350 KINGDOM COME
noir style (with occasional fl ares of red and orange) to a more abstract aesthetic that is
dominated by color. Muted blues, tans, and yellows eff ectively convey Chicago’s concrete
landscape while accentuating the diffi culties that King and the SCLC faced in apply-
ing their strategies for nonviolent resistance to an environment distinguished by urban
riots, Black Power slogans, and the Vietnam War. In relating King’s fi nal months, the
graphic narrative portrays the Civil Rights icon as tireless, unfl inching, and somewhat
prideful in his determination to address injustice wherever it exists. Yet the unadorned,
symbolic resonance of his last moments brings the reader’s attention back to his human
frailties, thereby off ering a richer and more complex portrait of the man known simply
in Anderson’s title as King.
Selected Bibliography: Chaney, Michael A. “Drawing on History in Recent African
American Graphic Novels.” MELUS 32(3) (Fall 2007): 175–200; Strömberg, Fredrik,
Black Images in the Comics: A Visual History. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, 2003.
Qiana J. Whitted
KINGDOM COME. Written by Mark Waid and Alex Ross , with painted illustrations
by the latter, Kingdom Come was a four-issue miniseries with strong religious overtones
published under the Elseworlds imprint in 1996, depicting a dystopian future for the
heroes of the DC universe. Kingdom Come is a bystander story; the narrative is seen
from the perspective of Norman McCay, an aging preacher who glimpses an apoca-
lyptic vision in his dreams akin to that of the Christian Revelation. McCay is ushered
through the story by the Spectre, a paranormal agent of God who has been sent to
punish the wicked but needs Norman’s perspective to better judge who is ultimately
at fault for the approaching Armageddon. Th e two travel across the transformed land-
scape of DC’s fi ctional cities—Metropolis, Gotham, Keystone—establishing the motif
of degeneration wrought upon the world by a generation of superheroes who care little
about protecting society. A decade earlier, Superman had abandoned his never-ending
battle against injustice after being rejected by the public, leaving the world to its fate.
McCay and the Spectre’s journey touches, too, upon the fates of some of DC’s greatest
champions, such as the Flash and Batman , who mostly have retreated from the global
spotlight to fi ght for their own private causes. Th e climax of the fi rst issue reveals that
the coming doomsday is initiated by a recent nuclear explosion in Kansas—a result of
the careless use of force by the new superheroes plaguing the populace—which irradi-
ates the Midwest. Superman is forced to return in the fi nal pages of the issue to limit
any further disasters and to attempt to curb the growing violence of the modern world.
Th e Spectre endows Norman with an ethereal presence as they observe the unfolding
events, detaching them from the action but allowing a broad perspective for the audi-
ence. Superman quests to re-establish the Justice League of America as a superhuman
peace-keeping force. During the second issue of the series, Superman gathers the older
generation of superheroes together and builds a penitentiary among the ashes of Kansas
to house and re-educate the most violent of the new generation. However, the situation
