Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #24 – Mark Waid, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Mark Waid has made his grand return to DC after several decades, so it’s only fitting that he’s putting together a final chapter to the story that made him an icon all those years ago—Kingdom Come. Batman and Superman are in this twisted world, where they’ve found Superman’s former protege David, now known as Magog and grown into a ruthless and embittered man in thrall to the ancient Third World god Gog. Gog’s obsession and Magog’s loyalty has led them to make a fateful error that summons Darkseid to this world—kicking off a massive battle that claims several lives among the older heroes of this universe. With no choice and time running late, Magog goes rogue and does something that sets him against his former mentor once again—and starts setting into motion the chain of events that will lead to him becoming the ruthless hero of the original Waid/Ross miniseries.
But while the original Kingdom Come was a take on the 1990s antihero wave, pitting Superman and his older ways against a new generation of hard-line vigilantes, this one seems to be looking at it as much from David’s perspective. It has a lot of sympathy for him, even as it recoils in horror at what he’s becoming. Then you have the last act, which brings in a surprising guest star with a much larger view of the universe that brings the whole story full circle into the Kingdom Come world, providing a new look at the events of it—and surprisingly, a look beyond it, into Magog’s eventual fate and how the heroes of this universe wind up affecting the universe they visited. Waid has been writing DC books for a very long time, and similar to Dan Jurgens and the late, great Keith Giffen, it’s amazing how seamlessly he moves from era to era. This is a perfect capper on his greatest story.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
