Brainchild Studios Portfolio Sampler

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c l i e n t l i s t
DC Comics
Graphitti Designs
Tachyon Publications
Young Minds Inspired
Carpenter’s Union—Local 1536
Summerstreet Press
Comic-Con International
Public Interest Media Group
Enigma Books
Language Publications Interactive
Charlton House
Pfizer
The Kaplan Thaler Group
Brainchild Studios/NYC
330 West 38th Street, Suite 1503, New York, New York, 10018 p: 212.647.9278 e: info@brainchildstudiosnyc.com w: brainchildstudiosnyc.com

vDC Comics I Comic-Con International I Vertigo Crime I ??????
DC COMICS BRAND: A GRAPHIC HISTORY
DC Comics traces its heritage back to NEW FUN COMICS in 1935 but did
not begin branding itself until its 1940 publications. Presented in a simple
circle, DC’s initial mark on the comics read “A DC Publication.” The “DC”
referred to DETECTIVE COMICS, one of the oldest and most popular titles
published at the time.
With Superman’s phenomenal success in the early 1940’s, and to enhance
potential sales of the other titles in the line, DC changed its mark to read
“A Superman DC Publication” with late 1941 releases.
By 1949, the various businesses that made up DC Comics were formalized
into National Comics, Inc., which was reflected in the logo’s new design
that read “Superman–National Comics”.
By 1970, DC made an attempt to capitalize further on the sales success of
character–driven titles. The previous NATIONAL mark was retired, replaced
with an image of the host title’s character in a circle and a simple “DC”
and title identification.
Then, in 1972, a simple white circle with bold DC initials was introduced.
The company then modified the logo again in early 1974 to read “The
Line of DC Super-Stars.” From late 1975 through most of 1976, the logo
was moved to the center of the cover, anchoring a bar of information
above the logo. It then moved back to the left corner.
In early 1976, a redesigned DC logo (referred to as the “Bullet”) was
created by noted graphic designer Milton Glaser. It employed evolving
elements of the past, while establishing a fresh interpretation for the
times. This “Bullet” was used up until 2005, becoming the single longest-
running logo in the company’s history.
The current DC logo (referred to as the “Spin”), created by Josh Beatman
of Brainchild Studios/NYC, continues the evolution of the mark. Reflecting
DC’s expansion from comics publisher into larger forums for entertainment,
the DC logo echoes the company’s new momentum forward, while still
acknowledging DC’s rich history and the mark’s visual legacy.
THE DC “SPIN” FEATURED in Logolounge 5
Logolounge 5, Rockport Publisher’s best-selling hardcover series, collects 2,000 award-winning logotypes selected by an international panel
of judges from a pool of over 33,000 entries.
DC Comics 5
DC Comic’s current brand mark, the DC “Spin”,
introduced in the summer of 2005.

+ CRIME =
8 DC Comics DC Comics 9
The packaging for the Ame-Comi Heroine Series, initially created for Batgirl
and Catwoman, has since been expanded to include a total of 29 different
PVC statues through 2011.

10 DC Comics
The final Vertigo Crime brand mark along with “Chuck Chalk”.
Additional concept sketches can be seen on the following page.
CRIME
CRIME

The Vertigo Crime line hit stores in August 2009 with the release of Filthy Rich and
Dark Entries. Additional titles followed with an extensive line-up planned through 2010.

