DC K.O. Is a Fight Between Superman and Darkseid, and Darkseid Is Winning

DC’s next big event is already well underway, and the fights have never been bigger, more bombastic, or more personal. DC K.O. started with the prophesied arrival of Darkseid, who had merged with the Absolute Universe to become King Omega, a being on an entirely different level from anything the Justice League has fought before. They decided that the only way to stop Darkseid was to have a King Omega of their own and entered the Heart of Apocalypse to gather the necessary Omega Energy. The sentient heart thrust them into a tournament to decide who would be its next chosen, but everything is not as it seems.

Darkseid has infiltrated the Justice League in the body of Booster Gold, and he’s ready to rip them apart from the inside out. His plan is already working, as the League is focused on the tournament, and the only way to advance is to become more like Darkseid. The heroes must embrace hate and cruelty to generate Omerga Energy, meaning that the only way they can save their world is to become the very person they’re fighting against. Nobody struggles with this more than Superman, as while he doesn’t know it yet, this tournament really boils down to an argument between him and Darkseid. This is a philosophical battle, and Darkseid appears to be winning.

A Tournament of Death and Destruction

Issue #2 opened with the thirty-two participants being dropped into an open battlefield on the remnants of a long-dead world, made specifically for this tournament. They were instructed to find one of the various artifacts of power within the area, and only the sixteen who had one when all were discovered would advance. The weapons were everything from the Lantern power rings to the Psycho Pirate masks, along with a mystery item. Superman immediately went for Luthor, still insisting that he was only in the tournament to stop the villains, because Superman couldn’t accept the concept of this tournament at all.

Unfortunately for the Man of Steel, Lex was prepared. He blasted Superman with Kryptonite, cut off his hand, and left him to writhe in agony on the floor while Lex won the day.  Superman laid there watching Joker and Lex brutalize his friends, and had the realization that he had to act like Darkseid. Darkseid lost his hand, then gave up his life to attain power, and Superman decided to do the same. He stabbed himself with the Kryptonite shard and rose again, imbued with the Omega Sanction. He easily stopped Lex’s Black Lantern zombie army, and everyone was moved to the next round. Of course, this is the worst possible outcome for Superman.

Accepting Power Means Control and Hate

Superman was charged with the Omega Sanction, Darkseid’s power, but only after he gave in to his anger at Luthor. Superman watched Supergirl lose her spot in the tournament because she tried to give him her item and got blindsided by Captain Atom. He watched the heroic choice fail because one of his friends was cruel, and all the while remembered Batman’s words from before. Bruce told Clark that if he weren’t Superman, he would be president, but Clark thought that he couldn’t be a leader like that. Leaders like that make dark choices for the “greater good,” and Superman would never do that. He would never enforce his will on others, but that’s exactly what Darkseid is forcing him to do.

Superman is trying to fight this tournament like a hero, but every time he does, he is punished. Batman died because Superman was only focused on helping others, and Supergirl was eliminated trying to help him. Meanwhile, Lex was rewarded for cruelty, and in the end, so was Superman, as he advanced because he accepted Darkseid’s path, if not his ideology. Yet. To win this tournament, Superman has to go against his very nature and not be a hero. The whole underlying theme is Superman struggling with the question of whether he doesn’t do enough to save the world versus pushing too hard and becoming a dictator.

Superman, as of right now, is accepting Darkseid’s path and slowly slipping into his anger and hate. He is loosening his grip on the ideals that always let him win before, because he thinks that’s the only way to beat the villain. But even if Superman wins the tournament, he’d have to become a monster of rage and hate, like Darkseid. Even if Superman did that for the right reasons, in the end, he would just be another Darkseid. Even if a hero becomes King Omega and beats Darkseid, he still wins, because he proved that heroism doesn’t work.

Everything started because Darkseid wanted to win. If Superman gives in to his worst desires and embraces hate, then Darkseid really does win. Superman has always been the paragon of hope and finding a better way, but if he stops believing in that, then hope really doesn’t stand any chance against evil. Either Darkseid wins physically, or he wins psychologically. Either way, if things continue as they are, Darkseid Is going to win.

DC K.O. #2 is on sale now!

What do you think? Leave a Comment below and join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!

6 Crossover Characters Coming to DC K.O. (And Who They Should Fight)