At New York Comic Con on Saturday, DC Comics revealed major news for Batwoman: her creator, writer Greg Rucka, will return to the title in 2026, alongside artist Dani and colorist Matt Hollingsworth.
The new Batwoman will be set in Greece and based on a story Rucka has wanted to do for a long time. The last time he wrote the character was in the 2010s, in an aborted Detective Comics run with art by J.H. Williams (whose art is the featured image, above) that was canceled early after Rucka publicly cut ties with DC.
Finished art from the upcoming Batwoman has yet to be revealed, but panel attendees were treated to unfinished artwork at NYCC. The series will be the launch title for DC Next Level, which begins in March 2026 and spins out of the current DC K.O. event.
DC K.O. Updates
The DC K.O. tournament will determine who is worthy of fighting Darkseid. Friday’s “Jim Lee and Friends” panel confirmed that the multiverse tournament will feature characters outside of the regular DC and Absolute universes—including Mortal Kombat‘s Sub-Zero, horror icon Annabelle, Vampirella, Homelander, and Samantha from Patrick Horvath’s Harvey Award-winning series Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.
Saturday’s panelists included editor Paul Kaminski and creators Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Javi Fernandez, Hayden Sherman, and Jeremy Adams. Following the DC All In initiative, which revealed Darkseid as a larger-than-life ending presence, DC K.O. is meant to be a comics March Madness. The idea is to motivate conversations about who’d win in a fight, bringing serious hype to the panel.
“I took some time away from DC. Josh was saying that the culture and climate were great now, and creator forward,” said Snyder. “We thought about these things with All-In. Rethought how we want to redo events, to get people into stores, but we committed to the idea [of DC K.O.] if three things are in place.
“One, a great story. Huge escalation of things we started with All-In,” he continued. “Two, priorities. We want you to feel invited in. If you haven’t read it, everyone can read this, like Saturday morning cartoons and steroids. What superheroes mean to us in tough times. The third thing is that the event should be something on the other side of it and give us an even better version of DC.”
Snyder said the major theme of the DC K.O. event, which aims to transform the winner into a cosmic monster strong enough to stop Darkseid, is: “Do you become your enemy to save the universe?”
Adams talked about Aquaman and seeing him turn into an Omega fighter. He said, “He’s become an avatar of the blue, become very OP, but that elemental force being corrupted is messing with him as well.
Spoilers for DC K.O. below.
The panelists revealed that characters face off in 1v1 battles in their standard forms in the first round of the tournament, but can later respawn in any version of themselves from DC continuity. Fights specifically mentioned include:
- Superman vs Captain Atom, who later comes back as Monarch.
- Aquaman vs. Hawkman
- Wonder Woman vs. Lobo
- Cyborg vs. Swamp Thing
- Harley Quinn vs Zatana
- Jay Garrick vs. Guy Gardner
- Lex Luthor vs. the Demon
- Red Hood vs the Joker
- In round two, Hood returns as Robin.
DC Next Level
In addition to Rucka and Dani’s Batwoman as the launch title for DC Next Level, which begins in March 2026, it was revealed that artist Skottie Young will draw Lobo.
DC Next Level will feature “lots of new talent,” and the idea is to offer many entry points for readers. That said, the panelists said the era won’t take away from existing lines, but launch more plans.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage from NYCC ’25.
English (US) · 