Everything ends. Mark Waid’s ending for Kingdom Come has always been one for the ages as it relishes in the dark reality of humanity and the super-powered gods and monsters that live within the DC universe. However, Waid never could truly end his stories on a tragic note as he famously added in the “Planet Krypton” ending scene in the original story as a way to plant a seed of hope for the readers. True to the original themes of Kingdom Come, Mark Waid, Dan Mora, and Tamara Bonvillain continue that dark but hopeful grounding with this final installment to “Return to Kingdom Come: Part Five”.
DC Comics
Following off of the previous installment, we are thrown into the fray as readers get a taste of chaos with striking battles between Darkseid and the many heroes of this Earth. Earth-0’s Batman and Superman, however, are caught in a struggle between David and his unstable mindset and beliefs which continues the larger theme of how Clark and Bruce deal with heroes younger than them. We learned that in the previous installments, Waid loves connecting David to the larger themes of Supergirl and Nightwing and that conflict grows as we see Magog take the stance of a loud-mouthed and faulty negotiator much like how Supergirl was in her youth.
As David makes his most dangerous move, Waid dives into how his childish mentality completely eats him, engulfing him in a sense of dilemma as he tries to ration his actions, proving that he is merely a savior and that the rest of the heroes inhabiting Earth are all cowards. The initial conflict brews a complicated but fascinating look into how this story stands on its own to the original Kingdom Come. Waid’s goal was clear in that it never was supposed to change the true meaning or outcome of the original story but continue the initial idea that all of the spin-offs presented: painting a clearer picture.
DC Comics
In Waid’s original spin-off series, The Kingdom, we see how the events before Kingdom Come truly shaped everything and painted the picture of an aftermath and this storyline did just that. It showed more of David’s story, revealed more of who David Sikela was as a hero and as a pawn of Gog, and showed the larger ideals of Waid’s religious venture of DC’s big and bold heroes while still using the future of the universe to show that hope still exists and that feeling still exists in this arc.
All of this is paired with Dan Mora and Tamara Bonvillian’s beautiful art as we go from seeing detailed action pieces to calm and melancholic set pieces. All of Waid’s energy and storytelling is only amplified by these two and it proves that as a creative trio they genuinely hit the mark. The art in this series has always been a powerhouse but the emotional scenes in this storyline perfectly captures the energy of the original spin-offs in the best way imaginable.
As a comic series, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest is a simple dive into the Silver Age of DC and these characters, but it also functions as a glimpse of clarity to larger pieces of stories well-loved and/or forgotten. Thankfully, Mark Waid, Dan Mora, and Tamara Bonvillain show that the past is key in this recent installment of Batman/Superman: World’s Finest.
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