DC Has Just Set an Impossibly High Bar For Marvel’s Avengers Relaunch to Clear

Marvel Comics is in a place that they haven’t been in a long time: second place. The House of Ideas has dominated superheroes since the ’80s, when Uncanny X-Men and the mutants books made them more popular. The Marvel Cinematic Universe made their characters household names, and while fans never came to the comics in any numbers, Marvel stayed on top. All of that changed in 2025. DC Comics, with their Absolute line and the success of the DCU’s Superman, is running the table for the first time in a while, and they’ve just cemented their dominance with DC K.O., an event book that looks to continue the success of the company.

DC K.O. has been amazing since it started, and the publisher is on top. Marvel isn’t letting that lie, obviously, and has recently announced their latest Avengers relaunch, using the upcoming event book Armageddon to put out Avengers: Armageddon, relaunching the team after a decade of mediocrity. Any other years, the House of Ideas would have a really good chance to take back their title, but DC K.O. is setting the bar so high that even the Avengers, a household name, could falter.

DC K.O. Perfectly Sets Up the Next Chapter of the DC Multiverse

Some of us were predicting that DC All-In would push DC to the top again, and 2025 vindicated us. The 2024 publishing initiative continued what the publisher had been doing since the Dawn of DC initiative: rebuilding the classic DC Multiverse in the modern day. There was a time, not so long ago, that the only ongoing DC books not starring Batman and his related characters were Action Comics, Wonder Woman, Superman: Son of Kal-El, The Flash, and Titans Academy, something that needed to change. DC All-In #1 set up an amazing story, one that has run through both the main and Absolute lines, and allowed the publisher to win for the first time in ages.

DC K.O. did something that Marvel hasn’t been able to do in a very long time: create an event book that engaged the fandom positively and sold well. The story of the heroes trying to stop Darkseid from becoming the Final God was a wild ride, and its ending has opened the door for even more DC goodness in the years ahead, teasing the next portion of the story. DC took a page from the ’00s Marvel event cycle, using events to set up the next event to progress the story forward, and they’re doing it better than the House of Ideas has in years.

The future of DC is as bright as the sun. DC K.O. set up the next phase of the story beautifully. The Absolute books are the best books on the market. Series like Superman, Batman, Justice League Unlimited, JSA, Poison Ivy, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, Action Comics, Superman Unlimited, Green Lantern, and many more are all beloved by fans. DC Next Level is bringing characters like Batwoman, Lobo, Deathstroke, Zatanna, Firestorm, and more back to comic store shelves. DC fans are happy as clams, and it’s only looking better every month that goes by.

DC has the best creators, editors who listen to the fans, and is flush with cash from the Absolute line. Everything is going perfectly for the publisher, and readers satisfaction is at a level that Marvel hasn’t been able to match in years. Looking at the talent that DC has assembled, the love that fans have for their books, and how acclaimed their line is right now, the publisher has raised things to a level that Marvel is going to have a hard time reaching, especially from where they are now.

Marvel Is Going to Have to Work Very Hard to Even Match DC, Let Alone Surpass Them

Marvel hasn’t been having a good time of things as DC has been growing. The 2024 X-Men reboot failed, the 2023 Avengers relaunch failed, the new Ultimate books didn’t hold up as well as it seemed they would, and fans aren’t happy with the House of Ideas. The company has very few A-list writers and artists, their corporate frugality keeping the best creators from doing work with them. There are still great books, like Captain America, The Infernal Hulk, and Mortal Thor, but saying that Marvel fans are happy or energized is a lie.

Armageddon could be the turning point; Marvel is putting their eggs in the Chip Zdarsky basket and so far, the writer has been doing amazingly. Things look good, but things in the last few years have looked good before and the publisher still failed. DC K.O. has pushed things to such a level that even if Armadeggon is flawless, the House of Ideas will still be behind. DC has taken the momentum, and now is when things get very interesting.

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