Comic Reviews: January 2026 part 1

Comics read this week:

• DC K.O. Knightfight #1-2

• Absolute Batman #4-5

• Secret Origins (1986) #38

• Green Arrow (2016) #18 - 20

Spoilers for those issues ahead!

DC K.O. Knightfight #1-2

I skipped ahead in the KO tournament to get right to Knightfight. Batman and the rest of the family are my favorite DC characters so the temptation to begin with them was too strong!

I loved how this series started with Batman appreciating his sons. The showcasing of each of their strengths in his POV was very sweet. Giving them each their own title of leader, rebel, brains, and heart. It’s such a great nod at the character growth the boys have had throughout their own stories. It might be hoping for too much to wish Bruce would tell them that to their faces by the end of the series, but that would be my perfect ending!

I was surprised that all the robins we meet briefly are trained by Dick and his friends. When I first saw them I was guessing which of the sons trained who just from appearances and weapons, trying to suss out whose influence they had. I thought for sure some of the character designs were nods to the other sons.

Living up to his title of leader it was great to see Dick having created a whole world wide network of Robins. To learn that even after the heartache of losing his dad and brothers he still kept to his morals of connection and duty. And even now faced off with Bruce again he still reaches out to try to save him. Yet, his weakness is compassion. 

WAIT WHAT? It’s not real?! Who’s version of the sons is this reality pulling from? Is it what Bruce thinks of his sons or is it The Heart of Apokolips creating these illusions based on other perceptions?

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Next up is Jason, as brooding as ever, saying he’s dead and that all he is now is Batman. It’s great to see Bruce express his fear he may be wrong and that Jason’s willingness to put down their enemies may be the right way to handle things. He still has admiration for him. I like that each reality he ends up in that the sons keep trying to convince him he’s crazy and imagining the tournament. Guessing part of Batman’s challenge is to overcome a lot of mental struggles more so than physical, facing the consequences of his actions in mentoring his sons as crime fighters. 

It’s heartbreaking the future he sees for Jason is of him being alone. I’m still working my way through Jason’s comics, but from what I know he grows very close to some teammates and even a bit to his family again. I’ve been playing DC Dark Legion a lot and the game recently had a side quest that centered around Jason. (Spoilers ahead!) In the quest he gets visited by Arsenal, Starfire, and Artemis to be of help and emotionally support him on this quest where he confronts his past. They all have such cute interactions with him so I can’t wait to see those connections play out in the comics.

It’s interesting in all these false realities that the other sons are all killed except for one. Why can’t there be more than one at a time? Tell me what y'all think, is the vibe that the boys are they way they are because of Bruce or in spite of him?

The art is gorgeous for both issues. I absolutely love the character designs of Dick and Jason. And the futuristic Gothams.

Absolute Batman #4 - 5

It’s interesting to see a reimagined ‘Year One’ for Batman. I haven’t read that book yet, but I watched the movie version a few months ago, it was fantastic so I need to add the comic to my list. (Man, this list is growing day by day!) 

I loved his almost vampiric rendition of his costume in the beginning. I thought for sure we were going to see that scene be a retelling from a witness to that fight scene, as a dramatized depiction of what happened. But surprisingly he really was that spooky. Very reminiscent of Batwoman and her more supernatural vibes.

Damn, Bruce’s speech in the courtroom scene was amazing. Truly in awe of this kid having the courage to get up there and say that to his father’s killer. The whole throughline of the issue with the memory of Bruce’s dad and their conversations regarding his construction project was a great way to give meaning to the path Bruce set on in becoming this version of Batman and his choice of civilian career.

This comic flowed really well, the jump from past to present and the intermix of past conversation that gave meaning to his actions. I liked the character design for Bruce from growing up from kid to young adult, and seeing him get beefy as he trains, the artist had some cool in between phases. I love that the artist draws the background and side characters so uniquely too, I hate when background characters all have ‘same face syndrome’ so it’s refreshing to have more attention to detail. 

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I don’t have many thoughts on issue 5. It was enjoyable. The confrontation with Roman was really good. I absolutely loved the symbolism of the bat signal burning away and disappearing as Bruce loses the fight. Are we ruling out Bruce as a meta human cuz this guy got lit on fire, stabbed, shot at, run over, and thrown from a building and he’s still moving. 

Glad we got to see Barbra again, and confirmation that she’s a moral character. I hope we see her join Batman’s team in the future. So far he doesn’t have many allies, especially with Alfred telling him off. I’ll beg the writers to give me the bat boys in future issues. 

I’m interested to see how Bruce’s decision to go against Alfred’s plan will play out. I don’t have any confidence in Alfred’s secret organization to actually bring Black Mask to justice. I think the organization knows more than what Alfred thinks they do and he’s going to get double crossed, especially now that he’s acting against orders. So I expect we’ll see him defect and join Bruce once more.