22 DC Comics
6 THE NEW BARDS: An Introduction by Elliot S. Maggin
10 CHAPTER ONE: Strange Visitor
58 CHAPTER TWO: Truth and Justice
110 CHAPTER THREE: Up in the Sky
158 CHAPTER FOUR: Never-Ending Battle
206 EPILOGUE: One Year Later…
216 MEMORIAL: Keys to Original Covers
218 FROM HERE TO KINGDOM COME: Mysteries Unveiled,
Secrets Revealed by Mark Waid
222 ICONS OF VIRTUE by Alex Ross
223 SKETCHBOOK: Norman McCay
224 The Spectre
225 The League
241 A Silent Cavalry
259 Titans
267 Wild Cards
277 A New Breed
293 GENESIS: Developmental Art by Alex Ross
301 KEYS TO THE KINGDOM: An Annotated Guide
307 GALLERY
326 EVOLUTION: The Development of the Orion Pages
328 TESTAMENTS: A Checklist of Kingdom Come Appearances
334 DC DIRECT GALLERY
336 GENERATIONS: A Kingdom Come Genealogy
338 CURTAIN CALL: The Kingdom Come Cast
339 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS & BIOGRAPHIES
340 WITNESS TO THE END by Clark Norman Ross
TABLE OF CONTENTS
the meta-
human race.
It is the source
of conflict
throughout
the story. And
the story’s
synthesis is
the realization
that this
distinction
is false. As
clearly as
another hero,
Mahatma Gandhi, asserted that
he is a Hindu as well as a Muslim
— as well as a Christian, a Jew or
a Buddhist if that becomes
appropriate — so do we learn
here that the most ordinary
among us are heroes, and the
most colorful and vivid among
us are quite ordinary and flawed.
It is a conclusion to which our
new bards lead us as elegantly
and precisely as Socrates led
us through an argument or
Pythagoras led us through a
geometric proof.
Even super-heroes need to
grow. We know that now.
When you read KINGDOM COME,
you will too.
If we were to peek in on the
lives of the people of the
Earth in generations to come,
surely we would think we were
gazing upon Olympus. And of
course, again, we would be wrong.
They are our children, our grand-
children and our successors who
will surely stride the Earth as
titans in those days, wearing
our own features and our own
shortcomings. They are our
messengers to that resplendent
future. And they will bring with
them into their time whatever
values and iconography that we
have to offer them today. Here
in the pages that follow is an
admirable start.To cite the
sentiment of another old friend
whom I miss (And if you travel
west anytime, Alan, come find
me, will you?):This is an imaginary
story…aren’t they all?
— Elliot S! Maggin
Where the Wind Hits Heavy
New Year’s,1997
IF WE WERE TO PEEK IN ON THE LIVES
OF THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH
IN GENERATIONS TO COME,
SURELY WE WOULD THINK WE WERE
GAZING UPON OLYMPUS.
21A B S O L U T E K I N G D O M C O M E
Each page of KINGDOM COME went through various stages of production
and development. The first stage (not pictured here) was the preliminary
outline. This summarized an entire sequence from the story. Consulting
with the editors, Dan Raspler and Peter Tomasi, Mark then wrote a detailed
script which paced the story by breaking down the
contents of each page. The dialogue and the setup
for each and every panel were presented in text for
Alex to then visually represent.
Before producing full-size artwork, Alex drew
small thumbnail roughs which allowed him to
work out compositional problems. This provided an
opportunity for all involved to check the pacing of
the story prior to producing the actual finished art.
Once all notes, modifications, and approvals were
received, the thumbnail images were transferred onto
oversize boards that eventually became the finished
artwork. Copies
of the pencilled art
were made in order for Peter Tomasi to
map out the placement of the word
balloons. (Note the differences between
the script and the art, which necessitated
a reorganization of the placement of the
word balloons within the various panels.)
The balloon placements were then sent
to Todd Klein, the letterer, so he could
create and letter the word balloons
from the script. In most cases, lettering
is done directly on the art board. For
KINGDOM COME, as with most painted
books, the finished lettering was placed
on acetate overlays.
Alex then rendered the images with
gouache paints. First, he did a mono-
chromatic black & white stage to fully
detail all the forms, and then he
transparently layered over the color .
Some opaque
painting and air-
brushed lighting
effects were also
used. The letter-
ing and painted
art were then
combined and
sent to the
separator to
produce the
finished comic
page.PENCIL ARTWORK
(actual size:11 1/8”x 17 1/2”)
THUMBNAIL ROUGH
(actual size: 3 1/8”x 4 15/16”) An example of one of the
many photo references used
by the artist.
FINISHED PAINTED ART
(the finished version of this page
can be found on page 105)
DAN DIDIO
Senior VP-Executive Editor
DAN RASPLER
Editor-original miniseries
PETER J.TOMASI
Assistant Editor-original miniseries
ANTON KAWASAKI
Editor-collected edition
ROBBIN BROSTERMAN
Senior Art Director
PAUL LEVITZ
President & Publisher
GEORG BREWER
VP-Design & DC Direct Creative
RICHARD BRUNING
Senior VP-Creative Director
PATRICK CALDON
Executive VP-Finance & Operations
CHRIS CARAMALIS
VP-Finance
JOHN CUNNINGHAM
VP-Marketing
TERRI CUNNINGHAM
VP-Managing Editor
STEPHANIE FIERMAN
Senior VP-Sales & Marketing
ALISON GILL
VP-Manufacturing
RICH JOHNSON
VP-Book Trade Sales
HANK KANALZ
VP-General Manager,WildStorm
LILLIAN LASERSON
Senior VP & General Counsel
JIM LEE
Editorial Director-WildStorm
PAULA LOWITT
Senior VP-Business & Legal Affairs
DAVID MCKILLIPS
VP-Advertising & Custom Publishing
JOHN NEE
VP-Business Development
GREGORY NOVECK
Senior VP-Creative Affairs
CHERYL RUBIN
Senior VP-Brand Management
JEFF TROJAN
VP-Business Development, DC Direct
BOB WAYNE
VP-Sales
Published by DC Comics. Cover, introductions and compilation copyright © 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.
Originally published in single magazine form in KINGDOM COME #1-4. Copyright © 1996 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters, their
distinctive likenesses and related elements featured in this publication are trademarks of DC Comics. The stories, characters and incidents
featured in this publication are entirely fictional. DC Comics does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories or artwork.
DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company
Printed in China. First Printing
ISBN: 1-4012-0768-5.
ISBN 13: 978-1-4012-0768-7.
Slipcase and cover art by Alex Ross.
KINGDOM COME font created by Alex Ross & Todd Klein. Publication design by Brainchild Studios/NYC.
In Elseworlds, heros are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places —
some that have existed or might have existed, and others that can’t, couldn’t or shouldn’t exist.
8 A B S O L U T E K I N G D O M C O M E
Bard and I had maybe a dozen
little germs of ideas packed under
my scalp. I’d try this one on him.
I’d toss him that one. I’d pitch him
another one. Some of them he
liked; some of them he didn’t.
Some of them inspired ideas of
the Bard’s own; some of them
made him snort or snore. By the
end of a couple of hours — they
were a loud,
intense cou-
ple of hours,
as hours I
spent with
the Bard of
Bards always
would be
— I was
emotionally
exhausted
and still he
wanted to
hear more.
So I dredged
up this idea
about what
might happen if the Guardians
came calling on Superman with
the tiniest little criticism of how
he was going
about his job.
Now you’re talking
resh stuff, the old
man let me know.
He got excited.
He yanked people
in the from the
hall and made
me repeat the
idea for them.
I called the story
“Must There Be
a Superman?”and
Saint Curt and Murphy drew it
and it made me happy and I put
the words in Superman’s mouth
pretty much steadily for the next
fifteen years and never went to
law school. And I swear I did not
have a clue where the idea had
come from. Who knows where
ideas come from anyway? I didn’t
remember — still don’t remem-
ber, in fact, but I believe Jeph —
until Jeph told me about his con-
tribution years later. Like twenty
or so years later.
Jeph has never
suffered, I don’t
believe, for my
inconsiderable
oversight, and in
fact has always
been my friend.
He’s done well,
too. With his
buddy Matthew
he wrote the first
great super-hero
movie of the
modern period,
Commando with
Arnold Schwarzenegger, and lots
of other great stuff. And one day
later on I was editor of Jeph’s first
comic-book series of his own,
an eight-issue masterpiece with
Tim Sale called CHALLENGERS OF
THE UNKNOWN. Now he writes
for Hollywood and he writes for
DC and Marvel and he’s happy
and he’s still my friend, and now
I get to make this right too.
Today there
are new
bards and new
stories. Not long
ago Mark and Alex
went to Gotham to
see Dan Raspler —
who, it seems to
me, was just a
smart, ambitious
kid last time I saw
him and then
became a big
muckamuck like
Jeph’s stepdad —
to sell Dan on an idea about what
the world would be like if all the
super-heroes were to retire and
their children, grandchildren and
successors generally turn out
to be schmucks.
The theme of“Must There Be a
Superman?,”that icon of another
life, is the theme the new bards of
KINGDOM COME continue. Maybe
complete. It is about the time
in the lives of Superman,Captain
Marvel,Wonder Woman,Batman
and the others,when they learn
that they are not
gods. And it is
about the time in
their lives when
finally they learn
that despite their
limitations they
must be potent
and responsible
anyway. Now is
the time in the life
of the human race
when all of us need
to learn these same
things. That is why
this story,despite its garish pri-
mary-colored clothing,
is an important one.
The heroes of fable and fact to
whose virtue we all aspire are not
only colorful people leading vivid
lives;they traditionally understand
the value of human life in all its
places and conditions.But real-life
heroes,unlike many of the icons
we have created,also understand
human dignity and human
immortality,and these are
concepts that are lacking in,for
example,Superman’s education.
Heroes especially need to under-
stand the value of the things of a
life:its artifacts,its ideas,its loves.
It is the markers you leave along
that road that define you. It is the
trees a man plants,the children he
raises and the stories he tells that
signify his life. It is the palaces a
people build,the heritage they
inspire,the art they create that
makes their civilization. I’ve been
trying to tell Superman for years
that he mustn’t just save lives,he
has to spit-polish the real estate
too. He’s never understood that.
He never got it until Mark and
Alex told him. They got through
to him,finally,and for that I’m
proud of them.
In KINGDOM COME, Mark and
Alex draw a dichotomy between
the human race and what we call
SO I WENT
TO GOTHAM
TO SEE THE
BARD AND I
HAD MAYBE A
DOZEN LITTLE
GERMS OF
IDEAS PACKED
UNDER MY
SCALP.
Make no mistake.
This is not, in its strictest
sense,“director’s cut”
material. These aren’t
rediscovered“missing
pages”that somehow
got lost behind Alex’s
filing cabinet on
Tuesday. They do,
however, comprise a
sequence Alex had
envisioned painting
from very early on: Orion
on Apokolips, having
usurped his father
Darkseid’s throne.
Alex never lost the
desire to paint this
image, not even after
(striking though it might be) we could find no room for it within the strict page count of the original monthly
series. The elbow room of an expanded collected edition, however, gave Alex the opportunity to indulge
himself — and you.
But what to make of this after-the-fact sequence? We didn’t even know where to put it within the narrative
until using Orion suggested Orion’s brother-of-sorts, Mr. Miracle, Super-Escape Artist. How could we use
him? Well...who better to design an inescapable gulag? Would Superman think of that? Not necessarily...
but Orion would suggest it if Superman were to come to Apokolips asking to use the planet as a prison,
a dumping ground. Still, the Last Son of Krypton would never suggest uprooting natives from their home-
world. However, given where we were in the story just before gulag construction began, Superman would
absolutely consult with Orion, the ultimate Dog of War. In fact, their conversation would allow us a chance
to touch upon something missing from our original series: Superman’s inability to comprehend the dark
potential of his own power...
— Mark Waid
EVOLUTION
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORION PAGES
JIM KRUEGER and ALEX ROSS
STORY
JIM KRUEGER
SCRIPT
DOUG BRAITHWAITE
and ALEX ROSS
ART
TODD KLEIN
LETTERING
ALEX ROSS
COVERS
JIM KRUEGER and ALEX ROSS
STORY
JIM KRUEGER
SCRIPT
DOUG BRAITHWAITE
and ALEX ROSS
ART
TODD KLEIN
LETTERING
ALEX ROSS
COVERS
lame Bob McKee. I mean, it is his fault.
He changed my view of villainy. For
those who don’t know Bob McKee, he’s
Hollywood’s Master of the Mystic Arts when
it comes to writing all things related to story.
I’ve taken his class more than once. If you’ve
seen the Charlie Kaufman movie, Adaptation,
that’s the class being taught.
It’s called Story. And it’s
worth every bit of the cost.
It’s not just about writing;
it’s about humanity and how
we view life and people.
One of the most amazing
things that McKee says is
that when you write an antagonist, you always
write him, in his or her mind, as the protagonist.
That means that every villain of a story, to be a
good villain, must believe himself to be the hero.
Not the villain at all.
According to McKee, a villain’s reasons must
make sense according to his viewpoint. His pur-
poses must be good. In the book The Disney
Villain, the writers and designers talk about the
necessity of creating villains that people can
relate to, that every character in a piece is a
potential villain given the right combination o
events and circumstances. Could any of us do
that in that situation? Would we really lie? Could
we possibly cheat? In so doing, how much of
our audience would agree that that was the
right thing to do?
Gone are the days of the over-waxed mustache
and maniacal laugh and human-sized logger’s
buzz-saw. No more does a villain raise his head
from his sleep in the morning to consider what
“evil” he might do that day. No. Even if no one
else sees it, the villain, in his mind, is the hero.
That is where true evil resides—in the belief that
his or her personal good is capable in navigating
and speaking to the universal good.
In Lord of the Rings, it’s Gandalf the Grey not
wanting to take the Ring to rule all rings in fear
that he would use it for good. Perhaps that is his
greatest moment of heroism. If he had used the
power for good, he knew he would become evil.
I blame Bob McKee. I think some fans blamed
me. Too many interviews have begun with the
words “How can you make the villains make
that much sense? I mean, Lex Luthor’s right.
How are you going to deal with that?”
Well, it’s a twelve-issue series. The book you
hold in your hand will, I’m convinced, only
begin to deal with com-
plexities of true heroism
and true villainy that show
themselves in the story
Alex, myself and Doug
have sold ourselves
into slavery for.
Of important note is this.
I am completely in Alex’s debt. No one in
the industry has trusted me more or been a
better friend and advocate. The work he and
Doug are doing in these pages is so exciting,
so amazing, that I’m a little surprised you’re
still reading this and haven’t jumped forward
to get to the good stuff.
o if the villains think they’re the heroes,
where does that leave the heroes?
How to they view themselves? The story
you’re about to read will deal with this issue
as well. But I’d like to suggest this distinction.
Perhaps this is the difference between a hero
and a villain: A villain will seek to defeat a hero
for the villain’s sake; A hero will seek to defeat
a villain for the villain’s sake. It’s a fight to save
the enemy at the same time that it is a fight
to defeat him.
This is my distinction, at least.
It still doesn’t answer how the heroes
view themselves, or even each other. For
example, how does Superman view his
fellow members of the League? Alex was
very passionate as we began that I should
find ways to reinforce the friendship between
Superman and Batman. The following words
were a personal exercise to understand
how Superman would view his teammates.
It also kind of serves as an introduction to
the characters.
B
INTRODUCTION
by Jim Krueger
...the villain, in his
mind, is the hero.
That is where
true evil resides.
S
Diana Prince:
WONDER
WOMAN
Diana is one of the
Amazons of myth. For
some, slavery can breed
hatred, but not for her.
Diana’s love for freedom
is so great that she fights
for it at all costs, using all
manner of Amazonian
weaponry at her disposal.
Diana is perfect. She
doesn’t know it. And
that just makes her more
perfect.
J’onn J’onzz:
MARTIAN
MANHUNTER
J’onn J’onzz is a Martian.
He is the last of his kind, a
shape-changer, and has
had many identities since
first coming to Earth. All of
them, though, have been
as a friend to mankind.
I have no idea how old he
is. I sometimes fear that
J’onn allows me to make
too many mistakes for the
sake of my own wisdom.
Hal Jordan:
GREEN
LANTERN
Hal Jordan was selected
by a dying alien to become
a champion for Earth
and the surrounding star
system. He was given a
ring that can give shape
and power to the wearer’s
imagination.
I would not always have
made the same choices
Hal has. But that’s why,
I suppose, the ring chose
Hal and not me.
Arthur Curry:
AQUAMAN
Arthur Curry’s father was
a lighthouse keeper. His
mother came from a realm
far under the sea. Her death
shortly after Arthur was
born made Arthur the King
of the Seven Seas. His
father made him a hero.
Sometimes terrible things
happen. They’ve happened
to each of us. And we have
been changed by these
tragedies, transformed.
So don’t be afraid when
dark clouds gather and
madmen scream and make
threats. It’s not the end of
the world.
Not if we can help it.
JUSTICE VOLUME ONE
Published by DC Comics. Cover and compilation copyright © 2006 DC
Comics. All Rights Reserved. Originally published in single magazine form
in JUSTICE #1-4. Copyright © 2005, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.
All characters, their distinctive likenesses and related elements featured in
this publication are trademarks of DC Comics. The stories, characters and
incidents featured in this publication are entirely fictional. DC Comics does
not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories or artwork.
DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. A Warner Bros.
Entertainment Company. Printed in Canada. First Printing.
ISBN:
Cover color by Alex Ross • Publication design by Brainchild Studios/NYC
Dan DiDio Senior VP-Executive Editor • Joey Cavalieri Editor-original series • Michael Wright Associate Editor-original series
Rachel Gluckstern Assistant Editor-original series • Anton Kawasaki Editor-collected edition • Robbin Brosterman Senior Art Director
Paul Levitz President & Publisher • Georg Brewer VP-Design & DC Direct Creative • Richard Bruning Senior VP-Creative Director
Patrick Caldon Executive VP-Finance & Operations • Chris Caramalis VP-Finance • John Cunningham VP-Marketing
Terri Cunningham VP-Managing Editor • Stephanie Fierman Senior VP-Sales & Marketing • Alison Gill VP-Manufacturing
Rich Johnson VP-Book Trade Sales • Hank Kanalz VP-General Manager, WildStorm • Lillian Laserson Senior VP & General Counsel
Jim Lee Editorial Director-WildStorm • Paula Lowitt Senior VP-Business & Legal Affairs • David McKillips VP-Advertising & Custom
Publishing • John Nee VP-Business Development • Gregory Noveck Senior VP-Creative Affairs • Cheryl Rubin Senior VP-Brand
Management • Jeff Trojan VP-Business Development, DC Direct • Bob Wayne VP-Sales
IN LEAGUE
Bruce Wayne:
BATMAN
I was not there to stop the
bullets that claimed the
lives of Bruce Wayne’s
parents. If I had been,
Wayne would never have
spent the rest of his child-
hood training in a cave for
a one-man war on crime.
I never knew my biological
parents. Never experienced
the end of the world the
way Batman has. I wish
there was a way to con-
vince my friend that this
does not mean we are not
alike. There has to be a way
to show him that I cannot
shut out the cries of a
suffering mankind, or close
my eyes to the violence
done in shadow.
Barry Allen:
FLASH
For police officer Barry
Allen, it was a shot from the
heavens in the form of a
lightning bolt that changed
his life. That lightning flash
mixed and fused certain
chemicals together to
empower him to cross
countries and oceans in
the blink of an eye.
Barry and I have raced
each other many times.
Sometimes he lets me win.
He warned them what would happen. He was a
scientist, a man of imagination and foresight. His
name was Jor-El.
He even offered them a solution, a prototype
rocket he had constructed to transport the entire
Kryptonian race to another world.
But they laughed and called him a fool.
And Krypton died.
But not before my parents placed me in the rocket
in hopes that I would reach Earth.
They sent me to safety faster than a speeding bullet.
I am Clark Kent: SUPERMAN
Earth is different than the world of my birth. What
would have been impossible for me to do there, is
less than a thought here. I can fly. I never tire. I can
see through almost anything. Even through the worst
of circumstance, I can see the tomorrow to come.
As can the other members of the Justice League
I wonder sometimes if
the men that laughed
and disrespected my
father for his belief that
his world was in danger
lived long enough to
realize their mistake....
DC Comics 23

