I have a couple of reviews coming up on the site today, namely DC titles. Action Comics #870 is up first just because of my disappointment with where the series ended up. Geoff Johns was doing a really great job and the only annoyance was Gary Franks rendering of Superman to look just like the characters who starred in the movies. It may have been his way of homage, but I could have done without it. Ultimately Geoff fell flat as the ending to this amazing series seemed rushed and lay out poorly.

Brainiac managed to bottle up Metropolis and he was definitely showing his mental prowess along with physical dominance over the man of steel in the series up until this point. Superman somehow manages to break free of the clutches of Brainiac who has been soundly whooping on Superman for over 4 issues now, but in the finale he is capable of turning the tables, stopping the sun from going Supernova, releasing Metropolis and Kandor from their bottled states and defeating Brainiac, while Jonathan Kent kicks the bucket in yet another Superman series, its definitely wore thin on me at this point because it has happened too many times across the Superman series’.

Brainiac being defeated by his bacteriaphobia or whatever it is that Johns uses as the turning point was hardly worth the finale read. It was just an unimpressive end for such an impressively reconstructed character in the Superman mythos. Looking at the re-creation of characters that is going on in the DC Universe, the almost complete revamp of some makes me really sad that DC has yet to sign on with UDE to continue the license for the Versus System yet. I would love to have this new incarnation of Brainiac in cardboard print.











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Look see I am catching up today during my Dallas game because there are just parts I can’t stand to watch. Damn I am all jittery. Anyway, I have two more reviews coming at you today for some series I felt just had to be done now or rather today because they are series that are showstoppers for this blog, Action Comics and Secret Invasion. We will start with Action Comics.



Action Comics has been a great read as of late, especially with the redefining of one of Superman’s greatest nemesis, Brainiac. I cant wait to see how they handle what has been done with Darkseid and the New Gods when the Final Crisis series wraps up. Brainiac could be a heavy hitter in the Final Crisis series, especially if he was as Action Comics is presenting him now, but I doubt we will see Brainiac there and we will have to settle with his fiendish creation who is trying to bottle up Metropolis and assimilate Superman.



Brainiac is definitely in control of the situation even as Superman is able to put the hurting on him temporarily to make some retcon information of his own. Supergirl’s parents are alive and within the bottled city of Kandor. Somehow they managed to escape the decimation of Krypton by Brainiac. Like I said Action Comics is redefining the Superman universe, especially when you look at these major retcons, first of all Brainac has control of Kandor that itself is a major retcon along with the character.



Other than all of this its bash and fight back for the city of Metropolis before it is finally bottled and Superman is detained by Brainiac as he launches some device at the sun in order to poison it the same way he did the sun of Krpypton. The next issue is the conclusion and it should be quite the read.



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Geoff Johns at the helm of Action Comics and this new Superman story Arc is absolutely amazing. Brainiac who is in my opinion the best villain for any Superman story other than Darkseid in some instances makes the series even greater. Geoff Johns is redefining the Brainiac mythos and it is in a way that has shaken even Superman at his foundations so why would it not do the same to the readers. Imagine for all the years and all the Superman stories within those years that you now have learned the being you thought you knew and were fighting is not the REAL thing, but a mockery and the real thing is far worst.



This is the story that Geoff Johns has been telling in the latest issues of Action Comics. There are some minor complaints with the story that makes one question its basis, especially after the first two or three issues. The biggest would have to be Supergirl's reaction to Brainiac which has never been filled with such fear and angst as it has been in this story arc and the other is the city of Kandor being within this Brainiac’s ship. Both point to some retcon’s in the Superman story. I don’t mind them so much; I just hope that what Geoff Johns has established here becomes a foundation for other writers when they are writing future Brainiac stories.



Superman has finally made it aboard Brainiac travelling vessel, not of his own will you will notice and definitely not in the position he wants to be starting out this fight, on an operating table being prepared for stasis it looks like. I love the scene because it reminds me of The Matrix with the machines harvesting the humans, which coincidentally Brainiac is doing as well, but just in a different way. He is taking the best parts of each race he conquers and is evolving so he can become a Supreme Being; apparently he has been busy at his conquest as well.



Superman seems a little shocked at what is revealed as I am because I was expecting a rather frail more mental type Brainiac, not this Brainiac that is revealed. He is a towering domineering figure every much the equal of Superman. In fact, Brainiac is the Superman we should have been reading about for quite some time. I for one fell off of reading Superman comics for sometime because of the way many writers have portrayed him as this strong but averagely intelligent man. This is a man who has much of the universe’s knowledge at his fingertips and much more in Kryptonian Knowledge and brain capacity, but yet the best we could do to tailor him for the modern age is write him up as a little more smarter than the Hulk in fights.



Either way he often resorts to sheer force as it is usually the tried and true method of fighting his opponents. Brainiac has a surprise for him though he is much stronger if not much wiser than Superman and he has evolved over the centuries and Superman is just to be a roadblock in his progression. I question whether actually beating this Brainiac will mean anything as in past we have seen Brainiac leap through everything, but with this highly evolved Brainiac what is the makeup of a Coluan? Either way Brainiac is over Metropolis and it is poised to become Brainiac’s next bottled city.

