WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Justice League: Last Ride #2, by Chip Zdarsky, Manuel Mendonça, Enrica Eren Angiolini and Deron Bennett, on sale now.
DC Comics' Kingdom Come was released to massive fan and critical acclaim 25 years ago this month. The groundbreaking story by Mark Waid featured breathtaking painted art by Alex Ross. It told the story of a Superman who had walked away from the world, leaving it to be overrun by the offspring of the remaining heroes and villains; super-powered teens who had grown up to become lawless and reckless weapons of destruction. Despite its age, this modern classic is still one of the defining documents of the future DC Unvierse, and elements of it continue to bleed into DC's present.
The four-issue mini-series gave fans brand new versions of DC's pantheon of heroes. It mixed up their relationships, cast shadows over their friendships and created a divide between them. It enhanced and redesigned not only how they acted, but in many cases also how they looked.
Kingdom Come was a far darker DC tale than many were used to, but it was also a commentary on the comic book industry of the time. This was the era that saw independent comics flourish when many fans flocked to books published by Image Comics and its imitators. These books printed the adventures of darker, flashier and frequently more violent super characters. Readers were no longer enamored with the clean-cut, square-jawed, moralistic icons of the past. The act of fans leaving DC and Marvel was mirrored by Superman walking away from the Justice League and his role as the world's greatest superhero.
This month's Justice League: Last Ride #2 is slowly revealing the tale of DC's most famous team's decline and eventual demise. It's very telling that many of the characters act, or in Wonder Woman's case, look like their Kingdom Come counterparts. Diana's famous golden, winged armor first appeared in the 1996 story, though it has become so iconic that Alex Ross's creation has appeared multiple times in comics during the 25 years since its comics debut. It even played a major part in the film Wonder Woman 1984, starring Gal Gadot.
It's not just Diana of Themyscira's Kingdom Come look that moved from the page to the screen. Kevin Conroy is the most prolific Batman of all time, having played the character in animation and video games from 1992, right up to the present day. The actor finally got to portray Bruce Wayne in live-action in the CW's Arrowverse 2020 crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths." This Batman was old and broken, needing an exoskeletal armor to even be able to move -- just like the version of Batman seen in Kingdom Come.
Superman's whole demeanor and costume in the TV event, as portrayed by Brandon Routh, was also influenced by the 1996 comics series. DC Comics event of 2021, Future State, also featured an older, Kingdom Come-inspired version of the character.
The influences don't end there. Recently, it was announced that Jon Kent, Superman's son with Lois Lane, will be taking over as the Earth's Man of Steel while his father goes out on a mission in space. The imminent Superman & The Authority series, by Grant Morrison, Mikel Janín and Jordie Bellaire, will feature Clark Kent's Man of Tomorrow once again bearing the red and black "S" Shield, first seen in Kingdom Come.
While the 1990s saw many fans searching for new heroes and different comic books, series like DC's Kingdom Come took the legends and icons of the industry and breathed new life into them. The book has never gone out of print and is bringing new fans, who are coming into comics by way of film and TV shows, to the fold. The fact that Kingdom Come's influence on comics and other superhero-related media is still so strong is a testament to the power of excellent storytelling.