DC Database
Register
Advertisement

""Strange Visitor"":

Quote1 Don't you understand? If any of us are to survive...Any of us...now more than ever...WE NEED HOPE! Quote2
Norman McCay

Kingdom Come #1 is an issue of the series Kingdom Come (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1996.

Synopsis for "Strange Visitor"

There were voices, thundering, lightning and an earthquake...and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. There fell a great star from heaven, burning as if it were a lamp...and I beheld, and heard an Angel, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, WOE to the inhabiters of the earth.

The story begins with Wesley Dodds speaking with his pastor, Norman McCay, as he is reading from the book of Revelation in the Bible. Dodds has begun seeing visions related to that book and is trying to tell Norman about them. However, he dies before he can explain them.

While walking sometime after the funeral, Norman reflects on Dodds' life. Dodds had once been the Sandman. During his later life, Dodds had been worried about the world's current superheroes, who lack the morals of their predecessors. As Norman reflects on this, a fight between some of the modern heroes fight and Norman hopes that mankind can outlast these heroes.

These thoughts leaked into Norman's next sermon subconsciously. After the sermon, Spectre appear to Norman. Spectre was supposed to use Dodds for his host as he witnessed the events of the coming Armageddon, but has to use Norman because he is now having the visions.

They are first transported to a farm in Kansas (which turns out to be a holographic environment created in the Fortress of Solitude) where an aged Superman lives. Wonder Woman comes and tries to convince Superman that he needs to come out of retirement to help the world. Inside the house, they watch footage of a battle between a team of new heroes lead by Magog battling Parasite. Parasite pulled apart Captain Atom, causing a nuclear explosion that completely destroyed Kansas.

The Spectre then shows Norman that some of the old heroes still remain. The Flash still patrols Keystone City, Hawkman protects the forests of the Pacific Northwest, and the Green Lantern watches Earth from an emerald city in orbit. Others, such as the Atlanteans, the Amazons, and the Legion of Super-Heroes have all followed Superman's lead of living in solitude and wanting no more involvement with mankind, thus, cutting all ties with them. Becoming complacent, and content in their ancient civilizations or future times, and leaving the world to its own fate. When asked about Batman, the Spectre shows that he's now using robots to patrol Gotham City.

The Spectre takes them to Metropolis, where they see some of the modern heroes having a shoot out on a suspension bridge and a tram full of innocents. The tram's cable was cut, but Superman was able to save it in time. Everyone was thrilled to see Superman save the day once more, but Norman was able to see this was just the beginning of the Armageddon.

Appearing in "Strange Visitor"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Batman (Behind the scenes)
  • Beatriz da Costa (First appearance)
  • The Flash (Cameo) (First appearance)
  • Green Lantern (Cameo) (First appearance)
  • Hawkman (Cameo) (First appearance)
  • Legion of Super-Heroes (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Bouncing Boy (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Brainiac 5 (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Chameleon Boy (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Colossal Boy (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Cosmic Boy (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Dream Girl (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Ferro Lad (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Invisible Kid (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Lightning Lad (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Lightning Lass (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Matter-Eater Lad (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Mon-El (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Phantom Girl (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Saturn Girl (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Shadow Lass (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Superboy (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Supergirl (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Timber Wolf (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Triplicate Girl (Cameo) (First appearance)
    • Ultra Boy (Cameo) (First appearance)
  • Michael Carter (Behind the scenes) (Cameo) (First appearance)
  • Gotham City street thugs
    • "Fat Albert"
    • "Mushmouth"
    • "Dumb Donald"
    • "Bill"
    • "Russell"
    • "Weird Harold"
    • "Rudy"
    • "Bucky"
  • Black Mongul (Cover only)
  • Blue Devil (Cover only)
  • Buddha (Cover only)
  • Cathedral (Cover only)
  • Catwoman (Cover only)
  • Demon Damsel (Cover only)
  • Germ-Man (Cover only)
  • Huntress (Cover only)
  • Kabuki Kommando (Cover only)
  • Pinwheel (Cover only)
  • Shiva (Cover only)
  • Stealth (Cover only)
  • Tokyo Rose (Cover only)
  • Von Bach (Cover only)

Locations:

Items:

Notes

  • In panel 1, page 7, the long-haired Korean with the cigarette dangling from his mouth is Sung Koo, the former proprietor of Halley's Comics, a Chicago comic-book store. Chicago happens to be where Alex Ross lived.
  • At Norman's church congregation, Norman is preaching from the Book of Revelation (8:7, 9:2, 14:7) which parallels to the Kansas disaster. His audience is mostly composed of fewer and older attendees, which implied the loss of faith in superheroes among the young.
  • The news broadcasts that Superman watches are translated as follows: "The world was shocked by horrible acts" (Anglicized Spanish), "Tragedy in America" (Korean), "paralyzed by the news of Magog" (Portuguese), "fierce brutality of Magog" (Italian), "American by the name of Magog" (French), and "We have learned that Magog has endangered us" (German).
  • The rogue metahumans Manotaur and Trix fought each other earlier in the story, and much later are seen fighting on the same side, demonstrating that superhumans seem to be fighting just for the sake of fighting, with no regard to who gets hurt.

