The Kingdom # 1 1999 NM-

The Kingdom # 1, released in January 1999, is the debut of a two-part limited series that serves as the official sequel to the landmark 1996 graphic novel Kingdom Come. Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Ariel Olivetti, the issue explores the fallout of the superhero apocalypse and introduces the concept of Hypertime. 

 "nothin' but a good time" 

The story is set twenty years after the gulag explosion at the end of Kingdom Come. The world is struggling to move forward, and the "Trinity" (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) are haunted by their failures. 

• The Villain (Gog): A survivor of the Kansas disaster named William becomes obsessed with the idea that Superman is a false god. Empowered by the Quintessence (cosmic beings), he takes the name Gog and gains the ability to travel through time.
• The Assassination: Gog travels back to the day the "Kansas disaster" occurred and murders Superman. Finding this unsatisfying, he begins jumping back one day earlier each time, killing Superman over and over again, eventually reaching the day Jonathan Kent was born.
• The Multiverse/Hypertime: The heroes realize that Gog is not just moving through their past, but through various "streams" of reality. This issue introduces Hypertime, a theory that all alternate timelines and "Elseworlds" exist simultaneously as branches of a single river of time.
• The Mission: To stop Gog from killing the infant Jonathan Kent, the heroes of the Kingdom Come future must team up with their counterparts from the "present day" DC Universe. 

Key Characters 

• Gog (William): The primary antagonist, a man driven mad by survivor's guilt who becomes a serial killer of Supermen.
• The Trinity: Older versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
• Nightstar (Mar'i Grayson): The daughter of Nightwing and Starfire, who plays a pivotal role in tracking the temporal anomalies.
• Rip Hunter: The Time Master who helps explain the mechanics of Hypertime to the heroes. 

Significance 

• Hypertime: This issue was historically significant for officially bringing "Elseworlds" and previous continuities into one cohesive (albeit complex) map of the DC Universe, predating modern "Multiverse" storytelling [1.1].
• Legacy: It led into several one-shot specials (like Nightstar, Kid Flash, and Son of the Bat) before concluding in The Kingdom #2.