TOP 13 LISTS | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

May08

KINGDOM COME AT 30: The 13 Best Things About the DC COMICS Classic

Posted by Dan Greenfield on May 8, 2026

KINGDOM COME AT 30: The 13 Best Things About the DC COMICS Classic

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...

May04

13 Beloved Background Characters in the Original STAR WARS Trilogy

Posted by Dan Greenfield on May 4, 2026

13 Beloved Background Characters in the Original STAR WARS Trilogy

It’s MAY THE FOURTH: Calling Coruscant Central Casting! By JIM BEARD One of my favorite lines from a 1977 review of the first Star Wars movie said something like, “Lucas populates every frame with throwaway background characters that other filmmakers would make an entire film about.” That’s stuck in my mind all this time not only because it was speaking my love language, but because there’s something really cool in that assessment that I think speaks to the beauty of the property. Star Wars is not just about its characters; it’s about a galaxy. And that stretch of space is populated with the best background denizens of any science fiction production ever. I’m going to take this reasoning one step further and lay out my favorite 13 such background beings from the entire OG trilogy. I hope you’ll find a few of your favorites in this list, too. After all, there’s literally a Star Wars character for everyone. — Silver Threepio (A New Hope, 1977). There are two ballsy things in the very first character scene in A New Hope. One is that there are no humans, and another one is that C-3PO is not unique. Right from the get-go, Lucas tells us that this galaxy is full of robots and some of them have been stamped from the same mold, just colored differently. And, as we soon learn a few seconds later, it’s what’s inside these protocol droids that counts. — He Owns Utini (A New Hope, 1977). Did he know? Did he think about it? Did he ever suspect that one little Jawa would go down in film history just from one simple little word? And here’s another important question to ponder: Did he still get royalties every time someone else screams, “Utini”? — Cantina Sideburns (A New Hope, 1977). My fandom for the guy with the sideburns and spacesuit chatting with Chewbacca really grew out of Decipher’s Star Wars Customizable Card Game (where I learned he’s named “BoShek”). Why? Because he seems like a cool cat who might’ve looked right at home in Arnold’s Drive-In, dipping his fries in a shake and eyeing the chicks. BoShek was cool, Daddy-o… — Simple Scanners (A New Hope, 1977). Pity the poor Imperial duo who got the orders to haul their scanning equipment onboard the Millenium Falcon only to…...

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