Who are Gog and Magog? – Part II: Kingdom Come

Last time we examined the publishing history of Magog and the differing ideas of his creators. Now we look at the template character, the Magog of the Kingdom Come universe. Magog is a compelling character in Kingdom Come. He has a pathos that many of the younger characters lack. He obviously has history with Superman, but a lot of that back story and the details of about him after his capture are left out of the mini-series. Therefore I’ve included notes and quotes from the KC novelization to flesh out the details on this Magog.

Magog of Earth-22, the Kingdom

• Codename: Magog
• Alter Ego: Unknown
• Occupation: Vigilante
• Group Affiliations: leader of the Justice Battalion
• First Appearance: Kingdom Come #1 (1996)
• Created by: Mark Waid and Alex Ross

There are is a continuum of parallel universes that vibrate along each other like the strings of a musial scale. Each universe contains an alternative version of the Earth and its inhabitants. In the foundation universe, Universe Designate-0 by the Monitors’ counting, Magog is David Reid – a veteran soldier, the great-grandson of a US President, and the avatar of the Gog entity. However, his destiny is forever tied to the fatal actions of an older Magog from a parallel universe.

Universe Designate-22 was a universe whose history ran approximately 20-30 years ahead of David Reid’s Universe. The history of its Earth, Earth-22, diverged from Earth-0 when the original Justice League and Society failed to provide adequate inspiration and leadership for the newest generation of superhumans. Their children and grand-children grew up as super-powered delinquents and amoral vigilantes. It was the Magog of Earth-22 who served as their figure-head and role model. The first real confrontation between these generations came when the Joker murdered the entire Daily Planet staff.

Elliot S. Maggin’s novelization of Kingdom Come goes into more detail about Magog and the Joker’s attack on the Daily Planet. Like Superman, Magog operated in Metropolis and was a particular target for Lois Lane’s investigative journalism. Magog had been inspired by Superman, but came to see himself as Superman’s heir and grew frustrated with Superman’s reluctance to step aside.

Lois died not when the Joker attacked the Daily Planet’s news room, but during his escape – she gave her life to prevent him escaping. Superman captured the Joker and handed him over to the authorities. It was while the police were moving the Joker that Magog attacked him. Many commentators found it ironic that his man who had been so often the target of Lois Lane’s ire would be the man who avenged her murder.

Magog’s ascension had as much to do with the lack of Lois Lane’s constant inquisition as it did with Superman’s absence.

Magog killed the Joker moments before Superman got to him. Superman arrested Magog for the Joker’s murder, but public opinion was on his side and the courts acquitted Magog of any wrong doing. Superman was horrified and withdrew from public life leaving the protection of the public to their new blood thirsty champion. Superman’s disappearance left Magog as his de facto successor.

Ten years later, Magog was the leader of a group called the Justice Battalion made up of the Peasemaker, Nightshade, Captain Atom, Alloy (a gestalt of the Metal Men), Judomaster, and Peter Cannon. They fought the Parasite from St Louis to the corn fields of Kansas in a brawl they should have won easily. It ended violently when the Parasite ripped open Captain Atom causing a nuclear explosion that killed a million civilians and left the Kansas heartland an erradiated wilderness.

Commentators would justifiably call the incident the “Kansas Holocaust.” It was finally enough to drag Superman out from his retirement, but his attempt to rebuild the Justice League was too late. They eventually found Magog haunted and solitary wandering the Kansas wastes.

He told Superman,

“Your fault… you bastard. The world changed… but you wouldn’t. So they chose me. They chose the man who would kill over the man who wouldn’t… and now they’re dead. A million ghosts. Punish me. Lock me away. Kill me. Just make the ghosts go away.”

Events moved quickly after that Magog’s capture. Superman’s Justice League creating a Gulag to contain the younger heroes and villains who would not join them. The superhuman community split into three factions – Superman’s increasingly authortarian League, Lex Luthor’s villains, and Batman’s non-aligned outsiders.

And one day, from out of the desert wandered Magog, helmet in hand. He knocked politely on a pillar of the enormous Gulag structure. No one heard him knock, but he stood there quietly and decorously until a monitor alarmed Captain Comet to his presence.

Comet knew immediately that Magog was there, but, so help him, he hesitated to go down and greet the felon. “Where’s he been?” Comet barked into his Justice League communications Link.

“Colorado,” said the Living Doll, from the New Oa satellite. She scanned through a file and found the reference. “A previously abandoned federal prison in Golden, Colarado.”

“Well, he’s not there now,” Comet said. “He’s here. He escaped. Isn’t Superman monitoring him?”

“I’m sure he is.”

“Was,” Comet said.

“Is,” the Living Doll repeated.

And from the doorway of Captain Comet’s command centre Superman’s voice said, “I saw him leave. I knew he was coming here. Let him in.”

Eventually Comet walked up behind Magog in the shadow of the Gulag. Magog turned and smiled lightly, putting his helmet and energy spear on the ground as the older man approached.

“We’ve not met,” Comet said. “I’m Adam Blake,” and he extended a hand.

“I’m Magog”, the caller said. He extended his own hand to take Comet’s, the first-time someone had shaken his hand in years, he thought. “I need a place to think. I need a place out of the sun. I understand that this is the village of the damned. I understand that this is a place where I might be welcome.”

“Yes,” Comet said. “Come in. We’ll find you a room.”

Kindom Come novelization (Elliot S. Maggin), page 212

Magog was content to remain in the Gulag in quite penance, but war came to them all when the others prisoners revolted. The League arrived to quell the uprising, but Luthor’s mind controlled Captain Marvel broke the Gulag open starting a massive superhuman melee. Batman’s forces interceded to help, but it was too late. Superman alone may had been able to contain the battle, but he was held in check by the mind controlled Captain Marvel. Through the melee with only see glimpses of Magog. He’s stands at the centre of the action, but it looks like he’s refusing to take sides. He is now just an observer to the war that he helped spawn.

It was ultimately the human authorities who took the decision to drop an atomic bomb on the super-humans – a last desperate attempt to stop the melee before it consumed the entire world. Superman again could have stopped the bomb, but in a last moment of clarity Captain Marvel realised that stopping the bomb would doom the world. He pushed Superman aside and detonated the bomb himself.

Magog was one of the few survivors of the explosion. He helped pull a few others including Tokyo Rose behind Green Lantern’s shields before the blast hit. He was also with the suvivors when Superman addressed the United Nations and when Wonder Woman was restored to her position on Paradise Island. From what little was shown of him he appeared quite repentant. Magog is shown several times carrying or caring for Tokyo Rose so she may have been somebody close to him. The novelization says that be became a dean of students at a new colony/school on Paradise Island for those arcane men and women who sought to retreat from the mortal world. Magog was also show having a quiet drink in a scene in The Kingdom: Offspring #1.

This Magog, the Magog of Earth-22, was not a super villain. He was a man of convictions and strong beliefs who thought that lethal force could be justified. The destruction that was wrought upon that Earth was not solely his fault. When Superman stood down he implicitly, whether intentional or otherwise, signalled to everybody that Magog was right.