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1* {{Anvilicious}}: The series is not exactly subtle in its themes, metaphors and particularly religious symbolism.
2* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Done by the ''incomparable'' Creator/AlexRoss working at his fullest and finest.
3* BadassDecay:
4** Poor Lobo, getting on in years, has gone from the Main Man to the Main Homer Simpson Lookalike.
5** ComicBook/MartianManhunter gets it even worse than Lobo, from a guy who could clash with Superman reduced to a nervous wreck who can barely control his body.[[note]]One might argue that the fact he is still trying to help humanity despite a complete breakdown of his powers makes him ''more'' badass.[[/note]]
6* CompleteMonster: [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]], even in old age, is as bad as ever. Taking advantage of the Justice League's disbanding and the rising conflicts between the new metahumans in their place, Lex formed the Mankind Liberation Front and had Captain Marvel [[MindRape mentally tortured]] with parasitic worms to turn him into his [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed stooge]]. When the League resurfaced and built a gulag to contain the new metahumans, Lex sends Captain Marvel to attack the gulag and break them out in the hope that the resulting destruction would cause a catastrophic war between these superpowered individuals and the rest of humanity. During the ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' event, Lex has [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist long abandoned his desire to rule and any pretense of helping his fellow man]]. Instead, he happily assists the New Earth Suicide Squad in taking out his world's Green Lantern and even tries to beat him to death with his bare hands.
7* ContinuityLockout: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor and the Specter are the only pre-existing characters you can easily get a handle on if you've never read a DC book before, with Norman [=McCay=] and Magog benefitting from being OriginalGeneration. Other than that, a character is lucky if they get a single identifiable trait. You are never sure which Green Lantern or which Flash is depicted[[note]]Supplemental materials identify them as Alan Scott and Wally West respectively, but the former takes some visual cues from Hal Jordan, wearing an armor reminiscent of Jordan's time as the host of Parallax, while the latter wears Jay Garrick's helmet, plus his body appears to be all red from Speed Force energy in a way that one cannot tell if it's a bodysuit or, in case it is, notice the subtle differences between Wally's and Barry Allen's Flash suits[[/note]]. The ludicrously huge supporting cast on the other hand, you need a lot of foreknowledge to make them anything other than interchangeable. Not really a problem until the battle scenes, where the unprepared have their work cut out for them working out who's on what team. But special note goes to [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], whom we only see in this story after he became Luthor's pawn and his heroic past is merely alluded to. The collected editions list the vast majority of characters that appear in the comic, but of course, ''not all of them.'' Also, NaiveNewcomer Norman [=McCay=] is only familiar with the big names that most of the audience would know so his traveling companion, the Spectre, can work some exposition into the dialog.
8* EnsembleDarkhorse:
9** Boston Brand's (Deadman) four page cameo. He's even wittier in the {{novelization}}.
10** Magog ended up becoming this for the writers; they initially made him a cliched representation of everything they hated about NinetiesAntiHero and [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the culture he represented]], but he gained unexpected depth through the writing of the series until he ended up being one of their favorite characters from it. Alex Ross himself has admitted that he intentionally combined all the design traits he hated about 90's comic book characters while building Magog's design, only to realize the final result [[SpringtimeForHitler actually looks pretty awesome]]. Sadly, when he was [[CanonImmigrant brought into the main universe]], he went in [[TheScrappy the other direction]].
11** Nightstar due to being a walking representation of the marriage between fan-favorite coupling Nightwing and Starfire, and being [[MsFanservice very easy on the eyes]] besides.
12** Batman and Talia's son, here called Ibn al Xu'ffasch, supposedly Arabic for "Son of the Bat". Originally a MythologyGag to the non-canon story ''Son of the Demon'' where the son is a baby, the concept was intriguing enough to be revisited in other Elseworld stories and ultimately became canon with Damian Wayne. This version is also popular for being Nightstar's boyfriend, to Dick's consternation and Bruce's amusement (more explicit in the less well-received sequel miniseries ''The Kingdom'') because he's kind of her uncle.
