DC K.O. (2025-) #1

by Scott Snyder, Javi Fernandez (Artist), Xermanico (Artist)

The Heart of Apokolips has transformed Earth into a hellscape in preparation for the return of Darkseid! The end of the DC Universe is here! The Justice League’s only chance to defeat Darkseid is to enter a deadly tournament, an epic and over-the-top battle royale that will surprise you! The World’s Greatest Heroes fight to become the champion to enter the ring against Darkseid, but there’s a catch…the closer you get to the Heart of Apokolips, the more it corrupts you, changes you into something dangerous. Which DC character has what it takes to make it to the end? Who is willing to do what it takes to win it all, even if it means taking down their friends and family? You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels, Wonder Woman

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 2025

About the author

Scott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise is silly, like really silly, but sometimes you just want to see your favourite DC characters go up against each other mortal combat style in order to save the world. Snyder knows how to generate an air of hype with an opening issue, and he does that really well here. It puts the main players on the board and teases the upcoming head to heads in true knockout tournament fashion. If it can tell a coherent story without an over reliance on tie-ins, this could be one of the better and more memorable modern DC events.

actual rating3.5 stars

[MrGlassWontBreak · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the Earth's heroes are brutally defeated, and the Earth is turned into a replica of Apokolips by an all-powerful, cosmic, and Omnipresent Darkside, who has full access to and total control of all the primal energy generated by the entire Absolute Universe.

So the World Forger, Time Trapper, Booster Gold, and Grodd rewind time to plan with the Justice League and find a way to stop him, which can only be done by fusing with the device Darkside uses to gain his cosmic abilities, and transform planets, a machine already forming at the center of the Earth. This device will force our heroes to fight to the death until only one remains.

A fucking wild ass start, and it's a perfect tie-in to the Absolute Universe. The art is really good, and the spread pages are insane. Scott Snyder is doing some really great work for DC recently, with Absolute Batman and now this.

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY SHIT. MORE MORE MORE. I HAVE TO WAIT 7 WEEKS FOR ISSUE TWO?!?!?! im ABSOLUTELY stoked for the next issue. also THE ENDING. bitch. im ready for this but also not. run me issue 2 plz

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Utterly ridiculous storyline but also super entertaining. The kind of dumb fun I need.

[Machiavelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This opener almost reads like an issue #0 — a little exposition heavy — but it builds real momentum and sets the stage in a way that grabbed me. I liked how it gets into Superman’s head, adding a layer of character depth amid the setup. The twist at the end really worked for me, and the Jim Lee cover variant I grabbed of the closeup head of Darkseid is flat-out awesome. A strong start, and I’m definitely interested to see where this event goes next.

[dusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll put this very simply: Scott Snyder is one of the GOATs. I’m so glad I picked this up.

DC K.O. is absolutely balls to the wall crazy — in the best way possible. It’s a wild, over-the-top concept that somehow manages to be both hilarious and genuinely badass, with surprisingly high stakes. I didn’t fully know what to expect going in, but by the end of the first issue, my jaw was on the floor.

Who will come out as champion? I’ve got my picks, but it’s clear that in this event, anything can happen. We’re in for something truly special with this one.

[Chris Loan · Rating 5 out of 5]

DC KO from Scott Snyder, Javi Fernandez, and Alejandro Sanchez officially kicks off DC Comics’ newest event — and what an explosive start it is.

The issue opens with a chilling glimpse into the future, where Darkseid has already conquered most of Earth’s heroes. Using this vision as a warning, our heroes learn that the heart of Apokolips has transformed the planet’s core into a massive arena. The only way to harness its power and stand a chance against Darkseid is through an all-out tournament — one where only the final victor can claim the energy.

I really appreciated how Snyder and the team expanded on the mythology of the Absolute Universe here. Also seeing them tie the creation and absorption of the New 52 universe was a real treat, since the heroes were even offered the option to reset reality again — a classic meta touch that feels right at home in Snyder’s storytelling.

