DC K.O. was the end of the first phase of DC All-In, pitting the heroes of the DC Multiverse in a battle for creation against Darkseid, who had found the key to taking over everything in DC All-In #1. The story was sold to readers as a tournament arc, but didn’t really follow the rules set out for those kinds of stories, which led to some readers complaining about the story, starting a minor controversy. It all ended with Superman defeating the Final God, setting up the next major chapter of the saga. Despite the complaints about the way the tournament arc was executed, DC K.O. was an unequivocal success, giving readers a great story that set things up for the future.
The end of the story revealed that Darkseid’s plans were still ongoing, with him turning his sights to the Absolute Earth. This ending revealed something else important as well – that the King Omega tournament wasn’t just happening on the Prime Earth, but on other ones. It was multiversal and we got a look at various DC heroes different Earths having the tournament in other dimensions. This was an interesting development and readers were wondering when it would get brought up again. All of that brings us to Dark Knights of Steel II #1, a story that returns to the medieval Earth to see how the heroes are doing after the war against the White Martians. The beginning of the issue gives readers a major tease for the story but this might also tie into DC K.O. and the overall plot of DC Comics.
Dark Knights of Steel II #1 is a fantastic comic, dropping readers back into its story seamlessly. The book kicks off with a flashback from the narrator of the issue (I don’t want to spoil who the narrator is here because it’s a major reveal at the end of the issue) telling the story of the past of their world, from before the Els came from Krypton. During this flashback, readers get to see Darkseid battling the Queen of the Sea over a comet that fell to the Earth. The flashback ends with the narrator revealing that the comet fragments gave them the power to see everything.
So, at first, this doesn’t really seem to be related to the King Omega Tournament. It’s a moment from the past and it looks more like one of the many multiversal Darkseid invasions we’ve seen in numerous comics over the decades (like in the beginning of the New 52, where he attacked numerous Earths all at once) than the tournament. However, readers learned something interesting about Darkseid in DC K.O. He was able to transcend time and space as the Final God, meaning that his attacks take place in every universe whenever he wants them to.
Dark Knights of Steel II #1 is an Elseworlds book, taking readers to an alternate Earth. The event with Darkseid in the beginning of the issue takes place before the story of even the first series, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be related to the King Omega tournie. See, the whole point of the contest was to generate Omega energy, so that Darkseid could ascend to his Final God form and take direct control of the multiverse, which he already has technically done, since he exists in all points of time at once. However, that doesn’t mean that the only way to generate Omega energy is the King Omega contest.
Darkseid’s first attack on the Dark Knights of Steel Earth could have been a part of his overall plan, since he is basically timeless now and can exist in every moment at once. However, that attack might only be the beginning. Teasing Darkseid in a DC comic usually means one thing – that we’re going to see more of him. If this series follows the structure of the last one, then we haven’t even got to the actual main plot of the book. This book could easily turn into a story that sees the heroes fighting Darkseid. His current plan is all about becoming the very multiverse itself, so it’s safe to assume that any attacks by him anywhere in the multiverse is related to that overall scheme.
Darkseid has become DC’s biggest villain and his latest plan is easily his most dangerous to the multiverse. This is more than just getting the Anti-Life Equation to take control of the people of one Earth. He doesn’t just want to be in control, he wants the entire multiverse to be him. The King Omega tournament is meant to generate the energy he needs to transcend and since we’ve seen his Final God form, we know that he did succeed at some point in time. However, Darkseid has always been empowered by Omega energy – it’s the opposite of the hope energy that Superman is the source of – so it stands to reason that he could generate in other ways as well.
DC is definitely on a Darkseid kick and Dark Knights of Steel II #1 may be playing into that. Right now, the God of Evil is the main villain of the whole multiverse, so any appearances we see of him, even in comics not set on the prime Earth, could (and honestly should) be related. DC K.O. set up this idea that the lord of Apokolips was enacting a plan that spanned the entirety of creation. The minute I read this issue, the first thing I could think of was that the whole thing was related. The company has been doing an amazing job of making their line coherent and there’s a good chance that this story will play into the overall storyline of the DC Multiverse.
Dark Knights of Steel II #1 is on sale now.
What do you think about Darkseid’s plan? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
