Action Comics #869 (2008)

Action Comics #869 (November, 2008)
"Brainiac, Part 4: Mind Over Matter"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Gary Frank
Inker - Jon Sibal
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Colorist - Brad Anderson
Associate Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99

Well, here's an issue with a cover that proceeds itself, eh?

Many folks might remember that this bugger caused quite a stir back in ye' old 2008.  It depicted Superman and Pa Kent having an evening chat... each holding a beer.  Wha-wha?

Yeah... there was a bit of backlash against this... folks didn't want to see Superman with a beer, and so... there was a recall and reissue... with some very poorly Photoshopped "Soda Pop" labels added to their... very brown bottles.

The updated image almost appears annoyed at the backlash... as, if we look at it... how hard would it have been to make that label say "Root Beer"?  I mean, just take a look:

Oh well... whattayagonnado?  Apparently, 1,000 copies of the "beer cover" made it out into the world... so, if you managed to get your hands on one, make sure to get that bugger slabbed.

Where do I stand on the non-troversy?  Well... I really don't have a problem with Clark sharing a beer with his father, but I'll admit... I'm not exactly torn up about it being changed to soda.

--

Picking up where we left off yesterday, Brainiac's skull-ship has arrived in the skies over Metropolis... and it's causing quite a mess!  On the rooftop of the Daily Planet, Supergirl looks on in shock... this isn't the first time she's experienced... or at least heard about something like this.  She insists Lois leave while she still can, as she prepares to fight off the Brainiac-bots.

Meanwhile, inside the ship, Brainiac appears to have Superman in some sort of claw-hold... pressing his thumbs into Superman's temples... to the point where he begins to bleed!  He mocks Superman for being Kryptonian... but acting human.  He insists that no matter how powerful he (Brainiac) becomes, he would never assume to be anything but Coluan.  Superman's had about enough... and bites through Brainy's... er, umbilical-like cord? 

Luckily, this is enough to cause Brainiac enough distress to back off.  Superman then punches the baddie right through the pod he'd come out of.  With him out of the way... he looks through Brainiac's "collection" in search of Kandor.  He is drawn to one bottle in particular by the sound of... his father's voice?  Well, not exactly... he learns that it's actually the voice of his uncle, Zor-El... Supergirl's father!

It's here that he (and we) learn that the people of Argo City used Brainiac's own leftover technology to erect a dome over their city... which is how they escaped the devastation of Krypton.  Pretty sneaky, huh?

Some time passed... and Brainiac kinda "homed in" on his dome-y tech.  He approached the floating Argo City, and began to integrate it into Kandor.  It's at this point, Zor-El and Alura sent their daughter Kara to Earth.  Everything's being woven together... and I'm digging the heck out of it.

Superman continues to listen to his uncle's story, until Brainiac recovers and resumes his attack.  In Metropolis, Supergirl continues to hold off the bots... until she is brain-probed.  Lucky for her, Lois didn't heed her warning... and slams the attacking bot with a fire extinguisher.  She then looks skyward... and realizes that a dome is growing over the city!

It looks as though Brainiac has won!

What an awesome page!

His final act for this chapter is... taking care of Earth's pesky Sun (just as he'd done with all of the other cities he'd added to his collection).  In Smallville, the Kents see a red blur heading toward the Sun.

--

Another great installment as we rocket toward the conclusion of Brainiac!

As mentioned yesterday... this definitely feels decompressed, however, I can't get mad at it!  The pacing all feels pretty perfect.  Of course, this time around we're not only looking at this once a month... I'm sure that affected the way I received it back in '08.

So...what do we have here?  Well, we get some new "lore", for starters.  The people of Argo City were able to nab some of Brainiac's leftover tech... and used it to erect a dome over themselves.  This protected them from the destruction of Krypton... and would ultimately lead to their being discovered, and integrated into the bottle city of Kandor.  I dig that.  I really like it when everything is connected... probably why I'm so stuck on continuity... eh, pobody's nerfect, right?

The cliffhanger we get here... actually feels important!  Metropolis has been "collected", and just as he's done every other time he added something to his collection, Brainiac sets to putting out the Sun.  We gotta remember, he needs to wipe out the planet/galaxy entirely so that he's the only one with the knowledge.  Very sinister... and I really dig it!

