The Kingdom vs Thy Kingdom Come

[Optimus]

As everyone knows, 25 years ago Mark Waid and Alex Ross made the Seminal classic Kingdom Come together. Then 5 years later, Waid made 'The Kingdom' without Ross, and then Ross in response teamed up with Geoff Johns to make Thy Kingdom Come. I haven't read either of these but was wondering if either of them were good? I see people heaping universal praise on Johns' JSA run, so I'd assume Thy Kingdom Come is pretty good. I really haven't heard much about The Kingdom though.

I see that the Kingdom is getting a Deluxe edition in early 2024, and Thy Kingdom Come is collected in it's entirety in the JSA by Johns Omnibus volume 3 (currently on sale for 55% off at CGN) I think it's surprising that Thy Kingdom Come (as far as I can tell) was only collected either in that omnibus or in 3 volumes of trade paperbacks and that DC never did a dedicated only release for that. Maybe it's a tad too big for a Deluxe? I guess they could do a Kingdom Come Omnibus with the original, plus The Kingdom and Thy Kingdom Come plus extras, but I think we can all agree that there are a LOT of potential omnis from DC that should take precedence over that, lol.

So anyway, how were those two series? Should I get the JSA volume 3 omni? Should I get The Kingdom Deluxe edition? I loved Kingdom Come.

(and as an aside, I did search this thread before making this and did find this: https://community.cbr.com/showthread...hlight=kingdom but it's from 7 years ago and quickly got off topic so I thought it was worth asking again)

[Ilan Preskovsky]

I read the Kingdom many, many years ago and I remember it being... fine. Some of the one shots were pretty good, some pretty weak but mostly it was pretty underwhelming. Worth getting in paperback, but I don't know if it's worth the price of a deluxe HC.

Thy Kingdom Come is a bit better but reading it in issues made the whole thing feel like it dragged on for years. I'm actually a much bigger fan of Johns' JSA (especially thru Black Reign) than his return to the book as Justice Society of America. Your mileage may vary.

I don't love Kingdom Come anywhere near as much as I did when I first read it, but regardless, I prefer it to stand alone as its own story without spin-offs or follow-ups. That said, if you do want more, both of these stories are perfectly good - I just wouldn't pay premium price for them.

Johns' JSA, in general, though, is well worth checking out - it's been a while but last I checked, it's pretty much the best thing he's done to date.

[Zero Hunter]

I would go for Thy Kingdom Come. It really gives you a much deeper look at the Kingdom Come Superman. Plus honestly the ending epilouge is probably my all time favorite ending for any Superman ever.

[superduperman]

From what I remember of The Kingdom it was mostly Waid's way of introducing hypertime. The story was largely secondary to that. Up to that point, KC was being peddled as the future of the mainstream DCU. From what I understand, neither Ross nor Waid could agree on what a sequel should look like so they just each did their own. I didn't read all of Thy Kingdom Come but I remember the ending being more interesting than the story itself.

[Thor-Ul]

I would say than Thy Kingdom Come is a better follow up to the story than The Kingdom. But I think Waid is about to present his counter argument in World's Finest and the whole Boy Thunder/Magog drama.

[Jim Kelly]

Personally, KINGDOM COME left me cold. While I was impressed with Alex Ross' photo-realistic painting, it did nothing for me as comic art. Photo-realism (like some hybrid of a photo fumetti and a comic book) had none of the dynamic figure drawing that Burne Hogarth was keen on. And I found Mark Waid's story uninteresting--just a framework to hang the gallery art on.

Clearly other people got something out of it that I didn't.

When THE KINGDOM came out, I had no hopes for it--yet as I read the issues involved with the event, I became more and more excited by it. By the time the final issue was in my hands on New Year's Day--I was walking on air. I believed that the Multiverse was back in full swing and my long nightmare was over--comics would be good again. It saddened me that other readers didn't feel the same and had no interest in seeing the Multiverse brought back.

The partnership of Geoff Johns and Alex Ross on JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA was another disappointment. I was buying that comic for the Justice Society and instead I got something that wasn't them. I eventually dropped the book--and most of what happened in the issues I read I've forgotten.

[K7P5V]

When THE KINGDOM came out, I had no hopes for it--yet as I read the issues involved with the event, I became more and more excited by it. By the time the final issue was in my hands on New Year's Day--I was walking on air. I believed that the Multiverse was back in full swing and my long nightmare was over--comics would be good again. It saddened me that other readers didn't feel the same and had no interest in seeing the Multiverse brought back.

Same here. When I finally got the chance to read it, I found New Year's Evil: Gog quite a thrilling experience (IMHO):