DC K.O. #3: The Joker Gains Advantage in Superhero Tournament

This post contains a preview for DC K.O. #3

In the midst of a major superhero tournament crossover, DC has just confirmed a major villain upset thanks to none other than The Joker. Having manipulated his way both into the tournament and past the second round, DC K.O. is now teasing that the Clown Prince of Crime is about to receive a huge advantage going forward.

Releasing this week, the preview pages for DC K.O. #3 confirm a shocking twist following The Joker's showdown with Red Hood and its surprise ending. Not only has The Joker moved on to the King Omega's tournament's next round, but he's currently winning the entire tournament thus far.

DC K.O. #3 Confirms The Joker Is Still A Contender (And He's Got The Advantage!)

During the previous round, Joker and Red Hood were pitted against each other in a brutal best-of-three showdown. While they each won a round, the final clash ended with Jason Todd's Red Hood bleeding out after landing the decisive blow.

However, Joker had a secret device that restarted his heart, making him the winner essentially on a technicality. Now, the preview for Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson's DC K.O. #3 officially confirms that Joker has advanced, while Red Hood was eliminated.

However, what's even more surprising is the Heart of Apokolips revealing that Joker has been outperforming every other contender thus far, having generated the most Omega energy than anyone else, thereby granting Joker the advantage in this new round that is set to turn the Elite Eight into the Final Four.

Naturally, this is pretty bad news for the remainder of the tournament. After all, the Justice League was hoping to empower a hero, as the winner will be granted power rivaling Darkseid (allowing them to hopefully stop the Lord of Apokolips before he destroys the universe).

Villains were never meant to enter the tournament to begin with (and yet some managed to still get in). Now, we have Joker leading the pack, and Lex Luthor is part of the Elite Eight as well.

Who Will Be DC K.O.'s Final Four Contenders?

Looking ahead, the remaining contenders beyond Joker and Lex Luthor include Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, Zatanna, and Guy Gardner's Green Lantern.

Although the heroes still have a majority (and Batman may have a shot at re-entering the contest), it feels likely that at least one of the two villains will reach the Final Four by the end of DC K.O. #3. As such, it's going to be very exciting to see which contenders are still standing by the end of this week's upcoming issue.

DC K.O. #3 is set to release on January 14th from DC Comics.