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The Intersection of Totalitarianism, Violence, and Dystopia

Can totalitarian regimes ensure peace for the all in a society? Since the era of the Roman

Empire and as depicted in art and literature, totalitarian regimes are accompanied by chaos and

violence and eventually collapse. Fascism breeds dystopia and never-ending, destructive

violence. This is a common message in comics and movies, and is reiterated by Mark Waid and

Alex Ross in their 1996 comic, “Kingdom Come”. The authors explore several interrelated

themes in their comic, including violence, dystopia, vigilantes and Minutemen, totalitarianism,

and apocalypse. Through proper use of visual imagery, Waid and Ross emphasize that where

totalitarianism thrive, the society is thrown into pointless violence and disorder characteristic of

dystopia because the powerful maltreat the others. In the novel “Kingdom Come”, authors Mark

Waid and Alex Ross depict culture of violence and dystopia to illustrate that a society that

conforms to violence, with the addition of a totalitarian regime, will eventually fall apart to

destruction and chaos.

In “Kingdom Come”, Waid and Ross depict a dystopic culture of violence by evoking

visual images of how violence is normalized in the society, resulting in disorder. A culture of

violence occurs where there is random, yet common episodes or incidences of violence in a

society. Societies in which violence is part of normal daily life can be said to have embraced a

culture of violence. In “Killings on Campus”, Gabler argues that the American society has

normalized violence through the media, which rewards perpetrators of violence with fame. The

author describes American life as one “that confuses realms so thoroughly that killing villains in

“Doom” and killing children in a school cafeteria can seem pretty much the same” (“Killings on

Campus” 89). In this observation, Gabler intimates that Americans have made violence normal

by treating real life acts of violence as normal, yet this kind of violence erodes social values and
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results to destruction and loss of life. A similar normalization of violence is depicted in

“Kingdom Come”. In one splash page, the authors use the image of a wrecked car, which is only

noticed by a little boy, who is pointing at it, while adults are looking upwards, seemingly

unmoved by the wreckage (Waid and Ross 7). In another image, Waid and Ross show a damaged

community wall riddled with graffiti (Waid and Ross 7). In these images, the wrecked car and

damaged college wall depicts the destruction that violence results to in the society, while the

adults’ failure to notice the wreck indicates that they are numb to violence, which they are used

to. The widespread violence depicted in “Kingdom Come” clearly portrays that a culture of

violence creates disorder that is characteristic of dystopia.

“Kingdom Come” illustrates how conformance to or adoption of a culture of violence in

the society results in chaos and misery through pointless cruelty. In societies with a culture of

violence, there is often no reason for violence and cruelty. Gabler points out this in “Killings on

Campus”, where he explains that the culprits horrific massacre of children in at the Columbine

High School were teenagers who performed the heinous acts for attention and celebrity, which

are trivial values whose importance has been escalated by the media (“Killings on Campus” 89).

While it is surprising that people can kill for fame, such trivial reasons for unnecessary violence

are also provided in “Kingdom Come”. In this comic, the narrator makes us believe that the

metahumans are out of control and explains that “they no longer fight for the right, they fight

simply to fight, their only foes each other” (Waid and Ross 22). In this quote, Waid and Ross

emphasize that metahumans fought unnecessarily. The authors most appropriately depict the

unnecessary violence through the image of Von Bach holding up the dead body of Captain

Comet (Waid and Ross 146). This image shows Von Bach, celebrating after breaking Captain
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Comet’s back and indicating that he killed for pleasure. The trophy violence demonstrated in this

image in “Kingdom Come” illustrates how a culture of violence breeds dystopia.

Waid and Ross emphasize that violence and totalitarianism result to destruction of the

society and chaos in which the powerful opportunistically harm the less powerful. The

relationship between violence, totalitarianism, and dystopia is well established in “A Clockwork

Orange”, where “a young teenager living in a near fascist near-future England, leads his gang on

nightly orgies of random, opportunistic violence” (“A Clockwork Orange” e.p. 2). This

description indicates that societies that have embraced a culture of violence due to fascism have

individuals who take the opportunities to harm others pointlessly. While totalitarianism is not

clearly established as a cause of violence in “A Clockwork Orange”, the fact that crude violence

occurs in a fascist society suggests that there is a causal relationship involved between the two.

