 Jesus
is a common figure to which Superman is compared; his first appearance
in the book shows a retired Superman, with long hair and a beard, performing
carpentry on his barn and carrying two planks and three nails. Other examples
abound, further fortifying Superman's role as a Christ figure, until Captain
Marvel intervenes. He does not allow Superman to face the bomb and, instead,
sacrifices himself in a cross-shaped mushroom cloud. Unlike Superman, Captain
Marvel was both man and god, more akin to Christ. With dozens of metahumans
dead, the Spectre declares that judgment has been passed. In the aftermath,
a
new, stronger world seems promised with Green Lantern
acting as metahuman representative to the U.N., Batman opening his manor
as a medical care facility, and Superman and Wonder
Woman dedicated to educating the next generation of heroes on their
responsibilities, starting with their forthcoming child.
Further, by the close of the story, Fate seems to demand a sacrifice,
a judgment for the evil of this Armageddon as
demanded by the Spectre. Superman — guilty for his role in this affair,
compelled by his morals, and true to his role as a Christ figure — is prepared
to make that sacrifice. He aims to divert the bombs and save the warring
metahumans,
even if it costs him his own life. In all likelihood, the battle will rage
on and humanity will, as predicted, suffer for it. Or, he reasons, Marvel
can stop him, allowing humanity to survive and the metahumans to perish.
Instead, Marvel attempts to save both, destroying himself in the process.
As Lamken asks:
So who's the Christ figure, Superman or Captain
Marvel? "Whatever version of Superman you're writing, he's a Christ figure,"
says Waid. "Except that he's not the Christ figure in Kingdom Come, interestingly
enough; Captain Marvel's the Christ figure — he's the one who gives up
his life to redeem our sins." (128)
|
Superman's
retirement was a product of his disgust with society's shift towards the
more brutal and, not entirely unassociated, their support of Magog.
When the Joker years earlier slew the staff of the Daily
Planet, including Superman's wife, Lois Lane, Superman was bound by
conscience to leave the murderer to judicial due process. Despite his own
personal investment, his code forced him to respect the authority of the
law. Not only did Magog fry the Joker without remorse or concern for his
legal rights, but the courts also acquitted the hero-murderer of the crime.
The contradiction was more than Superman was willing to bear. The Spectre
says that his bond to "human concerns" came from Lois, from "the love of
an earthly woman…until her life was stolen" (Waid Kingdom 76). With
a shattered faith in the justice system, no human relationships to ground
him, and a cry for new blood to take his place, Superman departed leaving
his old life and old identity as Clark Kent behind him. Magog says to him,
"Vox populi, man. Out with the old, in with the new […] Hell, they
were calling you old-fashioned when I was a teenager. World's oldest boy
scout…but you wouldn't change" (96). Magog supplants Superman just as the
golden calf is worshipped by the Israelites of Exodus "in the absence of
Moses," a precursor -- for some -- of Christ (Lamken
21). Nevins cites Yeechang Lee as commenting, "How can the foremost protector
of Truth, Justice, and the American Way continue to protect a city whose
citizens appear willing to condone blatant murder, a murder Superman himself
would have been justified in committing, if anyone at all?" Clearly, if
Superman has returned and is now willing to force his ethos upon Magog's
followers, something has changed — or warped.
Batman,
Superman, and 