Overall... this Brainiac story, as said several times before, feels like a modern classic.  Definitely recommended.  Johns and Frank feel like a real dream team here... and, even though we're in the "nebulous interim" between Infinite Crisis and Secret Origin... this feels like "must" reading.

--

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Action Comics #868 (2008)

Action Comics #868 (October, 2008)
"Brainiac, Part 3: Greetings"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Gary Frank
Inker - Jon Sibal
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Colorist - Brad Anderson
Associate Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99

Hey everyone, today we're going to be discussing a "key" issue... lemme tell ya what, it's the first-appearance of Brainiac!

Wait, whattaya mean he's been around since 1958?  No, that was just a robot probe!  This is Brainiac's first appearance!  Get this bugger bagged and boarded... Hell, get it slabbed!

I, uh... appear to be the only one excited about this.  Hmm...

Okay, enough of that... of course this isn't the first-appearance of Brainiac... buuuuut, it's the first time (in the canon of the Nebulous Interim) that Superman is actually meeting the green-skinned geek.  Boy, I'm glad I don't write for the DC Wikia... this kind of stuff would drive me nuts!

Let's get to it!

--

We open in Metropolis where the male employees of The Daily Planet are positively falling all over each other in order to be drafted as an errand boy for Cat Grant.  I really don't get it... are we supposed to think she's like drop-dead gorgeous here?  I'm really not getting that.  Anyhoo, at this point everyone's attention is directed to a nearby window where... Supergirl has popped her head in looking for her cous... er, Mr. Kent.  Using her x-ray vision (with a dash of naivete) she notices some odd plastics in Cat's boob-al region.  Lois is able to diffuse the situation... and pulls Kara into a stairwell for a chat.

Supergirl is desperately seeking her cousin... which is our cue to transition spaceward, where we can see him being probed and tubed by some leathery-lookin' Brainiac drones.

While "under" Superman has visions of what Brainiac did to that planet last issue.  This causes him to spring awake.  He noggin' knocks his captors... and in a pretty gross scene, pulls this... sort of organic-looking... tube out of his throat.  He then vomits all over the floor.

He gets a hold of himself and begins to wander through his new environment... finding pods containing various forms of alien life.  A disembodied voice calls for "Koko"... which triggers a white beast (which is likely named "Koko") to launch itself in Superman's direction.  It doesn't take much for the Man of Steel to kayo the thing... he even knocks out a few of its teeth for good measure.

And so, Superman continues... finally coming across a room full of the miniaturized stolen cities.  Picking up on a bit of (untranslated, natch) Kryptonese, he follows his ears to... Kandor!

"Do you see that?"

"A shadow"

"A shadow of the sky"

"There has never been a shadow of the sky"

"What is it?"

Kandor is pulled away right before Superman's eyes... and then, finally... he (and we) meets the real-deal Brainiac.

Annnnnd, they fight.  Brainiac claims that Superman now "belongs" to him.  He captures these cities... before destroying their home planets... in order to be the only entity with the knowledge... with which, he will "be evolved into perfection".

Back in Smallville, Pa Kent is mendin' fence... when he is joined by Ma.  Together, they see a blue bird falling from the sky... and an ominous wind begins to pick up.

Back at Brainiac's, Superman has been tied up in some more organic tentacle-things.  Here it is definitely alluded to that Brainiac had something to do with what happened to Krypton's Red Sun.  Also that he'd been hunting for that escaped child... Kal-El himself, for quite a long time.

After some more fighting, Brainiac threatens Superman's new home planet... and his cousin.  And so, we wrap up with the ominous sight of Brainiac's skull ship in the skies over Metropolis.

--

Ya know... I usually give "decompressed" stories a lot of grief... but this is really very good!  The pacing just feels right... and even though it very much is decompressed, I don't feel like I'm being robbed of story reading this in single-issue form.  Though, to be fair... I'm not exactly waiting a month for the next installment either.  I can't remember how I felt about this back in 2008... I know I was still buying it, perhaps I just wasn't as engaged.

