![alex ross challenge of the superheroes alex ross challenge of the superheroes](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55566d6ee4b0a3a2a1a76e5e/1561578420765-MQ1YELSPAFRSF0QZ89DL/Marvels+(1994)+%230+Alex+Ross.jpg)
So the message here is that the old stories are good and the new stories are bad. In fact, everything in the story turned around on Superman and went bad when he let his hair grow out into a ponytail, a distinct reference to the mullet-haired Superman era of the '90s that happened right before Kingdom Come was originally published. Their Superman is equal parts George Reeves and Max Fleischer cartoons, broad-shouldered and barrel-chested. Their reverence to the nature of these stories is aimed toward the stories that they grew up reading. With their combined encyclopedic knowledge of DC history, Ross and Waid give the story some heft as they do everything they can to make this about the legacy of all of these old stories that came before them. In this comic book, they continually use their fists instead of their voices to solve their conflicts.
![alex ross challenge of the superheroes alex ross challenge of the superheroes](https://api.floodmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Alex_Ross-2016-John_Lennon-300x462.jpg)
Where’s the fun of seeing Superman and Lex Luthor fight again when we can see Superman and Batman fight again. Fighting is the only way to resolve any disagreement. For as much perceived importance as Ross’s artwork gives the story, Waid’s writing plays to a base level of the characters, good guys and bad guys who have to fight because that’s all they can do. That’s the level of characterization that Waid can muster up in his writing.
![alex ross challenge of the superheroes alex ross challenge of the superheroes](https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CaptainAmericanIronManCropped.jpg)
Superman is sad, Wonder Woman is angry, and Batman is just fed up with everything. Through the dialogue, he never lets you forget the drama that these characters are experiencing. Luckily for Ross, Waid is all about playing to the melodrama in his writing. By trying to depict reality, Ross brings all of these magical beings down to our levels and that just never really works. It is easy to ooh and ahh over the painted importance of this story but in comic books, there is a thrill to seeing the world in a way that we never can in real life. With his painted style that owes far more to Norman Rockwell than to any comic artist, Ross’s work tries to signify its importance but is never able to really bring these characters to life. While it’s not full-on uncanny valley territory, Ross’s dedication to realism creates a mask over the whole story. His figures go through the motions of the story without ever inhabiting the heart and soul of the story. Waid does not help out here as his sole idea of these characters’ development is 'more grim' and 'more conniving.' While Ross can bring a weight of visual realism to this story through his painted artwork, he is just not able to reveal the characters’ motivations and challenges. Sure, his Superman is often grim-faced and his Batman is always plotting, but that is the total range of emotion that he can give them. Ross cannot get out of the mode of showing the inner might of these characters enough to show their inner struggles. One of Ross’s biggest challenges is to get you to believe in the inner struggles of these characters and he just isn’t able to live up to that challenge. Part of the price of admission to Kingdom Come is believing that the characters need to be reconstructed, to be reformed once again to be the heroes of myth and legend. Reestablishing this nobility to all of the classic characters is Ross and Waid’s self-appointed mission.