kingdom come

Superman and Superboy represent a lot of things to a lot of people. There is, of course, truth, justice and the American way, but it goes beyond clichés. Kal-El and his youthful counterparts are enduring inspirations. Superman has power that in theory places him above everyone else, but it's his focus on the fates of others that draws fans to cosplay as Superman and Superboy. We’ve gathered a collection of images of fantastic fans that do the majestic red and blue proud. In every form and in every fashion, these cosplayers bring the Kryptonian heroes to life in every photoshoot and convention appearance. These are the best Superman and Superboy cosplays.

Since the dawn of the Silver Age, legacy characters have been a staple of superhero fiction, and having a new character step into a well loved roll can open up new opportunities for writers and artists to tell different kinds of stories. In The Replacements, we'll look back at the notable and not-so-notable heroes and villains to assume some of the most iconic mantles in the superhero genre. Today we’re looking at the brave souls who heard the call and in one way or another attempted to fill Superman’s boots. Some — much like Superman himself — are lost souls from dying worlds, some are two-bit thugs and at least two of them are pretty much The Terminator.

Born on this day in 1962, Mark Waid is one of the most prolific and consistently relevant comic book writers of the last three decades. His storied career has taken him through pretty much every major publisher at one time or another, and as well as being a phenomenal writer and editor, Waid also has a reputation as one of the best collaborators in comics.

Welcome to Recon:Vergence, a weekly look at what’s going on throughout DC’s new reality-smooshing event storyline, Convergence. Every week until the end of the event, every comic DC publishes will be a part of this giant storyline – and it’s a little confusing, especially for new readers. To help out, we’re going to provide a timeline of events, let you know which Universes are still in the fight, and try and keep everything on track.

Though she’s best known as a seductive jewel thief, Catwoman has long been a protector of the unprotected. Justin Gray and Ron Randall will continue this tradition in the two issue Catwoman miniseries during DC's Convergence event, wherein the erstwhile villainess becomes Suicide Slum’s watchful eye --- only to encounter the Batman of the Kingdom Come universe standing in her way. What’s a bad-girl-gone-good to do? ComicsAlliance sought out the creative team to discuss the past, present, and future of DC’s feline fatale.

Over the past couple of weeks, DC Comics' Convergence event has resulted in some of the most exciting and most bizarre announcements since the company threw out their previous shared universe canon in favor of the "New 52" reboot -- especially since the core idea of next April's big crossover is that they're bringing back a bunch of the versions of characters that they got rid of for a big battle against the new batch. Last week was particularly enticing for long-time fans, teasing us with Greg Rucka's return to writing Renee Montoya in The Question and Gail Simone going back to the fan-favorite pairing of Nightwing/Oracle. This week, they've attempted to top that with a whole new roster of books, and this time they're set in a pre-Flashpoint Metropolis. The second week's launches will see the return of characters from 1996's Kingdom Come and the landmark Justice League International, plus Louise Simonson writing Steel. Of course, we're also getting Azrael and the return of Larry Hama to writing Batman, so someone out there needs to stop wishing on the Monkey's Paw already.

Check out all of Friday's links, after the jump.

Last week DC Comics announced that Superman and Wonder Woman would lock lips in the upcoming Justice League #12, and unlike their previous lip-locks (like the one above, from John Byrne and George Perez's Action Comics #600 in 1988), this one would lead to an actual relationship, making them the DC Universe's premiere super-power couple...

What happens when superheroes grow old? It's been addressed in plenty of comic book stories from Frank Miller's classic old Batman story "The Dark Knight Returns" to the grey-haired Superman of "Kingdom Come," and of course, Marvel entire series of "The End" comics, imagining the final days of heroes like Wolverine, the Hulk, and the X-Men...

My first stop of the day was a DC Comics panel on Countdown. I had expected this to be a normal discussion with the people on stage talking for a while then opening the floor to questions from the audience. Instead, after the introductions of Dan DiDio, editors Mike Marts, Mike Carlin, artists Jim Calafiore and Dan Jurgens, writers Paul Dini, Sean McKeever, Adam Beechen, Tony Bedard, Justin Gray a