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Summary
- A pivotal scene in Batman / Superman: World’s Finest reveals Magog’s murder of Gog saved the DC Universe but put Magog on a dark path.
- Boy Thunder’s traumatic past leads to his transformation into Magog, a brutal anti-hero who turns on the heroes he admired.
- Magog’s backstory in Batman / Superman: World’s Finest offers keen insight into his character, showing his tragic journey and inability to see eye-to-eye with his mentors.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #24!Decades after DC Comics’ classic Kingdom Come ended, a pivotal new scene helps lay the groundwork for the iconic story. What began as a mission to rescue Superman’s old sidekick winds up providing a backstory no fan saw coming.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finestintroduced fans to Boy Thunder, the young man who would grow up to become Thunderman, aka Magog, one of Kingdom Come’s most crucial characters. Superman’s determination to save his former sidekick leads to an adventure that only serves to put Magog down the dark path he ultimately walks down during Kingdom Come.
Magog Was Condemned for a Murder That Saved the DC Universe
In Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #24 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain and Steve Wands, Earth-22 is under attack by Darkseid. Both the Prime Superman and Earth-22’s Superman tell everyone to run, knowing that few have the power to defy Darkseid. The Lord of Apokolips makes his way to Gog, eager to pluck the Anti-Life Equation from the fallen Old God. The heroes that can fight try to stop Darkseid, but its all in vain as he knocks even the mighty Shazam out of the way.
Magog doesn’t understand what the problem is, arguing he saved billions of lives with his action.
Darkseid approaches the defeated, but still living, Gog and begins taking the Anti-Life Equation from him. Magog makes a stand to challenge Darkseid, but the New God barely acknowledges David’s presence. David, aware that he can’t hurt Darkseid, does the next best thing. Using his mighty electric powers, Magog attacks Gog, killing the Old God and obliterating his body. With no way to procure the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid leaves, again, barely acknowledging Magog. David, on the other hand, cheers, having saved the day and his allies.
Unfortunately for Magog, none of his allies cheer for him. Both versions of Superman and Batman chew David out for killing Gog. Magog doesn’t understand what the problem is, arguing he saved billions of lives with his action. But the heroes refute David, saying that the consequences of murder can never be predicted. Frustrated that no one sees his point of view or is willing to take his side, Magog leaves the battlefield, telling off his former mentors and the older generations of heroes as he does.
David’s Journey From Boy Thunder to Magog
Much like Superman, David is the survivor of a dead world and was sent to the Prime Earth on a multiversal life raft. David was briefly taken in by Superman and given the moniker Boy Thunder due to his electric powers. However, it was clear that David suffered from emotional issues and anger. He often took out his rage on criminals and wasn’t above torturing them. But despite his issues, it was clear he wanted to be a hero and Superman tried his best to be the mentor David needed.
Boy Thunder comes into Clark’s life in
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest Vol. 2: Strange Visitor
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However, after a traumatic encounter involving the Joker and the Key, David was transported to another part of the multiverse, landing in Earth-22, the setting for Kingdom Come. David lived on this Earth for years, eventually growing into the brutal anti-hero Thunderman. Thanks to the Flash exploring the multiverse, Batman and Superman discovered David’s location and traveled to Earth-22 to rescue him. Instead, Thunderman pretended not to know Bruce and Clark and convinced Earth-22’s Batman and Superman that they were villains.
David’s deceit was part of a plan by the Old God Gog, whom David had been working with since he arrived on Earth-22. Gog, empowered by the Anti-Life Equation, had brought the Kingdom Come world under his influence and was preparing his army to take a battle to Apokolips to battle for glory. As part of David’s faithful service, Gog gave David a boost in power and rechristened him Magog. Unfortunately, Gog’s plans only pushed David further to become more brutal and unforgiving.
Magog’s Backstory Sets Up Kingdom Come’s Tragic Events
Fans may recall Kingdom Come was a story that pitted the older generations of heroes against a new wave of more brutal heroes who didn’t share the same values as the old guard. In that story, Magog is more or less the poster child for the newer heroes as he’s beloved for his brutal way of handling criminals (particularly his killing of the Joker). It’s David who essentially leads the way for the new era of heroes, but little of Magog’s backstory is seen in Kingdom Come.
But he failed to realize that someone like Superman wouldn’t ever sacrifice one person’s life, even if it meant saving billions more.
This scene is a critical point in Magog’s history as it truly is where David deviated from the heroes he aspired to be like. David does have a point, as Darkseid getting a hold of the Anti-Life Equation would have been an absolute disaster. But Magog refuses to listen to the elder heroes who tell him that Gog didn’t have to die. Unfortunately, David is just too hurt by those who can’t see from his perspective, especially Superman, the hero he admired most of all.
Magog wanted to be just like Superman, and for David, that meant making a hard choice. But he failed to realize that someone like Superman wouldn’t ever sacrifice one person’s life, even if it meant saving billions more. The rejection David feels as he departs the heroes is palpable and it explains why Magog was so insistent on handling villains his way in Kingdom Come. If Superman had found a way to get through to Magog, maybe the solemn events of Kingdom Come could have been avoided entirely.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest is the Perfect Lead-in to Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come is a fantastic standalone story that digs into the concepts of morality and heroism. But this arc provides a keen insight into Magog’s character. David is a tragic figure who wanted to do good but was fundamentally incapable of seeing eye-to-eye with the heroes he looked up to. Superman tried to save his old sidekick, but even the Man of Steel can only do so much, and he couldn’t change the path that Magog was fated to walk down. This new twist to Kingdom Come’s lore is something every DC Comics fan should absolutely read.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #24 is available now from DC Comics.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #24 (2024) |
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