History YMMV / KingdomCome

** 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]].

** 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.

** 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. Sadly, when he was [[CanonImmigrant brought into the main universe]], he went in [[TheScrappy the other direction]].

* ContinuityLockout: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor and Norman [=McCay=] are the only characters you can get a handle on if you've never read a DC book before. 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.

* 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, 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''.

* 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, and Sandman IV]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

** 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.

** 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.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ''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.]]

* 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, Bulletgirl, Power Man, Phantom Lady, and Sandman IV]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

* 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, Bulletgirl, and Phantom Lady]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Done by the ''incomparable'' Creator/AlexRoss working at his fullest and finest. Special mention must be recreating the first appearances of both Batman and Superman in the second issue.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Done by the ''incomparable'' Creator/AlexRoss working at his fullest and finest.

** 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. All three of the above were featured in ''The Kingdom'' with their own focus issues.

** Alloy 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.

** 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.

* 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, and Phantom Lady]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

* 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, Blue Beetle, Alloy, Garth, Tula, Stars, Stripes, 666, Brainiac's Daughter, and Phantom Lady]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

* 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, Blue Beetle, Alloy, Garth, Tula, Stars, Stripes, 666, and Phantom Lady]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

** 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''. [[spoiler: Worse, in the novelization, it's made clear that the entire Arrow family were casualties of the final battle, meaning she was once again struck down too young by an overcooked supervillain's scheme]].

* 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, Blue Beetle, Stars, Stripes, 666, and Phantom Lady]] survived offscreen even before many did indeed turn up alive in other works like ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' and ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

* HardToAdaptWork: [[ExaggeratedTrope To the point]] where WB themselves outright ''[[NoAdaptationsAllowed refuse]]'' to make an animated adaptation of the storyline, viewing Alex Ross' artwork as incomparable and flat-out impossible to recreate.