DC K.O. Knightfight #4 - DC Comics

DC K.O. KNIGHTFIGHT No. 4, April 2026

Whilst many a bibliophile may well get the impression from this comic’s rather lengthy foreword that writer Joshua Williamson was a bit worried the mini-series’ long-term readers might now be struggling as to what its overall narrative actually was, the American author doesn’t appear to dwell too much on the problem when it comes to Issue Four of “DC K.O. Knightfight” itself. Indeed, this particular twenty-two page periodical seems to spend no time at all in explaining just how Damian Wayne became Gotham City’s future Batman, and instead simply has its most pre-eminent members of the Bat-Family unconvincingly accept that they live in an alternate reality which will cease to exist when the all-powerful Heart of Apokolips decides to end it.

To make matters even more confusing though – especially for those fans who have somehow managed to stick with this spin-off title, the California-born writer also appears to have suddenly changed its goal posts by penning that the sentient machine disconcertingly now wants Bruce Wayne to return to its “deadly tournament” and become its victorious King Omega. Sure, the device still wants to punish the Caped Crusader for supposedly ‘cheating’ in its deadly contest. But its original plan now appears to have been side-lined in order to give the Dark Knight a greater purpose.

In addition, it may well strike some within this book’s audience that a clearly aged, costumed crime-fighter is given plenty of time with which to train both his brain and brawn before having to fight his son ‘to the death’. Everyone appears fairly causal about the World’s Greatest Detective shockingly coming back from the dead and being told that they’re not real, and this lack of haste badly affects Batman’s final bout of fisticuffs against Damian once it starts. Furthermore, the story doesn’t even end, as having shown Wayne admitting he can’t defeat a much younger, seasoned ‘keeper of the cowl’, this publication abruptly informs any onlookers to purchase another instalment of the “Crisis of Absolute Proportions” crossover event to find out what happens next.!?!

Disappointingly even artist Dan Mora appears utterly befuddled by this comic’s script, and appears desperate to finish the project as quickly as possible by utilising negative space for his backgrounds as much as he can. In fact, this sense of disinterest debatably even extends to the aforementioned highly-anticipated conclusion, where the Costa Rican illustrator desperately attempts to use lots of movement lines to cover over his rather basic-looking, poorly-detailed combatants.

The regular cover art of "DC K.O. KNIGHTFIGHT" #4 by Dan Mora

DC K.O. Knightfight #3 - DC Comics

DC K.O. KNIGHTFIGHT No. 3, March 2026

Considering that at the very start of this comic ‘all-star creator’ Joshua Williamson plainly spells out what this spin-off mini-series is apparently all about by having Batman categorically state that the Heart of Apokolips has arranged for him to fight his former Robins to the death, it’s probably still a safe bet that many within the book’s audience were nonetheless utterly bemused by the events they were witnessing. True, Bruce Wayne’s decision to team-up with his past proteges rather than fight them certainly seems to mess with the entity’s plan to punish him “for attempting to cheat” in the infernal machine’s fighting tournament. But it is never made clear anywhere within this twenty-page-periodical just what will happen to the super-hero if he does fatally kill the bogus Dick Grayson, Tim Drake or Jason Todd.

As a result, this publication’s rather choppy script arguably just plays out like some stories from an Elseworlds anthology, with each tale being tragically cut short whenever the Dark Knight finally manages to convince his fictious successor that they should work together. This pattern is genuinely frustrating, and leads to so many unanswered questions in the readers’ minds that by the time the cowled crime-fighter is shown facing his little grandson Alfred, any onlooker’s head will be positively spinning with an exhaustion and uncertainty; “You’re just mad that I beat your test my way.”

Similarly as perplexing as this comic’s plot though is also the logic of the Heart of Apokolips, which inexplicably does a complete U-turn midway through the narrative and irrationally offers Batman an opportunity to return to its tournament if he can “beat my [next] challenge.” Having already bested two of the sentient machine’s fake predicaments with relative ease, and developed a deep understanding of what he needs to do to continue winning, it appears highly unlikely that the Dark Knight will lose such a ridiculous bet – and indeed, in the very next contrived situation the Caped Crusader quickly emerges victorious.

Sadly, Dan Mora’s artwork also appears to become increasingly tired as the script progresses. It’s somewhat clear that the illustrator purposely changes his drawing-style to match the different trials and tribulations being thrown at Wayne’s masked alter-ego. However, these adaptions seem to predominantly rely upon the Costa Rican making his pencils become ever simpler to the eye, so by the time an aged Bruce encounters Damian’s aforementioned child, his sketched figures are debatably a mere shadow of those used during Clayface’s extraordinary rescue of a plummeting Red Hood during this issue’s opening sequence.

