DC KO #5 – Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Writers; Javi Fernandez, Xermanico, Wes Craig, Artists; Alejandro Sanchez, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: It all comes down to this, the biggest-scale DC event in ages, as the King Omega has been crowned – and it’s Lex Luthor. The scheming tyrant backstabbed Superman at the last minute, and now stands alone against Darkseid with the universe at his disposal – but does he even know how to use it? The first few pages indicate that he may have drastically misjudged this situation. And far away, in another dimension, Superman waits – for one man, the one who killed him and now may be his path back to life. Doomsday’s story through this event and the work of Josh Williamson has been fascinating, the story of a character who was born to kill, longs to die, and now found a new purpose in life just before the end. He and Superboy Prime have been two of the all-stars of this era of DC Comics, and if this is a goodbye to Doomsday, it’s the best story he’s been involved with in decades.
But of course, it wouldn’t be an event without a truly shattering final battle. Once the battlefield is reset, it’s the match-up we wanted to see all along. The rules of this tournament have always been a bit…wonky, but who cares when it’s this entertaining. This fight, if you can even call it that, has elements of Snyder’s previous “Metal” events, as well as the more meta-influenced nature of Final Crisis, with both of the final combatants battling to tell the right story about this era of DC. And that’s a great hook for this final issue. We do know a little of what comes next – we know Superman is going to be going away for a while, in a way that feels less like a shocking twist and more of a natural progression. And Wes Craig comes on board to do an epilogue that teases the future in a way that has me more excited than ever. This has been a phenomenal event, just big enough, and it looks like it might have just been the appetizer.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
