to say that, as a stand-alone, it is excellent. The trouble I have had with superhero comics is that they simplify many things down to hack-and-slash. Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern: if you think about it, the primary means to what they are usually portrayed doing is fighting. The fact that they have super-powers, after a while, becomes beside the point. It's not REAL. Good stories like Kingdom Come and The Watchmen make it about character. You learn to care for and identify with the people. So what I enjoyed about the novelization is that I felt that even more than with the graphic version. It wasn't just a panel-by-panel remake of the comic. It was a real, fleshed-out story, with more in-depth characterizations and surprisingly satisfying details, written better than I would have expected from any sort of adaptation. (I once read Orson Scott Card's novelization of the movie The Abyss. I love Card's work, but the novel was bad.) Maggin gives us political backstory, longer and more intimate conversations, and extended versions of scenes that have to be short when most of the page is pictures. To me it seemed that he worked what was in the graphic novel seamlessly into a greater work -- not that I had it beside me to compare, but to tell the truth, I didn't miss it. I actually felt that I appreciated the depth of each character more than I could have with the original comic. It's not as easy to describe characters in words. This is also a problem with movies: you can only tell so much about a character. The benefit of books is that you can be TOLD these things, and cram more into a book than you can in a 90-page comic or a 2-hour movie. So it is with the novel. There are so many more little details to enjoy: the spiritual and moral conflict the narrator Norman McCay is faced with; the many visits and conversations Superman has with various erstwhile metahumans; the little rivalry between Scott Free and Captain Comet; details on what life as the Flash must be like; characterizations and moral conflict in the politicians' decision to drop the bomb; and the final moments of battling superheroes right before the bomb hits. Much of which was not and could not be contained in the graphic novel. Granted, the fine art is not there. You win some, you lose some; best to have both, but the book stands on its own too. I give five stars to this unexpected but extremely pleasurable read.