Welcome to Hypertime. 
The Kingdom #2 is an issue of the series The Kingdom (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1999. It was published on December 30, 1998.
Synopsis for "Mighty Rivers"
In 1998, Superman sees on TV reports of a nuclear blast in Kansas, and so travels there to find Captain Atom being attacked by Gog, who then turns his attention on Superman, expecting his arrival. Unable to stop Gog, Superman sees that his future counterpart as well as that of Batman and Wonder Woman have appeared on the scene. After Superman of the present summons his counterparts of Batman and Wonder Woman, the future team tries to let the present-day team know why they're here, and so offer their help to at least rescue Superman's child from Gog. But as the future era Superman and Wonder Woman see their child apparently "disappear" into "nonexistence", the latter of the two now seeks vengeance against Gog. Hunter appears and transports the heroes into Booster Gold's Planet Krypton restaurant in the present, where Hunter's other allies from the future era await to help. Hunter transports the entire restaurant into Hypertime, but Gog soon joins the heroes in battle, in which they engage him using all sorts of weapons found in the restaurant collected from all sorts of realities. Gog blasts the present-day Superman through a wall before he finally falls, causing the heroes to be sucked out into Hypertime, which they realize is the secret Hunter's been trying to hide: a multitude of alternate realities, which the future era heroes realize they are a part of. A figure resembling the Phantom Stranger, who turns out to be the older version of Superman and Wonder Woman's child, gives his infant self back to his parents, safe and sound. As the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman of the present time are sent back to their own reality, the remaining heroes take Gog to the Quintessence in order to have them deal with their agent.
Meanwhile, the Superman seen pounding at some barrier over the sky of his Metropolis realizes that even though the barrier is still there he now knows there is a door. He can use the "door" to fly to whatever is past the barrier. He gives a wink to the reader, suggesting that someday he will.
Appearing in "Mighty Rivers"
Featured Characters:
- Batman (Kingdom Come)
- Batman (New Earth)
- Rip Hunter (Pre-Flashpoint)
- Superman (Kingdom Come)
- Superman (New Earth)
- Titans (Kingdom Come) (First appearance)
- Ibn al Xu'ffasch (Joins team)
- Kid Flash (Joins team)
- Nightstar (Joins team)
- Offspring (Joins team)
- Wonder Woman (Kingdom Come)
- Wonder Woman (New Earth)
Supporting Characters:
- Captain Atom (New Earth)
- Jonathan Kent II (Kingdom Come Future) (First full appearance) (Impersonates Phantom Stranger (Kingdom Come))
- Jonathan Kent II (Kingdom Come)
- The Quintessence (Kingdom Come)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Hypertime visions (Cameo)
- Aquaman (The Nail)
- Atomic Knights (Earth-86)
- Atticus Kent (A Nation Divided)
- Batman (Dark Knight of the Round Table)
- Batman (Gotham by Gaslight)
- Batman (Tangent Universe)
- Black Baron (Earth-86)
- Black Baron's Marauders
- Black Zero (Hyper-Tension) (First appearance; unnamed)
- Brainiac ("Earth-One")
- Bruce Wayne (Seven Soldiers of Probability)
- Captain Carrot (Earth-C)
- Captain Marvel (Legends of the Dead Earth)
- Catwoman (Guardian of Gotham)
- Clark Kent (War of the Worlds)
- Darkseid (Rock of Ages)
- Flash (Tangent Universe)
- Green Arrow ("Earth-One")
- Green Lantern ("Earth-One")
- Hawkgirl (The Nail)
- Hawkman ("Earth-One")
- Hawkwoman ("Earth-One")
- Imps (Fifth Dimension)
- Insect Queen/Lois Lane ("Earth-One")
- Jimmy Olsen (The Nail)
- Johnny Quick ("Earth-Two")
- Joker (Tangent Universe)
- Jonathan Kent ("Earth-One")
- Jor-El II ("Earth-One")
- Julie Schwartz (Earth-Prime)
- Kamandi ("Earth-AD")
- Kid Flash (Justice Riders)
- Krypto ("Earth-One")
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Pre-Zero Hour)
- Lex Luthor II (Pre-Zero Hour)
- Lions ("Earth-AD")
- Martha Kent ("Earth-One")
- Martians (War of the Worlds)
- Martian Manhunter ("Earth-One")
- Metamorpho ("Earth-One")
- Mordred's Mercenary Army (Dark Knight of the Round Table)
