In this review of DC K.O. #2, the tournament is down to 32 participants. Who’s making it to the Sweet 16?
DC K.O. #2
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and Main Cover: JAVI FERNÁNDEZ
Variant Covers: DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON, MIKE DEL MUNDO, TYLER KIRKHAM, SIMONE BIANCHI, ARIEL COLON, VASCO GEORGIEV, DAN MORA, JAVI FERNANDEZ, BEN OLIVER
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: 11/26/25
This review contains spoilers
DC K.O. #2 opens up with the 32 participants in a realm that we’re told has taken 11 billion years to construct and is filled with the skeletal remains of elder gods that Darkseid destroyed. Within this arena, 16 of the most powerful items from the DC universe have been hidden away. These are things like the God Killer Sword, a Mother Box, Power Rings, and Bane’s Venom, as well as a mystery item. In order to move to the next round, each person must obtain an item. Those who fail to do so will die.
As soon as the signal is given, everyone takes off in a mad dash to find and fight for an item. This leads to some battles between characters, such as Lex and Superman, Wonder Woman and Etrigan, Metamorpho and Plastic Man, but not all of them are one-on-one match ups. There are times when multiple characters are duking it out, stealing items from one another. Characters drop like flies. At one point, a gigantic Joker using the Atom’s Belt ends up stomping on and eating other combatants.
In one of the more shocking twists, Lex uses a Phantom Zone blade to cut off one of Superman’s hands and then shoots him with kryptonite shards, leaving him incapacitated on the ground. Lex flies off to collect the Power Rings, but Zatanna hits him with a Fortress of Solitude construct as payback for what he did to Superman. She grabs all of the rings before Lex recovers. All, that is, except for the Black Power Ring, which Lex uses to bring the dead elder gods back to life. He uses them to obliterate the remaining heroes.
Clark realizes that he must sacrifice himself in order to claim the mysterious 16th item – the Omega Sanction. With his body healed by the power of Darkseid, Superman uses his Omega power to destroy the elder gods. Right before he’s able to take out Lex, Green Lantern claims the final item, ending the round. Those without items are vaporized and those with items are teleported to the next round.
To close out DC K.O. #2, Booster reveals himself to be Darkseid. This was alluded to at the end of DC K.O. #1, but now that the third round is coming up, it’s time for Darkseid to enter the tournament.
Analysis
DC K.O. #2 is WILD. The action is frenzied and unpredictable. It’s almost like Scott Snyder took character names, items from the DC universe, and different ways to kill characters, threw them in a mixer and started picking things at random. The result is this issue. It’s fun because you really don’t know what’s going to happen. If you filled out a tournament bracket at your LCS before this event kicked off, there’s no way you got it filled out exactly right. Superman loses a hand because of a sword made of the Phantom Zone. Who could have predicted that?
While all of the other characters have moments in DC K.O. #2, and there are some really cool ones, the whole thing truly revolves around Lex and Superman. Snyder writes this story to highlight the fact that Superman is going to have to do things he wouldn’t normally do in order to save the world. Lex has no problem with being ruthless, but that’s not the case for Clark. He has to adopt a whole new strategy. Joshua Williamson writes the interludes where Bruce, Clark, Diana, and Lois are sitting around playing a board game. It is here that Bruce explains to Clark the importance of coming up with that new strategy.
The artwork throughout DC K.O. #2 is excellent. Javi Fernandez and Alejandro Sanchez bring some great action art to the pages. The splash page where Superman loses a hand is full of pain and energy. The same can be said when Lex resurrects the elder gods and Clark takes on the Omega Sanction. There’s just so much excitement in each panel. The arrangement of panels during the other battles is gorgeous and ever-changing. Each page is dynamic and visually appealing. The combination of this artwork with the great story makes this event book worth picking up.
Overall Rating:
DC K.O. #2 is a no holds barred trip into a tournament of DC heroes and villains fighting for survival. It’s a blast to read because anything can happen. Have fun, comic lovers!
