Kingdom Come - the iconic DC mega-hit explained

gamesradar.com:

Last week DC revealed that the next issue of World's Finest will be taking a trip back to the universe of Kingdom Come.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #20 is the start of a five-issue arc, Heir to the Kingdom, that sees the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel visiting the universe of Mark Waid and Alex Ross's iconic 1996 Elseworld's miniseries and coming face-to-face with their more care-worn counterparts.

But perhaps you've not read the original? If that's the case than you may not know that it's one of the bestselling comic book series in DC's history - and one which Newsarama readers selected as the best DC Comics story of all time.

You may even be wondering what made this magnum opus - which pits the more "extreme," violent superheroes that were in fashion in the mid-90s against the more traditional superheroism of iconic DC characters like Superman - such a commercial and critical smash, and what are the secrets behind its longevity?

Well we have the answers right here...

Taking place in a 'possible' future of the DC Universe (today designated as Earth-22 in the DC Multiverse), Kingdom Come is one of the best-selling Elseworlds stories in comic book history.

At the center of its plot is an older Superman with gray hair at his temples and a different version of the 'S' symbol on his chest - one giving off a more mature vibe than the classic ones.

The four-part series was published in 1996, a time when more brutal vigilante anti-heroes like Marvel's Punisher were becoming more popular with readers than old-fashioned icons like Superman. The series pushed back against that idea, specifically pitting Superman's brand of good-natured heroism against the harsher kind dished out by '90s heroes.

Kingdom Come set the