Writer: Joshua Williamson, Artist: Dan Mora, and Colors: Triona Farrell

DC K.O. Knightfight #2 - DC Comics

DC K.O. KNIGHTFIGHT No. 2, May 2026

Having made it clear half-way through this particular twenty-page periodical that both the spin-off title’s opening instalment, as well as this one, was arguably a redundant read - courtesy of the Dark Knight realising that the world around him isn't real, many within this comic’s audience probably felt a little despondent. In fact, seeing as Joshua Williamson subsequently pens Bruce Wayne nonsensically transforming into the shape-shifting criminal Clayface at this publication’s end, it’s probably a safe bet that more than the odd bibliophile was probably thinking the American author's latest plot twist for this book wasn't the best of ideas either; “You need to accept it, Basil. You’re not Batman. I am.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean for a second that Issue Two of “DC K.O. Knightfight” doesn’t have its merits, as the notion of Gotham being encased in a giant glass ‘Red Hood’ for twenty years so as to prevent the Joker’s deadly toxic gas from escaping the city’s limits could easily be the basis of an intriguing “Elseworlds” title in its own right. However, even this enthralling notion of a deserted metropolis ruled over by Jason Todd’s deeply disturbed incarnation of the Caped Crusader is soon ruined by the real cowled crime-fighter’s discovery that this twisted reality is also just a figment of the Heart of Apokolips’ imagination.

Furthermore, it is genuinely difficult to understand just what in the world the point of this entire mini-series’ overarching narrative actually is..? On the one hand the writer makes it crystal clear that Wayne was killed by the Clown Prince of Crime early on in the King Omega Tournament, and yet on the other the “sentient, infernal machine that runs on Omega Energy” apparently wants to punish the supposedly deceased Batman for wearing a suit of “Apokoliptian armour outfitted with special Boom Tube” during the event..?

By far this book’s biggest asset therefore lies not in its writing, but in it’s artwork, thanks to some genuinely thrill-a-second panels pencilled by Dan Mora. Whether an onlooker is a fan of this comic’s implausible storyline or not, there should be little doubt that the constant punch-ups between Bruce and Nightwing, as well as the Dark Knight’s brutal confrontation with a sadly deranged Red Hood, are absolutely packed full of pulse-pounding action.

Writer: Joshua Williamson, Artist: Dan Mora, and Colors: Triona Farrell

DC K.O. Knightfight #1 - DC Comics

DC K.O. KNIGHTFIGHT No. 1, April 2026

Considering that this was the fourth best-selling comic book of November 2025, it’s still somewhat difficult to imagine that all that many readers were completely won over by Joshua Williamson’s script for Issue One of “DC K.O. Knightfight”. Indeed, this tie-in title to the Burbank-based publisher’s 2025-2026 crossover event probably had many a Bat-fan scratching their heads in utter bemusement as a beaten Caped Crusader inexplicably finds himself “trapped within an alternative timeline/possible future – in which Dick Grayson replaced him as Batman.”

Admittedly, this disconcerting plot taps so wonderfully well into the ever-popular “Elseworlds” vibe that Bruce Wayne’s desire to discover more about the decidedly different Gotham City initially quite cleverly mirrors the wishes of this mini-series’ audience too. However, by the time the billionaire industrialist finally encounters the protégé who replaced him as his birth-place’s protector, so many ‘wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey’ events have been thrown at the reader that it’s debatably difficult to fully comprehend just how incredibly diverse this Robin Incorporated dominated world actually is; “I used the training you gave me and shared it with the world.” 

Furthermore, the Dark Knight which Nightwing previously usurped in this bizarre dimension is completely unrecognisable from the mainstream cowled vigilante - having apparently slaughtered the likes of Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne for daring to challenge him. However, for some reason that doesn’t apparently stop Grayson from repeatedly offering his former mentor an opportunity to simply stand down, and even leads to Dick going so far as to untie the supposedly homicidal Batman when they first meet so he can provide anyone listening with plenty of brain-bamboozling exposition.

Much more convincing than this comic’s penmanship is debatably its layouts with Dan Mora doing a top-job in imbuing all of the numerous Robins with the gracefulness one would expect from such acrobatic sidekicks. Of particular note has to be the artist’s ability to depict such a striking contrast between Grayson’s fighting style as opposed to that of Wayne, with Nightwing clearly appearing a much more fluid combatant over the older, and slightly slowing down crime-fighting veteran. In addition, Colorist Triona Farrell deserves a little kudos for making this publication’s futuristic metropolis such a vivid-looking concrete jungle, with the brightly-lit, neon-populated skyline appearing rather reminiscent of that seen in Joel Schumacher’s 1995 film “Batman Forever”.

Writer: Joshua Williamson, Artist: Dan Mora, and Colors: Triona Farrell