It is part of a tortured metaphor in which belief in Superman is equated with belief in Jesus Christ. I don’t understand why all of humanity and all old superheroes lose all initiative after Superman steps back, and why the new superheroes lose their morality. All other heroes lost faith after Superman turned his back to the planet. Waid and Ross make him look like the Ghost of Christmas Future, bringing pastor Norman along for a vision of Superman.
I was really confused as they are perfectly alike in appearance and behavior. No wait, it is some other guy: The Spectre. I’m chuffed to bits to see the Sandman show up, as I’ve just read that series. That return of the old heroes is pretty much brought with heavy Christian symbology as it is seen from the perspective of a pastor, like a Second Coming, complete with a vision of a bald eagle with the Stars and Stripes in his wings. With great power etcetera (oh wait that’s Spider Man). Maybe it is time for the old heroes to rise up again and show us that they should be a source of inspiration to the normies, rather than one of spiritual oppression. The superheroes of old shagged liked rabbits, and their thousands of descendants are making a mess of the Earth, and the common people are praying that one day the meek shall again inherit the Earth. The comic tells us that there can be too much of a good thing. I think someone in America, or maybe a whole lot of people, are channeling desires for hope and veneration towards a certain form of entertainment, here. The superhero concept is so tightly connected to themes of religion here, and nationalism. And then consider the title: Kingdom Come.
Because Ross’s style and Waid’s writing imbues these well-known DC superheroes with a kind of veneration a worshipping touch from the artist. And if you visit old churches in Europe and see the paintings and icons of old saints, then those paintings either look like trading cards or they tell stories in graphic novel form. People believed that they had magical powers. In fact, let’s turn this comparison around: all those old Christian saints were the superheroes of their day, in a way. And his artwork has that same style: bright, clear-eyed with sharp colours and near photo-realism when he wants to, and the kind of dramatic perspectives that are used in old paintings for wide nature and city-scapes. If he had lived 500 years ago, he would have been painting Vatican ceilings. But I know the names of most of these characters through cultural osmosis, so let’s give it a go. This is my very first American superhero comic.
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