The question of “who would win” between two superheroes has plagued comic readers for decades. Countless storylines (including some across different publishers) have tried to find an answer… and later this fall, DC K.O. will be entering the fray in a major way.
The comic event, which kicks off in October, will throw a roster of DC’s heroes and antiheroes into one-on-one matches in a literal arena rising out of the Earth. These fights have a purpose, though: to generate enough “Omega Energy” to attempt to defeat Darkseid, who has gained a significant amount of power since last year’s DC All-In Special.
On Friday, DC officially unveiled the first round of matches in the DC K.O. bracket, after a number of the contestants were already teased at San Diego Comic-Con and on an official cover for the issue by Dan Mora.
As the graphic confirms, the first half of the bracket will include Superman vs. Giganta, Captain Atom vs. Power Girl, Guy Gardner vs. Firestorm, Jay Garrick vs. Cheetah, Aquaman vs. King Shark, Connor Hawke vs. Hawkman, Lex Luthor vs. Black Lightning, Etrigan the Demon vs. Supergirl.
The second half of the bracket has Wonder Woman vs. Starro, Lobo vs. Plastic Man, Swamp Thing vs. Vixen, Cyborg vs. Batwoman, Batman vs. Star Sapphire, Red Hood vs. Damian Wayne, Zatanna vs. Big Barda, and Harley Quinn vs. Metamorpho.
“You have to be merciless to win,” Snyder said in a statement. “And when you’re out, you’re out.”
“Each level is a new challenge,” added Joshua Williamson, co-architect of DC K.O. “And the tournament will reveal unexpected heroes—some you won’t believe will go really far in the fights.”
Super Foes?
While there’s no telling exactly how the events of DC K.O. will shake out (both in the main series written by Scott Snyder with art by Javi Fernández, as well as a number of tie-ins in DC’s existing titles), there are some interesting things to glean from this first round of match-ups.
Some of the match-ups make sense on a thematic level: Aquaman and King Shark both originate from the sea, and Swamp Thing and Vixen have control of different elemental forces. But a lot of them combine powers and skillsets that (on paper) don’t usually face off against each other, which could make the outcome of their fights completely unpredictable. Jay Garrick and Cheetah, Lobo and Plastic Man, and Etrigan and Supergirl all immediately jump out as rivalries that genuinely never crossed my mind before, which will make them even more fun to see play out on the page.
Plus, some of these also just sound delightful on a character level. Will Connor Hawke carry on his family’s history of not seeing eye-to-eye with Hawkman? What will the comedic timing be like between Harley Quinn and Metamorpho? Will Superman and Giganta’s match-up follow up on their now-iconic panel from Doomsday Clock #8? And Zatanna and Big Barda would totally be friends outside of this tournament, right?
When you fold in the fact that each DC K.O. contestant gets to bring an item into battle (Superman, for example, is confirmed to be bringing brass knuckles that contain mini suns), things have the potential to get wild.
DC K.O. #1 will be released wherever comics are sold on Wednesday, October 8th.
(featured image: DC)
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