User:Erik/Kingdom Come

Main article: Kingdom Come (comic book)

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Waid, Mark; Alex Ross (2006). Absolute Kingdom Come. DC Comics. ISBN 1401207685. (Wizard)
Ross, Alex (2005). Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross. Pantheon. ISBN 0375714626. (Wizard)
Tallon, Felix; Jerry Walls (May 2005). "Superman and Kingdom Come: The Surprise of Philosophical Theology", in Tom Morris, Matt Morris: Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (Paperback), Open Court, 207-220. ISBN 0812695739.
Lytle, Paul (May 2006). "The Golden Shield", in Glenn Yeffeth: The Man from Krypton: A Closer Look at Superman (Paperback), Benbella Books, 137-148. ISBN 1932100776.
Garrett, Greg (April 2005). "The Apocalypse", Holy Superheroes: Exploring Faith And Spirituality In Comic Books (Paperback), Navpress Publishing Group, 121-134. ISBN 1576835766.

"Other comics have dealt with the larger implications of the Holocaust, using it as the basis for stories and story elements. Concentration camps and death camps have often been depicted in comic books—including the internment camp for "bad" metahumans in Kingdom Come..." (pg. 139)
Norman McCay, the minister who is the protagonist in Kingdom Come, was modeled after (and by) Alex Ross's father, a minister himself. (pg. 178)

McKee, Alan (September 2006). "The Best Batman Story: The Dark Knight Returns", Beautiful Things in Popular Culture (Hardcover), Blackwell Publishing Limited, 40. ISBN 140513190X.

"Mark Waid and Alex Ross's four-part Elseworlds series Kingdom Come (1996) gave Batman another possible future, its vision of a snowy-haired cynical technocrat distinct from Dark Knight, but indebted to it for the very concept of alternative timelines where iconic, never-changing characters are allowed to age, growing weaker but wiser." (pg. 40)

Daniels, Les (October 2000). Wonder Woman: The Complete History (Hardcover), Chronicle Books, 199-201. ISBN 0811829138.
Bongco, Mila (May 2000). "A Glimpse at the Comics Scene after 1986", Reading Comics: Language, Culture, and the Concept of the Superhero in Comic Books (Hardcover), Routledge, 196. ISBN 0815333447.

"The most conservative story of the nostalgic wave came from Mark Waid with his four-part series Kingdom Come published by DC, and illustrated (painted) by Alex Ross. Waid's view of the future was a dismal DC Universe where traditional superheroes like Superman and Batman have retired (and were not accessible to the public anymore). The world was overrun by a new generation of superheroes resembling the West Coast-style heroes of Image and Marvel. When the young breed of heroes caused a nuclear catastrophe, Superman comes back to lead the older superheroes to discipline the new brood and to control chaos through the old order. The clamor for father figures was intensified by Ross' graphics which depicted the old heroes in a style reminiscent of national socialistic propaganda material—the hero-figures were often lit from below and shown from a worm's eye view. Kingdom Come sold 200,000 copies at a time of crisis for other comic sales." (pg. 196)

Daniels, Les (June 2004). "A Glimpse at the Comics Scene after 1986", Superman: The Complete History (Paperback), Chronicle Books, 182. ISBN 0811842312.

"The concept originated with artist Alex Ross, who described it as 'the last stand of the super heroes.' As ultimately developed in collaboration with writer Mark Waid, the world was set in a future where characters like Superman and Batman have retired and been replaced with a new breed of nihilistic heroes whose recklessness is threatening the world. A grim, aging Superman ultimately returns to fight an apocalyptic battle that Ross acknowledges is 'a metaphor for today's comic market and how the current, more violent flashy super heroes have changed the playing field.' It is also an epic adventure story featuring virtually every super hero DC has ever published, and the art took Ross almost two years to produce." (pg. 182)
"'Superman as an older man is something we've never really dealt with in depth,' said Waid, but the original super hero became the moral compass for the story, and his values were something that Kingdom Come was designed to reaffirm. 'Alex and I are both devotees of real heroes,' said Waid. 'Heroes who don't kill, heroes who do things to save people, heroes who work for the common good.'" (pg. 182)

Taylor, Aaron (April 2007). ""He's Gotta Be Strong, and He's Gotta Be Fast, and He's Gotta Be Larger Than Life": Investigating the Engendered Superhero Body". The Journal of Popular Culture 40 (2): 344–360. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2007.00382.x.
Boehm, Carl (2000). "Superman: The Myth through the Christ and the Revelation". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 11 (3 [43]): 236-244.