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DC Comics has conscionable kicked disconnected DC K.O., its large crossover lawsuit bid for Fall 2025. Written by Scott Snyder (Dark Nights: Metal) and drawn by Javi Fernández (King Spawn), the bid forces DC’s heroes and villains into a martial arts-style decease tourney with the destiny of beingness astatine stake. It’s fundamentally DC’s reply to Dragon Ball Z.
Needless to say, the archetypal contented of DC K.O. drops immoderate beauteous large twists, revealing wherefore our heroes are locked successful mortal combat and the astonishing squad recruited to combat connected Darkseid’s behalf. But the biggest astonishment of each involves 1 iconic quality losing their beingness successful the precise archetypal round. Let’s interruption down everything that happens successful DC K.O. #1.
Warning: afloat spoilers for DC K.O. #1 ahead!
DC K.O. Crossover Cover Art Gallery
Why the Justice League Is Fighting a Tournament
Essentially, DC K.O. is the culmination of an ongoing Darkseid-centric storyline that’s been playing retired successful the DC Universe implicit the past fewer years. In 2024’s DC All In #1, Darkseid caused the instauration of a caller splinter beingness called the Absolute Universe. This beingness is permeated with Darkseid’s malevolence connected a cardinal level (something that universe’s Joker discovered successful the caller Absolute Evil #1), causing iconic heroes similar Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman to crook retired precise otherwise from their regular counterparts.
Because of that enactment and the information that he’s absorbed truthful overmuch Omega Energy (a primal unit of chaos and destruction), Darkseid has present go genuinely all-powerful. DC K.O. #1 opens with Darkseid attacking each metropolis connected Earth astatine erstwhile and sidesplitting some Wonder Woman and Batman. Just arsenic Superman makes his last stand, he’s whisked distant to a harmless haven by a radical of clip travelers known arsenic the Quantum Quorum. The radical has taken refuge 1 week successful the past, undoing Wonder Woman and Batman’s deaths successful the process.
The Quorum (led by a slimmer, much eloquent mentation of Doomsday called the Time Trapper) explicate the stakes. Darkseid has already conquered the future, and he’s dilatory moving his mode into the past to marque his reign absolute. The lone solution they tin spot is to make a bubble timeline harmless from Darkseid’s wrath, akin to however Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan created the New 52 beingness astatine the extremity of 2011’s Flashpoint. Our heroes flatly garbage that option. They similar to basal their crushed and fight. So overmuch for the Newer 52…
Darkseid’s eventual extremity is to harness the Heart of Apokolips burning astatine Earth’s core. Instead, the Justice League privation to scope the Heart first, utilizing it to sorb capable Omega Energy for idiosyncratic to face Darkseid directly. The catch, arsenic the Time Trapper explains, is that the Heart of Apokolips is designed to trial those who would harness its power. It’ll make a tourney script wherever 32 combatants are forced to conflict 1 different for the close to wield the Heart. As they ascend the ranks, each combatant volition physique up much Omega Energy until lone 2 almighty fighters stay to duke it retired for the apical prize.
With their program successful place, the Justice League sets astir making the astir of their past 7 days until Darkseid’s arrival. That includes rounding up the world’s worst supervillains and banishing them truthful they can’t interfere with the tournament. Finally, there’s thing near to bash but limb themselves for battle. Batman dons his Justice Buster 2.0 armor. Wonder Woman dusts disconnected her Godkiller armor. And Superman breaks retired the eventual brace of brass knuckles - 2 gauntlets with miniature suns attached.
DC K.O.: Who Wins and Who Loses?
From there, the tourney commences, and it rapidly becomes wide that nary 1 is harmless successful this free-for-all. The opening situation is fundamentally a qualifying circular which requires the combatants to marque their mode from 1 extremity of the arena to the different and done a dilatory shrinking portal. Naturally, betwixt the elephantine guardians protecting the portal and the galore booby traps, that’s acold easier said than done.
Billy Batson becomes 1 of the archetypal casualties of the fracas, arsenic he’s crushed to decease earlier helium adjacent finishes transforming into Shazam. Even Superman finds it hard to get from Point A to B, mostly due to the fact that he’s much acrophobic with helping his friends than winning. Making matters worse, the precocious banished villains abruptly look connected the battlefield, with respective similar Joker and Lex Luthor making their mode done the portal.
Most surprisingly, the mighty Batman becomes 1 of the aboriginal casualties of DC K.O. Batman is impaled done the chest, courtesy of his aged person Joker. The dying Dark Knight urges Superman to disregard his protective instincts and combat to win, which becomes the catalyst the Man of Steel needs to yet travel done the portal conscionable earlier it closes.
Ultimately, determination are 32 combatants near standing:
One of these characters volition theoretically beryllium crowned King Omega by the extremity of the series, gaining the spot to combat Darkseid for the destiny of the universe. But, arsenic the narrator (the Heart of Apokolips itself) explains, the crippled is efficaciously rigged from the start. The combatants volition besides person to contend with Darkseid’s champions, the Absolute versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. And it turns retired that adjacent Darkseid himself is taking portion successful the tournament, arsenic 1 of the 32 fighters has been possessed by the villain. Any guesses arsenic to which one?
Did Batman Actually Die successful DC K.O.?
As acold arsenic large quality deaths go, it’s hard to apical kicking disconnected the caller bid by sidesplitting Batman. One would expect that this maestro martial creator and strategist would spell the distance, if anyone. Who amended to combat and triumph a cosmic martial arts tournament?
The evident question present is whether Batman is genuinely dead. After all, DC kicked disconnected different caller lawsuit comic, 2022’s Dark Crisis connected Infinite Earths, by sidesplitting disconnected the full Justice League, and they rapidly returned to beingness earlier the communicative adjacent finished. And DC did conscionable motorboat a caller monthly Batman bid by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez.
We’re not expecting Batman’s decease (nor Shazam’s, nor anyone other who gets killed disconnected successful contented #1) to beryllium a imperishable crippled constituent successful the DCU. The quality of the tourney seemingly requires that characters dice successful bid for their Omega Energy to beryllium passed on, and there’s nary mode that DC is permanently sidesplitting disconnected truthful galore iconic (and lucrative) characters successful 1 story. One mode oregon another, they’ll beryllium backmost successful enactment by the extremity of DC K.O.
Batman’s latest decease volition seemingly beryllium particularly abbreviated successful this case, due to the fact that DC is gathering an full tie-in bid astir the character. DC K.O.: Batman - Knightfight sees Batman prosecute an alternate way towards the Heart of Apokolips, 1 that volition unit him to conflict assorted Batman replacements from antithetic timelines, similar Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, etc. Will his beingness beryllium spared a 2nd clip by the Quantum Quorum?
Which leader oregon villain bash you deliberation volition look arsenic the eventual champion of DC K.O.? Let america cognize your thoughts successful the comments below.
Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.
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