It's here that we finally meet Brainiac, and the crux of our threat is introduced.  We learn that Brainiac was very likely the reason Krypton's Red Sun went kaput... and boy oh boy, does he come across as a creep!  Johns (and Frank) really upped the scare-factor on this dude, transforming him from an arguably less-serious character into a cold, calculating "means to an end" truly frightening villain.

The concept that Brainiac wants to be the only person with various bits of knowledge is intriguing... and really plays in to his compulsive hunt for Superman over the past few decades.  This was all really well done.

The Earthbound bits were also quite good... providing some much-needed comedy between the more serious Superman scenes.  I still think the new-look Cat is pretty creepy though... but, I'll bet I'm supposed to.

Overall... this bugger is decompressed, but still just so good.  It's not often I can wholeheartedly recommend something this stretched out... only other thing that comes to mind is the early arcs of Ultimate Spider-Man!  I've said it before... but this feels like a "modern classic", and I'd certainly urge anyone interested to check it out.

--

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Action Comics #867 (2008)

Action Comics #867 (September, 2008)
"Brainiac, Part 2: Hide and Seek"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Gary Frank
Inker - Jon Sibal
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Colorist - Brad Anderson
Associate Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99

I hate it when I have to use a "stock" image of a cover.  When I pulled this issue out of the longbox I discovered that it looks like one of my dogs used the bottom corner of it as a chew toy.  Whoops.  Guess I'll have to keep an eye out for this one at the cheap-o bins!

Thankfully, the nibbles haven't affected the Johnsian goodness on the inside... and so, we get to continue our trek into the Brainiac saga!

Let's go!

--

We pick up right where we left off yesterday, with Brainiac still seeking a Kryptonian.  Looks like the attack on Superman didn't provide the proper amount of data required after all!  We shift scenes to the Fortress of Solitude, where Superman and Supergirl are examining the body of his robot assailant.  It's here that Supergirl reveals that this isn't Brainiac at all!

Superman is confused... and kinda dismisses the notion.  He tells her that nearly every time Brainiac returns, he has a different "look" to him.  He is chilled when Supergirl informs him that... he's never actually met Brainiac.  The weirdos he'd fought over the years were only part of Brainiac's programming.  What's more, nobody has ever seen the real Brainiac!

From here the discussion gets a bit... uncomfortable.  Ya see, Supergirl actually grew up on Krypton... despite the fact that she appears far younger than Superman.  Ya see, she was sent to Earth... as a young adult, to keep an eye on her baby cousin Kal.  The thing of it is, she got stuck in a stasis... and only came out of it recently... when the baby she was sent to protect had already grown into a man.  Now, Brainiac... from the attack on Krypton and taking of Kandor (which we saw last issue), had become something of a Boogeyman... someone Kara grew up to fear intensely.  She wishes she could trade her time on Krypton... be just like her cousin without any memories of the place.

We shift scenes to Smallville, where Clark is having dinner with the folks.  He tries to explain the Brainiac bits to them... and, bless their hearts, they play along best they can.  After dinner, Pa takes Clark out to the barn to show him some of his mementos... including a baseball Clark hit clear across town, and a pair of burnt out shoes.

The scene wraps up with Clark using his heat vision to inscribe "World's Greatest Dad" on a horseshoe.  You get the feeling all this might be leading somewhere?

Back at the Daily Planet, Clark chats up Lois about what's going down, including some concern he has for his cousin.  Their discussion is interrupted by... Steve Lombard, who appears to have gone to the Guy Gardner School of Manners.  He chucks a football at Clark's back... then right at poor Jimmy Olsen as he's carrying in the Dream Team's coffees.

We next follow Superman back to the Fortress of Solitude, where he checks over some Kryptonian files in hopes of uncovering a bit more of the Brainiac mystery.  He comes across one file in particular... which refuses to continue playing.

This... somehow... tells him where he needs to be.  And so, he heads for some planet that is being overrun by Brainiac bots... which he fights off while they attempt to capture another city.

At this point... and here's where it gets weird-er.  The Brainiac Skull ship fires a projectile into this planet's Sun... exploding it... and the rest of the planet as well.  Is this supposed to signify that he might have had something to do with what happened to Krypton?!