6 THE NEW BARDS: An Introduction by Elliot S. Maggin
10 CHAPTER ONE: Strange Visitor
58 CHAPTER TWO: Truth and Justice
110 CHAPTER THREE: Up in the Sky
158 CHAPTER FOUR: Never-Ending Battle
206 EPILOGUE: One Year Later…
216 MEMORIAL: Keys to Original Covers
218 FROM HERE TO KINGDOM COME: Mysteries Unveiled,
Secrets Revealed by Mark Waid
222 ICONS OF VIRTUE by Alex Ross
223 SKETCHBOOK: Norman McCay
224 The Spectre
225 The League
241 A Silent Cavalry
259 Titans
267 Wild Cards
277 A New Breed
293 GENESIS: Developmental Art by Alex Ross
301 KEYS TO THE KINGDOM: An Annotated Guide
307 GALLERY
326 EVOLUTION: The Development of the Orion Pages
328 TESTAMENTS: A Checklist of Kingdom Come Appearances
334 DC DIRECT GALLERY
336 GENERATIONS: A Kingdom Come Genealogy
338 CURTAIN CALL: The Kingdom Come Cast
339 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS & BIOGRAPHIES
340 WITNESS TO THE END by Clark Norman Ross
TABLE OF CONTENTS
the meta-
human race.
It is the source
of conflict
throughout
the story. And
the story’s
synthesis is
the realization
that this
distinction
is false. As
clearly as
another hero,
Mahatma Gandhi, asserted that
he is a Hindu as well as a Muslim
— as well as a Christian, a Jew or
a Buddhist if that becomes
appropriate — so do we learn
here that the most ordinary
among us are heroes, and the
most colorful and vivid among
us are quite ordinary and flawed.
It is a conclusion to which our
new bards lead us as elegantly
and precisely as Socrates led
us through an argument or
Pythagoras led us through a
geometric proof.
Even super-heroes need to
grow. We know that now.
When you read KINGDOM COME,
you will too.
If we were to peek in on the
lives of the people of the
Earth in generations to come,
surely we would think we were
gazing upon Olympus. And of
course, again, we would be wrong.
They are our children, our grand-
children and our successors who
will surely stride the Earth as
titans in those days, wearing
our own features and our own
shortcomings. They are our
messengers to that resplendent
future. And they will bring with
them into their time whatever
values and iconography that we
have to offer them today. Here
in the pages that follow is an
admirable start.To cite the
sentiment of another old friend
whom I miss (And if you travel
west anytime, Alan, come find
me, will you?):This is an imaginary
story…aren’t they all?
— Elliot S! Maggin
Where the Wind Hits Heavy
New Year’s,1997
IF WE WERE TO PEEK IN ON THE LIVES
OF THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH
IN GENERATIONS TO COME,
SURELY WE WOULD THINK WE WERE
GAZING UPON OLYMPUS.
Each page of KINGDOM COME went through various stages of production
and development. The first stage (not pictured here) was the preliminary
outline. This summarized an entire sequence from the story. Consulting
with the editors, Dan Raspler and Peter Tomasi, Mark then wrote a detailed
script which paced the story by breaking down the
contents of each page. The dialogue and the setup
for each and every panel were presented in text for
Alex to then visually represent.
Before producing full-size artwork, Alex drew
small thumbnail roughs which allowed him to
work out compositional problems. This provided an
opportunity for all involved to check the pacing of
the story prior to producing the actual finished art.
Once all notes, modifications, and approvals were
received, the thumbnail images were transferred onto
oversize boards that eventually became the finished
artwork. Copies
of the pencilled art
were made in order for Peter Tomasi to
map out the placement of the word
balloons. (Note the differences between
the script and the art, which necessitated
a reorganization of the placement of the
word balloons within the various panels.)
The balloon placements were then sent
to Todd Klein, the letterer, so he could
create and letter the word balloons
from the script. In most cases, lettering
is done directly on the art board. For
KINGDOM COME, as with most painted
books, the finished lettering was placed
on acetate overlays.
Alex then rendered the images with
gouache paints. First, he did a mono-
chromatic black & white stage to fully
detail all the forms, and then he
transparently layered over the color .
Some opaque
painting and air-
brushed lighting
effects were also
used. The letter-
ing and painted
art were then
combined and
sent to the
separator to
produce the
finished comic
page.PENCIL ARTWORK
(actual size:11 1/8”x 17 1/2”)
THUMBNAIL ROUGH
(actual size: 3 1/8”x 4 15/16”) An example of one of the
many photo references used
by the artist.
FINISHED PAINTED ART
(the finished version of this page
can be found on page 105)
KINGDOMCOME
Dedicated to
CHRISTOPHER REEVE
who makes us believe that a man can fly.
it I, like Mark and Alex, have to
believe in heroes. I do. I believe
in Superman. For real. I really
believe in Wonder Woman, so
help me. I believe in Santa Claus.
I believe that men have walked
on the moon. I believe that every
Passover Elijah the prophet comes
over for a sip of wine. I believe in
metaphors. Metaphors are real.
That is why the Scriptures are
composed not only of the
proverbs and prophecies that
Pastor McCay, in the pages that
follow, spouts in involuntary
reflex; but that is why those
Scriptures surround and
embrace those pronouncements
in stories — the allegories and
metaphors — that teach us our
values. Here before you is a clash
of good against evil, of course, but
more than that. There are clashes
of judgment, clashes among
different interpretations of what
is good and of what is justice, and
clashes over who is to suffer the
wages of the evil born of our best
intentions. This is a love story.
This is a story of hatred and rage.
This is the Iliad. This is a story
of how we — we ourselves; you
and I — choose to use whatever
special powers
and abilities we
have, when even
those powers and
abilities are only
a little bit beyond
those of mortal
men. This is a
story about truth
obscured, justice
deferred and the
American way
distorted in the
hands of petty
semanticists.
Super-hero stories — whether
their vehicle is through comic
books or otherwise — are today
the most coherent manifestation
of the popular unconscious.
They’re stories not about gods,
but about the way humans wish
themselves to be; ought, in fact,
to be. They’re the successors to
the stories that once came from
the hoedown and the campfire
and the wandering bard. We —
all of us — come up with these
stories all the time around dorms
and carpools and along cafeteria
lines at work and at school.
Here’s one:
I have a friend named Jeph.
You know Jeph. I was maybe
nineteen or twenty and he was
maybe twelve or thirteen and I
was a student at this college and
Jeph’s stepdad was a big mucka-
muck at the college and stepdad
and I made friends. I went over to
stepdad’s house for dinner one
day and Jeph and I got to talking
there about our common ground:
our mutual love for super-heroes
and their stories. We came up
with a nifty story over mom and
stepdad’s dinner table. See, I’d
just sold my first
comic-book
script, a Green
Arrow story called
“What Can One
Man Do?”and I
had a problem.
I had a meeting
soon with Julius
Schwartz, the
Bard of Bards, to
see whether I was
a one-trick pony
or I could do this
sort of thing
again. I had to come up with a
hit-it-outta-the-park idea for a
Superman story or else spend
the next three years in law
school. I guess I told Jeph a few
of my ideas and I guess Jeph told
me a few of his. And Jeph came
up with this thing he called“Why
Must There Be a Superman?” It
was about the Guardians of the
Universe planting a new idea in
Big Blue’s head. The idea was
that maybe, in his zeal to preserve
life and ease the path of the
human race, Superman was
keeping ordinary everyday good
humans from growing on their
own. Maybe he was killing the
butterfly by helping it out of the
chrysalis. Not for sure, but just
maybe. That was Jeph’s idea.
So I went to Gotham to see the
I BELIEVE IN SUPERMAN. FOR REAL.
I REALLY BELIEVE IN WONDER WOMAN, SO HELP ME.
I BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS. I BELIEVE THAT MEN
HAVE WALKED ON THE MOON. I BELIEVE THAT
EVERY PASSOVER ELIJAH THE PROPHET COMES OVER
FOR A SIP OF WINE.
In the waning moments of
the twentieth century, the
super-hero is Everyman.
Look at the way we live: traveling
over the Earth at astounding
speeds with unimaginable ease;
communicating instantly at
will with people in the farthest
corners of the globe; engineering
economies, driving environ-
mental forces, working wonders.
If a person from only a hundred
years or so in the past could
look in on our lives, that person
would suppose that we were
not mortals, but gods. He would
be bowled over by what the
most ordinary among us could
do with a car or light switch or
an automatic teller machine.
This is the way many of us have
always looked upon our super-
heroes — as though they were
gods. Our person from a lost
century would be wrong about
us, of course, but no more wrong
than we are about our heroes.
In the story that you hold in
your hands, Mark Waid and
Alex Ross tell us that our proper
response to the inexorable
march of progress that has
brought us to this place and
time in the history of civilization
is to find a way to confront it
responsibly. Not modestly. Not
unself-consciously. Not with faith
in a power greater than ours to
descend from the sky and set
things right despite our best
efforts to screw up. We have an
obligation to know who we are
and where we are and what we
can do. We have an obligation to
understand the ramifications of
the things we do, and to choose
to do them — or not — with our
eyes open.
That is what KINGDOM COME
is about.
As I write this, I am completing
a novel — about a hundred
thousand words, one strung after
the other without pictures other
than the occasional free-standing
illustration by Alex Ross —
called KINGDOM COME. It is an
elaboration in prose of the story
that follows. In order to write
WE HAVE
AN OBLIGATION
TO UNDERSTAND
THE
RAMIFICATIONS
OF THE THINGS
WE DO,
AND TO CHOOSE
TO DO THEM
— OR NOT —
WITH OUR EYES
OPEN. THAT IS
WHAT
KINGDOM COME
IS ABOUT.
THE NEW BARDS
AN INTRODUCTION
bºy Elliot S. Maggin
To get to the personal roots of the character, I wanted to illustrate the farmer’s son, revisited in
his later years, after he had removed himself from the super-hero business for a time. His gray
temples extend into his beard and long hair, betraying a sense of his surrendering to his age.
While I played up the carpenter role as well for its obvious symbolism, the bare-armed,
workman look for Superman is one of his earliest, coming partly from the 1942
George Lowther novel and many pre-costume drawings by Shuster.
In the earliest visual concepts for this project I was
aiming in the Frank Miller/DARK KNIGHT RETURNS
direction, where Superman hadn’t aged in 20 years.
As others had pointed out to me, my drawings
already gave him a time-worn, weathered look. It
occurred to me that it better suited the character to
experience as many of the humbling aspects of
humanity as he could, and aging naturally would
offset his more godlike attributes. My version of
Superman was the most satisfying visual and
emotional accomplishment of KINGDOM COME
to me, as he stands out as the most compelling
figure I’ve ever illustrated.
SUPERMAN
Superman’s design was certainly the starting point
of the entire series’look. If I wasn’t as inspired by his
appearance, the rest of the characters would have
held no interest for me. Fortunately DC allowed me
to hark back to the classic Shuster-style broad body
and bone structure with the wide head, short hair
(a big request at the time) and a constant squint.
I was heavily influenced by the Fleischer cartoon
features based on Joe Shuster’s designs, with his
old-fashioned“S”logo on a black shield. This same
look can be found in a few other places in the early
comics themselves and always stood out to me as a
dramatic way to go with the design. The stylistic
change I brought to the letter is meant to show the
passage of time. As it has changed since 1938, it could
further transform into the simplest graphic possible.
DOMCOMEMark Waid Alex Ross
with Todd Klein
D C C O M I C S , N E W Y O R K , N E W Y O R K
KINGDOMCOME
The KINGDOM COME series proved to be so popular that it spawned a novelization (and an audio book of
said novel), numerous items of merchandise, and a semi-sequel in 1999 that actually took place in current-day
DC continuity, planting the seeds for KINGDOM COME’s possible future. Not only that, but a number of other
creators were so inspired that they introduced, into their own books, characters, concepts and/or designs that
first appeared in the KINGDOM COME miniseries.
A partial list of the most notable K.C.-related appearances, references and merchandise follows.
(For DC Direct product, see pages 334-335).
TESTAMENTS
A CHECKLIST OF KINGDOM COME APPEARANCES
SUMMER
Kingdom Come Extra — A limited-edition
trading card set is released by Fleer/SkyBox.
Kingdom Come T-Shirt I — A T-shirt from
Graphitti Designs featuring an original
illustration by Alex Ross is released (see
pages 324-325).
FALL
JLA ANNUAL #1 — The Brain Trust makes a
current day appearance in a backup story.
JANUARY
TEEN TITANS #15 — Roy Harper, Arsenal,
adopts a“Red Arrow”-inspired costume.
FEBRUARY
NEW YEAR’S EVIL: GOG #1 — The first
appearance and origin of Gog (whom we learn
raises Magog from childhood) is explored in a
one-shot written as part of a“5th-Week”event
in DC Comics’publishing schedule focusing
on villains.
MARCH
Kingdom Come (Warner/Aspect) — a 352-page
novelization is released written by Elliot S.
Maggin, which is an adaptation of KINGDOM
COME by Mark Waid & Alex Ross.
Kingdom Come: Audio Dramatization (Time
Warner Audio Books) — an audio version of the
above book adapted by John Whitman.
Approximately three hours in length and
featuring a full-cast recording, this audio
dramatization also featured guest voices such
as Mark Waid, KINGDOM COME’s editor and
assistant editor Dan Raspler and Peter Tomasi,
novelization editor Charles Kochman, Batman
editor/writer Dennis O’Neil, Executive Editor
Mike Carlin, and other members of DC’s staff.
OCTOBER
JLA ANNUAL #2 — Magog makes a very
brief cameo appearance.
NOVEMBER
SUPERMAN:THE MAN OF STEEL #1,000,000
— The Metal Men combine to form Alloy.
DECEMBER
THE FLASH #143 — The Kingdom Come Kid
Flash (Iris West) makes a modern-day
in-continuity appearance.
FEBRUARY
JLA/TITANS #3 — Victor Stone, a.k.a. Cyborg,
adopts his Kingdom Come“Robotman”look
in this story.
THE KINGDOM #1 — The first issue of a
multiple-part“5th-week event”of one-shots,
featuring a storyline set in present-day
continuity. The villainous Gog threatens to
annihilate Superman by killing him over
and over again as he works his way back
through time.
THE KINGDOM: KID FLASH #1
THE KINGDOM: NIGHTSTAR #1
THE KINGDOM: OFFSPRING #1 —
Plastic Man’s son is introduced as the title hero.
THE KINGDOM: PLANET KRYPON #1
THE KINGDOM: SON OF THE BAT #1
THE KINGDOM #2 — The concept of
“Hypertime”is introduced.
MARCH
THE FLASH #146 — The Kingdom Come
Kid Flash returns for the“Chain Lightning”
storyline, and stays until issue #149.
SUPERBOY #60 — Gog makes a cameo appear-
ance in the beginning of a multipart storyline
where Superboy explores Hypertime.
WONDER WOMAN #142 — Wonder Woman’s
Kingdom Come“eagle armor”is shown on
display in her Wonder Dome. She continues
to wear the armor in battle on occasion.
APRIL
THE FLASH 80-PAGE GIANT #2 — The Kingdom
Come Kid Flash is featured in a solo story.
1999
1996
1997
1998
More thumbnails showing an early sequence in the book.
DAN DIDIO
Senior VP-Executive Editor
DAN RASPLER
Editor-original miniseries
PETER J.TOMASI
Assistant Editor-original miniseries
ANTON KAWASAKI
Editor-collected edition
ROBBIN BROSTERMAN
Senior Art Director
PAUL LEVITZ
President & Publisher
GEORG BREWER
VP-Design & DC Direct Creative
RICHARD BRUNING
Senior VP-Creative Director
PATRICK CALDON
Executive VP-Finance & Operations
CHRIS CARAMALIS
VP-Finance
JOHN CUNNINGHAM
VP-Marketing
TERRI CUNNINGHAM
VP-Managing Editor
STEPHANIE FIERMAN
Senior VP-Sales & Marketing
ALISON GILL
VP-Manufacturing
RICH JOHNSON
VP-Book Trade Sales
HANK KANALZ
VP-General Manager,WildStorm
LILLIAN LASERSON
Senior VP & General Counsel
JIM LEE
Editorial Director-WildStorm
PAULA LOWITT
Senior VP-Business & Legal Affairs
DAVID MCKILLIPS
VP-Advertising & Custom Publishing
JOHN NEE
VP-Business Development
GREGORY NOVECK
Senior VP-Creative Affairs
CHERYL RUBIN
Senior VP-Brand Management
JEFF TROJAN
VP-Business Development, DC Direct
BOB WAYNE
VP-Sales
Published by DC Comics. Cover, introductions and compilation copyright © 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.
Originally published in single magazine form in KINGDOM COME #1-4. Copyright © 1996 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters, their
distinctive likenesses and related elements featured in this publication are trademarks of DC Comics. The stories, characters and incidents
featured in this publication are entirely fictional. DC Comics does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories or artwork.
DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
Printed in China. First Printing
ISBN: 1-4012-0768-5.
ISBN 13: 978-1-4012-0768-7.
Slipcase and cover art by Alex Ross.
KINGDOM COME font created by Alex Ross & Todd Klein. Publication design by Brainchild Studios/NYC.
In Elseworlds, heros are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places —
some that have existed or might have existed, and others that can’t, couldn’t or shouldn’t exist.
Bard and I had maybe a dozen
little germs of ideas packed under
my scalp. I’d try this one on him.
I’d toss him that one. I’d pitch him
another one. Some of them he
liked; some of them he didn’t.
Some of them inspired ideas of
the Bard’s own; some of them
made him snort or snore. By the
end of a couple of hours — they
were a loud,
intense cou-
ple of hours,
as hours I
spent with
the Bard of
Bards always
would be
— I was
emotionally
exhausted
and still he
wanted to
hear more.
So I dredged
up this idea
about what
might happen if the Guardians
came calling on Superman with
the tiniest little criticism of how
he was going
about his job.
Now you’re talking
resh stuff, the old
man let me know.
He got excited.
He yanked people
in the from the
hall and made
me repeat the
idea for them.
I called the story
“Must There Be
a Superman?”and
Saint Curt and Murphy drew it
and it made me happy and I put
the words in Superman’s mouth
pretty much steadily for the next
fifteen years and never went to
law school. And I swear I did not
have a clue where the idea had
come from. Who knows where
ideas come from anyway? I didn’t
remember — still don’t remem-
ber, in fact, but I believe Jeph —
until Jeph told me about his con-
tribution years later. Like twenty
or so years later.
Jeph has never
suffered, I don’t
believe, for my
inconsiderable
oversight, and in
fact has always
been my friend.
He’s done well,
too. With his
buddy Matthew
he wrote the first
great super-hero
movie of the
modern period,
Commando with
Arnold Schwarzenegger, and lots
of other great stuff. And one day
later on I was editor of Jeph’s first
comic-book series of his own,
an eight-issue masterpiece with
Tim Sale called CHALLENGERS OF
THE UNKNOWN. Now he writes
for Hollywood and he writes for
DC and Marvel and he’s happy
and he’s still my friend, and now
I get to make this right too.
Today there
are new
bards and new
stories. Not long
ago Mark and Alex
went to Gotham to
see Dan Raspler —
who, it seems to
me, was just a
smart, ambitious
kid last time I saw
him and then
became a big
muckamuck like
Jeph’s stepdad —
to sell Dan on an idea about what
the world would be like if all the
super-heroes were to retire and
their children, grandchildren and
successors generally turn out
to be schmucks.
The theme of“Must There Be a
Superman?,”that icon of another
life, is the theme the new bards of
KINGDOM COME continue. Maybe
complete. It is about the time
in the lives of Superman,Captain
Marvel,Wonder Woman,Batman
and the others,when they learn
that they are not
gods. And it is
about the time in
their lives when
finally they learn
that despite their
limitations they
must be potent
and responsible
anyway. Now is
the time in the life
of the human race
when all of us need
to learn these same
things. That is why
this story,despite its garish pri-
mary-colored clothing,
is an important one.
The heroes of fable and fact to
whose virtue we all aspire are not
only colorful people leading vivid
lives;they traditionally understand
the value of human life in all its
places and conditions.But real-life
heroes,unlike many of the icons
we have created,also understand
human dignity and human
immortality,and these are
concepts that are lacking in,for
example,Superman’s education.
Heroes especially need to under-
stand the value of the things of a
life:its artifacts,its ideas,its loves.
It is the markers you leave along
that road that define you. It is the
trees a man plants,the children he
raises and the stories he tells that
signify his life. It is the palaces a
people build,the heritage they
inspire,the art they create that
makes their civilization. I’ve been
trying to tell Superman for years
that he mustn’t just save lives,he
has to spit-polish the real estate
too. He’s never understood that.
He never got it until Mark and
Alex told him. They got through
to him,finally,and for that I’m
proud of them.
In KINGDOM COME, Mark and
Alex draw a dichotomy between
the human race and what we call
SO I WENT
TO GOTHAM
TO SEE THE
BARD AND I
HAD MAYBE A
DOZEN LITTLE
GERMS OF
IDEAS PACKED
UNDER MY
SCALP.
Make no mistake.
This is not, in its strictest
sense,“director’s cut”
material. These aren’t
rediscovered“missing
pages”that somehow
got lost behind Alex’s
filing cabinet on
Tuesday. They do,
however, comprise a
sequence Alex had
envisioned painting
from very early on: Orion
on Apokolips, having
usurped his father
Darkseid’s throne.
Alex never lost the
desire to paint this
image, not even after
(striking though it might be) we could find no room for it within the strict page count of the original monthly
series. The elbow room of an expanded collected edition, however, gave Alex the opportunity to indulge
himself — and you.
But what to make of this after-the-fact sequence? We didn’t even know where to put it within the narrative
until using Orion suggested Orion’s brother-of-sorts, Mr. Miracle, Super-Escape Artist. How could we use
him? Well...who better to design an inescapable gulag? Would Superman think of that? Not necessarily...
but Orion would suggest it if Superman were to come to Apokolips asking to use the planet as a prison,
a dumping ground. Still, the Last Son of Krypton would never suggest uprooting natives from their home-
world. However, given where we were in the story just before gulag construction began, Superman would
absolutely consult with Orion, the ultimate Dog of War. In fact, their conversation would allow us a chance
to touch upon something missing from our original series: Superman’s inability to comprehend the dark
potential of his own power...
— Mark Waid
EVOLUTION
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORION PAGES
24 DC Comics

