Batman / Superman: World's Finest #24

[superfangirl1]

“A world will always need a Superman”.

A few years after the kingdom come all out battle and nuclear warheads explosion event. Spectre allows Superman and Batman to see David one last time.

Comments

[buttz]

Just let Mark Waid write whatever he wants for DC at this point -- he's more than earned that right.

[dan_ingram]

Eh, he needs to do better villains before he gets that right.

Just ask the Rogues.

That he blew up.

[tcampbell1000]

If you mean the story I think you mean, that was fairly early in his career, and he did pretty well by them after bringing them back.

[kid_a_aslan]

so, Waid essentially gave magog an origin & redemption story & he becomes a superman inspired "hero" for the kingdom come 'verse? am I reading this arc right?

[superfangirl1]

Yes. David mentors the next generation of heroes on Earth 22.

[beyondthefringe]

Bruce and Clark all like "welp, can't alter the future. A whole lotta people gonna die, but ain't our world. Good luck, guys!"

I know, fate, destiny, narrative needs, but still, seeing that the events of Kingdom Come are inevitable despite this alteration to the early timeline... (but I guess if anyone can revisit Kingdom Come with a clear conscience, it's Waid)

[zachbeacon]

Okay, it's been a while since I read Kingdom Come. Did they actually confirm what became of Darkseid or did I just assume Orion killed him when he took his place?

[super_fly]

Not really, it's just said Orion usurped him and left it at that.

[nyadnar17]

As a huge "Jason Todd is right some people just gotta go" appologist I was expecting to hate this.

But I don't. Waid absolutely knows what he is doing by having Batman just straight up point out they weren't out of options by a long shot. He didn't kill him because he "ran out of options", he killed him because it was easy and that broke his entire world.

[tcampbell1000]

One thing I feel is worth highlighting about both this story and the original Kingdom Come: When introduced David seemed like a straightforward swipe against the edgy, EXTREEEEEM! antiheroes of the Eighties and Nineties, an uncaring psychopath no better than the villains he fought. It'd be easy for this to turn into a simple conservative sentiment: "the young are bad!"

But Waid's always been more nuanced than that when it counts. There is, after all, no way out of mortality for even the classic superheroes over a long enough time-scale. Haller was never rotten, just lost, and so his conclusion here is about as satisfying as it can be, if the original Kingdom Come timeline really does have to get preserved.

[starwolf_oakley]

The Death of the Joker was a little confusing. He had already been arrested by the Metropolis Police when Magog blasted him. Meaning Waid and Ross were going for a "Ruby shooting Oswald" thing, I suppose. It doesn't quite explain how it looks like Superman got there too late to save the Joker.