- Mr. Mxyzptlk V (Pre-Zero Hour)
- Nova/Clark Kent (Earth-178)
- Orion (Dark Side)
- Orion (Pre-Crisis)
- Plastic Man ("Earth-Twelve")
- Powergirl (Tangent Universe)
- General Robert E. Lee (A Nation Divided)
- Robin/Dick Grayson ("Earth-One")
- Robin II/Bruce Wayne Jr. (Earth-40)
- Solomon Grundy ("Earth-Two")
- The Spectre/Jim Corrigan ("Earth-Two")
- Superboy/Clark Kent ("Earth-One")
- Supergirl (Tangent Universe)
- Superman (Dark Side)
- Superman (Generations)
- Superman (Red Son) (First appearance; unnamed)
- Superman Blue/Superman Red (Earth-162)
- Super-Sons (Earth-216)
- Ultraa (Earth-Prime)
- Wonder Woman Family (Earth-124.1)
- Xeen Arrow (Pre-Crisis)
- JLA (New Earth) (In picture only) (Cameo)
- Jonah Hex (New Earth) (Appears only as a corpse)
- Kent Family (New Earth)
- Linear Men (Pre-Flashpoint) (Cameo)
- Superman ("Earth-Two") (Also in a vision) (Cameo)
- Jonah Hex (Kingdom Come)
- Amazo 2025 (Alternate Kingdom Come Future) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Angels (Mentioned only)
- The Devil/"The Winged Beast" (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- Dick Grayson (Kingdom Come) (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- The Flash/Wally West (Kingdom Come) (Mentioned only)
- God (Mentioned only) (Mentioned only)
- Green Arrow/Oliver Queen (New Earth)
- Greek Gods (Kingdom Come) (Mentioned only)
- Greek Gods (New Earth)
- Hera (Mentioned only)
- Guardians of the Universe (Kingdom Come) (Mentioned only)
- Lois Lane (New Earth) (Mentioned only)
- Phantom Stranger (Kingdom Come) (Mentioned only)
- Plastic Man (Kingdom Come) (Mentioned only)
- Sandman/Wesley Dodds (New Earth)
- Satan (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- The Source (Mentioned only)
- Starfire (Kingdom Come) (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Kingdom Come Superman's Hypertime selves (Mentioned only)
- "Superman 2025" (Deceased)
- Talia al Ghul (Kingdom Come) (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Waverider/Matthew Ryder ("Ten Years from Now") (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Hypertime (Real name revealed) (First full appearance)
- The Aleph (Unnamed)
- Earth-40 (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-86 (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-97/"Tangent Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-124.1 (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-162 (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-178 (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- Earth-216 (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-395/"Dark Knight of the Round Table Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- Earth-898/"The Nail Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-1099/"Guardian of Gotham Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- United States of America
- Gotham City (Cameo)
- United States of America
- Earth-1198/"Dark Side Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-1598/"Red Son Universe" (First appearance; unnamed) (In a vision)
- Soviet Union (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Earth-1889/"Gotham by Gaslight Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- 1889
- United States of America
- Gotham City (Cameo)
- United States of America
- 1889
- Earth-1890/"Justice Riders Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- American Old West (Cameo)
- Earth-1863/"A Nation Divided Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- 1863
- United States of America
- Gettysburg (Cameo)
- United States of America
- 1863
- Earth-1938/"War of the Worlds Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- 1938
- United States of America
- Metropolis (Cameo)
- United States of America
- 1938
- Earth-3839/"Generations Universe" (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Earth-C (In a vision) (Cameo)
- "Earth-One" (First appearance; unnamed) (See Notes) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- "Earth-Two"/"The Heaven" (Unnamed) (Also in a vision) (See Notes) (Cameo)
- "Earth-Twelve" (First appearance; unnamed) (See Notes) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- "Earth-AD" (First appearance; unnamed) (See Notes) (In a vision)