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DC COMICS TEEN/YOUNG
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Entertainment Enthusiasts
• 35% attend movies opening weekend
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in the past 90 days
They Got Game
• 90% play video games
• 45% play online games
• 21% bought 6 or more video games
in the last 12 months
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Network Rate Base . . . . . . . . . . . .2,000,000
Network Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,386,000
Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Monthly
Number of Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40-45
DC Composition . . . .78% male, 22% female
Median Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Median HHI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$42,000
Newsstand Sales . . . . . . .98% DC, 48% MAD
Subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . .2% DC, 52% MAD
SOURCES:
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MRI Prototype, Spring 2007
DC COMICS
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STEVE NEWMAN
Midwest Account Manager
T: 312.494.1919 ext: 302 F: 312.494.1912
E: steve@newco.com
NEWCO MEDIA
500 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2010
Chicago, IL 60611
DC COMICS
DIGITAL
When their passions prompt them to
head online, our tribe-wired 18-34 year
old males head straight for DC Comics.
dccomics.com
At dccomics.com, they indulge themselves
in all things DC, from profiles of the
week’s “hot list” to previews of upcoming
issues and series premieres to the latest
in pop culture news – news that they seek
out and actually use!
Our engaging online environments are
robust with content of intense value to our readership. With more than 17 million
page views per month (and 1 million uniques), we’ve got your target audience
clearly in our sights.
DCCOMICS.COM and
ZUDACOMICS.COM STATS
• 17.7 million average monthly page views
• 1.04 million average monthly uniques
• 98% of users view 1-10 pages per visit
• 79% of users view 1-5 pages per visit
• Users spend an average of 7 minutes on
site per visit
DC COMICS ADVERTISING & CUSTOM SOLUTIONS MEDIA KIT—2009
A 47-page, 9-section electronic document (PDF) used by DC’s Sales team to sell advertisement
space across both the print and web environments, as well as promote DC’s Custom Solutions
capabilities. Several examples may be seen on the following page.
28 DC Comics