While this first issue leans heavily on exposition, it works. Getting all the setup out of the way early means the next chapters can dive straight into the action. The moments of calm before the storm — showing heroes spending time with their families and preparing for what’s to come — were some of my favorites.

The artwork by Javi Fernandez and Alejandro Sanchez really shines, especially once the tournament begins. I loved how the visuals adopt a game board motif, mirroring the opening sequence where the Trinity plays a game together. It’s a clever and stylish representation of what this story is all about — strategy, chaos, and power.

This event feels like dumping out your toy box and letting your favorite heroes and villains battle it out to see who’s strongest — but with real stakes and purpose. The setup makes the concept feel earned rather than gimmicky, giving the “who would win?” fantasy some legitimate emotional and narrative weight.

And then there’s the big shocker: the death of Batman. I did not expect Snyder to drop that bomb right out of the gate. It’s a bold move that instantly raises the tension for what’s ahead. I’m also excited to see how characters from the Absolute Universe factor into the story — and curious where this fits in DC’s current continuity, since Batman’s still active elsewhere. (Let’s be honest, he’ll be back.)

As for who might win the tournament? My gut says Superman, but I’d love to see a wild card like Joker or Lex Luthor take the crown. There’s so much potential in this concept, and Snyder clearly has some big surprises in store.

With a great setup, fantastic artwork, and a jaw-dropping ending, DC KO #1 delivers everything you’d want from the start of a major DC event. I’m all in — 5 out of 5.

[Arthur Marchetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A premissa é tão simples quanto parece: heróis (e alguns vilões) precisam se enfrentar num torneio até a morte pra salvar o Universo do Darkseid. É a mesma coisa.

Mas ele entrega o que ele promete, você vai ver alguns dos personagens queridos, alguns esquecidos também, lutando em uma arena pra salvar o universo. É bobo. É simples. É lutinha. Mas tem algumas cenas interessantes, algumas brigas que parecem bacanas, um mistério no ar que promete ABALAR as chaves de luta do confronto. Promete. Entrega. É isso.

[Madison Head · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excited to see where this story goes.

[Antonio Escobar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will be made into a movie! - stating this on 10/11/25

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

My pick is already dead 😭
Im homeless.

[Colin Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set aside the made-up nonsense for how the Heart of Apokolips transforms the Earth into a giant tournament because that’s just some hand waving setup to get us to a hysterically fun event book. I can’t get enough of the idea of the tournament and how it’s going to play out, especially since we get the delicious tease of the Absolute Trio entering the scene. Snyder’s writing is over the top but he nails an epic action movie tone with enough weirdness and levity to keep it from being one note.

And then the visual package is just flat out stunning. Wow. Fernández’s expressive lines and Sánchez’s painterly colors are a perfect match. Some really cool layouts to communicate the world-bending ideas to sell the narrative. Otsmane-Elhaou has found another gear with his lettering. My favorite moment of the book isn’t any action-packed scene but the quiet moment when Clark is staring out the window at Earth — and there’s a faint reflection of the word balloon in the window glass!!! Absolute genius.

[Joshua Tompkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well here we go! This issue is broken into three parts, basically the realization, preparation and the start. There's already a surprise twist to the tournament bracket they've been advertising for the past couple weeks and while I was expecting something like that, I was NOT expecting what happened! It looks like this story is going to be a lot more exciting that I could have expected and will include some Absolutely devastating foes!

[Abel Allwein · Rating 4 out of 5]

**4.5

Gotta say with not reading a ton of the lead up to this it still kept me captivated!! Two twists in here I did not see coming. I’m not even sure who I want to win but I’m looking forward to finding out!

I will say though the whole alpha omega thing is giving “I’m the alpha male” energy that I’m not really about. (despite liking ABO fanfic quite a bit…)

[zachariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

levitated multiple times whilst reading

[Tara Taillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am sat

[Luca Mendes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining

[Pranay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start is entertaining and hopefully it could turn into a big classic in the future.

[Tiernan Dunagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do we keep sniping Batman early like he wouldn't crush the everloving shit out of this competish?!


