DC K.O. #5
Scheduled to arrive in stores: March 4, 2026
Cover date: May 2026
“Chapter Five: The King Omega”
Writer: Scott Snyder and Joshual Williamson
Artist: Javi Fernandez, Xermanico and Wes Craig
Cover: Javi Fernandez and Alejandro Sanchez
Variant Covers: Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer; Jerome Opena; Ian Bertram; Mike Del Mundo; Ben Oliver; Dan Mora; Steve Skroce and Dave Stewart; Mahmud Asrar and Alejandro Sanchez
Reviewed by: Tony Parker
The tournament is over. Lex Luthor has won the right to beat DARKSEID and become KING OMEGA. What hope is possibly left for the DC Universe?
Just like in the flash forwards, we see the Trinity and Lois get interrupted from their game night by the arrival of DARKSEID. But while Batman and Wonder Woman go out to fight, Superman… Freezes. He knows someone is there… He demands they show themselves…
Doomsday, the time trapper himself.
He reveals the truth: Game Night wasn’t the actual future, it was a separate timeline made by himself to protect one figure alone, in case he lost the tournament: Kal-El, Superman. The Man of Steel is told by the one “meant” to destroy him that he now knows he was meant to save him, so that he can destroy DARKSEID.
Time Trapper has seen much death and rebirth, and to every force there is an equal and opposite reaction: Thus, to Omega Energy, there is Alpha Energy. Time Trapper explains that he can grant Superman this power, to create not a new ending, but a new beginning. To break the cycle they’re all in. This will in turn mean Doomsday will NEVER return. Superman accepts, then makes a promise to Doomsday: he WILL win.
Back at the arena, Lex is loving life. He feels all that power coursing through him. Finally, the greatest criminal mind of our time will destroy DARKSEID, will change the universe, will be what Superman dared to try and be.
But the Heart of Apokolips knows different… After all, to be King Omega…
That’s a job for SUPERMAN.
DARKSEID and Lex stand off, the genius gloating that he will easily win, only for him to instantly get vaporised, as out comes the one and only… The Man of Steel, the Last Son of Krypton, the Man of Tomorrow…
KING OMEGA SUPERMAN.
DARKSEID loves it. THIS is the battle he wanted. He tells Superman to put on his crown, to create that new universe in his mind, so they can battle for their dreams. Superman does so, seeing the new world as he always did see it: Beautiful. He then calls for the Heart, which takes its new place promptly.
And thus, the greatest battle in history takes place.
Their fight transcends time and space: Metropolis, Themyscira, the Rock of Eternity, Oa. All worlds of great heroes of truth, magic and will, all twisted by DARKSEID’s evil. This is not the fight of two people, two champions. This is the fight of two ideals, philosophies, universes. One forged by the fires of Apokolips, the other raised by the impossibly gentle hands of a last hope and a found child of Earth. Each strike by the Champion of the Oppressed attempts to birth said universe. But all this power…
And DARKSEID finds it nothing more than amusing.
It seems to be the end… It seems there is no hope… DARKSEID will surely win. DARKSEID always wins. Even now, at his strongest, at his most hopeful, Superman can’t handle such a being. Thankfully, The Heart is now at his side, helping him avoid the killing blow, take a breather in the past. Reminding him of what he wants, so desperately: Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow.
Superman begins building that universe… That symphony of life. It’s not without its strife, its flaws, its tears, but there is so much light in the darkness, so much sunshine in the rain. A world built on hope, maintained with belief, protected with bravery. If anyone can do it…
The Heart, once so jaded and cynical with DARKSEID’s hate, has become an admirer of Superman. All he had seen, all he had lived through… And still he loves.
But DARKSEID IS still there… And he almost wins, though The Heart intervenes in time. Superman escapes to the past once more, but DARKSEID’s attacks still arrive. The Heart motivates him, telling him to gain strength from the image of his universe. But DARKSEID IS too strong, and Superman keeps having to retreat… A losing battle…
DARKSEID claims it all, every element of the past, until they’re back at the Big Bang. What’s left? The Heart cannot believe this. It would seem that even Big Blue can’t do it…
Only for Superman to reveal his play: He was backing off to the Big Bang on PURPOSE.
The Big Bang, after all, contains all that potential, all that will be. Thus, if Superman were to absorb it…Thus, now, Superman is truly KING OMEGA, and can now TRULY fight DARKSEID.
