DC K.O.
“Chapter Four: Trial by Absolute”
Volume 1, Issue 4, April 2026
Released February 11, 2026
Cover Price: $5.99
Writers: Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson
Artists: Javi Fernandez, Xermanico
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhadu
Assistant Editor: Marquis Draper
Editor: Paul Kaminski
Heroes: Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Batman, Booster Gold, Superman, Wonder Woman
Villains: Darkseid, Joker, Lex Luthor
Setting: Metropolis, DCU, USA, 21st-century
Cover Description: This book has multiple covers; none features Booster Gold.
Brief Synopsis: The final four heroes and villains who made it through the third round of the King Omega tournament face Darkseid and his Absolute champions.
Booster Gold's role in this story:
Supporting (Booster Gold plays a lesser role)
Costume Worn: MARK I.v2 power-suit
Page 1, panel 1
Picking up where DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 left off, Booster Gold stands alongside Darkseid's three champions from his Absolute Universe (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman) facing off against the final four remaining contestants in the King Omega tournament (Joker, Lex Luthor, Superman, and Wonder Woman).
Page 5, panel 6
Booster Gold reveals to Wonder Woman what readers have known since DC K.O. #4; specifically, that he is really Darkseid wearing Booster Gold's skin. (Why Booster's skin? That's still unclear. Convenience? Cruelty? Comfort? Hold that thought until we get to page 17.)
Page 10, panel 1
In the very definition of the deus ex machina plot device, Batman (specifically Bruce Wayne, the Batman of Prime Earth who was killed in DC K.O. #1) abruptly returns from death and murders the Joker to save Superman. (Yes, murders. But the whole point of this story is that morals are for chumps when you're trying to become the devil to save the world. So... hooray?)
Page 10, panel 5
An editor's note credited to Associate Editor Marquis Draper indicates that Batman's journey through death was told in the ancillary tie-in four-issue miniseries DC K.O.: Knightfight (written by Joshua Williamson), where the Heart of Apokolips tested Batman for his fitness to win the King Omega tournament by getting him to admit that he couldn't win. (If this makes sense to you, congratulations! You're also ready to be K.O.'d.)
Page 14, panel 8
POWER DOWN: Superman drops Booster Gold Darkseid with "a punch that could break the world." In Booster's form, Darkseid should have had access to Booster Gold's force field, which has previously demonstrated resistance to Superman's punches and a Green Lantern's ring energy.
Page 17, panel 1
Darkseid literally crawls out of Booster's mouth. Ew.
Page 30, panel 1
In a flashback to events explicitly explained to take place before DC K.O. #1 (and presumably after Superman #30), Darkseid explains his plans to the Saturn Girl of his Dark Legion of Super-Heroes and has her look into the future where she sees... Booster Gold with a shredded costume bursting with power. Since Booster's costume is still intact back when we last saw him on page 17, is this a vision of a Booster Gold yet to come?
Boosterrific Review: What I've really come to dislike about this event, much like Death Metal before it, is that the whole thing is nothing more than a vibe. Consequences, character development, and even cohesive storytelling are totally irrelevant to the creator's intent, so you either enjoy comics that are a triumph of style over substance or you don't. And I don't. I very, very much don't.
Boosterrific Rating: Fool's Gold.
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