Secret Origins (1986) #38

Another issue read for my dive into Roy Harper’s stories! This was an interesting journey through his and Oliver’s backstories. These are the post-crisis origins.

It was very cute that Roy was reminiscing with his daughter the whole time. I hope he ends up being a good dad as I follow father into his comics. It’s always either you break the generational curses and mistakes your parent’s / guardian’s make or you emulate them. Now I gotta get into the Teen Titans series to see his relationship unfold with Cheshire! And find out why his identity is now public.

The scene in the issue about Green Arrow launching him from the arrow car without planning on how it’ll work, reminds me a lot of the story that Adam West told about shooting scenes in the old 1960 Batman TV series. He said that in scenes where they were driving and had Burt Ward (Robin) in the sidecar that they would detach it and never knew where Burt was gonna end up once it stopped. Was that a nod to the show? Batman even got named drop that page, so maybe! 

Is the Indian Reservation backstory problematic? Yes, I know we have to give some leeway to it being a product of a different time period. Why make Roy white if you wanted Native American culture to be connected when the representation could have gone to a native character? It was a short comic so maybe they go into it further in other books. He didn’t interact with the culture much, so it just feels like it was used as a stand-in for humble beginnings, to then be taken in by the rich guy trope. It’s also a further can of worms if we go into the ‘white savior’ trope too. 

Green Arrow (2016) #18 - 20

WOW! These comics blew me away! Choose these 3 comic issues since they feature Roy and are an important plot point for his character.

I loved the new take on Roy’s backstory, meeting of Oliver, and his ascension into becoming Speedy. The plot line of him coming back to the reservation and helping with the pipeline protest was really cool. I remember when protests for the Dakota Access Pipeline were happening on the news a decade ago, it was amazing then seeing people gather together to stand up for their community and protect their land. This is great social commentary to highlight that issue.

The art is really beautiful. I love the character designs and especially the color and shading. The backgrounds are so beautifully detailed too. I found myself stopping every few panels to study all the fine details, lighting, and shading. 

Roy’s brother Bird does give voice to that white savoir trope I mentioned, when he asks Green Arrow why he’s there helping out. “What does this have to do with you anyways, great white hope?” I wonder if Bird’s hate for Roy is 100% because he thinks their dad was killed by him, or if it started before with the pain and disdain he has from the effects of colonization. In the flashback to their childhood he’s clearly not happy that their dad is teaching Roy how to shoot an arrow, but another take on that can be he’s unhappy his dad’s attention is being taken away from him.

I see a lot of parallels in this flashback of Roy and Oliver’s fight that ended their relationship just like in ‘Snowbird Don’t Fly’ (see my previous post for that issues review), except this time Oliver didn’t punch Roy. Roy got into partying with alcohol and weed then kicked himself out after their fight about it. We see that Oliver was ignoring him just as he did in the old version, he’d been away for weeks longer than he promised. Then Roy's living out on the street turning to harder stuff.

Did he actually see Olly when he called for help in his drug haze? That was unclear to me if he imagined it or not. Getting seduced by Vertigo and overcoming his influence was an interesting choice in him rising above his addictions. I don’t read it as inherently sexual but it seemed a step farther than manipulation. It’s so sad to see the change from how excited he was talking about his trick arrows to Oliver, with having meaning and a purpose in life being his sidekick, to being so low and in pain. Even when he’s free from Vertigo’s influence, he thinks he can’t rely on anyone but himself. This retelling didn’t have anyone with him to help him through it like last time, he had to save himself. Absolutely love that he says he’ll be his own hero.

The ending present day arc of him discovering his adoptive fathers killer and choosing to spare him, yet still blaming himself for the death due to his addiction, was a great point to make. A lot of people in recovery will never say they aren’t an addict anymore just because they’re clean and sober. The mentality of you’re always an addict is present. Many of the recovery programs have you keep yourself accountable for your actions. While in Roy's case he knows he was just a kid when it happened he still acknowledges the pain he’s caused due to his choices. It’s such a great character growth moment for him to achieve this realization and then try to move on and reconcile with Oliver by asking him if he needs help.

I like this origin story from the rebirth era better than the silver age one. Roy having more involvement with the tribe and their struggles gives that part of his back story more meaning. I wonder how I would have found his fight with Olly had I not known the Snowbirds plot before reading this. I was less angry at Oliver's treatment of him in this than in Snowbirds, but I wonder if it would have been just as upsetting if this was my introduction to that storyline.

I was very impressed with this series and will definitely be coming back to read it from the beginning! I never set out to be a Green Arrow fan, but alas it was inevitable.

 

That's the recap for now! I’ve got more comics lined up for January. Stay tuned to see what I read next!

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