The iconic armor that Batman wore in Kingdom Come looks even better in the style of Batman: The Animated Series. Artist Alex Ross once envisioned how the design might look in Bruce Timm’s signature art style.
In Alex Ross’ Mythology, collecting his work with DC Comics throughout his career, he reveals concept art, covers, and other art he has done for the publisher. A section of the book is devoted to his process working on Kingdom Come with writer Mark Waid, imagining the distant future of the DC Universe. New heroes carry on the legacy of the Justice League, while original members have evolved with altered looks and adjusted perspectives on the superhero life. Shortly before the seminal epilogue to the DC Universe was released, the beloved Batman: The Animated Series had been airing.
In Mythology, Alex Ross reveals an inked drawing of his Kingdom Come Batman in the style of the animated series. The armor looks sleek on Kevin Conroy’s Dark Knight, and resembles the action figure variants released for Batman: The Animated Series. Ross’ note next to the design reads, “My Bruce Timm style of Batman’s armor,” which was drawn in 1995 while he was working on Kingdom Come. The action-heavy armor gave the older Bruce Wayne an advantage in the war on crime that he lost as he became older. Although the younger Bruce from the series wouldn’t need such armor, his older self in Batman Beyond would later utilize a high tech suit of his own.
Although the weaponized suit might have been a problem for censors of the animated series, Ross makes it easy to imagine what it would have looked like in an episode. In the future of the DC Animated Universe, Bruce wears a much simpler suit that doesn’t require the bulky armor and spiked gauntlets. His costume in Batman Beyond doesn’t even require wings, as he can fly with rocket boots. However, his built-in glider is something that a modern Batman in the series would have used.
As Batman’s animated series adventures continue in comics, and new action figures based on the show are released, a Kingdom Come version might be a possibility. Ross’ drawing was only for fun, but it begs for other future iterations of characters in the graphic novel to enter the DC Animated Universe. Despite having two very different ideas of a future DC Universe, Kingdom Come in the style of Bruce Timm’s design would please many fans.