13** Kid Flash (Iris West, Wally's daughter) is also quite popular and has made frequent appearances in the regular DC Universe long before this Superman did. She, Ibn, and Nightstar were featured in ''The Kingdom'' with their own focus issues.
14** Red Hood is quite popular too. She's essentially the grown-up version of (fan favorite in her own right) Lian Harper, her persona being a blend of her dad's Red Arrow self and Little Red Riding Hood.
15** Alloy (a CombiningMecha of the ComicBook/MetalMen) only appears in a few panels, but inspires a lot of interest for his striking appearance and role as a GentleGiant old guard hero who fights alongside the new breed before switching sides.
16** Hawkman's AmbiguouslyHuman design and EcoTerrorist background make him an iconic Justice League member even though he's TheVoiceless.
17** Olivia Queen/Black Canary III is one of the less prominent {{Legacy Character}}s, but still has some fan art for her LadyOfWar poise and cybernetic implants. She later stars in an issue of ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}''.
18** King Marvel only has a few background appearances, but his GoodParents moments and homaging of Music/ElvisPresley make him a noteworthy character.
19** As the early 90's were not kind to her, between a loss of power after a savage beating, a poorly handled mystical pregnancy (that was so bad it was almost immediately Retconned away), a {{Flanderization}} that saw her develop a horrible attitude (that made her frankly unlikeable) that was explained away as a diet soda allergy, and after the cancelation of ComicBook/JusticeLeagueEurope, slumming it as a guest star in other comics, it's a safe bet that ComicBook/PowerGirl's depiction as Power Woman was responsible for her resurgence in the new millennium; shortly afterwards she was brought back to the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica, her power levels and Earth-2 origins restored, was a main focus of ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis, and finally got her own ongoing for the first time ever.
20* FranchiseOriginalSin:
21** ''Kingdom Come'' inadvertently started the trend of pairing Superman and Wonder Woman in [[AlternateUniverse Elseworld comics]] [[note]]''The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Superman: Distant Fires, Superman: Red Son, JLA: Act of God, Injustice''. It was also done a decade before (1986) as a brief gag in ''Anime/ProjectAKo''[[/note]] before finally becoming a canon OfficialCouple in the ''ComicBook/New52''. However, while ''Kingdom Come'' devotes a great deal of time and attention to examining their relationship and crafting believable circumstances to bring them together, many modern comics just take it as a given that the strongest man and woman will be attracted to one another, or simply write the romance poorly. One thing ''Kingdom'' does that few other stories do is [[PosthumousCharacter eliminating Lois Lane from the equation]] but also strikes the tricky balance of making sure that her presence [[TheLostLenore is still keenly felt.]]
22** In addition, Diana had used lethal force in stories prior to ''Kingdom Come'', but it was always as a last resort. Some stories afterward would depict her as a BloodKnight who preferred to kill first, ask questions later, the ComicBook/New52 being the biggest offender of this. Again, this story clearly establishes ''why'' Diana has felt the need to adopt a more vicious and angry approach. Mark Waid himself expressed regrets about how his choices in characterizing Diana during what was supposed to be a dark and difficult time in her life and the world's history went on to, in his eyes, negatively influence her core characterization as people who grew up reading ''Kingdom Come'' got the chance to start writing her themselves.
23** If you want to find the progenitor to the "Lois Lane dies and Superman takes a darker turn," this is probably a good start, as this plot-line would start showing up in comics, [[VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs video games]], [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse movies]], and [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries cartoons]] soon after. However, it's made clear in this story that it was a ''combination'' of not just Lois' death, but his entire Metropolis supporting cast, Magog killing the Joker in cold blood before he could face justice, and society as a whole applauding Magog’s actions that caused Superman to lose faith in humanity and his crusade. This shows that it takes a [[TraumaCongaLine series]] of truly epic losses for Superman's golden heart to break, and even then, he doesn't go full evil. Stories that came after almost want to make a point that his relationship with Lois Lane is literally the ''only thing'' that's keeping him from becoming a full-scale dictator. Here, he just creates a jail for superpowered beings who are out of control. He has no interest in changing society -- and he never ever even ''considers'' abandoning his ThouShaltNotKill oath; it's the one thing he shares with Bruce. [[spoiler: What ultimately makes him seemingly snap is when the government ''nukes'' the superhero civil war, seemingly leaving him the only survivor in a field of radioactive ash, and ''even then'', it's pretty easy for Norman [=McCay=] to talk him down before he does something he'll regret.]]
