Fan-Favorite Superhero Shockingly Becomes DC Canon Again

by

Superheroes often vanish from comic book universes during big events or when publishers restart their storylines. It’s unusual for legal problems to cause a hero to disappear, and even rarer for them to come back. But a well-known teenage superhero who used to be with DC has just made a successful return to the main DC comic book world.

Superman’s return happened in DC K.O.: The Kids Are All Fight Special #1. Written by Jeremy Adams and illustrated by Travis Mercer, the story focuses on Jon Kent, the younger Superman, who was unexpectedly put in charge of watching the Justice League Watchtower while the younger heroes considered too inexperienced for the DC K.O. crisis were left behind.

The babysitting job became much more complicated when Fairplay, the son of Mister Terrific, noticed a strange energy reading on Earth. He realized it was linked to Granny Goodness, one of the New Gods, who had kidnapped him as a baby and raised him until his father saved him. Fairplay then asked his friends for help finding Granny Goodness, and Jon Kent quickly joined the chase.

The young heroes quickly learned what Granny Goodness was up to: she was brainwashing young people into becoming Darkseid’s slaves, just like always. But this time, instead of slowly breaking them down, she was using a new machine that messed with people’s brainwaves. She was also searching for a powerful young hero, believing their abilities could make her army truly invincible.

What teen superhero returned to the DC Universe?

Despite their best efforts and having support, the young heroes couldn’t defeat Granny Goodness and her Female Furies. Luckily, the hero Granny was looking for was nearby and prepared to jump back into action. It was Virgil Hawkins, also known as Static, who swiftly disabled Granny’s mind-control device. This gave the other heroes the chance they needed to fight back and drive the evil New Gods away, forcing them to retreat to Apokolips.

Until recently, Static’s place within the main DC Universe was uncertain. He first appeared in 1993, created for Milestone Media. While DC published his comics and those of other Milestone characters, Milestone retained ownership of them.

Static is best known as the star of his own cartoon, Static Shock, which first aired in 2000. Though initially created as a separate entity, Static Shock later became part of the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) in its second season. This made many people believe Static was a full DC Comics hero, even though he was technically just licensed to DC. He also appeared as a character in the Young Justice animated series.

Back in 2008, DC Comics integrated characters from the Milestone comic line into its main universe, which briefly included Static Shock as a member of the Teen Titans. More recently, in 2020, DC relaunched the Milestone Universe with the ‘Milestone Returns’ special, establishing it as a separate universe distinct from the main DC Earth Prime continuity.

The recent DC K.O. special revealed that a version of the character Static exists on the main DC Earth (Earth-Prime). Now, fans are wondering how this Static’s backstory compares to the one being reintroduced in the Milestone Returns series. Luckily, the upcoming “New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident” seems poised to explain the differences.

DC K.O.: The Kids Are All Fight Special #1 is now available at comic shops everywhere.

Read More

2026-01-28 19:57