DC K.O. #3 – Rock’em, Sock’em Superheroes (And Villains)

DC KO #3 begins with the victors of Fight Month assembles as they await the next round in the tournament for the Heart of Apokolips. The Elite Eight are Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Zatanna, Aquaman, Guy Gardner, Lex Luthor, and The Joker. The Heart of Apokolips tells the combatants that for the next round they will be fighting with a partner of their choice from the previously defeated heroes and villains. This wrinkle is a great move by Snyder and Williamson as it gives them a chance to do both the expected and unexpected with the pairings. Here is the shake out of the team ups:

The following pairs are ones that one might expect or not find that unusual:

• Superman chooses Shazam
• Wonder Woman picks Big Barda
• Aquaman goes with Hawkman
• Guy Gardner chooses Hal Jordan
• Zatanna summons Constantine to her side

The unexpected ones are:

• Cyborg tapping Green Arrow (Connor Hawke)
• Lex Luthor drafting Supergirl
• Joker, always the Wild Card, picks an apropos teammate Mister Mxyzptlk

As the battles begin, Snyder and Williamson work in the reasoning why everybody picked who they did. This is also a chance to have some fun with this round and it not just being the eight beating the snot out of each other randomly.

Superman / Shazam vs The Green Lanterns:

This is the battle that gets the most page play for the issue, which is expected since KO is the setup for the Superman line for the foreseeable future.

Guy’s choice of Hal makes sense, although one would expect him to choose Kyle, but Jordan does make sense as he is willing to play dirty which he does using a Black Mercy, the plant that traps the person in a perfect world in their mind. This is a nice callback to Alan Moore’s classic:  For The Man Who Has Everything. Superman breaks free and then channels Billy’s Shazam powers creating an amalgam of a Superman who channels the bestowed powers of the gods.

Winner: Superman (as if one of the flagship characters would lose to a second tier Green Lantern)

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Wonder Woman/Big Barda vs Cyborg / Green Arrow (Connor Hawke)

Not really a one-sided fight but the outcome was again predictable, but necessary given the issue cliffhanger. It seems that Cyborg has a new ability of being able to insert nanites into someone and aquire thier abilities. Having said that Conner was a darkhorse pick, but one that is easily explained by Cyborg during the battle. Conner is also a strange pull because he does not (clearly) appear on page durong the the first round of the tourney.

Winner: Wonder Woman (again, as if one of the flagship characters would lose to a member of The Titans)

It is clear that the gloves came off when pairing off Lex Luthor and The Joker and Snydsr and Williamson are having fun playing with these toys in this sandbox.

Lex Luthor / Supergirl vs Aquaman / Hawkman

Not that Aquaman had a snowballs chance in hell against Luthor, but choosing Hawkman as his partner seemed like a tactical mistake. It would have been interesting to see him choose Swamp Thing, thus having the avatars of The Blue and The Green team up against Lex.The fact that Lex chooses Supergirl and then hits her with his “Designer K, ” making her an unstoppable force and not even ha I guess to break a sweat to win the match was part of the comedic sections this issue needed to break the tension.

Winner: Lex Luthor

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Zatanna/Constantine vs The Joker / Mister Mxyzptlk

In a strategic move The Joker fight magic with 5D magic. The initial reveal of The Joker’s partner is a nice tease and call back to Synder’s prior DC work before flipping the script with an homage to 2000’s Emperor Joker storyline. The only question is when did Mxy show up during the first round or did The Joker just Deus Ex Machina him out of nowhere? Regardless it works and Joker beats Zee and John to move on in the competition.

Winner: The Joker

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The final reveal definitely payoff and continues to build the excitement for the next issue guaranteed to be ABSOLUTE-LY hard-core.