- 21st Century
- Earth (In ruins) (Cameo)
- 21st Century
- "Earth-Prime" (First appearance; unnamed) (In a vision) (See Notes) (Cameo)
- Pre-Zero Hour Legion's Future (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Alternate New Earth Future (The Legends of the Dead Earth spread throughout the universe) (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Alternate New Earth Future (Darkseid enslaved both Earth and New Genesis after learning the Anti-Life Equation) (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Alternate New Earth Timeline (Julian September's Engine of Chance disrupted Probability) (Unnamed) (In a vision)
- United States of America
- Gotham City (On a TV or computer screen) (In a photograph only) (Cameo)
- United States of America
- Timestream
- "The Space between Atoseconds" (Unnamed) (Behind the scenes)
- Vanishing Point
- Earth-96/"Kingdom Come Universe" (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Alternate Earth-96/Amazo 2025's Future (Gog steals Superman's heat vision after replicating Amazo's powers) (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- 2025 (Mentioned only)
- Alternate Earth-96/Gog's Future (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- 2040 (Mentioned only)
- Alternate New Earth Future ("Ten Years from Now") (Mentioned only)
- 2008 (Mentioned only)
- Multiverse (Behind the scenes)
- New Earth/"The Central Timeline"
- 1998
- United States of America
- Kansas
- New York
- Metropolis
- Planet Krypton (Displaced to Hypertime)
- Metropolis River (Cameo)
- Metropolis
- West Virginia
- Coal mine
- United States of America
- 1998
- Heaven (Mentioned only)
- Hell (Mentioned only)
- Phantom Zone (Mentioned only)
- New Earth/"The Central Timeline"
- The Void[1]
Items:
- Atomic Knight's shield and sword
- Batarang
- Batsuits
- Blue Devil's Cybernetic Trident (Destroyed)
- Bracelets of Submission
- Cosmic Treadmill (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Dilustel
- Gog's Power Staff
- Green Arrow's Bow
- Green Lantern Power Battery (Cameo)
- Green Kryptonite
- Green Lantern Ring
- Ibistick
- Jonah Hex's Guns
- JLA Signal Device
- Lasso of Truth
- Nuclear bomb (Mentioned only)
- Phantom Zone Projector
- Power Ring's Power Ring
- Rip Hunter's Time-altering Wristbands
- Sandman's Gas Gun
- Sandman's Gas Mask (Cameo)
- Starheart Power Ring
- Wonder-Staff
- Wonder Woman's Shield
- Wonder Woman's Sword (Destroyed)
- Wonder Woman's Tiaras
Vehicles:
- Astro-Harness
- Kryptonian Rocket (In a vision) (Also as merchandise)
- Martian tripods (In a vision) (Cameo)
Events:
- American Civil War (Earth-1863) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Invasion of Martians (Earth-1938) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Kansas Disaster (Earth-96) (Mentioned only)
- War in Heaven (Mentioned only)
Concepts:
- Anti-Christ (Mentioned only)
- The Emerald Energy (Unnamed)
- Fourth Wall
- Hypertimelines (First full appearance)
- Magic
- Metahumans
- Red Sun (Behind the scenes)
- Source Energy (Behind the scenes)
- Time Travel
- Temporal Paradox (Behind the scenes)
- Temporal Portal
Notes
- The Kingdom storyline originally began in The Kingdom #1, but chronologically continues from The Kingdom: Planet Krypton #1.
- The Hyper-Tension storyline follows on the events of this issue.
- The Kingdom Come Titans' story is eventually continued in the Who Is Troia? storyline.
- This issue introduces Hypertime– an entangled web composed of all the Alternate Timelines, Possible Futures and Parallel Realities– which will eventually become a central part of the DC Comics mythos.
- However, the Hypertime structure retroactively made its first, unnamed appearance during the events of Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #62 by Rick Veitch, in which the titular hero first journeys into the Greater Omniverse, and is then sent back by The Source to a plane of existence where all events across time and reality can be glimpsed. The depiction of this extradimensional structure in Swamp Thing #62 also strongly resembles the Hypertime introduced in this issue.
- Technically, Hypertime has appeared behind-the-scenes since the Golden Age in time travel-based stories.
