Empire
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Barry Kitson
Have you ever wondered what would happen if Doctor Doom took over the world?
Yes, I know that basically just happened recently in the One World Under Doom event, but we knew from the start that wouldn’t stick for long.
I’m talking full conquest, no magic shenanigans, no taking it back.
Back in the year 2000, Mark Waid and Barry Kitson told a version of this story in Empire.
Armored villain Golgoth has defeated all of the superheroes and conquered the world. Now he rules with an iron fist, reshaping everything in his own image. Through the help of his armies and his Ministers (loyal supers), he maintains a tight grip on everything.
Cracks begin to show as the Ministers begin to entertain their own ambitions.
“Aggressive Negotiations”
The story behind Empire has almost as many twists and turns as the story itself. In May 2000, the series launched under the publisher Gorilla Comics, which folded after publishing the first two issues. In September 2003, DC Comics published a #0 issue that collected those initial chapters, followed by a six-issue miniseries that finished the story. A trade paperback collection was published in 2004.
The rights to Empire reverted to Waid and Kitson in April 2014, and they released a new printing of the collection through IDW Publishing. They began a follow-up series, Empire: Uprising, in 2015, but it was cancelled after only four issues and ended on a cliffhanger.
Since then, Empire has been relegated to back issue bins and second-hand stores. The kind of book that many readers have heard of, but never actually read.
“Take Your Daughter to Work Day”
I personally missed out on Empire the first time around in 2000, but discovered it a few years later when it came to DC Comics. I had been out of the comics game for a while, but fell back in hard thanks to books like Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo’s Fantastic Four, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, and Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s Batman: Hush.
By then, I was paying much closer attention to creators, and the “Mark Waid” name alone was enough to get me through the door. What I found completely hooked me. At that point, I still hadn’t read many stories where evil truly won and stayed on top. Empire took that idea seriously, exploring just what it means to forcibly take that kind of power, and what sacrifices need to be made to keep it.
“Do you know how hard it is to get bloodstains out of golden armor?”
If you’re one of those who’s never experienced Empire, you will soon get your chance. Mark Waid and Barry Kitson are preparing a crowdfunding campaign through Zoop to bring the original series back into print as a deluxe hardcover. No word on the exact launch date or pricing yet, but you can sign up to be notified when the campaign goes live here.
Waid says that this campaign is focused solely on the original miniseries, which was designed to stand on its own. He and Kitson continue to chip away at Uprising as their schedules allow, but it’s still a long way off. For now, this campaign is about giving a long-overlooked comic another chance to find the audience it deserves.