An ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL! PLUS: Series writer MARK WAID gives you the back story of the project… By JASON CZERNICH Forty years ago, The Dark Knight Returns deconstructed a superhero. That same year, Watchmen deconstructed the superhero genre itself. A decade later, Kingdom Come reconstructed costumed adventurers by emphasizing their morals and what happens when they stray from them. Many fans such as myself looked at it as a response to the darkness that had descended upon mainstream comics since 1986. Premiering 30 years ago, on May 8, 1996, Kingdom Come — by Mark Waid and Alex Ross — showed that there was a light at the end of the tunnel by initially leaning into the doom and gloom and then subverting readers’ expectations by showing that more positive outcomes could still work. Here are 13 great things about this fantastic future version of the DC Universe and why it still resonates with readers today. — 1. Mark Waid’s Writing. Waid made a name for himself as a writer on the 1990s Flash monthly and Kingdom Come exposed his talent to a broader audience while being a great opportunity to show just how well he knew the larger DCU. I recently spoke with him about the origins of the series, as well as his own involvement in it: “The project came about in the wake of Marvels by Alex and Kurt Busiek. Alex came to DC with a notion, some notes, and a bunch of awesome character sketches and we sat down and hammered out the plot together, then I went off to script. I was drawn in by DC because they knew for something like this, they needed a writer who knew the DC universe inside and out, and Alex and I were a good match that way; we both have a fondness for Golden and Silver Age characters.” — 2. The Art of Alex Ross. After Marvels, Kingdom Come underscored Ross’ place in the comic-book art world. He’s widely considered one of comics’ greatest living artists. — 3. It’s Dark but Not Rated R. Part of the mass appeal of Kingdom Come is that it is essentially PG-13. Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns both have depictions of sex, violence, and swearing that tend to make them R-rated. I’m not saying you should always tell superhero stories without adult...