Trivia

  • The Japanese graffiti that Norman walks by is the kanji title of the anime series Tenchi Muyō!. Also barely readable is the "Who Watches The Watchmen?" graffiti which is the quote of the Roman poet Juvenal that was thematically central in Alan Moore's Watchmen.
  • The window of the shop that Norman walks by displays: Alternate Egos, by John Law, who is the Golden Age hero The Tarantula; and the book Under the Hood by Hollis Mason from Watchmen; and an signed World Series '02 baseball, which indicate that the setting of Kingdom Come takes place after 2002.
  • The hotel in the background when Norman and (briefly) Flash pass is the "Siegel," a reference to Superman creator Jerry Siegel.
  • Turtle Boy appears on a Jumbotron TV (interestingly, its brand is called "Sonny" instead of Sony). The Chinese ideograms underneath the TV read "done" or "finished".
  • The Steve Darnall marquee on the theater who is a reference to the former editor for Hero magazine.
  • The "Secret Asian Man" on the billboard seen during the metahuman fight is a common mondegreen for the theme song of the TV series Secret Agent Man (the U.S. broadcast of the British TV series Danger Man).
  • The Spectre's line of "with powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men" is taken from the radio opening of The Adventures of Superman.
  • The animals (monkey, cat, dog, and a white horse) at Superman's "farm" are references to the Legion of Super-Pets.
  • A portrait of Grant Wood's American Gothic appears on one of the news screens being watched by Superman.
  • Norman's monologue of "bending steel....changing the very course of the mighty river" is an echo of the words at the beginning of the Adventures of Superman TV series.


See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

Kingdom Come Trade paperback
Kingdom Come Continuity Storyline/Crossover
DC Rebirth Logo

Kingdom Come was a four-issue limited series published in 1996 under DC's Elseworlds imprint. Like all Elseworlds, this series was set in an alternate reality outside that of the mainstream DC Universe (in this case, Earth-96/Earth-22/Earth 22). However, several elements and characters were later introduced in the mainstream universe.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the Kingdom Come category.

Elseworlds logo
Elseworlds
DC Rebirth Logo

This comic issue, event, or limited series takes place in its own separate continuity as an Elseworlds story; although it may exist within a larger Elseworlds continuity as part of its series. This includes both titles with the Elseworlds Logo, and titles retroactively declared as Elseworlds Stories.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the Elseworlds category.

Elseworlds

Elseworlds Batman Batman Chronicles #11Batman Chronicles #21The Batman of ArkhamBatman: BloodstormBatman: The Blue, the Grey, and the BatBatman: Book of the DeadBatman: Brotherhood of the BatBatman: Castle of the BatBatman: Crimson MistBatman: Dark AllegiancesBatman: Dark Knight DynastyBatman: Dark Knight of the Round TableBatman: Detective No. 27Batman: The Doom That Came to GothamBatman: The Golden Streets of GothamBatman: Gotham by GaslightBatman: Gotham NoirBatman: Haunted GothamBatman: Hollywood KnightBatman: Holy TerrorBatman: I, JokerBatman: In Darkest KnightBatman: League of BatmenBatman: ManbatBatman: MasqueBatman: Master of the FutureBatman: NevermoreBatman: Nine LivesBatman: The Order of BeastsBatman: Red RainBatman: Reign of TerrorBatman: Scar of the BatBatman: ThrillkillerBatman: Year 100Batman/Dark Joker: The WildBatman/Demon: A TragedyBatman/Houdini: Devil's WorkshopBatman/LoboCatwoman: Guardian of GothamRobin 3000
Superman Kamandi: At Earth's EndSon of SupermanSuperboy's LegionSupergirl: WingsSuperman, Inc.Superman: A Nation DividedSuperman: At Earth's EndSuperman: The Dark SideSuperman: Distant FiresSuperman: KalSuperman: The Last Family of KryptonSuperman: Last Son of EarthSuperman: Last Stand on KryptonSuperman: Red SonSuperman: Speeding BulletsSuperman: True BritSuperman: War of the WorldsSuperman/Tarzan: Sons of the JungleSuperman/Wonder Woman: Whom Gods Destroy
World's Finest Batman: Two FacesElseworlds 80-Page Giant #1Elseworld's FinestElseworld's Finest: Supergirl & BatgirlSuperman & Batman: Doom LinkSuperman & Batman: GenerationsSuperman and Batman: World's FunnestThe Superman Monster
Trinity Batman: NosferatuSuperman's MetropolisWonder Woman: The Blue Amazon
Green Lantern Green Lantern: 1001 Emerald NightsGreen Lantern: Evil's Might
JLA/JSA JLA: Act of GodJLA: Age of WonderJLA: Created EqualJLA: DestinyJLA: Island of Dr. MoreauJLA: Riddle of the BeastJLA: Secret Society of Super-HeroesJLA: Shogun of SteelJSA: The Liberty FilesJustice League: The NailJustice League: Another NailJustice RidersJSA: The Golden AgeKingdom ComeLeague of JusticePlanetary/JLA: Terra Occulta
Other ConjurorsFlashpointTitans: Scissors, Paper, StoneWonder Woman: Amazonia

Annuals Action Comics Annual #6Adventures of Superman Annual #6Batman Annual #18Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #4Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #2Catwoman Annual (Volume 2) #1Deathstroke the Terminator Annual #3Detective Comics Annual #7The Flash Annual (Volume 2) #7Green Lantern Annual (Volume 3) #3Justice League America Annual #8Justice League International Annual #5L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #5Legionnaires Annual #1Legion of Super-Heroes Annual (Volume 4) #5Lobo Annual (Volume 2) #2New Titans Annual #10Robin Annual (Volume 2) #3Steel Annual (Volume 2) #1Superboy Annual (Volume 4) #1Superman Annual (Volume 2) #6Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #3Team Titans Annual #2

Related Alternate TimelinesAmalgam UniverseImaginary StoriesIntercompany CrossoversJust ImagineMultiversePossible FuturesRealworlds
Advertisement