Graphic Novels: Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come

Written by Mark Waid
Illustrated by Alex Ross

So what can I say about this miniseries?

THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER READ!!!!
(It's so great that it's on my "favorite books" thing on Facebook!)

But for real, it is. If you're a fan of DC Comics in general, you'll like it. Pretty much everything about KC is great. First, you have a great writer doing this story, Mark Waid. Next, the artwork by Alex Ross is amazing. There is probably a lot I could say about KC, but since I'm a man of one or two words (As you can tell I've gone way over that!), I'll try to keep it short.

Story - First off, the story is well told. The story's set some about 20 years into the future of the then-current DC Universe. it deals with a growing conflict between "traditional" superheroes, such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League, and a growing population of largely amoral and dangerously irresponsible new vigilantes. Next, you have Batman and his assembled team, who attempt to contain the escalating disaster, foil the machinations of Lex Luthor and the MLF, and prevent a world-ending superhuman war. All of these events are seen through the eyes of a pastor named Norman McKay and DC's spirit of vengeance, the Spectre.

The story draws heavily on Biblical apocalyptic imagery, especially the Book of Revelation. It gives the story a sense of finality, as well as urgency with the heroes trying to stop this big war. And when the war between these superheroes ends, it ends with a bang and a PO'ed Kryptonian, as you see here.

Art - The awesome art is done by Alex Ross. The artwork is so epic and just down right good. One of the things I like about the art is that it has a touch of reality in it. His art also shows how ridiculous some, if not all, of these people in tight, bright-colored suits look. I also like how Ross just throws in something obscure and random for no reason. Here's one example:

In the left corner we have Sherlock Holmes, Rorschach from Watchmen, The Shadow, The Question, another character called Obsidian, and another nut in a trench coat and fedora.

Then, there's also this fantastic page of this:

There's one more page that is both awesome and sad at the same time, but I won't show it to you because it spoils the surprise.

In conclusion, Kingdom Come is a great read to anyone who's a fan of the DC Universe.

Graphic Novels: Intro

(This is a picture I took of my collection for a school project in April 2007. My collection is has grown since then.)

Well, since I don't know what I want to talk about, I'll talk about some of the greatest stuff in my little collection. If you ever noticed to look at my profile pic and description pic, you probably have figured out that I am a fan of graphic novels. A simpler term for these would be comic books.

I've been a comic fan for a long time. When I was younger, I would get the occasional comic book off the stands at Wal-Mart or any other store that had them. After they pretty much stopped having them in stores, I stopped getting them. I think throughout high school, I only got 4 things: and issue of Spider-Man, and the first three volumes to Essential X-Men.

When I got into college, that was when my collecting really began to happen. I started out with New Avengers #1. Since then, I've collected a bunch of stuff (well, maybe not too much). With the way most single issues are going up in price, I may just have to stop someday. More recently I've been trying to find some good TPBs and good events from the past. For example, I've gotten into Geoff Johns' run on Teen Titans, and it's real good. I also found all six issues of "Infinity Gauthlet" at a small book store in Columbia and that was pretty good too. Well, time for me to shut up and see what i want to say about these GNs and Events.

Lakers Vs Celtics: Part.....What? 12? 13?

Alright! Rematch, ! I don't know who will win this time, and I kinda don't care. Both teams have what it takes to win the Finals. That's why they're here. I just hope it's a good series.

Ryell Williams