Kingdom Come raises the literary theme of Apocalypse through its illustration of utter destruction of the world. Apocalypse is the complete final destruction of the world that involves damage on a catastrophic scale. It is described in detail in the biblical book of Revelation. The article “Book of Revelation” in Wikipedia explains that the book contains multiple visions, one of which includes “the end of the world … in which Satan’s rule through Man is destroyed by the Messiah” (e. p. 1).
The “end of the world” refers to the dreams that the Apostle John received from God, giving him insight on how the world will come to finish. The reason for the destruction of the world is to cease “Satan’s rule through Man”. “Satan” is the most evil and craftiest being that God created. “Man” applies to the whole of mankind that lives on the face of the earth. The reign of Satan over Man will expire when the “Messiah” brings an end to the world. The denotation of “Messiah” is a savior, meaning God, who is the savior of the Christians.
Satan devises all kinds of schemes to cause chaos in the world, which makes the world into a corrupt society driven by violence. This ultimately means that God will execute judgement and punish the world, because Satan, the ruler of the evil spirits in the spiritual realm, has been prevailing over the whole earth. The novel Kingdom Come clearly displays the theme of Apocalypse and the end of the world. When all the metahumans were battling, the humans decided to send a nuclear bomb at the site of battle. This then brings about the death of every metahuman that was unable to survive and unprotected.
In the whole of page 188, the images of dead bodies and bones are scattered from top to bottom. The visuals speak for itself. The colors used are black and grey, making the scene to appear quite gloomy and dull. The color black is a symbol of grief and death. This is to demonstrate that at the end of age, when the world come to an end, there will only be death and grief. The color grey is associated with loss or depression, indicating that the earth would lose its life, and people will be distressed over the loss of their loved ones. This theme of Apocalypse portrays a very lifeless and dreary ending.
However, there is another part to the Apocalypse; the salvation. A famous prayer in the bible entitle “The Lord’s Prayer” contains a section, as described in Wikipedia, that has a relation with the Apocalypse. The words “Thy Kingdom come” is a statement to express the Christian’s belief and hope that “a Messiah figure would bring about a Kingdom of God” (e. p. 1). The “Messiah” would be the God that the Christians believe in, and the “Kingdom of God” represents the everlasting kingdom of heaven in which they can live with God for eternity.
This is the final part of the Apocalypse, when God’s holy people are delivered and saved by the “Messiah” to enter the “Kingdom of God”. The saints of God are those who are walking faithfully in the path of Christ, constantly living holy lives, not conforming to the pattern of the sinful world. The world is cruel, heartless, violent, and they are from Satan. However, God’s people are those who have not become accustomed with them. Instead, the saints are against all the corruption from the world. Therefore, God separates the two; his saints and the people of the evil one, at the end of age.
God will bring his people who have suffered on earth to heaven, and condemn the people of Satan into eternal hell. The novel Kingdom Come distinctly depicts the latter part of the Apocalypse, that is the part of salvation. When the nuclear bomb blew up the metahumans at war, Spectre notes that “there were survivors. They are fewer in number, and their pain is great … but their war is over” (Waid and Ross 189). The “survivors” refer to the metahumans that were able to escape the impact of the nuclear bomb, meaning
Superman, and everybody in Green Lantern’s forcefield. This correlates to the “survivors” mentioned in the bible, pertaining to the saints of God who will be saved. Spectre continues to explain that the ones who survived are “fewer in number” than those who died. This alludes to the holy people that God chose out of the whole world who are as numerous as the sand by the seashore. It is clearly seen that God chose his 12 disciples from the one million Jews that lived around the time of Jesus. Additionally. Spectre mentions that “their pain is great”.
He was referring to how Superman and the rest of the survivors’ suffering of trying to live morally right lives was difficult. This can be compared to the Apostle Paul when he explains to the early church in Rome, in the book of Romans chapter 6 verses 5 through ten, that they have to die to sin in order to live in Christ. This signifies that, as God’s people, they must kill their evil nature everyday to live holy lives. They have to be against the sin of violence and corruption of the world in order not to be destroyed along with it. Finally, Spectre ends by claiming that “their war is over”.
This implies that the war between righteousness and malfeasance is finally over. Also, a biblical reference to the war between the flesh and the Spirit, described by the Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 and 17. The flesh desires violence, but the Spirit, that is God’s holy spirit, desires peace. Moreover, the images used in the novel has a powerful message about the Apocalypse. In the fifth panel of page 189, Green Lantern and a few others are shielded from the nuclear explosion by his forcefield. They are protected from harm and disaster because of the shield.
This is another allusion to the bible when the four angels have the power to harm the land and the sea, but God commanded to hold back the destruction until all of God’s people are sealed with the seal of God. Only then can the angel release the disasters upon the world. This can be found in the book of Revelation chapter 7 verses 1 through 3. God will come as the last judge to punish and execute judgement on all the wicked in the world, but God’s people will be safe from the punishment. Instead of being punished or judge, they will be saved by their Messiah.
Another image is displayed of Superman flying up into the sky on the third panel of the same page. This matches the biblical description of how the saints of God will resurrect up to the kingdom of heaven. Thus, the novel Kingdom Come has a precise message of the Apocalypse in the bible. Mark Waid and Alex Ross reproduces the culture of violence and the Apocalypse, in the novel Kingdom Come, to disclose that absence of benevolence due to the demoralization of violence prompts the Apocalypse, which disinfects human violence and reestablishes humankind by the coming of God’s kingdom.
The novel demonstrates a society that is driven by tyrannical lawlessness, which contributes to the lack of goodwill. However, through the Apocalypse, it will eradicate the wicked which ultimately introduces a new world where there is an omission of depravity. However, our current society is in the stage where cruelty is at its pinnacle. The novel Kingdom Come was published in 1996. Yet, 20 years later, the issues discussed in the novel are still arising and relevant to our society.
This shows the problems brought up in the novel by Mark Waid and Alex Ross aren’t insignificant, they are imperative matters that must be discussed even now. Recently, there have been news about countries threatening other countries with nuclear warheads. If one or the other were to execute action, the whole world would be in a war zone, and catastrophe would emerge. There is no difference between the fiction in Kingdom Come, and the reality that we are living in. This world needs to decontaminate turbulence of human beings.