DARKSEID approaches, thinking this to just be cowardice, only to get sucker punched, bleeding for perhaps the first time. Superman smirks. It’s on.
The Heart gives Superman all its Omega, to every part of him, as he begins to pound DARKSEID, who fights back, of course. Every punch a ripple through space and time, every strike a crescendo. The fight goes on for hundreds of millions of years, and it looks like Superman will win alone…
Except that’s when he stops playing. For this isn’t what he ACTUALLY wants… It’s what The Heart wants.
Removing it from his chest, Superman explains that he’s not quitting. He’s just bringing things back to how they’re meant to be, knocking back DARKSEID, even if only for a bit.
They all return: Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Guy Gardner, Lobo, Firestorm, Mr. Terrific, Aquaman, Supergirl, Power Girl, Hal Jordan, Star Sapphire, Black Lightning, more and more and more. The Heart cannot understand why, but Superman explains.
He is Clark Kent, not KING OMEGA. His win is one where they all win. Because no one should ever have that much power. Everyone should have a hand in this, everyone should be a hero… Including The Heart.
Superman must leave, for now, but until then, he breathes life back into this new universe, one no longer his perfect vision, but what it is meant to be, and the Alpha Energy creates a universe…
One that is wild like a Czarnian, dangerous like a mercenary, brave like a soldier, explosive like a nuclear man, terrifying like a demon, mysterious like a magician, twisted like a lawman, full of longing like a ghost, full of redemption like a reborn soul… A universe of lightning rods, willpower, wonder, royalty, resilience, justice…
A DC Universe, soon to be unmoored from the other universes… A multiverse reborn…
After all this, Bruce and Diana visit Lois for Game Night, the latter saying she’s okay, just misses him. Bruce wonders if the game really is over…
The players move around: Mr. Terrific notices an explosion of Alpha AND Omega energy, that could change many people; Booster Gold (now no longer possessed) is determined to find Superman again; Superboy Prime is the new protector of Metropolis; the formerly possessed Legionnaires hide in the future; Cyborg activates a protocol in Titans Tower; Lex arranges for some positive PR on his part; Damian Wayne Batman from the other universe notices other universes with other Batmen; Barry Allen’s computer is blown up by the forgotten Pandora; And DARKSEID knows that his Absolute Universe is still on hand for a war… As is his other army… The other earths that tried to have the tournament… Earths that will turn into Anti-Life…
An ABSOLUTE CRISIS.
The End… For Now…
And now DC… Goes to the NEXT LEVEL.
Story – 3: I struggled to figure out my score for this issue, as, in a way, it reflects my score on the entire event. But I do think sitting on the fence makes the most sense here. This was, in many ways, not what we thought it would be: a tournament arc where the tournament doesn’t really happen, a battle to the end that doesn’t actually end. In that POV, it IS a disappointment.
But there are so many great elements too, especially from a Superman POV. Superman never sacrificed his morals, he did what Superman would do. KING OMEGA SUPERMAN is going to go down as one of his coolest moments. It’s not an event without merit, and the Absolute Crisis event looks like it could be a real whopper.
But at the same time, if all KO was meant to be was set up for the next event… That’s kind of dumb, no?
I honestly don’t know how I feel, I see both sides of the argument. I guess after this massive journey of many months to review this arc, all I can say is that I love and hate how comics can make you feel.
But isn’t that great? That we feel this much? This event had pros and cons, great moments and stupid moments, it nailed Superman but flopped on other characters…
It’s comics. Sometimes it just IS what it is.
For what it’s worth, I have enjoyed this journey, and I hope you did too.
See you in the next crisis, I guess.
Art – 4: Purely for KING OMEGA SUPERMAN, look at him.
Cover Art – 2: Boring.
Variant Cover Art – 2: Eh.
Variant Cover Art – 2: Mediocre.
Variant Cover Art – 5: Now THAT’S a cover.
Variant Cover Art – 4: Darth Vader vibes.
Variant Cover Art – 4: Good DARKSEID look.
Variant Cover Art – 1: False advertising.
Variant Cover Art – 1: I don’t like AEW.
Variant Cover Art – 3: Solid.
Variant Cover Art – 2: Really nothing special.
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When was the last big event in which Superman was the sole, unequivocal protagonist? I’m just asking because those seem to be in very short supply nowadays.