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This article contains full spoilers for DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1.
We at Den of Geek love a good, whacky crossover. We want to see Archie Andrews get his spine pulled out by a Predator, we cheer when Spider-Man goes on Saturday Night Live. So when we learned that the Joker would meet Annabelle from The Conjuring and Star Sapphire would visit Sabrina the Teenage Witch in the one-shot special DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1, we were already adding it to our pull-list. But we got really excited when we heard about the issue’s marquee matchup, Superman going toe-to-toe with Homelander from The Boys.
Sadly, the issue falls far short of our expectations. Superman and Homelander appear together on just seven pages of the one-shot comic, four of which involve a single panel. While the two do trade a few punches and a headbutt, most of the fight consists of them shooting heat vision at one another. Worst of all, the fight has no clear conclusion. The showdown manages to disappoint everyone: fans of Superman, fans of The Boys, and, worst of all, fans of weird crossovers.
A Battle Royale
Boss Battle should have worked so much better than most comic book crossovers, simply because it’s part of the already gonzo DC K.O. storyline. The latest chapter in the company’s ongoing storyline about the death of Darkseid and the creation of the Absolute Universe, DC K.O. puts the company’s heroes and villains into a massive fighting tournament. The winner gets to claim the title of King Omega, which might be enough to stop Darkseid’s return.
Written by Joshua Williamson and Scott Snyder and illustrated by Javi Fernandez and Alejandro Sánchez, DC K.O. and its various tie-ins go deep into DC lore. Not only do we see unlikely battles (Hawkman vs Aquaman) and surprising team-ups (Lex Luthor and Supergirl), but we also see variations of the characters from across comic history. That means everyone from Electric Blue Superman to 1960s Captain Atom to Guy Gardner: Warrior gets a little attention in the series. And yet, as dense and weird as it is, DC K.O. is fundamentally a simple fighting story. It feels like a kid taking his toys and smashing them together until one falls over.
Because of the haphazard nature of the overall storyline, DC K.O.: Boss Battle made certain sense. The issue begins with those responsible for sending the mainline heroes into the tournament—Booster Gold, Doomsday as the Time Trapper, and the World Forger—experiencing ruptures in the multiverse. The ruptures send six mainline characters into alternate realities, where they meet the issue’s special guest stars.
Plastic Man and Black Lightning arrive in a different tournament, and find themselves fighting Scorpion and Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat. Lex Luthor meets Samantha Strong, the sweet serial killer bear from IDW‘s Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. Batgirl encounters the classic alien bloodsucker Vampirella. Star Sapphire lands in Sabrina’s hometown Greendale, while the Joker arrives at the Warrens’s house to meet Annabelle. Wonder Woman clashes with sword and sorcery character Red Sonja and Superman fights Homelander.
Or rather, we think that’s what happens, because we only get a few looks at each meet-up, leaving most the action off-screen.
Too Much is Too Little
In most cases, the excess of D.C. KO has been a good thing. The series has been a logic-free romp, one that celebrates even the goofiest parts of comic book storytelling while still staying true to the main characters. But Boss Battle‘s story exceeds the limits of its 31 pages. Writer Jeremy Adams, who has been one of the most reliable storytellers in DC’s current era, simply cannot find enough room to do justice for the 16 characters. The team of artists—Ronan Cliquet, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Kieran McKeown, Pablo M. Collar—do their best to make the scenes distinctive, but they can do little more than create splash pages.
In some cases, that’s fine. Wonder Woman and Red Sonja look cool facing off with one another, and it’s not like there’s thematic resonance to be gained by watching Plastic Man shout “You get over here!” while throwing Scorpion into Sub-Zero. These are fan debates on Reddit come to life in official form. And Adams does try to get creative where he can, as in the case of Annabelle vs. the Joker. Because Annabelle doesn’t actually do anything in The Conjuring movies, other than look creepy while scary things happen around her, the Joker just has a tea party with the doll, babbling about how he knows something weird is happening while staring at her.
But the Homelander and Superman fight could have and should have carried weight. While writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson have no ambition for The Boys beyond just using superheroes to depict depravity on every level, the Prime Video series has been some of the sharpest satire of our era. More than just an adolescent thought exercise in what someone would do if they could do anything, Homelander has come to stand in the emptiness of America’s current power politics.
So when Superman, comic books’ ultimate symbol of someone using their power for good, shows up in front of Vought American headquarters, we want to see him show Homelander that power isn’t all that matters. Or we want to see a darker story where Homelander’s amorality crushes Superman’s optimism. Or, at the very least, we want to see an exciting fight.
Instead, we get a couple shots of them punching, and then a handful of panels showing them shooting lasers at each other. No big points, no proof that one super-person is stronger than the other, no crazy reveals. Just the most perfunctory fight scenes before the end.
The Never-Finished Battle
Half the fun of a comic book crossover is just seeing unlikely combinations of characters. In that regard, Boss Battle succeeds. Even a longtime DC reader like myself never expected to see the Joker sitting down with Annabelle, and I really wanted to see Superman fight Homelander.
But a good crossover also uses the unlikely meeting to reveal something about the two characters. Even if the meeting doesn’t prove that one character is better than the other (and they rarely do),it at least should help us gain a new perspective.
DC K.O.: Boss Battle gives us no new perspective, no satisfying fights, and no compelling ideas. The fact that the story barely goes deeper than a plot synopsis means that fans of most characters involved will just have to keep arguing the merits of their faves online. In case of Superman vs Homelander, we’ll still never know if pure power wins the day or if truth and justice can win out, leaving us readers disheartened and disappointed.
DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 is now in comic book stores across the country.
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