24** To a point, ''Kingdom Come'' was also Patient Zero for a later era of DC properties complaining subtextually about UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks while [[{{Hypocrite}} engaging in a fairly dark bit of storytelling themselves]]. But ''Kingdom Come'' treats this issue with a fair bit of nuance; Superman and the other old-tyme heroes coming back to enforce the GoodOldWays isn't the salvation of the world but the beginning of its apocalyptic end, and ultimately some of the newer heroes do turn over a new leaf, or are shown to be genuine heroes deep down. Later stories instead tend to treat such characters as CListFodder. Also, ''Kingdom Come'' deserves a bit of credit for coming out ''during'' the Dark Age itself (if the year [[UsefulNotes/TheGreatComicsCrashOf1996 the bottom fell out of it]]); later stories are complaining about a period that took place a decade ago or more.
25* HardToAdaptWork: This is why there has yet to be an animated adaptation of the comic, as DC and Warner Bros. themselves outright ''[[NoAdaptationsAllowed refuse]]'' to make an animated adaptation of the storyline, viewing Alex Ross' artwork as incomparable and flat-out impossible to recreate in animation. That said, Creator/JamesGunn has [[https://www.instagram.com/p/ClmKshmvYua/ teased the possibility]] of it being adapted as part of his ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' reboot.
26* HarsherInHindsight:
27** In the {{Novelization}}, Mera mentions rumors Arthur and Diana were going to have a royal wedding to unite Themiscrya and Atlantis. In ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'', Atlantis and Themyscira are locked in an apocalyptic war that contributes to the end of the planet and began over Arthur and Diana's failed courtship.
28** Superman's near-berserk rage following [[spoiler: the governments of the world seemingly killing every other hero on Earth with an atomic strike to contain the situation during the final battle]], in which he threatens to tear down the UN building and kill countless innocent people, calls forward to [[ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}} the Plutonian]], a copy of him who broke ''all the way'' bad.
29** Cute-as-a-button little Lian Harper growing up to be a hero like her father seemed to be a cool little passing the torch moment at the time, before her pointless death in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice''.
30** Billy Batson being BrainwashedAndCrazy as part of a DarkerAndEdgier Elseworlds story? Already pretty chilling. Then DC started having it happen all the time to the Marvel family, including Mary Marvel's fall from grace in ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'' and her possession in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' proper, then and later when Billy Batson himself was brainwashed in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''.
31** Norman [=McCay=]'s final line to Jim Corrigan is that it is nice to be remembered, if only in a silly way. [=McCay=] himself was not present in the book's sequel, has been used extremely sparingly since the end of the mini. Seems he was not so fortunate.
32** Deadman's appearance, being reduced to his skeleton in his uniform, was a pretty funny gag at the time, and fed into the description in the trade that he's "still dead and loving it." Then the design was reused with a [[PaintItBlack black paint job]] for his appearance in ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''.
33** The notion of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al-Ghul having a child was apparently too tantalizing a storyline for the DC Comics writers to keep in the Elseworlds continuity. But unlike Ibn al Xu'ffasch, his mainline counterpart, Damian Wayne, is explicitly a ChildByRape.
34** Ted Kord's Comicbook/BlueBeetle [[PoweredArmor armor]], with a giant blue scarab on his back, is said to be powered by the scarab of Dan Garrett (the first Blue Beetle). The concept is very similar to the [[LegacyCharacter third Blue Beetle]], Jaime Reyes, who debuted ten years later, after Ted Kord's death during ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. [[spoiler: Then he perishes here too, as one of the many fatalities of the atomic bomb dropped on the final battle.]]
