Let me all tell you a story about a boy who was once sick and tired of comics. From the age of six to eleven this boy would read and buy a ton of comic books because he loved them so much. Who cares about a story when your a little kid? All you want is big action and suggestive poses of superheroines and it makes any pre-teen boy happy. But then a sudden change happen to him, he was growing old and with that his tastes started to change. He noticed bad writing in a ton of his favorite titles and overall it just got boring to him. So by 2001 he left comic books and started to care more about his PS2 and TV shows and forgot about the fine art of print. For three years it would stay this way until the year 2004 and the boy, now a confused teenager, found his way into the graphic novel section of his book store (which ironically he now works at). It was here when he would found the book that would change his life forever, quite possibly the greatest work of art and literature he will ever read.

That boy turned teenager and now young adult, is me. The story that changed his life forever? Kingdom Come. I’ve mentioned it before on this site in little bits but in a more full sentence: Kingdom Come is not only my favorite story of all time, but I think it is the greatest comic book story put on print. This isnt a comic book actually, ignore that last sentence, this is a classic peice of literature with an extra bonus of art that should be put in a museum. Yes I know all of you guys and gals will argue that other stories like Watchmen, or Maus, or anyother fine peice of comic book classics are more deserving as ‘best ever’. Those stories are well and good but they dont have the claim that it made me love comics again.

This has a story that is still 100x better then most comic book arcs out there. It has the tone of a big superhero tale but has theological and religious undertones that make this a very deep book. Whether it’s Wayne acting like an old kermudgen or the main protagonist, Norman McKay, talking about his religious experiences; all the fine character moments work here. There are a lot of old references to Golden Age and Silver Age tales, good amount of humor and drama, and overall a storyline towards the end that is so tense….it’s still exciting to read this after so many times. Possibly the best example of how great the story is, is the moments with Billy Batson (aka Captain Marvel) in them. Waid knew how to write a man who is still essentially a kid in him and shows how frightened a man can get when he’s brainwashed so many times. But once we hit the Marvel train we get to see subtle hints of his former self when he fights Superman. The moment where he has to take his own life to save all of his friends, shows how great Captain Marvel really is as a character.

But let’s not shy away from the art, possible some of the best you’ll ever see in a book. Sure Alex Ross has done a lot before and much more after this tale; but you can just see how much detail he puts into this story more then others. So much detail in the faces and the body movements and the enviroments and all the easter eggs. Have any of you seen the ‘models’ he uses as references for this story? Norman McKay is so accurately drawn to look like Ross’s own father it’s just chilling to see a comparison shot of the two. Ross knows how to make a comic look like art and here he makes even the smallest of panels look like a masterpeice. It is the only comic in the world, to my knowledge anyways, where every panel can be turned into a poster…All of the shots look that good.

Yes the story is incredible and the art is so good that it should be preserved for all time….But it’s more then these things that made me this love this story. Again I didnt want anything to do with comics, ever again. But somehow reading this story made me love them again. It showed me that people do love writing comics and that art is a huge factor in a book. This story made me realise that comics are an art form, and that even the simplest ideas for a book can be turned into a complex and thoughtful peice of literature. There have been countless other books that have made love comics but not one of them have been as perfect as this story. (Okay Silver Surfer: Requiem came awful close) If your new to comics or just want a new story to add to your collection of classic literature. Pick this up, I dont care what version you get; this new edition, old editions, Omnibus’s, whatever! You need this in your life, it’s something that every person who loves to read needs to have….not just for comic fans.

This site gives a 5 for the highest rating for a book or issue. Well forget the 5 when you see it in this review, this is going to the ‘This is Spinal Tap’ treatment. We’re going for 6 here, better then Excellent, it’s a classic. Go pick this up now!