Alex Ross is perhaps one of the most iconic artists in comics, his striking, painterly work grasping classic silver and golden age aesthetics and putting them in stunning new lights. There was nothing like his work when he came on the scene in the ’90s, at the booming height of a new wave of comics talent defining the look of Marvel and DC’s books in their own way—talent like Todd McFarlane, who you can hear wax lyrical about Ross’ impact in this exclusive clip from a new documentary all about one of Ross’ most famous works: Kingdom Come.
The Legend of Kingdom Come, from Bad Animal‘s Remsy Atassi, just hit Kickstarter, and looks to examine the legacy of both Ross’ broader work in superhero comics and the long-lasting impact of his collaboration with writer Mark Waid and letterer Todd Klein on the legendary 1996 miniseries. A bold re-imagining of DC’s iconic heroes set in an alternate future where a grizzled, older version of the Justice League is forced to go back into action against the more aggressive generation of heroes that replaced them, Kingdom Come perhaps remains the definitive “Elseworlds” alternate universe story DC’s ever done, largely in part due to Ross’ incredible art. Its influence is still felt to this day, right up to James Gunn citing it as a touchstone for his own upcoming Superman movie reboot.
Get a look at Todd McFarlane reflecting on Ross’ arrival in superhero comics below in this exclusive clip from The Legend of Kingdom Come.
McFarlane is just one of multiple comics luminaries (alongside, of course, Waid and Ross themselves) interviewed for the documentary, including the likes of Paul Dini, known of course for his legendary work on Batman: The Animated Series, and The 100‘s Julie Benson and Shawna Benson, as the documentary explores both the creation of Kingdom Come and the wider evolution of superhero comics in its wake.
The Kickstarter for The Legend of Kingdom Come will run from today until Friday, October 25—as of writing, it’s already successfully dashed past its $50,000 funding goal like it was imbued with the Speed Force itself. Head on over to Kickstarter to learn more about the documentary and back the project for your own copy: a standard copy of the documentary will run you $30 for digital copy and $80 for a Blu-ray (which also comes with a digital copy), but there’s plenty more goodies available across multiple backer tiers, including signed posters and fine art prints of Ross’ work, and even original sketches from the artist.
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