Batman Begins 400
Concept sketches along with the final paint scheme (above) for
the Batman Begins 400 event car. It was later announced that the
custom design would be applied to Mark Martin’s Ford Taurus and
sponsored by Pfizer.

32 DC Comics
DEAR EDUCATOR,
You strive to make each day
a journey of discovery for your students with new subjects, ideas, or
information. Because you are always looking for new tools to inspire
the sense of wonder, the educational toy experts at Action Products
International, Inc. (APII) have teamed up with the award-winning
curriculum specialists at Young Minds Inspired (YMI) to bring you
this cross-curricular classroom program based on the fascinating line
of I DIGTM
educational toys.
The I DIG series of educational toys, winners of the prestigious
Family Fun Toy of the Year Award, introduces the world of
archeology and paleontology as students dig for treasures ranging
from dinosaur bones to pirate loot to ancient Egyptian artifacts.
This program contains three activities in science, with extension
activities in visual arts, geography, and language arts. These
subjects are presented in creative ways that highlight the magic
of discovery. Each activity also contains a take-home component
to involve family members. The program also includes a colorful
wall poster for your classroom.
You and your students don’t have to be familiar with I DIG toys
in order to use these activities. Make as many photocopies of these
copyrighted materials as you need to and share with colleagues.
These materials will help open students’ eyes to the wonder of
discovery, while helping you to achieve your curriculum goals.
Sincerely,
Joel Ehrlich
President and former teacher
WHO SHOULD
USE THIS PROGRAM?
This cross-curriculum program can be used with
students in grades 1-3.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
¥This teacher’s guide
¥Three student reproducibles on science, with
extension activities in visual arts, geography, and
language arts, each with take-home components
¥A colorful dinosaur wall poster
¥A reply card for your important feedback
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
¥To capitalize on students’ natural interest in
dinosaurs to help them develop a deeper
appreciation for the past
¥To improve student skills in science, visual arts,
geography, language arts
HOW TO USE THIS
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Photocopy each of the three activity masters and
distribute a set to each of your students. Also photo-
copy the I DIG Dinosaurs fact sheet and distribute
it to each student.
HOW TO USE THE WALL
POSTER
Display the wall poster in a prominent place
in your classroom. Review the five
dinosaurs shown by comparing the
bones to the way the dinosaurs
looked when they lived.
Then, use the fun facts
to have students
think about their
own bodies.
is the only company developing free, creative and
innovative classroom materials that is owned and directed
by award-winning former teachers. All YMI teaching materials are
pre-certified and approved by our exclusive Educational Advisory
Board. E-mail us at feedback@ymiclassroom.com or visit our
Web site at www.ymiteacher.com to send feedback and download
more free programs.
How dinosaurs and other treasures of history
teach us about today.
How dinosaurs and other treasures of history
teach us about today.
TM
YOUNG MINDS INSPIRED

