Dave-El's Spinner Rack: Justice League

 It's another edition of Dave-El's Spinner Rack as I look at some new comics I've recently purchased and read.

First of all for today's post is DC K.O.

Everybody who is anybody in the DC Universe,super heroes and super villains have come together....

...to fight each other for the privilege of saving the Earth.

The Quantum Quorum (Time Trapper, a reformed Gorilla Grodd, World Forger, and Booster Gold) have news for the Justice League: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are dead and the Earth has been destroyed.

Which given that the Earth is still here and Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are standing right there, well, that is surprising news.

Well, that's time travellers for you. You're already dead and you haven't been born yet, wobbly wobbly, time wimey, you know the drill.

The Quantum Quorum has witnessed it all come to pass:  Darkseid has returned to the Earth, killed it's last defenders and left the world a smouldering ruin. 

Here's the wind up:   Darkseid's home world Apokolips' heart runs on Omega Energy, and Darkseid has placed its heart on a different earth, creating it in his own image, becoming King Omega. 

(This is what's been going on in DC's Absolute line of titles which I understand to be quite good but I'm not getting them because I'm not made of money.) 

Darkseid is coming to the current main Earth of the DC Universe to do that again.  

Batman comes up with an idea: why not create their own "King Omega" before Darkseid gets here.

The Quantum Quorum explains that to make that work, only one person can use the King Omega energy and that person needs to be determined through combat.

Everybody has to fight everybody until only one remains to become King Omega. 

Since this plan involve everyone fighting full out balls to the wall full power to the damn death, Superman objects to this plan.

Batman and Wonder Woman convince Superman to re-consider and the game is on.

Step one is to get remove super villains from the playing field. Can you imagine if the Joker or Lex Luthor gets to King Omega?

So they get zapped to the Phantom Zone. So that part of the plan works.

Until it doesn't. Damned if Joker and Lex don't show up anyway!

While plans are made for a mass evacuation of the Earth (in case this doesn't work), our assembled heroes and villains cross through Skartaris Nexus to this center of the Earth to participate in the tournament. 

It's like the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. With super powers instead of basketballs.  

The first round whittles our forces down to 32. Batman does not make the cut, apparently killed by the Joker.

And there is another joker in the deck: Darkseid has been there the whole time, disguised as Booster Gold. 

Well, we're fucked! 

The field of 32 are challenged to secure 16 items of power such as power rings,  Blue Beetle's Scarab, the Lasso of Truth and more.   

Chaos ensues on the battlefield when Starro the Conqueror sends out multiple copies of himself to control the combatants.

(Side note to my son Dean: Please stop giggling at Starro the Conqueror just because he's a giant alien starfish! Yes, a giant alien starfish of astonishing cosmic levels of power you need to respect and....I SAID STOP LAUGHING!) 

Superman and Lex Luthor get into a throwdown which is not going Superman's way. In order to dominate the contest to win King Omega, the ultimate champion will need to be completely and ruthlessly comitted to victory at any cost. 

That's the sort of mind set that Lex is born with and Superman can't quite wrap is head around. The most powerful man in this contest may not win because he's spent a lifetime not using that power to it's maximum potential.

DC K.O. is a bold  exercise in comics universe crossover excess from writer Scott Snyder and looks good thanks to some exciting art by Javi Fernandez.  

Meanwhile, while all sort of shit is going down in DC K.O., what pray tell is going on in Justice League Unlimited?

Mr. Terrific is leading a team on a mission into Hell! 

So just another day in the Justice League, I suppose. 

Mister Terrific brings together several time-displaced superheroes to journey to Hell where there are complications afoot to hinder efforts to save the Earth, obtain King Omega and stop Darksied once and for all.  

It's quite an eclectic team that includes the Terry McGinnis Batman from Batman Beyond, the electric blue Superman and spear for a hand Aquaman. 

Writer Mark Waid and artist Dan Mora are still delivering some solid work on the title but it is inherently tied to the events of DC K.O.

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Next week, my comic book themed post will look back 50 years to comic books I bought in January 1976.