In “Kingdom Come”, Waid and Ross provide a clearer causal association of totalitarianism and

violence by showing how powerful and totalitarian metahumans engage in opportunistic

violence. Norman McCay, the narrator, quotes that “I’m sure Von Back would with you ...

killing opponents who already surrendered” (Waid and Ross 118). In the comic, Von Bach is a

Yugoslavian, dictatorial, rogue metahuman who takes any opportunity to be violent. Von Bach is

also responsible for the sport killing of Captain Comet, and his character depicts how the

powerful treat the weak with cruelty in a culture of violence. In their comic, Waid and Ross

show that in totalitarian societies, those in power create chaos as they take every opportunity to

be cruel.

The authors of “Kingdom Come” suggest that totalitarianism creates societies in which

the powerful use force and act out of the law, creating chaos and disorder. A good example of

how authoritarianism creates disorder and dystopia is provided in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, where
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a totalitarian regime uses propaganda and monitors the citizenry using telescreens, hidden

microphones, and anonymous informers to identify dissenters who are then executed (“Nineteen

Eighty-Four” e.p. 2). The execution of dissenters and individuals believed to have negative

thoughts about the totalitarian regime in “Nineteen Eighty-Four” depicts how totalitarianism

breeds dystopia. Similar totalitarianism is depicted in “Kingdom Come”, where the authors

describe a future Gotham in which Batman has posted cameras throughout the city for

surveillance (Waid an Ross73). The image of a city with many surveillance cameras portrays the

lack of freedom and privacy for the people in a similar manner to “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Waid

and Ross also claim that totalitarianism involves the use of force through physical violence to

ensure compliance. To explain the contrast between totalitarianism and leading within the law,

the authors use the image Superman with his symbol S surrounded in black and yellow (Waid

and Ross 69). In this image, the symbolic S surrounded in black indicates the dark, evil nature of

totalitarianism while the symbol S surrounded in yellow portrays operating in light or within the

law is good for the society. By showing the comparison between totalitarianism and ruling

within the law, Waid and Ross illustrate that totalitarianism contributes to dystopia.

“Kingdom Come” authors Waid and Ross depict how totalitarianism and violence result

to dystopic societies where the powerful maltreat and bully others. In this comic, the narrator

asserts that “Superhumans can do anything they please” (Waid and Ross 126). This assertion

emphasizes that metahumans in the fascist society are out of control and must be destroyed

because they do not value human life. The problem of violence, however, does not occur among

the metahumans alone. In the mankind liberation front, the leader, Lex Luthor, brainwashed

Captain Marvel, his houseboy. Captain Marvel was brainwashed through torture to believe that

all superheroes, himself included, were monsters. The brainwashing of Captain Marvel is a
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violent bullying act that denies the victim the ability to use his conscious to make decisions. A

similar violent act is alluded to in “A Clockwork Orange”, where the government uses The

Ludovico Technique to brainwash Alex in a torturous, violent method. The brainwashing of Alex

“makes him unable to defend himself against a pummelling bully and cripples him with nausea”

and strips him “of the ability to choose good over evil” (“A Clockwork Orange” e.p. 2). In

“Kingdom Come”, the brainwashing of Captain Marvel also robs him the ability to choose

between good and evil, leading him to attack Superman. Waid and Ross use the image of the

brainwashed Captain Marvel to depict how totalitarianism and the desire to establish control over

others results to dystopia in which those in power maltreat others.

Ultimately, in “Kingdom Come”, the authors Waid and Ross use visual imagery to

illustrate that totalitarianism and conformance to a culture of violence will eventually lead to

chaos and destruction in a society. In their comic, the authors show that normalization of

violence in the society creates continuous disorder. Using images showing pointless cruelty, the

authors also emphasize that a culture of violence in a society results in misery and chaos because

it entails unnecessary cruelty. In addition, Waid and Ross argue that violence and totalitarianism

work in synergy resulting to disorder in the society as the powerful opportunistically hurt the less

powerful. They further suggest that totalitarianism yields societies in which those in power act

lawlessly by using force, hence resulting in disorder and chaos characteristic of dystopia. The

authors also depict how the powerful maltreat others through the torturous brainwashing of

Captain Marvel, indicating that totalitarian violence results to misery and dystopia.
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Works Cited

“A Clockwork Orange.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 23 Mar. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2009.

Gabler, Neal. “Killings on Campus.” The 1990s. Ed. Stuart A. Kallen. San Diego, CA:

Greenhaven Press, 2000. 85-89. Print.

“Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 3 Apr. 2009. Web. 5 Apr. 2009.

Waid, Mark and Alex Ross. Kingdom Come. New York: DC Comics, 2008. Print.