WE STAND
UP TO A
CHALLENGE!
WE STAND
UP TO A
CHALLENGE!
5’ 0”
4’ 11”
4’ 10”
4’ 9”
4’ 8”
4’ 7”
4’ 6”
4’ 5”
4’ 4”
4’ 3”
4’ 2”
4’ 1”
5’ 0”
4’ 11”
4’ 10”
4’ 9”
4’ 8”
4’ 7”
4’ 6”
4’ 5”
4’ 4”
4’ 3”
4’ 2”
4’ 1”
Don’t miss
Available on DVD
September 27, 2005
Don’t miss
Available on DVD
September 27, 2005
RODNEY THE ROBOT
CAN STAND UP
TO A CHALLENGE.
OUR CLASS CAN, TOO!
The A-Mazing Rodney!
The inventor Bigweld usually says, “Let’s get to
inventin’!” But now he’s in trouble. He’s needs to get
away from the evil Ratchet.
Only you can help Rodney and Fender find—and save—
Bigweld. Trace the path they should take to Robot City.
Show your parents how you helped save Bigweld.
Rodney
Fender
ROBOTSROBOTS
on DVD is
available everywhere beginning
Sept. 27, 2005.
Bigweld2 ©2005 YMI, Inc.Ratchet
ROBOT
CITY
The A-Mazing Rodney!
Rodney’s friends were in trouble when Ratchet stopped making new ________________.
They were ______________________ apart. So Rodney saved the ____________________.
He helped the ‘bots put themselves back together. He helped one with a missing
_________________________ and another with his spare __________________________.
When all the ‘bots were _______________________________, they saved Robot City.
Bigweld got his _______________________________
back and Rodney was a __________________________!
(plural noun)
(verb with an “ing”) (noun)
(noun) (noun)
(adjective)
(noun)
(noun)
The Nuts and Bolts of
Silly Storytelling
In the film Robots, robots rock! They have exciting adventures and lots of laughs, too.
Let’s add some more. Fill in the blanks with your own wacky words to make this crazy
mixed-up tale even crazier! Ask your parents for their silly words, too.
The Nuts and Bolts of
Silly Storytelling
ROBOTSROBOTS
©2005 YMI, Inc.
3
on DVD is
available everywhere beginning
Sept. 27, 2005.
A RIVETING RIOT OF FUN AND
GAMES FEATURING
A RIVETING RIOT OF FUN AND
GAMES FEATURING
DEAR PARENT OR CAREGIVER:
Children do better in school when they
have confidence and say, “I can do this!
I can shine!”
Watching the hilarious and heartwarming
animated film Robots is lots of fun for
your whole family. It’s also a great way to
help children learn how much they can
achieve when they believe in themselves.
Aided by a group of misfit mechanical
friends, a small-town robot named Rodney
embarks on the adventure of a lifetime
as he heads for the big city to pursue his
dreams. Rodney ultimately learns, “You can
shine, no matter what you’re made of.”
Featuring an all-star voice cast of Ewan
McGregor, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear,
Mel Brooks, Amanda Bynes, Drew Carey,
Jim Broadbent, and Robin Williams,
Robots amazes with groundbreaking
visual style that pushes the boundaries
of animated filmmaking.
Robots is a dazzling,
fun-filled feast for the
eyes and a riveting
good time for all ages!
This special Robots mini-magazine
contains fun games and activities. We
hope that you enjoy them with your child,
and that you plan to watch Robots
together! You can find more great games
online at www.robotsdvd.com. And, you
can find Robots on DVD at stores every-
where beginning September 27, 2005.
Sincerely,
Joel Ehrlich
President and
former teacher
(andkidstoo!)
(andkidstoo!)
© 2005 TWENTIE
TH CENTURY
FOX HOME ENTERTA
INMENT
LLC. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVE
D.
THE YMI TEACHING KIT
A typical kit consists of a teacher’s guide, usually in the form of a 9 x 12 folder, reproducible masters for
distribution to students and additional supporting materials (mini-magazine and growth chart in this case).
34 Young Minds Inspired
At the end of Adventures in Animation, you
learn that Slim doesn’t know he’s a virtual actor.
He thinks he’s real—or at least “as real as it gets.” Imagine
that, for his next appearance, Slim is offered a starring role in a
television series that you create.What would you call your series?
What would it be about?
What would Slim’s role in the series be?
Think about the character you created on the
last activity sheet. What is the name of your character?
In the space at right (above), write a few sentences that describe the
character you created. For example: What kind of personality does it
have? Where does it live? What does it eat? What does it like to do?
On the back of this paper, make an outline of a story in which your
character would star if you made your own film.In Adventures in Animation, you learn how
animators create characters like Slim. Now it’s time
to think about the future.What do you think will be next? Do you agree with Phil who, in
the film, says that virtual actors will replace real ones someday?
What would virtual actors be able to do that real ones could not?
Do you think technology could make virtual actors seemingly real?
Why, or why not?
Use the space below to organize your thoughts. Then, on a separate
piece of paper, describe what you think will happen with animation in
the future.
ACTIVITY 4 WHAT’SNEXT?
ACTIVITY 4 WHAT’SNEXT?
A
part
B
part
C
part
REPRODUCIBLEMASTER
11
Animated characters like Slim in Adventures in
Animation begin as a tiny piece of surface called
a polygon. Thousands of polygons are pulled, pushed,
stretched, and combined to build the models for characters like Slim.
What do you know about polygons? Circle the letter of each shape
below that you think is a polygon.
How many of the polygons are regular polygons? Write an “R” inside
each of those polygons.
Write the letter of each of the remaining shapes below and explain
why those shapes are not polygons.
Now, use polygons to make your own original
animated character (see example below). Use a
separate sheet of paper to build your character. (Don’t worry,
it doesn’t need to be as complicated as Slim. You can make something
as simple as a fish or even “invent” a brand new kind of creature.)
When you’re finished, make some notes about the kinds of details you
would add to make your character even more interesting.You can find polygons allaround you if you look forthem (a stop sign, for example).
Conduct your own search for the hidden
polygons in your world. In the space below,
list what you find.
ACTIVITY 3 PLENTYOFPOLYGONS
A
part
Bpart
C
part
REPRODUCIBLEMASTER 9
ACTIVITY 3 PLENTYOFPOLYGONS
Did you know that to create virtual actors likethe ones you see in Adventures in Animation,it all starts with the human body? To capture the
motion of the live actor who helps create the virtual actor, animators
attach electronic sensors to body joints and points on the actor’s face.
When the actor moves, a computer picks up the sensor readings.Then, it stores them as data the animator can use to make theanimated figure—the virtual actor—move.
How much do you know about how you actually move in
real life? Answer True or False to each statement below:
_________________ 1. Muscles work in pairs so they can pull indifferent directions.
_________________ 2. An adult doesn’t have as many bones asa baby does.
_________________ 3. The biggest muscle in your body is in your leg.
_________________ 4. Bones aren’t living things.
_________________ 5. The muscles in your eyes may move as oftenas 100,000 times a day.
_________________ 6. The smallest bone in your body is in yourhand.
_________________ 7. Some muscles only work when you tellthem to.
_________________ 8. The muscles that your brain controls arecalled involuntary muscles.
Muscles and bones can’t do it alone. You wouldn’tbe able to move if you didn’t have joints. Joints are formedwhere two bones come together.
See how many joints you can find on the drawing at right. (Hint: Start
at the top of your head and think about all the ways you can move as
you mentally travel down your body to your toes.) Circle each joint
you find.
Now that you know a little more about howyou move, imagine that you are an animatoron the team that created the virtual actors inAdventures in Animation. How would you capture the live actor’s
motion if you were in charge of animating Slim? Draw an “x” at each
point on the drawing where you would put an electronic sensor.
ACTIVITY 2 MAKINGTHEMOVES
ACTIVITY 2 MAKINGTHEMOVES
Apart
Bpart
C
part
REPRODUCIBLEMASTER
7
The film Adventures in Animation is about actors
who seem real—but they’re not! They are “virtual”
actors, created by computer, who seem to pop off the screen.
How do the different parts of the eye work together, and where does
the brain fit in? To find out, label the parts of the eye in the drawing
below, and do some research to find out what each part does.
CORNEA
OPTIC NERVE
IRIS
PUPIL
LENS
RETINA
VITREOUS
It looks like Slim is dancing around in the box-
ing ring in the film. But he isn’t really moving. It’s an
optical illusion. That’s because there’s a difference between
what we think we see and what we really see.
Look at the two lines below. Which one is longer?
Measure each line to see if you are correct.
There are lots of different optical illusions. For example, if you look
down a long, straight road, it looks like the sides of the road are getting
closer together. They aren’t, of course. This is an illusion that is related
to perspective. Perspective gives a feeling of depth to a flat surface.
Filmmakers use still pictures called “frames” to
create the illusion of motion on the screen.
To find out how this works, follow your teacher’s directions.
As you hold the stapled end of your stack of paper in one hand, bend
back the top of the strips with your other hand and let them flip forward.
What do you see happening to your drawing?
Why?
Have you ever stared
at a camera when the
flash went off? Did you
notice a dark spot dancing
in front of your eyes for a
few seconds? That’s called
an afterimage. Follow your
teacher’s instructions to see
an afterimage now!
ACTIVITY 1 IT’SANEYETHINGACTIVITY 1 IT’SANEYETHING
Apart
Bpart
Cpart
A
REPRODUCIBLEMASTER
A B
C D
5
part
D
MATERIALS
Only the activity sheet is needed.
TEACHINGTIPS
Before students begin, lead a discussion about
the virtual world (the world created by anima-
tors) versus the real world. What are the differences?
What does Slim mean at the end of the film when he says,
“This is as real as it gets”? That
is, do students think the lines
between the virtual world and
the real world will someday
become less distinct—or have we
already reached that point?
You may want to have younger
students collect and share pictures
of animated figures that they think
range from the least to the most lifelike.
Then, students can find out about the different
techniques that were used to create them.
Encourage students to be as
creative as they can during this
exercise. Remind them that, because
they have designed their own character—and
because this is a virtual world—they can have
the character do anything. Would they base
the way their character moves on a real-life
example like a person or an animal? Would their
character be active and ambitious like Slim
—or cool, calm and collected? It’s time for
your students to let their imaginations
run wild!
To set the stage, lead a class discussion about
the technological changes that have occurred in
the world during your students’ lifetimes. Do they
remember a time before cell phones, instant messaging, and digital
cameras? Have them interview a
parent or another adult to learn
about the changes that have
occurred in the adult’s lifetime—
perhaps color televisions,
microwave ovens, and air-
conditioned automobiles.
Students can also develop a
timeline of all the changes
that have taken place or
decide which item they
take for granted today
that would be the most
difficult to give up.
RELATED
ACTIVITY
Ask students to think
about the impact if virtual
actors were to replace real
actors in the films they
see. Would ticket prices be
cheaper because virtual actors
would be less expensive to hire
than real ones? Why, or why
not? Would it cost more or less to
make virtual films? Lead a class
discussion in which students can
share—and defend—their posi-
tions.
OBJECTIVES
TO EXERCISE IMAGINATION AS STUDENTS DEVELOP CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS.
TO CONSIDER HOW THE USES OF TECHNOLOGY WILL GROW
AND CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.
WHAT’SNEXT?
WHAT’SNEXT?
ACTIVITY 4
ACTIVITY 4
Apart
Bpart
Cpart
TEACHER’SGUIDE
10
MATERIALS
White paper • Pens or pencils
TEACHINGTIPS
Introduce the relationship between the virtual
actors in Adventures in Animation and shapes
known as polygons by reviewing the beginning of
Part A with students. Tell students that polygons are simple,
closed figures formed by three or more line segments. “Simple” means
that the line segments do not cross each other, and “closed” means
that your pencil will end up where it started when you draw the poly-
gon. Explain that a polygon can take many different shapes and can
have any number of sides. Note that while some polygons (known as
regular polygons) have sides that are all the same length and angles
that are all the same, not all polygons do. Then, ask students to
identify the polygons on the activity sheet and to explain why the
other figures are not polygons. Invite volunteers to draw other
examples of polygons.
ANSWERS: Figures B, C, E, G, and H are polygons. Figure B is a
regular polygon because all the sides are the same length and all the
angles are the same. These figures are not polygons for the reasons
indicated: Figure A (it is not a closed figure), Figure D (some of
the line segments cross each other), and Figure F (one side is not a
line segment).
Before beginning this section, review with your
students how the animators created Slim in the
film. They used a computer program that allowed them
to combine polygons of all shapes (about 100,000 in Slim’s case) to
prepare a drawing that is called a wireframe because it looks like
bent wire. Once the wireframe was finished, they smoothed it out,
painted it, and added all the details that made Slim look more real.
The characters your students create will be much simpler, of course.
Finally, challenge students to find as many
polygon shapes as they can in the world around
them. You might even want to take the class on a
“polygon walk.” Encourage students to look for polygons in man-made
structures (building shapes, window panes, bricks, sections of concrete
sidewalks, etc.) and in nature (the patterns in tree bark or in leaves).
RELATEDACTIVITIES
•Encourage students to do some research to learn even
more about polygons. For example, polygons with 10 or fewer
sides are named for the number of sides they have. Figures with three
sides are triangles, figures with four sides are quadrilaterals, etc.
Students can create a chart that includes a drawing of each polygon
and its name.
•Have students work in small groups with a ball of yarn
to create polygons as pieces of progressive art. One student
should hold the end of the yarn and pass the ball to the next student
to make the first line segment. That student passes the yarn to anoth-
er student, who makes the next line
segment, and so on. During this part
of the activity, students should be
standing within an arm’s length of one
another so they can pass the yarn
without changing the shape of their
polygon. Once they have completed
their first polygon, students should
move farther apart and take turns
changing the shape of the polygon—
pushing, pulling, and stretching it just like
the animators in Adventures in Animation
did—until they are satisfied
that they have created
their idea of the
“perfect” polygon.
OBJECTIVES
TO UNDERSTAND HOW POLYGONS ARE USED IN COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY.
TO DISCOVER POLYGONS IN OTHER CONTEXTS.
TO IMPROVE STUDENT OBSERVATIONAL SKILLS AND UNDERSTANDING OF SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS.
PLENTYOFPOLYGONS
ACTIVITY 3
PLENTYOFPOLYGONS
ACTIVITY 3
Apart
Bpart
Cpart
8 TEACHER’SGUIDE
MATERIALS
Library and Internet resources
TEACHINGTIPS
Review with students the beginning of Part A
and ask them to think about the bones that enable
them to stand upright and the muscles that allow
them to move. After they attempt their answers to the quiz, ask
them to do some research to learn more about bones and muscles.
ANSWER KEY:
1. True. In fact, muscles can’t push; they can only pull.
2. True. A baby is born with more than 300 bones. Some of them
later fuse together, leaving an adult with only 206 bones.
3. False. The biggest muscle is the gluteus maximus
(the muscle you sit on).
4. False. Bones are made up of living cells, just like everything
else in the body.
5. True. They are the busiest muscles in the body.
6. False. The smallest bone is the stirrup. It’s in the ear,
and it can be as small as one-tenth of an inch.
7. True. They are known as voluntary muscles, like the ones
you use when you walk.
8. True. Muscles such as your heart work on their own,
without you consciously doing anything.
Talk with your students about the joints that
occur where two bones connect. Explain that there are
two categories of joints—immovable joints, such as those that
join the bones in the skull, and movable joints that permit the hands,
legs, arms, neck, spine, and mouth to move. Talk about ball-and-socket
joints that allow for a rotating movement of the arms and legs and
hinge joints that enable the back-and-forth movement of the knees
and elbows. Other kinds of joints include gliding joints (spine) and
pivot joints (neck). Then, ask your students to circle all the joints they
can find on the diagram.
Talk with students about how animators
sometimes use electronic sensors to capture
the motion of a live actor. They attach the sensors
to selected body joints and key facial points. When the actor moves,
a computer picks up the sensor readings and uses them as data to
make the animated figure—the virtual actor—move. This is an
example of computer-generated imagery (CGI).
RELATEDACTIVITY
One way to think of animators is as puppeteers who
create and manipulate incredibly versatile puppets. Ask your
students to learn about marionettes—the kind of puppets that are
controlled by strings. Older students might create their own simple
marionettes.
OBJECTIVES
TO LEARN HOW THE SKELETAL AND MUSCULAR SYSTEMS
WORK TOGETHER TO ALLOW US TO STAND AND MOVE.
TO CONSIDER THE TECHNOLOGY THAT MAKES THE COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY (CGI)
POSSIBLE IN FILMS SUCH AS ADVENTURES IN ANIMATION.
MAKINGTHEMOVESMAKINGTHEMOVES
ACTIVITY 2ACTIVITY 2
Apart
Bpart
Cpart
TEACHER’SGUIDE6
MATERIALS
Library and Internet resources
• Rulers
• Staplers
Pens, pencils or markers
• Sheets of unlined white paper
Scissors or paper cutter
TEACHINGTIPS
Before students begin to research the parts of
the eye, ask them to identify parts of the eye they
already know, and encourage them to explain the function
of each part. Discuss how the various parts of the eye work with the
brain to produce vision. For older students, cover the names of the
parts of the eye before copying the activity sheet.
Ask for a show of hands to determine which of
the two lines, AB or CD, your students think is
longer. After they measure the lines, talk with them about
optical illusions. Explain that the way the end segments of the
line are positioned makes AB appear to be longer, even
though both lines are identical in length.
Provide some other examples of
optical illusions, such as the way the
moon appears larger when it is on
the horizon than when it is high in the
sky. Ask older students to give additional
examples of optical illusions.
Explain how a movie creates an optical illusion when a series of
still pictures (frames) is projected onto a screen. Each frame is
slightly different from the one flashed before. The frames appear
at just the right speed (24 frames per second). The brain interprets
the changing images as continuous motion because our eyes
continue to see each image for a split second after it has
disappeared. This is known as persistence of vision, when
the eye connects the separate frames into continuous motion.
Have students make flip books:
1. Cut sheets of unlined paper into 15 or more strips
about 1 1/2 inches wide by 3 inches long. (You may wish
to provide younger students with packets of pre-cut strips.)
2. Put the strips in a stack and staple them together at one end.
Place the stack on a surface in front of you with the unstapled end
closest to you.
3. Trace or draw the first figure from the activity sheet at the
unstapled end of the first strip of paper. Trace or draw the second
figure from the activity sheet in the same position on the last sheet
of paper. Find the middle strip and draw an image that would
appear halfway between the two images. Fill in the remaining strips
to approximate the transition between the first and final images.
When students have assembled their books, have them
experiment with flipping the pages at different rates of
speed. If the speed is too slow, the motion will be jerky;
if it is too fast, the images will blur.
Ask students to stare at the
letter “A” on the activity
sheet for one minute and then
look at a sheet of plain white
paper. They will see that the colors
of the image and background are
reversed—the “A” appears to be white, and the
background appears to be black. Explain that this
occurs because the eyes become tired staring at
the white part of the paper. Because the letter “A” is
not bright, the part of the eye that sees it (the retina)
is resting. When the eyes shift to the plain white paper,
the light on the part of the retina that has been resting
appears brighter, so the “A” now appears to be white
against a black background—even though the paper is
blank. This is called an afterimage.
OBJECTIVES
TO DISCOVER HOW THE EYE AND THE BRAIN WORK TOGETHER.
TO LEARN HOW FILMS CREATE THE ILLUSION OF MOTION BY TRICKING
THE BRAIN INTO SEEING THINGS THAT AREN’T REALLY THERE.
IT’SANEYETHINGIT’SANEYETHING
ACTIVITY 1ACTIVITY 1
Apart
Bpart
Cpart
TEACHER’SGUIDE
4
part
D
You already know that still pictures
called frames are what make everything
in films—including Adventures in
Animation—appear to move. Twenty-
four frames flicker across the screen each
second. Between the frames, the screen
is black, but you don’t notice it because
your eyes and brain fill in the dark gaps
with something called an afterimage.
Have some family fun by making a motion
toy known as a thaumatrope to see how
your eyes and brain blend afterimages into
one image. (The thaumatrope is nothing
new. It was invented in the 1820s.) You’ll
need two plain white index cards, a straw
and some tape.
HERE’S WHAT TO DO:
STEP 1. Draw a picture of Slim’s face
(or something else if you prefer) at the
center of the first card. At the center of the
second card, draw a picture of a blank TV
screen. Make sure what you draw on the
first card is slightly smaller than the TV
screen. Tape the back of the first card to
the top part of the straw.
STEP 2. Place the back of the second card
(with the TV screen) on the other side of
the straw, against the back of the first card.
Tape the edges of the cards together.
STEP 3. Hold the straw between the palms
of your hands, then twirl the straw quickly
back and forth. When you twirl it at just
the right speed, the picture you drew will
appear as if it’s on the TV screen.
LET’S MAKE A FILM!LET’S MAKE A FILM!
It’s absolutely amazing how your eyes
and your brain work together to produce
the images you see. Each of your eyes sees
the same object from a slightly different
angle, and your brain combines the two
separate images into one single 3D image.
The science behind the images you see on
the big screen is pretty amazing, too. For
example, did you know that when Slim
is bouncing around the boxing
ring with Killer, he’s not really
moving at all? That’s right—the
people who made this film put
together a whole series of
still pictures of Slim (called
“frames”)—each
of which
is just a
tiny bit
different
from the one before. Then
they project them fast
enough to make you
think you’re watching Slim
move. That’s called an opti-
cal illusion—when your brain
is tricked into seeing some-
thing that isn’t really there.
Check out
these two
optical
illusions:
Which of the two bold lines in the figure
above is longer?* (Make sure you measure
them to find out.)
Where is the dot in the cube above? Is it
at the back of the cube? Or at the front?
Okay, you know this is just a flat drawing,
so what’s up? (That’s right! With this optical
illusion, there are no right or wrong
answers! It’s whatever your eyes tell you
to believe.)
OURAMAZINGEYESOURAMAZINGEYES
*Ifyoumeasuredthetwolinesinthefirstdrawing,youknowthattheyareboththesamelength.

