Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, DC Comics, Justice League, Superman | Tagged: darkseid, KO, lex luthor

Superman Kills Again In DC's K.O. #5 (Spoilers)

A history of Superman killing again, and again, and again and again... and now in DC's K.O. #5 with Lex Luthor

Superman doesn't kill. Except when he does. And one of the times that he does is in today's DC's K.O. #5, killing Lex Luthor. And this follows Batman killing The Joker in DC's K.O. #4.

He certainly threatened murder in his very first appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938; it was in the second issue that he threw a torturing soldier to his death, before causing a manned warplane to crash. In Action Comics #13, he causes a supervillain's plane to crash; the villain escapes, but his henchmen do not. In Superman #2 in 1939, he drops bombs on factories, destroys a manned dirigible, and allows someone to die from their own poison gas. In Action Comics #19, he again causes a villain's plane to crash while he flies off. In Action Comics #23, he throws one pilot out of a warplane before causing others to crash into each other. And then Superman #4 from 1940 saw him bombing planes and letting gangsters fall to their deaths. Later, he floods Luthor's island and everyone on it and kills a villain with the electricity that his body had been flooded with by reaching out to touch him. In Superman #7, he dropped iron girders on villains, but at this point, he was doing it a lot less. Action Comics #31 again went with the ironic death: a death ray was deliberately reflected back at the enemy spy who had used it on Superman. And in Superman #9, he throws someone in front of a bullet meant for someone else…

After this, Superman would start killing a lot less. The ironic death would happen occasionally, bullets bouncing off Superman and hitting the shooter, cars that miss him and fall off cliffs, that sort of thing, but even that faded away. He killed Mxyzptlk at the end of Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow by Alan Moore and Curt Swan in Action Comics #583, before retiring from being Superman as a result of his action.

He famously killed General Zod, Quez-Ul and Zalora with green and gold Kryptonite in John Byrne's Superman #22, carrying out a Kryptonian government-decreed death sentence, before swearing off killing.

This echoed the seeming fall-to-their-deaths of the powerless Zod, Ursda and Non in the Superman II movie, after the scene showing their survival was cut.

Parallel universes and alternate futures let him kill willy-nilly. Dark Knight Returns saw him kill Batman, after Bruce had a heart attack fighting Superman. Superman knows Bruce's heart issues and can hear them, but doesn't stop. It was a feint, but Superman did not know that then. In the world of Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Joker tricked him into killing Lois Lane and their unborn child, so he punched the Joker through his chest after he killed Lois Lane and their unborn child.

This flipped a switch in him, and he became an evil tyrant, leading him to kill more, like throwing Parasite into the sun, and Mogo and Ganthet, also into the sun. He kills Kalibak with his bare hands, punches Green Arrow to death, and blasts Black Canary and Shazam with heat vision. Another future version of Superman from Future State also threw Darkseid into the sun, killing himself in the process.

In the Elseworlds' story Superman: Speeding Bullets, the young Superman, found by Bruce Wayne's parents, kills Joe Chill with heat vision. DCeased saw a zombification of the DC universe, killing zombie Flash by letting him run into Superman. An Absolute Power version of the future, in Superman/Batman #15, saw Superman strangle Wonder Woman with her own lasso.

There were the ones where he was possessed, Superman was hit by Kryptonite and killed Doctor Light with heat vision in Justice League #22, and was possessed by Poison Ivy, killing Batman, but only for a bit.

There are also the non-human but still-sentient deaths. In Superman #13 in 2012, he killed a sentient Kryptonian dragon.

In JLA #99, he killed the vampire lord Crucifer. In Action Comics #847, he killed a Sun-Eater. In Justice League #1-5 in 2011, he killed plenty of Darkseid's sentient parademons.

He also killed villains Impreiex and Brainiac 13 by sending them back in time to the Big Bang in Action Comics #782, with some weak line about having their essence not die but spread out across the expanding universe.

He kills Doomsday in Superman #75, when they both fight to the death. And on returning to life, he killed Cyborg Superman in Reign Of The Supermen after punching him through the chest. And then he snapped Zod's neck in the Zack Snyder movie Man Of Steel, which caused Mark Waid to stand up, shout out anger and leave the cinema. There are probably many others… and now there is Lex Luthor in DC's K.O. #5.

But maybe Superman is playing the long game, taking on both Alpha And Omega, and rebuilding the world, the universe.

And when he does so, he does something else. As well as bringing back all life, and making them all part of him, becoming the true embodiment of the DC Universe, he also brings back death as well.

What does that mean? Well it means Superman is responsible for all life, but also all death. So Superman not only kills, but at one point or another, he has killed everyone. Except for Lex Luthor it seems.

Because Lex Luther has also been brought back to life. All better now. As the Celestial Toymaker says…

DC K.O. #5 by Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Javier Fernandez, Xermanico and Wes Craig is published by DC Comics today. You can read more Bleeding Cool DC's K.O. coverage right here…

DC K.O. #5 (OF 5)
(W) Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson (A) Javier Fernandez, Xermanico and Wes Craig
THE FINAL BATTLE FOR THE HEART OF APOKOLIPS! In the melee that started with dozens of heroes and villains vying for their chance to win the ultimate power in the universe, now only one remains! But to truly be crowned the King Omega, you must battle more than the obstacles in your path…you must battle yourself. It's the finale to end all finales as the one true champion is crowned, the fate of all that lives hangs in the balance, and a shocking decision will bring the DC Universe to the next level. We would type more, but honestly, anything else is a spoiler–so suit up, get ready, and leap into the final round! $5.99 3/4/2026

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