Also Red Hood v Damian Wayne lineup is so messy i love it

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

HAHAHAHA, that was exhilarating!! ALL YOU SUCKERS who chose batman to win it all, he didn’t even make it to the tournament it was a fake out the entire time!! Hahaha, I had a feeling about that and so far my bracket is SAFE! This is such a funny event, because 2/3rd’s of it is spent over explaining the hell out of situation in the most complicated logic, before throwing us into the deep end, and I love it! Bring on the comic book insanity! As it currently stands and how the start of this issue and the other comics leading up to this have shown:: darkseid has already won. The issue starts by showing a king omega darkseid swooping in and destroying our world, we have already seen how he has wrecked the future and now he is catching up. As the quantum quorum, made up for world forger, time trapper, Grodd, and booster laid out, Darkseid has created a world where he is absolute. The universe is made up of alpha and omega energy. Alpha is energy of creation and omega is energy of conquest. Apokolips has a heart that runs on omega energy and when darkseid sought it eons ago, it made him its champion and transformed him into the enemy they have fought many times. Hut then he formed his new universe, he placed a hear of Apokolips at the center of Earth’s core. Which is usually where most of the alpha energy in the universe comes from. Making this change he has become king omega, a walking singularity. And a week from now we have already seen how he can step in and turn every particle around him into an extension of himself. So what is the quantum quorums suggestion to deal with this? Give up and start over of course, they suggest a universe reset like the new 52, lol. The heroes are not up for this, their world may be chaotic and insane but it’s their world and they won’t give up and forget about everything they are just because of this there has to be another way. But batman realizes a solution, they have seen the fire pits and parademons popping up around the world. They have a heart of Apokolips forming in the center of their own earth, could they not use that to transform one of them into their own king omega to combat darkseid. The quantum quorum hates this idea, they don’t even have the omega energy they need to blast the heart and restart it so it chooses a new champion instead of being coded to darkseid. But they do, booster is teaming with omega energy they could use, but even booster is against the idea, feeling as though they don’t comprehend what they would be unleashing. So batman challenges them to show them what they would face if they move forward with this. The world forger sets out again to show them what they would face, the heart is a living thing and reborn it would seek a champion fueled by conquest and conquest only. It wouldn’t let just anyone near it, it would create a tournament with rings and the higher you go the higher the challenge. You wouldn’t just be facing parademons, but competing against each other to find a champion that would have the power to bend the universe to their will, a being powerful enough to face darkseid. At this point even booster is encouraging the idea, he has seen the alternative absolute realm and this may actually do the trick, fighting someone like him. Time trapper calls out to them and shoves the idea in their faces, this will test all of their hearts, they will have to win with no mercy or compassion, can they do that? Superman calls it off, they aren’t doing it, and he storms away. Batman and Wonder Woman go to talk to him as he looks over the earth from the watchtower. They have to do this, he has already won, they have felt it since the dc all in special. Superman is worried about anyone else who may join, what if joker or Lex or cheetah get into the tournament and win that power? That’s why they can let them, they have spent the last year turning the phantom zone into a place for healing, they can store them there and keep them out of the tournament. Clark then mentions the earth, who will protect it while they are gone? The rest of the league is thinking of that now, this may actually work. The entire thing is a game they have to play against each other. But Diana stops Clark’s thought, this is a fake against HIM, the kind where they can all win together. Looking at this there are a few things I’m wondering. Currently I have Superman winning the whole thing and I can’t help but feel that could happen. He doesn’t even want this tournament to happen and is against every aspect of it, quality traits in a winner. Additionally I wonder if the omega heart they are dealing with, will somehow be transformed into an alpha heart. They need to fight darkseid with something LIKE him, not exactly omega. And if anyone could turn an omega into an alpha heart of creation and light…it would be Superman.