KRYPTO IS
SPECIAL, SMART, BRAVE
AND STRONG!
Catch
on Cartoon Network,
Monday-Friday
at 2:30 p.m. E/P.
KRYPTO THE SUPERDOG and all related characters and
elements are trademarks of and © 2005 DC Comics.
© 2005 YMI, Inc.
TM
COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL
Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International began in
1970 at the U.S. Grant Hotel in
San Diego, CA with a total attendance of 145. 40 years later
this block-buster, 4 day event that originally showcased
comic books, science fiction/fantasy and film/television has
expanded to include a larger range of pop culture elements,
such as horror, anime, manga, animation, toys, collectible
card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels.
The convention is the largest in
the Western Hemisphere, and
second largest in the World
after Angoulême International
Comics Festival in France, filling
to capacity the San Diego
Convention Center with over
125,000 attendees last year.
Comic-Con International’s
brand mark.
36 Young Minds Inspired
Helpers
Places
Krypto and Kevin need your help. Choose a helper and a place.
Reproducible
Master
Watch
on Cartoon Network,
Monday-Friday at 2:30 p.m. E/P.
Streaky
TM
The Dog Star
TM
Patrol
Krypto’s
Rocket Ship
Krypto’s
Doghouse
Activity 3
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
KRYPTO THE SUPERDOG and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © 2005 DC Comics. • © 2005 YMI, Inc.
Dear Parent or Guardian,
In this activity of the I’m Special program, students practiced
the important pre-reading skill of storytelling. Have them tell
you about their story that is on the back of this paper.
Be a special helper at home like Krypto.
Reproducible
Master
Activity 2
I CAN BE SPECIAL LIKE KRYPTO
Watch
on Cartoon Network,
Krypto uses his special powers to help out. You can help out, too!
Reproducible
Master
Watch
on Cartoon Network,Monday-Friday at 2:30 p.m. E/P.
Here’s how I help!
Activity 1
IF I HAD SUPER POWERS
Your child is participating in a unique I’m Special teaching unit. Activities in the program use characters and
themes from Cartoon Network’s animated series, Krypto, the Superdog, to support your child’s development in
many areas, including reading readiness, mathematics, social-emotional growth, creativity and imagination.
Krypto, the Superdog hails from the planet Krypton and has an amazing array of super powers. Special, smart, brave
and strong, Krypto is just what every child wants to be!In this activity students drew themselves with a super power. Have them tell you about their drawing. Then share
the super power you would like to have!
Helpers
Places
Krypto and Kevin need your help. Choose a helper and a place.
ReproducibleMaster
Watch
on Cartoon Network,
StreakyTM
The Dog StarTM
Patrol
Krypto’sRocket Ship
Krypto’s
Doghouse
Activity 3
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
KRYPTO THE SUPERDOG
and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © 2005 DC Comics. • © 2005 YMI, Inc.
In this activity of the I’m Special program, students practiced
the important pre-reading skill of storytelling. Have them tell
you about their story that is on the back of this paper.
a including
confetti, sequins,
color and decorate
rials provided.
them complete
g in the blanks
children have
t activity.
E ACTIVITY
s children
mples by telling
ial because she
w the school
he children are
e trademarks of and © 2005 DC Comics.
© 2005 YMI, Inc.
Kevin
TM
DEAR EDUCATOR,
Help your students get a great start to the school year with this free I’m Special teaching program. Award-winning curriculum
specialists Young Minds Inspired (YMI) and Warner Bros. have teamed up to bring you this exciting learning guide, full of
lessons to nurture students’ self-esteem and encourage imagination and creativity, all while supporting important readiness
skills. In addition, each lesson promotes extended learning in a specific area, such as movement, block play,
art and circle time.
Leading the way in the I’m Special program is Krypto, the main character in Cartoon Network’s
animated series, Krypto, the Superdog. Krypto hails from the planet Krypton. Along with his best pal
Kevin and a host of other heroic animals, Krypto battles the forces threatening the people and animals of
Metropolis. Special, smart, brave and strong, Krypto is just what every preschooler wants to be!
The activities in the I’m Special program reinforce the message that each student is special in his or her
own way. And, you can reward students with their own I’m Special stickers for a job well done.
Viewing the program is not necessary to complete the activities,
however, students who have seen the program may want to
share Krypto’s many adventures. Krypto, the Superdog is on
Monday-Friday at 2:30 p.m. E/P, on Cartoon Network.
The materials in this kit are copyrighted, however, you
may make additional copies for students and share the
materials with other teachers. You can also download
copies at www.ymiteacher.com
Sincerely,
Joel Ehrlich,
President and former teacher
YMI is the only company developing FREE, creative and innovative classroom materials that is owned
and directed by award-winning former teachers. All YMI materials are pre-certified and approved by our
exclusive Educational Advisory Board. E-mail us at feedback@ymiclassroom.com or visit our Web site at
www.ymiteacher.com to send feedback and download more free programs.
CREATIVE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE SELF-ESTEEM
WHILE IMPROVING READING READINESS AND MATH SKILLS
Another FREE Program from
KRYPTO THE SUPERDOG and all related characters and
elements are trademarks of and © 2005 DC Comics.
®