- Earth-C, the Atomic Knights' Earth, the Tangent Comics reality, several Imaginary Stories, and many Elseworlds stories are retconned as Hypertime realities. These universes are eventually named in Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Compendium.
- Earth-86 was recognized as an alternate Earth in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #10, but it is only named in The Compendium.
- Earth-40– the non-canon version of Earth-Two– is also recognized and named in The Compendium.
- The Super-Sons' reality was believed to be a fake reality, but it was first recognized as an actual Earth by Mark Gruenwald in his Omniverse #1, in which the universe was referred to as Earth-E.
- The Pre-Zero Hour Legion's Future being an Hypertimeline explains how it survived the destruction of the Multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths. This future was seemingly destroyed–and "replaced"– during the events of Zero Hour, but this story first implies that it still exists somewhere in Hypertime.
- This will be confirmed during The Lightning Saga and Final Crisis.
- The Hypertime visions– and Rip Hunter's words– heavily suggest that there are Hypertime iterations of Pre-Crisis realities, including Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Twelve, Earth-AD and Earth-Prime.
- The events of Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds will confirm the existence of an Hypertime version of Earth-Prime.
- Mark Waid's notes from the deluxe edition confirm that the future Jonathan Kent is not the Kingdom Come Phantom Stranger, who last appeared in Kingdom Come #3. Jon Kent only impersonated him throughout The Kingdom storyline.
- The Golden Age Superman– seen at the end of the story leaving the still-intact barrier around his city after realizing there is a door he can use at any time– is the same version who appears at the beginning of The Kingdom #1 and the same one, who smirks at New Earth Superman within Hypertime.
- The events of Infinite Crisis imply that he is not the same Superman who entered the Paradise Dimension at the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths #12, suggesting instead that he is an Hypertime variant– similarly to the other Pre-Crisis characters glimpsed within Hypertime in this issue.
- Planet Krypton is restored to New Earth some time between the epilogue of this issue and Superboy (Volume 4) #65.
- This story is reprinted in The Kingdom collected edition.
Trivia
- The evil conqueror, Black Zero, cameos in Hypertime ahead of his appearance in Superboy's Hyper-Tension storyline (Superboy (Volume 4) #60–65).
- Similarly, Red Son Superman makes a cameo in Hypertime prior to his full appearance in the Elseworlds, Superman: Red Son.
- This is first Post-Crisis story where Superman is shown to be able to transform coal into diamond by friction, as his Pre-Crisis counterpart.
- In a previous Christmas story, he describes himself being unable of this feat.[citation needed]
- The weapons in the Planet Krypton restaurant that were used against Gog include the Earth-One Phantom Zone projector, the power ring from Power Ring of Earth-Three, the Golden Age Sandman's gas gun, Jonah Hex's pistols, Atomic Knight's shield and sword, Green Arrow's bow and arrows, the Blue Devil's trident, and Orion's astro harness.
- The Planet Krypton artifacts will be eventually replaced with fake objects to keep them safe.[2]
- Jonah Hex can be seen as a lifelike dummy inside Planet Krypton. This is a reference to the last Jonah Hex story, where circus owner L.B. Farnham steals his corpse and has him taxidermied to be put on display. That's no dummy, it's his actual corpse.[3]
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Kingdom Come Recommended Reading
- Kingdom Come (Volume 1) - collected in Kingdom Come
- The Kingdom (Volume 1) - storyline The Kingdom collected in The Kingdom
- Thy Kingdom Come - collected in Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come, Part One and Part Two and Part Three
- Justice Society of America (Volume 3) #9 - JSA #17
- Justice Society of America Annual (Volume 3) #1
- Justice Society of America (Volume 3) #18 - JSA #20
- Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special Superman #1
- Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special Magog #1
- Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom #1
- Justice Society of America (Volume 3) #21 - JSA #22
- Titans: Who Is Troia?
- Justice League: Generation Lost (Volume 1) - storyline Justice League: Generation Lost collected in Justice League: Generation Lost Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Strange Visitor: Batman/Superman: World's Finest #7 - Batman/Superman: World's Finest #11
- Heir to the Kingdom: Batman/Superman: World's Finest #20 - Present