Chapter 1 concludes and chapter 2 begins, they have seven days to prepare the world and themselves and hopefully on the seventh day they have a champion capable of fighting darkseid. The quantum quorum vowed to use their powers to slow time and stave off Darkseid’s approach. On the first day the heroes worked to secretly secure all of the villains that may stand to gain from this. I’m not exactly sure, but I’m fairly certain the special t spheres Mr Terrific created to do this, are setup to teleport the villains to the phantom zone. At least that’s how I interpreted it. A bunch of villains from Arkham tower, to Belle Reve, to all the hiding spots where Black Manta and Luthor are hiding, all received a t sphere to take them off the board. Lex was quite pissed whole everyone else was confused, lol. On the second day the heroes met with world leaders to agree on a path forward, and on the third day Clark was chosen to talk to the delegates and address the world, claiming that they WILL win. They have worked together with the most powerful companies to build mega arks all fitted with adapted brainiac tech to contain and preserve everyone and everything. I mean…it also sounds like they just solved the housing crisis. Which will serve as locations for the largest evacuation plan ever undertaken in the case things get worse in the coming days. The titans and Mr terrific will stay behind to make sure earth is protected, except of course cyborg who is in the bracket, lol. The fourth day gave the chance for the heroes to spend with their families, and give them a reminder of what they are fighting for and everyone they are fighting for. On the fifth day everyone armored up and got their weapons to bring to the fight. And the sixth day came and it was time to move forward. So they strapped booster to a ship then flew up to the Skartaris nexus at the top of the world to channel his omega energy and blast it into the omega heart and restart it.

The third chapter follows the start of the fight and the chaos of whittling the heroes down from 100s to 32. As they blast the heart it stopped for no more than a few hundred zeptoseconds, just enough time for the heart to restart and welcome them all. It started by giving everyone a vision, a vision of them winning. Giving them the feelings of become the champion, the sole god to bend the universe to their will. They all saw the good they could do, then watched as it was ripped away and they stood there at the arena gates waiting for it to start. Superman flew forward in a mad fury, coming to the gates where three titans stood, waiting for everyone to enter the arena. The titans warn that those who cross the gauntlet early will move on and the rest will perish. But they aren’t really dying right? Or are they actually dying and just relying on whoever wins to bring them back? Idk, what’s oblivious is that if you get knocked out, you turn into a statue on the sidelines and you are OUT. The battle starts with a drop of a giant mace…which lands right on top of Billy Batson before he can turn, lol. We learn quickly why the titans wanted Superman to stay back, the entire floor is filled with traps. But Superman takes a different blind fury approach, he flies up and punches a few teeth out of the titans who killed Billy. Batman has to blast Clark with a missile to get his head back into the game/ everyone here is playing to win to generate enough omega energy. We immediately see heroes rush forward and get thrown out. Damage leaps forward and lands right on a pressure plate. Adam strange falls to the same fate. Jay runs forward and hits a pressure plate that opens a door letting loose omega demons, basically souped up parademons from the farthest point in time, onto the battlefield to start laying waste. Somehow red hood and Harley Quinn are holding their own lol, and plastic man is bouncing around everywhere. Ambush bug also gets squashed in a hilarious fashion after screaming about being an obscure character in a massive event at high risk of death, lol. Clark continues to fight off the omega demons but then he realizes that he is not really in the game, people are already crossing the finish line and joining the tournament. It occurs to him that he isn’t fighting, but clearing the way for his friends to get through. But then it occurs to him that he hasn’t seen Bruce pass through yet, and as Clark turns around he sees batman in his armor…a a giant spike is railed through his chest! Suddenly the spike pops out a bang gag flag, as it’s revealed that joker just took batman out of the bracket and relaxed his spot before the tournament even started! The legion of doom is here with joker, starro, Giganta, Lex, and cheetah and Superman watches in horror as Bruce fades before his eyes. He realizes that Bruce was right, he has no time to figure out how these villains got here, but he grows angry with new vigor, he needs to win this and Superman ends up wrecking through hordes of omega demons to be the last one in the tournament. We now have 32 champions gunning for the top spot! And suddenly our narrator takes a much more meta approach, asking us if we know who will win. The narrator knows already, because they are the heart of Apokolips we are fighting for! They crowned darkseid oh so long ago, so they already know all the twists and turns, such as the three destroyers darkseid has sent. In the shadows we are teased to the fact that the absolute trinity is here and I can only hope that these are dark darkseid clones of the real ones we have grown to love. But the heart claims that none of them will win, as what they don’t know is there is one champion among them…darkseid himself!! He’s somewhere in the ranks, hidden in plain sight! The heart claims the game is already over, as darkseid will win again. My money is on darkseid being Lex. Superman made a comment about Lex looking at him in pity, like he should go back to saving cats in trees and he doesn’t belong here. If you’ve been following the superman series, Lex hasn’t been acting like that at all. Plus he shaved his beard, nah, that’s not him. Also so glad they are including the bracket in the back,like how exquisite corpses does, it is going to be so fun to watch that evolve.

