Alex Ross has been very busy recently, from shepherding Dynamite’s Project Superpowers along with longtime collaborator Jim Krueger to doing the same with Krueger on the Dynamite/Marvel production, Avengers/Invaders - and he’s also doing covers for both projects, as well as character design work.
While those projects are important to him, Ross has also been working
on something that has a special place in his heart – he’s been
co-plotting DC’s Justice Society of America
with Geoff Johns (and of course, providing covers), with the most
recent stories following the journey of Kingdom Come Superman to the
“main” DC Universe. In the last few issues, more and more elements of Kingdom Come have been popping up in Justice Society, most alarmingly, the revelation of the false Gog and then the real god, Gog, and the looming revelation of Magog.
Kingdom Come pieces are swirling fast and furious among the JSA, and things are headed toward a final conclusion in December’s Justice Society of America #22. Before then though, Ross will not only write, but also paint November’s Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Superman,
featuring the Kingdom Come Superman searching for answers to his cursed
existence, and the reason why he was transported to this world when his
own was in such need of his aid.
We spoke with Ross about the coming Special, and his part in and view of the larger Kingdom Come-related storyline in JSA.
Newsarama: Alex, was this always in the plan for you when you were coming on with Justice Society?
Back before the series even started, Geoff was mentioning that you’d be
coming on to help out – was it always going to culminate in this for
you, a Special that you’d both write and paint?
Alex Ross: To some degree, yeah. I knew that I wanted to make sure in this project – as I was trying to reclaim the world of Kingdom Come
to some degree, that if you were going to see a flashback to events
that took place in that world, it would be done by me. So if it was a
panel or a page, I would do those, and we’ve peppered those throughout
the series so far. It wasn’t something that we could really promote,
but it was a way that we were showing that it was something that I was
very closely associated with.
Also, good symmetry that exists between my art style and the two
artists working on the book, Dale and Fernando, has been so in tune
that when you see this character from Kingdom Come hanging out with the JSA, it really looks like that
specific Superman. You can tell it by his face alone – you don’t need
to see the chest emblem to know it. These guys have captured his look
so perfectly, which is just thrilling for me to see.
So I knew that I was going to do a bit more artwork, as in the
concluding portions of our story, there’s going to be quite a bit more Kingdom Come
stuff that will be me closing the door on this whole chapter. All of
this is kind of my returning and doing what I didn’t do ten years ago,
and putting it out there as a way to say: This is how I feel about this
world as well as this project that will probably always remain as the
most well-read thing that I ever worked on. We’re adding on a…not a
revised chapter to it, but…an addendum? I think that’s what we’re doing
here.
NRAMA: Without giving too much away that’s coming up, how do you feel about Kingdom Come
years later, and its…use? In your mind, is the story and world
something that should be closed off and not revisited, or is it a
viable player in the DC multiverse?
AR: No, no, no! You’ve definitely see by the end of this thing –
I want it closed. But, you know I’m also showing that I was good for
playing with it one last time. This, for me, all goes back to Paul
Levitz who originally said ten plus years ago that he wanted a spin-off
of the Kingdom Come universe into the contemporary DC Universe.
At the time, I could have backed away from it very easily. When they
were first discussing it, it was Mike Carlin and Paul saying that they
would do a Magog series. Frankly, at the time, I could give a damn
about Magog. He was a character who was a metaphor for the modern era
of Image/Rob Liefeld style characters. He wasn’t the main, enjoyable
point of Kingdom Come – I always felt that was the older Superman.
So I started pushing for this thing that involved the DC heroes reflecting more of their roles within the Kingdom Come
storyline, and letting the modern Superman take that center stage a bit
more, and that then evolved into the project that I dubbed The Kingdom.
And then, due to not seeing eye to eye on it with everyone involved, I
backed away from it, and they eventually did something that was much
more about doing a whole yearning to re-emerge the multiverse. There’s
still something unique about this world that’s the metaphor for a
superhero world heading to an Armageddon, than a world where there are
so many superhumans is doomed to a terrible ending. That’s the metaphor
of this tale. In a way, the Kingdom Come world has to stand as that, and I want the memory of what Kingdom Come represents at the conclusion of the storyline to stand in a simple way that everyone knows – that the Kingdom Come story should not be added much to or rewritten or fixed, or have characters from it borrowed.
NRAMA: So, that said, how would you characterize the storyline you and Geoff are doing with Superman?
AR: By borrowing its biggest character, and having him plucked
out of it for a moment to have him play in the modern universe…it
should be obvious – it’s The Last Temptation of Christ story. That’s the story I’ve been doing – the story that Geoff is allowing me to tell in the pages of JSA.
If you go specifically to the movie, you see Christ on the cross
plucked from that moment, and shown the life of a man that he could not
be. So effectively, during Superman’s kind of crucifixion in Kingdom Come,
he is pulled from that world into our mainstream DCU – and maybe with
the consequences of finding out that he may not be saved from the fate
that was intended for him.
I’ve been thrilled with how it’s worked out – Geoff took very well with
my characterization to the counterpart to Magog, Gog, the giant
character that I envisioned ten years ago.
NRAMA: There’s been speculation about Gog in JSA given what was said about the Third World…
AR: Right. I saw and still see Gog as a connection to the
Kirbyverse and the New Gods. This giant, who is found on earth, was the
only survivor from the ancient world that was split into New Genesis
and Apokolips. Geoff’s taken that and written it exactly as I’d hoped
for it to be back then. We’ve argued with each other on points, but all
in all, it’s worked out well. It’s been a good evolution, creatively.
And I love seeing how the various characters who have poked their heads
in from Kingdom Come, particularly Starman – how well they’ve been used
and how well they fit in to a cornerstones of DC. JSA was always one of
my favorite teams of DC Comics, and now I’ve been a part of it for the
last several years. It’s been very satisfying.
