Review: ‘DC KO: Superman Vs Captain Atom’ Is An Unexpected Duel
by Tony Thornley
We knew an “all fight month” was coming to give DC KO a short break. What I didn’t expect was the depth of the first round- DC KO: Superman Vs. Captain Atom.
Joshua Williamson, Sean Izaakse, Trish Mulvihill, Hi-FI and Dvae Sharpe bring the battle to life.
Round three has started, the one-on-one fights. Superman finds himself facing one of his closest allies, Captain Atom. But Clark Kent is not prepared for the lengths that Nathaniel Adam will go to win…
Williamson makes the right choice on page one. DC KO so far has HEAVILY been centered on Superman. The main event has largely been from Clark Kent’s perspective, and series writer Scott Snyder has stated that this is his Superman event. On top of that, Williamson is Superman’s main writer at the moment.
So what does he do? He tells this story from Captain Atom’s perspective. And it works so much better because of it- we don’t get much of Cap’s perspective very often. The last time he had a series was the New 52. So we get some of his motivations, and we see him as the pragmatist and strategist that he needs to be to win. The first two issues have used omnipotent narration to hammer the point that Clark isn’t prepared to do what it takes to win, instead protecting others. By making that same point from Captain Atom’s perspective- and see Clark’s attitude shift over this one shot- we get it.
Izaakse’s art works really well here, despite the big departure from the main event. His figure work is relatively simple, but that means he puts much more effort into page composition and layouts. With the time and reality bending nature of the story, that made the action click better than just an all-out brawl.
Mulvihill and Hi-Fi both made the entirety of the color art consistent. It’s again a reality bending story, and they add a lot to the overall vibe. The world is ending, but these two heroes need to duke it out. That’s the tone they’re able to set. Sharpe is able to make a narration heavy story click incredibly well too.
DC KO: Superman Vs. Captain Atom is available now from DC Comics.
Overview
If this is what the rest of the month is like, I’m excited to see it. The creative team fires on all cylinders and I can’t wait to see how the rest of it plays out.