35* HesJustHiding: The quick and chaotic nature of the nuclear bombing and brevity of the scene showing there are survivors made it possible to hope that many seemingly dead characters like [[spoiler:Red Hood, Human Bomb, Olivia, Batwoman II and Ace, Lightning, Kid Flash, Menagerie, Living Doll, Hawkman, Red Arrow, the Red Tornadoes, Zatara II, Steel, Aleea Strange, Power Woman, Darkstar, Alloy, Garth, Tula, Stars, Stripes, Huntress, 666, Brainiac's Daughter, King Marvel, Lady Marvel, Obsidian, Robotman III, Bulletgirl, Starman VIII, Power Man, Phantom Lady, Demon Damsel, Mr. Terrific II, and Sandman IV]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.
36* HilariousInHindsight:
37** Selina Kyle has become wealthy and powerful thanks to a massive cosmetics empire - the backstory and profession of the BigBad she fought against in the later ''Film/Catwoman2004'' film.
38** A gag in the background of one of the bar scenes features [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Rorschach]] talking to his inspiration, the Question. Years later, [[spoiler: ComicBook/DCRebirth would make ''Watchmen'' part of the mainline DC continuity.]]
39** This Earth's Robotman is Victor Stone (more colloquially known as Cyborg), completely losing his physical humanity by turning into liquid metal and becoming the LegacyCharacter to Cliff Steele. This was a pretty out-of-nowhere connection considering the two aren't remotely related or close. But then the 2019 ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'' series rolled around and gave Cyborg an AdaptationOriginConnection to the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' and not only that the two at least seemingly get along decently in the show.
40* {{Narm}}: Captain Marvel's arrival at the Gulag battle is an OhCrap moment that's framed as a single-page SplashPanel. But the framing makes it look like Superman is looking at his crotch which has a noticeable bulge. And right next to the bulge is the narration box "Armageddon has arrived".
41* OneSceneWonder: Deadman's appearance in which he has a deeply poignant (and funny) conversation with Norman about the Spectre, death, faith, and the importance of having humanity. It's a brief little scene and not overly important to the plot, but it's widely regarded as one of the best parts of the book.
42* OneTrueThreesome: Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman, in classic DC fashion. Notable in that [[spoiler: it's almost canonized. Batman is made the godfather of Clark and Diana's child at the end, effectively making the baby a literal child of the Trinity.]]
43* {{Sequelitis}}: ''Kingdom Come'' was followed by ''The Kingdom'', which was... underwhelming. It's mostly remembered for trying to bring the DC Multiverse back through the concept of {{Hypertime}}.
44* SignatureScene: There's plenty to qualify such as Superman vs Captain Marvel, the dropping of the bomb on the Gulag, etc. But the scene that everyone likes to talk and have a good laugh over is Superman pulling a StealthHiBye on ''Batman'' for once.
45-->'''Batman''': ''([[ActuallyPrettyFunny grinning]])'' So ''that'''s what that feels like...
46* StrawmanHasAPoint:
47** At one point, one of the "newbloods" calls out Superman to argue against the notion that they have saved lives thanks to their willingness to kill the most dangerous supervillains. While the new "heroes" are clearly reprehensible and vile, the reader is almost certain to find themselves agreeing there are some criminals who should be taken down permanently, rather than being given [[JokerImmunity relatively light sentences]].
48** Considering that the Joker is an unrepentant mass-murderer that both the system and the 'classic' superheroes haven't dealt with yet, is it any surprise that the Magog's killing him is supported? The {{novelization}} goes into a bit more detail, explaining that Comicbook/LoisLane had sacrificed herself to give Superman the opening he needed to arrest The Joker, and as such Magog killing him made Lois' death completely pointless.
49* ToughActToFollow: Creator/AlexRoss' style is viewed as incomparable by Creator/WarnerBros, which is why they do not plan on adapting it to animation.
50* UnintentionalUncannyValley: Captain Marvel looks...off. His traditional features (EyesAlwaysClosed, PerpetualSmiler) look unnatural in the comic's photorealistic painted style. [[spoiler:Helpful of course because he is, after all, working with the villains.]]
51-->'''Superman:''' Marvel! In the name of heaven - wipe that empty smile off your face!
52* TheWoobie: Captain Marvel; a scared little orphan boy suffering from PTSD only to be taken advantage of in his vulnerability by Lex Luthor, enslaved into adulthood by bugs inside his brain only to die for the future of his people when he gains his freedom.
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