DC Comics is on fire and DC K.O. is the latest big event at the publisher. Since 2024, they’ve been putting out what many consider the best superhero comics on the market, building a story across both its mainline and the blockbuster Absolute line of books that culminates in this latest event book. DC has never been as about the event comics as Marvel has been, but they’ve been putting out some amazing events nonetheless. Looking at DC K.O., I noticed something interesting. The story itself ties into Dark Knight: Metal and Dark Knights: Death Metal in a way no one is noticing, thanks to the one thing that all three of the books have in common: writer Scott Snyder.
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Scott Snyder became a superstar at DC thanks to his run writing Detective Comics and the New 52 Batman. He’s become one of the biggest architects of DC’s success in since 2011, and his return to the publisher in 2024’s DC All-In #1 after a few years doing indie books was a huge breath of fresh air for fans who had missed him. Snyder has become synonymous with DC and DC K.O. is a comic that ticks off a box that I don’t think any of us noticed until now. It all has to do with the heroes that were the focus of the three Snyder-written DC events.
DC K.O. Is Scott Snyder’s Ultimate Word on Superman
While Snyder is most known for his work on Batman, he’s written Superman in both Superman Unchained and Justice League. Snyder’s experience with Superman isn’t as well-known as his work on Batman, but he’s always had an understanding of the character. Superman is the main character of DC K.O.; much of DC K.O. #1 is all about Superman’s reaction to being forced to fight his fellow heroes in order to save all of creation from Darkseid. It’s an interesting little wrinkle that shows how much Snyder understands Superman.
When you look at Metal and Death Metal, Superman starring in a Snyder-written event book makes a lot more sense. Metal was an event that grew out of his Batman run, using the idea of the secret magical metals that had formed the cornerstone of metahuman community and making Batman’s action and character a main focus of the book. Death Metal was all about Wonder Woman; she was the POV character, the one with the plan to save the whole multiverse. She was the primary hero of that story, and her actions were the ones that saved the multiverse from Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs.
Now, this whole thing could have been a coincidence. Events focusing on Batman and Wonder Woman wouldn’t be a strange thing. Obviously, it was a little weird that Wonder Woman, the least popular of the Trinity, was the focus of Death Metal, but we didn’t really think about it. However, looking at all three Snyder events, it’s obvious that the writer wanted to do an event that took the best parts of the Trinity as individual heroes and put them on display.
Metal was all about Batman’s ability to use his greatest weapon, his mind, to defeat any odds, including superpowered versions of himself, a dark god, and an entire evil multiverse of enemies. Death Metal showcased Wonder Woman’s faith in the better nature of the universe and her tendency to do anything that needed to be done to save the day. Each of these stories focused on the most important parts of their touchstone characters, and so far, DC K.O. is looking to be about the best part of Superman — his resolve to save the day no matter what the odds. They form a perfect trilogy about why the Trinity are the greatest heroes ever.
Snyder’s Work Helped Rebuild the Trinity
DC’s Trinity are the first three major superheroes, each of them forming an important part of the DNA of superheroes. Over the years, they’ve had their ups and downs, but the 21st century has seen them redefined numerous times over the last 25 years. Snyder’s work on the three of them in some of DC’s best event comics has played a huge role in reminding readers what each of them mean to the superhero community, and it’s honestly about time that he got around to giving us our big Snyder-written Superman event.
DC K.O. is exactly the kind of Snyder event comic that fans love; his event comics are big, fun events that pit the heroes against odds unlike any they’ve faced before. What makes each of the other events he’s written so cool is what those comics said about Batman and Wonder Woman, and looking at Snyder’s work on Superman in the book already, it feels like he’s going in the same direction with this one. DC K.O. is the end of a Justice League trilogy that DC has been building for almost a decade, and I can’t wait to see what Snyder has in store for the Man of Steel.
What do you think about Scott Snyder’s work at DC? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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