Correction: my bad, looks like booster is actually darkseid in disguise. At first I’d don’t take the last page so LITERAL, I thought he was just a shadow looming over the tournament. But the omega in boosters eyes paint a different story.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic.

So cool. I habe not been this excited since Dark Knights Metal. This is going to be so much fun. Finally an event that actually gets me excited!

[readershushu · Rating 5 out of 5]

“… but it’s us. it exists because we believe in it, and it’s worth fighting for. even like this.”

#TEAMZATANNA!!! damn this is really good… obviously annoyed by batman being out so early but hey… knightfight will be good ( i hope )! all the twists in this were really good and im excited to see where this goes! my first dc event!

[Seth Daub · Rating 5 out of 5]

insaneeee. all the build up to this event has started to pay off already. really bizarre but honestly super cool concept that i am 100% on board with.

my guy batman got shafted though :(

[Joseph Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peak??!?!! Read this while at NYCC

[Gbolahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So...I don't know if ya'll saw it, but Mr Terrific's butt was EVERYWHERE. First time where Dick wasn't the butt of a comic, I would say.

Ahem. Enough buts.

Did I just see Superman Blue??

And, wow! What an explosive start! 😅 Art on point, were there some clues (HOW THE HECK IS SUPERMAN BLUE THERE??), what was going on, fight, fight, fight! And our man gets STABBED THROUGH THE HEART! (DID I JUST SEE BATMAN BEYOND??)
Wish I had seen more Flash, ther was something black/red going on with his uniform at the beginning...(ADAM STRANGE WENT SQUISH)

Absolutes LOADING!!!

When the heck is the second episode out??

I really hope they maintain this energy. Good start.

That last smiley face on the bracket is EVERYTHING! 😂 Kindle for less than £5, worth it.

[Ryan MacLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a start. Aquaman will have something to say before this is all said and done

[Lee O Toole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this gonna be good as hell but they had to take my goat out first round to make it fair 🙄

[AJ Easterday · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.5 stars

Holy battle royale, Batman! What a start to the biggest comic event of the year! I am hooked!

I cannot believe who was killed off in this first issue. It's only issue 1 and we're already getting crazy twists and turns. I'm so excited. This is going to be so fun.

[moe · Rating 5 out of 5]

:( bracket busted already

edit: maybe not? 👀

[Jason Holtzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m maybe giving this a higher rating than I should, just because I’m intrigued.

This book feels like it has an odd pace — it is very exposition heavy — but that’s not too uncommon for a big event miniseries. The central idea is, as another reviewer put it, “silly,” so I hope I can get behind it more as it continues. The final pages promise that there’s more here to keep in mind than just fighting.

In relation to that, Snyder at the moment also seems to be making his personal stances clear.

Stance 1: This world is imperfect, but worth fighting for. This is pretty easy to get behind and common within superhero books.

Stance 2: I’ve not nailed the wording on this yet, but the gist is that it’s going to take faith alongside communal and individual sacrifice to make true change. The crux of this story suggests that every hero has to sacrifice everything they know and trust that one of them will find the right way forward. This is the exact decision Snyder’s Absolute Batman just made in the most recent issue. He makes the decision that only he and he alone can be the one to face Bane and risks betraying his personal beliefs/spirits in the process. Ergo, our preferred ways of fighting for change aren’t working, and new tactics have to be considered or undertaken.

Also, the art in this book mimicking a game pieces moving across a board was well done.