We wrap up with Superman's body floating right into the path of the Skull ship... and it looks as though the Brainiac inside has finally found his Kryptonian!

--

Well... a lot to unpack here, right?

Let's start with the easy stuff... it's pretty clear that Pa Kent just ain't long for this world, right?  I mean, they're telegraphing this pretty hard here.  Not that it's necessarily a bad thing... or a good thing.  It's just something that's definitely on its way... and it feels like we're cramming about ten pounds of sentiment into a five pound jar.  Again... not a bad thing.  If you're going to do something this drastic, it's best to make it feel as though it matters... and that's what they're doing.

Now, the idea that Superman has never actually met the real-deal Brainiac... I like it!  Johns has always had a knack for making everything fit into place... we saw him pretty much single-handedly make sense out of Hawkman just a few years prior.  This was a quick and easy way to explain away the various Brainiacs, while still keeping them all in continuity.

In making him a sort of Kryptonian boogeyman, Johns really upped the creep-factor on him.  Seeing Supergirl shiver at the thought of confronting this character she'd been raised to fear really raised the stakes.  It made a character who, perhaps many, dismissed as a relic into a scary force to be reckoned with.  Really awesome work here!

Now, I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into this (and it's been a decade since I last read this)... but, after Brainiac's probe-bots domed that city at the end... the planet was "doomed" into oblivion.  Was this to suggest that he might've done the same to Krypton post-taking Kandor?  It's an intriguing thought... and one that might only be in my head... or, might be completely obvious to those who memory of this arc is a bit fresher.

If I had to nitpick... my only question has to do with Superman somehow knowing where he needed to go from the Fortress.  Maybe it's my density, but I just don't know how he concluded where he needed to go.  Did he have other monitors up while going through the files?  Maybe it's obvious... but I missed it!

Overall... a great chapter that introduces a lot of "food for thought".  I'm looking forward to working my way through this arc... it really has that "modern classic" feel to it!

--

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Action Comics #866 (2008)

Action Comics #866 (August, 2008)
"Brainiac, Part 1: First Contact"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Gary Frank
Inker - Jon Sibal
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Colorist - Brad Anderson
Associate Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99

Here's a question... how can a comic be really good, and totally maddening at the same time?

Well... to answer that, we're going to have to investigate the era of Superman that I refer to as "The Nebulous Interim".  This is the period of time between Infinite Crisis (2005-2006) and Superman: Secret Origin (2009-2010).  A period of time responsible for some really great Superman stories... however, one in which nobody seemed to know what was going on!

It seemed we were constantly promised that a definitive origin was "on it's way"... while being almost condescendingly patted on the head and told not to worry about it.

Now this isn't the first time we're covering a book from this era... but for some reason, the Brainiac arc, to me... "personifies" everything about it.

Without further vamping... let's get to it!

--

We open on Krypton (35 years ago)... and we find ourselves in the middle of an invasion!  Looks like Brainiac has found his latest city to bottle up.  General Zod, Ursa, and the rest are powerless to stop him from "doming" Kandor... and taking it away.  I'm not sure if we're supposed to be seeing this for "the first time"... remember, we're still in that weird interim between Infinite Crisis and Superman: Secret Origin... where things are just sorta thrown out there.

That takes us to the present day, where Perry White has assembled his Daily Planet Dream Team... which includes a returning Cat Grant... and the "brand-new" Steve Lombard?  I know what you're thinking... we already knew Lombard.  Well, yeah... but we're in Superman's "nebulous era".  Some things stuck... others didn't.  Though, to be fair... I don't think we've seen much of Steve since the original Crisis.  Anyhoo, he's an ass... and Clark causes him to trip out of his chair.

Cat has been reimagined as something of a... cougar?  Is that what we call her?  She pushes her newly-enhanced chest into Clark's face, and when he doesn't respond, she suggests he's from "another planet"... wonk wonk wonkkkk.  Worth mentioning, they do mention that her son had been killed earlier on... so, I guess that's some continuity we'll be holding onto.

