REVIEW: DC K.O. Boss Battle #1
When the covers and pages were revealed, DC K.O. Boss Battle #1 set the internet abuzz. Superman vs. Homelander, Mortal Kombat returning to DC, and tons of indie comic characters. And Annabelle, she’s there too (highest grossing horror franchise ever). Does it live up to the hype it presented? The 31-page length prevents it from being the crossover event it imagines itself as, but still delivers pages and match ups that scratch particular itches for readers and fans.
Jamal Campbell’s cover is pure Fortnite vibes. When more than two IPs or fictional universes come together, we reach that level of crossover. Campbell has drawn the DC characters plenty of times so it’s interesting seeing him bring Dynamite’s, Archie’s, and IDW characters onto the cover of one of the big two comic covers. The cover also does not exaggerate, even though Superman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, and The Joker are the finalists, Black Lighting, Star Sapphire, Plastic Man, and Batwoman have been temporarily brought back.
While The Boys’ writer Garth Ennis may be a bit of sourpuss when it comes to superheroes (hence the creation of the series), artist and co-creator Darick Robertson is far more involved –having designed nearly every supe and their costumes in the series rich with DC and Marvel inspiration. It’s so sweet finally seeing the character he helped create go head-to-head with the character it meant to parody. There are tons of Superman pastiches out there, but few get chosen to actually try to take a swing at him. This probably the reason why so many people are buying this issue. Colors are by Diego Rodriguez.
Patrick Horvath’s Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, which tells the story of serial killer Samantha Strong and her efforts to stay hidden in the small community of Woodbrook during the 80s and later 90s. Everyone is also adorable, talking woodland creatures. He writes and illustrates the series and, for his variant places, his psychopath next to DCs foremost. Complete with their weapons of choice –Sam’s shots are meant to paralyze and not kill so that she may work later. Hope it’s stronger than the drugs at Arkham. Horvath’s watercolor-like art style makes a grisly (pun intended) subject seem homely. If there’s any of these characters’ original material I can recommend, it’s Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.
Other crossover-themed variants are available from Frank Cho, Jeffery Spokes, and Gleb Melnikov.
Booster Gold has been possessed by Darkseid. Unable to stop him on the Watchtower, the World Forger and Gorilla Grodd retreat back to Earth, just as the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Joker are about to engage Booster Darkseid along with the Absolute Trinity. The Chaos energy that created their universe has brought them into Darkseid’s control and our heros are not ready to face them. Desperate, the World Forger opens Reality Fissures leading to other worlds beyond the DC Multiverse to harvest Omega energy from that fighters that come through. After bringing back Black Lightning, Plastic Man, Batwoman, and Star Sapphire to help, our heroes are whisked across the multiverse.
Plastic Man and Black Lightning appear on Shang Tsung’s island in a tag-team fight against Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Scorpion was not advertised, so he is a special treat. Guess you really can’t have Mortal Kombat without both ninjas. Wonder Woman appears in an arena against the She-Devil with a Sword Red Sonja. That skimpy armor she wears is actually the source of her power and makes the wearer impervious to some forms of damage. Joker appears at the Perron family farmhouse where Annabelle, the possessed doll, awaits. Lex Luthor encounters Samantha Strong in the woods. She’s actually the size of a real bear and thus as strong as one. Batwoman finds Vampirella, another one of Dynamite’s golden girls. Star Sapphire finds Sabrina the Teenage Witch in Greendale. Finally, Superman meets Homelander outside Vought American headquarters.
Jeremy Adams for sure had fun writing this and its fun reading it especially when it goes differently than you would have thought. Come for the Superman and Homelander fight, get drawn into the Mortal Kombat fight, and stay for The Joker and Annabelle antics. The Superman and Homelander fight are a purely cathartic experience. In fact, Homelander sees more action here than the entire run of The Boys. His script is also much tamer, it has to be. There is stuff this man has said that should never leave the confines of its own pages. The Mortal Kombat fight really does look like something Nether Realm Studios would do –they have used three of those four characters in previous games. Joker and Lex’s respective experiences feel more like gags with Lex learning what it takes to survive a bear attack and Joker being infuriated at the fact that Annabelle does not actually move –it’s what happens around her. Wonder Woman vs. Red Sonja is the next best one while the Vampirella and Sabrina encounters are given only one page. Writing-wise, it can feel like an abrupt pause in the main story of DC K.O. and when we read DC K.O. #4, we’ll see if it is even referred to. Letters are by Tom Napolitano.
We have a team of artists on this with Ronan Cliquet, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Kieran McKeown, and Pablo M. Collar with colors by Hi-FI. Some of these pages and panels are print and t-shirt worthy. I will be thinking about Superman’s ascending underground punch for months. Mortal Kombat characters use their most recent designs from MK1 with great accuracy. Meanwhile, Vampirella and Red Sonja still rock the same swimwear-inspired suits they’ve had since their debut. Dynamite has no plans to fix what isn’t broken.
(8/10) DC K.O. Boss Battle #1 condenses an ultra-crossover into a 31-page issue. Some encounters clearly got more time than others and readers will commonly tell you they wished they had more. However, there are moments where I had to put the issue down to pump my fist in celebration. You know what parts I’m talking about.
