DC K.O.: Knightfight is a tour of possible futures Bruce Wayne could have if each of his four male Robins reshapes Gotham as future Batmen. Dick Grayson’s future sees him use his leadership skills from his Titan years to establish a successful Robin team. Jason Todd’s future sees him permanently eliminate crime from Gotham, while Tim Drake’s future sees him succeed Bruce as a true future Dark Knight.
Of course, given how these possible futures played out, it wasn’t exactly hard for Bruce to escape them – but that’s exactly the trap that the Heart of Apokolips sets up for the Dark Knight. It’s therefore not surprising that the sinister Heart saves the future Bruce absolutely wants for last. The way Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora execute this in DC K.O.: Knightfight #4 is 100% designed to break the hearts of Batman and the readers who desperately want this future to become reality in the main DC canon.
Much of issue #4 centers on the question of “Can Bruce Wayne truly be happy and still be Batman?” It’s a question that’s been consistently explored throughout Batman’s publication history, even as far back as DC’s Golden Age. Tom King even offered his own answer to that question in both his Batman: Rebirth run and his DC Black Label miniseries, Batman/Catwoman. Geoff Johns also explored that question from a different angle in his recent Justice Society of America run.
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For DC K.O., Williamson and Mora answer this question with a resounding “yes”. Both creators also argue that if Gotham does become a city that no longer needs Batman, Bruce would happily retire the cowl. Mora does a lot of heavy lifting to drive this point home by employing a stronger anime style in his artwork. Many of Mora’s panels borrow pages from slice-of-life anime, and the bright colors by Tríona Farrell convey a strong feeling of safety.
This optimistic tone is also reflected in the character designs. Adult Damian is drawn in the vein of many bishōnen protagonists that will (no doubt) spawn lots of fanart. His son Alfred is also presented with large anime eyes and a big smile, like many little kids in slice-of-life anime. Even Barbara Gordon is drawn with bigger eyes than usual (even by Mora’s standards), and the panel where Bruce and Cassandra Cain have a hearty laugh is presented with anime-style tears and large mouths.
Aside from conveying how badly Bruce wants this future to be true, Mora’s artwork also succeeds in making readers desire this future. This is also how Mora succeeds in setting the reader up for the inevitable heartbreak Williamson will unleash. In fact, the way Williamson raises the emotional stakes towards the end is quite cruel. Williamson chiefly accomplishes this by presenting the possible future characters as being aware that their world isn’t real but could be if Bruce follows the Heart of Apololips’ rules.
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This proves to be Bruce’s Achilles heel, as he would rather lose the fight (and ultimately the Heart’s game) than destroy the family he loves and the lives they’ve built for themselves. But the bigger gut-punch arrives when the Heart cruelly confirms that it would have still destroyed Little Alfred’s future, regardless of Bruce’s choices. The brilliance of Williamson’s writing here is that Bruce convincingly believes he’s been set up by the Heart to win the tournament and become the King Omega.
In reality, Bruce has been set up to lose, and the only people who know this to be true are the readers. Aside from Batman: Hush 2 still setting up a major shakeup within the Batfamily, both the main Batman book and Detective Comics are presented in a way that suggests Batman is largely estranged from his family in the present. Outside of Damian and Barbara being mainstays, Dick is carrying on with his life in Blüdhaven, Jason has already parted ways with Bruce, and Tim has already hinted he’ll probably be retiring Robin to build a future with Bernard.
At best, the popularity of this issue might spawn a future miniseries set in this possible timeline, but the point that DC K.O.: Knightfight #4 alludes to is that this future will never be Batman’s reality. It’s this cruel realization that makes the events of this story more emotionally impactful and not just a tie-in that reads like a bonus episode.
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