ENIGMA BOOKS
38 Comic-Con International
Comic-Con Event Shirts
Designed by Brainchild Studios
and produced through Graphitti
Designs, the event shirt has
consistently sold out since
2001, making it the most
prized souvenir of the show.
2009 (volunteer)
2009
2008
2006
2005

40 Enigma Books Enigma Books 41

Brainchild Studios/NYC
330 West 38th Street, Suite 1503, New York, New York, 10018 p: 212.647.9278 e: info@brainchildstudiosnyc.com w: brainchildstudiosnyc.com

es to Staten Island. That “forgotten borough” is one of the most frequently requested locations I am asked
n, when people want to know their status in the fictional DMZ world (the others are Hell’s Kitchen, Queens,
o get to everything, eventually). My own personal experience with Staten Island, aside from listening to
siting twice, once to scout locations for an ex-girlfriend’s film, and going to a college house party in
se to draw upon for DMZ.
collaborators on DMZ to supply me with their ultimate DMZ House Party playlists, or, in the words of
king/house party/shout along/get fucked up/DMZ rock out mix tape songs... not the sappy ass love songs
m talking TAKE ME DOWN TO THE HOSPITAL kinda shit here.” You heard the man. Boys?
st):
y
e
e
se
and
e I’m
ming
e
ove)
s
JEROMY COX (colorist):
“Where Is My Mind” – Pixies
“I Don’t Want To Hear It” – Minor Threat
“The Choice Is Yours” – Black Sheep
“Add It Up” – Violent Femmes
“Party At Ground Zero” – Fishbone
WILL DENNIS (editor, enabler):
“Rocks Off” – Rolling Stones (from the
BRIAN WOOD:
“What’s It All About” – Reducer SF (kind
of frat-posing-as-punk shit, but great
sing-along material, and since it’s a song
about striking out with women at a bar,
it’s a totem of sorts to play at the start
of a night)
“Re-Ignition” – Bad Brains (I would find
little wrong with playing nothing BUT
Bad Brains all night long at a party, but
maybe that explains why no one ever
comes to mine)
“Anything, Anything” – Buckcherry (ok,
it’s a cover and Dramarama’s version
wins in all other situations, but the
speed and ferocity of Buckcherry’s
makes that beer disappear. Another
bad-luck-in-love song)*
“Brave Captain” – FIREHOSE (SST – best
record label ever?)
“Peace of Mind” – Boston (for those final
moments stumbling over empty cups at
the end of the night)
* “Wrong” – Archers of Loaf, spiritual
substitute to be played if/when too
many people make fun of you for
Buckcherry.
BRIAN WOODDMZ31 DMZ32 DMZ33 DMZ34 DMZ35

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