The battle to be crowned King Omega is underway! In “Come Out Writing,” we help you stay on top of all things DC K.O., offering our predictions on upcoming matchups and expert commentary on all the important fights.
SPOILER ALERT: The following feature contains spoilers for DC K.O. #3. We suggest reading it only after you’ve read the comic.
The King Omega tournament rages on in the pages of DC K.O. #3, and once again, the mechanics of the game have shifted. In this issue, our final eight combatants are asked to pick partners for the tournament’s third round, and it certainly shakes things up! We see former rivals join forces, heroes and villains teaming up, and abilities combining and merging to form dynamic duos that are greater than the sum of their parts.
But along the way, there’s a subtler, defter story being told.
Since the very beginning, an overarching theme of DC K.O. has been Superman’s reactions to changing environments as he’s forced to battle in this death tournament for the fate of the universe. He’s had to watch his friends and allies be destroyed, and even take direct part in their defeats. Through it all, we’re shown flashbacks to a previous evening of tabletop gaming between him (as Clark Kent), Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince and Lois Lane. Bruce is seen challenging Clark on his tactics as they play the game, saying that he always seeks to do the most good for the most people. My “Come Out Writing” compatriot Joshua Lapin-Bertone did a good job unpacking this as of issue #2, but in this latest chapter, Lois encourages Clark to keep in his character and be the hero for everyone around him. This (plus a surprise attack from Hal Jordan) helps Superman lock in and reorient his tactics, aiming for the quickest, cleanest victory.
It's a layered look at Superman’s character, which reflects not only the nature of the tournament but also the other combatants as well. Some of heroes’ choices in teaming up with their chosen partner need little explanation. Zatanna and John Constantine, for example, and Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan are pretty straightforward pairings. Others make perfect tactical sense, such as the who and why of Cyborg choosing Connor Hawke.
Those are fun pairings, but obvious. It’s in the other partnerships where things start to get interesting, as DC K.O. highlights the truest nature of its characters in both who they decide to team up with and how they work with their new partner. Consider Wonder Woman’s tactics in not only selecting Big Barda, but how she chooses to compliment her partner’s fighting abilities and utilize her knowledge. Or look at the Joker and his surprising choice of partner. Throughout this story, we’ve seen little in the way of strategy and tactics from the Clown Prince of Crime, but he hasn’t wanted for much. Either he grows to giant size to gain an advantage or he’s forcing Jason Todd to fight as his teenaged Robin self. Asked to choose a partner, one might expect Joker to call upon Darkseid, Doomsday or Mongul to overpower any opponent he’s up against, but his very nature is chaos and his choice of Mr. Mxyzptlk absolutely reflects that.
We don’t get to spend much time with Aquaman, but he serves as another example, with his partner revealing an important aspect of who he is. As a longtime hero and king, Arthur Curry is nothing if not an honorable man and loyal friend. While DC K.O. #3 doesn’t give many pages to Aquaman and Hawkman, Arthur’s choice in selecting him as his partner may carry the most emotional weight to readers who have been following DC K.O. and have read last month’s Aquaman #12. Even brief, the team-up here goes a long way to showcase Arthur’s nature during the apocalyptic event he’s found himself embroiled in.
But it was their opponents who proved to be most memorable: Lex Luthor and Supergirl, who was easily the most surprising pick in the batch. But perhaps it shouldn’t have been. Lex knows what he’s doing, and not only did he seemingly make his decision based off of pure power—at least, at first—but he accounted for Kara’s feelings towards him and her emotional state when forced to fight against her friends alongside him. Unlike Joker, Luthor is strategy and tactics incarnate, and the results of his plan snatched his partner’s agency away while wielding her strength and abilities to wipe out their opposition. It was cunning, calculating and cruel. It was pure Luthor.
And that is the big takeaway from DC K.O. #3: the choices of the characters may have led to success or defeat, but either way, they’re character defining. Sure, in a tournament with stakes this high, what really matters is who can overpower whom. But the lesson with this story is that at the end of all things, these characters are so true to who they are that the power gained during this tournament will not have them compromise on who they are as people. It’s been repeatedly proven with Superman, and in this third issue, it’s proves equally as true with all our other combatants.
And what better way to have these classic heroes and villains redefined than to go up against the shocking opponents revealed on the issue’s final page?! This is the brawl that fans have been dying to see, and it looks to be the headline bout for issue #4! How will this affect the outcome of the tournament? Be sure to keep your eye on DC.com because you’d better believe we’ll be breaking it all down for you!
DC K.O. #3 by Scott Snyder, Javi Fernández and Alejandro Sánchez is now available in print and as a digital comic book. It can also be read on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Donovan Morgan Grant writes about comics, graphic novels and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @donomark and X at @donoDMG1.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Donovan Morgan Grant and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
