DC K.O.’s main series took a break in December. In its place we got eight comic books that told the story of the Sweet 16 round. Each of these comic books gave us one of the eight fights that made up this round of the DC K.O. tournament. Luckily DC Comics made the choice of releasing all the DC K.O. December tie-ins on the DC Universe Infinite app. That provided the opportunity to check out all of the comic books that made of the Sweet 16 round without breaking the pull list budget. With that we rank the eight comic books here:
8) DC K.O.: WONDER WOMAN VS LOBO
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joëlle Jones
Artists: Jason Howard, Cary Nord, and Daniel Bayliss
Colorists: Tamra Bonvillain and Daniel Bayliss
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
The Wonder Woman vs Lobo fight is a reminder of tie-ins at their worst. The fighting is fine and what you expect from these two fighting. But unlike other tie-ins, neither combatant looks particularly good. The dialogue is as basic at best and outright makes you want to stop reading at its worst. On the Wonder Woman side, it appears that this was the weakest version of the character we have seen with how she fights. For Lobo, his characterization makes you wonder why DC Comics thought it was a good idea to give him a solo series as part of DC Next Level, and one of the first at that. This comic book instead leaves you not wanting to read either of their solos.
7) DC K.O.: HARLEY QUINN VS ZATANNA
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: Mirka Andolfo
Colorist: Romulo Fardo Jr.
Letterer: Steve Wands
Harley Quinn vs Zatanna had maybe the toughest job of any of the Sweet 16 round one-shots. That is convincing us that it would take a dedicated comic book for Zatanna to defeat Harley Quinn. Unfortunately, Leah Williams and Mirka Andolfo failed to do that. This is the fight that should’ve gone two long rounds rather than go the full three. Then at least it would have something different going for it. Also, it would’ve gotten over how Zatanna overcame everything that Harley Quinn throws at an opponent is difficult to deal with.
6) TITANS #30: CYBORG VS SWAMP THING
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Pete Woods
Inker: Bruno Abdias
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Cyborg vs Swamp Thing in Titans #30 was a missed opportunity to do more with these characters. Because with how all the fights are structured the uniqueness is the forms each fighter takes. The forms Cyborg and Swamp Thing come across as generic choices as they could get. It would’ve been cool if we would’ve gotten something like Cyborgs animated version used or leaned into more of the horror elements for Swamp Thing other than just bloody violence.
5) SUPERMAN #33: LEX LUTHOR VS ETRIGAN THE DEMON
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Lex Luthor vs The Etrigan Demon maybe suffered the most from its predicatability. With how Lex Luthor was positioned in the first two issues of DC K.O. his loss would’ve been the biggest surprise other than Superman and Wonder Woman. Joshua Williamson and Harden Sherman tried to build some intrigue by giving Etrigan a decisive quick opening round win. Ultimately the fight went as expected with Lex Luthor coming out on top in the final two rounds. A victory that was just never in doubt.
4) DC K.O.: SUPERMAN VS CAPTAIN ATOM
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Sean Izaakse
Colorists: Trish Mulvihill and Hi-Fi
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Superman vs Captain Atom had the job of setting up what readers of DC K.O. can expect from the Sweet 16 round. In that it is successful as we get to see the best-2-out-of-3 fighting game style set-up for these comics. Each one choosing different forms was cool and it was good that it was the first one out. Because outside of that the fighting was fine. It was missing the back-and-forth feel as the three rounds felt quick.
3) FLASH #28: JAY GARRICK VS GUY GARDNER
CREATIVE TEAM
Writers: Mark Waid and Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Vasco Georgiev
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin
As one of the final chapters of the Sweet 16 round, Jay Garrick vs Guy Gardner followed a similar structure. What made it a slightly better than others was the personalities of both. They are so different that it made the forms they choose reflect that. It also does a lot that The Flash #28 continues the Wally West vs the Absolute Legion of Darkseid story that may be the best part of DC K.O. right now.
2)AQUAMAN #12: AQUAMAN VS HAWKMAN
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Jeremy Adams
Artist: John Timms
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Aquaman vs Hawkman was the most surprising fight of the Sweet 16 round. Going into this this felt like it could’ve been the most evenly matched fight. Instead it turned out to be the quickest as the only one that went two of its three rounds. That alone made this a refreshing read, especially compared to others that just followed the same structure for varying results. This in turn helped put over the increased power level Aquaman has gotten leading up to DC K.O.
1) DC K.O.: RED HOOD VS THE JOKER
CREATIVE TEAM
Writers: Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson
Artists: Dustin Nguyen and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: John Kalisz
Red Hood vs Joker did something that the others in the Sweet 16 round failed to do. That is utilize the DC K.O. setting to explore the fighters current characters. Given the history between Jason Todd and Joker, something the other fights lacked, there was plenty of story potential to mine. That’s exactly what Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Dustin Nguyen and Giuseppe Camuncoli did. This was especially needed for Jason Todd’s character after the rough publishing year 2025 has been for him. The ending also added some intrigue for how we could possibly see DC K.O. #3 start off.
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