CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER!
This week, DC Comics launches DC K.O., a linewide event book by Scott Snyder and Javier Fernandez in which, in order to stop Darkseid’s latest plot to destroy the Earth, 32 of DC’s heroes and villains must beat each other up. How does a fight tournament stop a powerful cosmic tyrant like Darkseid? Dunno! Suppose we’ll find out!
In the meantime, the ComicsXFamily took a look at who’s in the tournament and filled out the brackets available at dckobracket.dc.com. Whose bracket will bust first? Which member of the Trinity will go all the way? What dark horse won a surprisingly non-zero number of brackets? And most important, which of us is the best at MS Paint?
Check out the brackets, and let us know on socials who you think is most likely to win the tournament. We’ll update our brackets as we’re able.
Dan Grote – Wonder Woman
Armaan Babu – Power Girl
Scott Redmond – Lex Luthor
Anna Peppard – Wonder Woman
Tony Thornley – Superman
Sean Dillon – Superman
Adam Reck – Strong Lady (Power Girl)
Rasmus Skov Lykke – Wonder Woman
Austin Gorton – Power Girl
If you’re keeping stats, that’s two votes for Superman to win it all, three votes for Wonder Woman, a shocking three votes for Power Girl and one vote for Lex Luthor. For more on our bracket choices, we go live to the broadcast booth with Scott Redmond, Rasmus Skov Lykke and Dan Grote:
Scott: We probably all agree, one of the Trinity or an internal favorite is primed to run away with this thing. Where’s the fun in that, though? Storytelling possibilities are far more plentiful with other characters, some of whom barely get any spotlight.
“But Scott, your two finalists are well-known, well-used characters.”
OK, sure, but the possibilities are still vast with others. Can you imagine Lobo the champion? Cyborg? The rhyme-dropping Demon? Neither can I (corporate comics after all), but it could be fun. So to have my cake and eat it too, I went with Lex Luthor. Well known, yes, gets a lot of spotlight, formidable, but still someone who could come with more off-the-beaten-path results if he wins it all.
Then again, it would be fun to see Diana wipe the floor with him.
Rasmus: For my brackets, I treated each fight as its own separate thing and figured out who I thought would win that individual fight. Which means I will definitely get some wrong, because of the latter match-ups making more sense (I think Batwoman would win over Cyborg, but I have no doubt that Cyborg and Swamp Thing will end up fighting, because the visuals are just too sweet for them not to).
For the final winner, I can see Luthor take it. But unless we get a sacrificial moment with Superman intentionally losing because Luthor has a better shot at the final victory, then I don’t see Lex winning over Superman. And having Superman and Wonder Woman fight the final fight is very interesting. I think he is more powerful than she is, but she is by far the better fighter. And she has access to magic, which is one of Superman’s known weaknesses. So in that fight, she takes it.
But secretly, I hope it’s a non-Trinity character that wins the whole thing.
Dan: If I had my druthers, Barda would take the whole enchilada, but DC loves its main characters, so as soon as I paired her up against Harley Quinn, I knew she was cooked.
Of the Trinity, Wonder Woman feels like the least obvious choice, but there’s just something about centering Superman on the cover of the first issue and then treating him as a foregone conclusion that bothers me.
Anyway, on to the tournament. May the best punchy person win!
Buy DC K.O. #1 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
Scott Redmond
Scott Redmond is a freelance writer and educator fueled by coffee, sarcasm, his love for comic books and more "geeky" things than you can shake a lightsaber at. Probably seen around social media and remembered as "Oh yeah, that guy." An avid gamer, reader, photographer, amateur cook and solid human being. Follow him @scottredmond.bsky.social.
Rasmus Skov Lykke
Rasmus Skov Lykke will write for food (or, in a pinch, money). When not writing, he spends his time with his wife, their daughter and their cats, usually thinking about writing. Follow him @rasmusskovlykke.bsky.social.