Lois and Clark con-fab after the meeting, but Clark is hears that there might be trouble heading their way, and "supes up".  I've given Gary Frank a lot of guff over his Superman drawing style, but here's a really nice page:

We shift scenes to Smallville, where Jonathan Kent is "mendin' fence".  He's being stubborn and not waiting for the weekend when Clark can help him.  Ya think they might be telegraphing something with this scene?  Nahh...

Elsewhere, Superman catches up to the incoming "asteroid"... and is surprised to see that it's not an asteroid at all, but instead... Brainiac!  The brainy-bot attacks Superman with a... needle-on-the-end-of-a-tube... "pok"ing him in the head.

The battle ends abruptly... Brainiac scans Superman's Kryptonian blood... confirms that it is, in fact Kryptonian... then collapses.

We shift space-ward, and board Brainiac's skull ship.  Inside we see (a fleshy) Brainiac attached to dozens (maybe hundreds) of wires... each attached to a stolen "domed" city.

We zoom in on Brainiac himself... who we learn has been attempting to locate a Kryptonian for quite some time now.

--

If you can ignore some of the nebulous continuity, this was a really good opening chapter.

Let's talk about that nebulous continuity though.  I'm getting the impression that this was supposed to be the first time "we" saw the taking of Kandor... otherwise, why re-tell a tale already so ingrained in Superman lore?  I mean, who doesn't call it "The Bottle City of Kandor"?  To simply call it "Kandor" almost seems wrong!  Superman clearly recognized Brainiac when they faced off... so, it's not like we're passing him off as an entirely new concept.  I dunno... this whole era was kind of maddening in that way.

Then we have the Daily Planet Dream Team.  Cat Grant, returning from a stint on the West Coast... and looking kinda rough.  Clark's back to referring to her as "Ms. Grant", which seems weird considering what a large role she played during the Death-and-Return era.  But then again, Clark has reverted into "goober" form at this point anyway.

Steve Lombard gets an introduction... and is treated like a brand-new character.  Not sure why this bugs me so much... it wouldn't be so hard to suggest that he also went "off campus" for a time.  Especially when just a little while later, Secret Origin will establish that he's been at The Planet longer than Clark anyway!

Worth mentioning the Ron Troupe is also present and accounted for... though, if you blink you'd miss him.  No mention of where he came from, all we know is that he hates Steve Lombard... and "ignorance".  I guess it might've seemed forced if they mentioned that he filled in for Clark while he was "dead"... so, I can't get too mad at it.

The Smallville scene, brief as it was... is pretty important for what's to come.  Without giving it all away, not that it isn't common knowledge, things change after this arc.  This really is a "nothing will ever be the same again" sorta thing.

The Brainiac fight... gives us a bit of action, and introduces the mystery of just what Brainiac wants.  Again, we're in that nebulous "in between", so it isn't clear what has or hasn't already been established.

Gary Frank provides the art... and he's in top form!  Hardly a sunken-in cheek or eye to be seen, except where they ought to be (lookin' at you, Ms. Grant).  This is before he went "full-Reeve" on his Superman model as well... which is a good thing.

Overall... this is an odd one to recommend.  No matter how good the story is, there's a part of me that just can't get "comfortable" in this... lemme say it again... nebulous interim.  I feel kinda like I'm flailing... and it also feels like the creators have far too much, I dunno, "freedom" with how things are handled.  When you take continuity out of the equation, it's hard to feel like there's anything really "at stake", ya know?

Speaking of nebulous... I still haven't the foggiest idea what the SIGHTINGS banner is all about.  I feel like I've got dozens of books in the library with that banner, and still don't know what it's all about!

Now, don't get me wrong... this was a fine issue, and I enjoyed my time with it.  If you were a brand-new reader (who came on post-Infinite Crisis, perhaps), I'd bet that you loved this!  If you're a seasoned reader, maybe you were a bit confused.  If you were a lapsed-reader.... fuhgeddaboudit!

Overall though... I think there's plenty to dig here regardless of your Superman "pedigree", just go in with the understanding that certain things just aren't going to make sense... or might even contradict previously established lore.  So, if pressed, I guess I'd fall on the side of "recommended".  This story has been collected in trade, and is available digitally.

--

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