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Action Comics #867 released last week and I was definitely in my comic book store to pick this title up. As a matter of fact the store owner forgot to add it to my pull list and I was worried because this is definitely a must read series. Geoff Johns delves deeper into the true origins of Brainiac and he is doing so with great style and in a way I never really imagined. Here is the synopsis; everything you thought you knew about Brainiac over the years is just the tip of the iceberg, because all the various incarnations of Brainiac you have seen over the years were just probes, not the REAL Brainiac. I have no clue what that will mean or does mean, but Johns definitely has me eagerly anticipating.



The issue opens up strongly, a couple of panels showing Brainiac’s skulled vessel moving through space and a green humanoid in stasis, connected to his ship receiving information from his probes. The next 5 pages is where the issue takes the arc from mystery to horror, at least the way Kara talks about the atrocities Brainiac has committed. It is here that Kara reveals to Superman in the fortress that the Brainiac’s he has faced were just probes and that no one has ever really seen the real Brainiac. Kara describes Brainiac almost the way young kids describe the ghost in the closet to their parents, a horrifying overlord who has utter control. Kara is stricken with fear in these panels and it adds to the tone that Geoff Johns is trying to create.



The only bad part is that you find yourself a little distracted by the art work. I have to agree with Foiball’s (Foiball writes a blog called read/rant, I just noticed he has recently begun delving into comic book reviews, namely current comics, it s fair game and competition at this point I guess.) review of the artwork here. Franks does draw a very Christopher Reeve Superman. Yes, I know I pointed this out in the last review, but he also draw a very Margot Kidder Supergirl, which is why I raised the flag even higher. I’m not against what he is doing and it definitely sets a bit of nostalgia, but the Superman I am reading about in these pages isn’t the Superman Reeve’s was conveying. This Storyline definitely has me begging for a Brainiac villain in the next Superman installment. Hopefully, DC can get their act together with regards to their movie licensing and the future of their expansion in the Versus system. They definitely have ground to make up in the land of comics as Morrison has turned this whole Final Crisis into a debacle.



Clark then has some time with the folks and Lois before departing Earth in a pod built within the fortress. Looks a lot like the pod they used in the movie or bore some semblance. Either way Superman has managed to back track the probes in order to search out Brainiac. Here is something I wanted to bring up, especially when reading this issue. I like how Superman is not being depicted as a brute force bludgeoning object in the comics anymore, even within the pages of Trinity where he is laying the smack down on Konvikt, he is still showing a greater degree of intellect. He is after all a scientist, much like his father and has access to probably one of the most extensive scientific databases in the world concerning the universe.



The last few pages is Superman meeting up with some of Brainiac’s drones on a planet, where he deals swiftly with them before Brainiac’s skulled vessel arrives which incinerates the entire planet, rather quickly and easily, which adds to that feeling that maybe we have not seen all that Brainiac possesses or is capable of. It was definitely one of those things you were expecting, but Franks does a good job in conveying the battle. The last panel is my favorite and a must see. Brainiac’s ship is in the background preparing to pull the last son of Krypton into the ship and the humanoid Brainiac with a slight smile of his face. The eyes on Brainiac’s vessel are glowing green and superman is incapacitated, but I don’t know if this is because of the blast ( I am assuming it is.) or if this is Kryptonite in use. I guess we will find out in the next part to this exciting and compelling arc.



I will have to degree with the overall assertion made not just by Foiball and other sites. This new direction in Action Comics is not making Superman relevant. Superman has been relevant in a very different way for a while now. He has constantly been representative as a Symbol or an Icon in the DCU and woven carefully into almost every facet of it’s Universe. Pick up the Justice League of America and see his toned down, Leadership role there. Pick up the Titans series and see his Mentor support role there. Pick up Justice Society of America and notice his Ally role in those pages. You could even pick up the Death of the New Gods series and notice his Observer role. Pick up Superman/Batman and notice his brave and the Bold style Teammate role. The Superman mythos I believe could never be referred to as non-relevant. Action Comics has gone through its ups and downs with the character, but has always been a staple place for all Superman entries and I have always looked at it as the mainstay before viewing other comics branding the Superman name. None of the other have been great reads or have garnered noteworthy praise and I find it fitting that the Superman mythos or story be reinvigorated in the pages of Action comics.

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Today, I felt like I should shoot from the hip with my review of Action Comics #866. It will be the last comic reviewed until after Worlds because I will be attending and bringing the reporting to the site. Don’t worry all is well in the land as when I return you can expect all the titles you have been hoping to get glimpses of. I originally planned to do a review of the Sub-Mariner cards in the MUN set and their relation to the limited series that tied into the Initiative, but I decided it best I do so after Worlds after I got about 3 full days of deck time with all the members of the Illuminati, for now let’s stick to the review…



Action Comics #866 bears that “Sightings” logo DC kept pointing out in its comics prior to the start of Final Crisis. Basically, it’s marketing, but with regards to the comics themselves they are sign post that important things are taking place with relation to the future of the DCU. There is much confusion around the web as to whether or not these titles are actually tie-ins as well to the Final Crisis event. We all know how that has become a curse word in the comic industry.



In this instance whether or not it is a tie-in or just a sign post to larger things, it is definitely a re-imagining of a long standing Superman villain, Brainiac. I have been waiting for a moment like this to get back into reading Superman titles and I am so happy that time is upon us. Superman now has a credible villain, with credible purpose and plot. In my opinion this has been lacking from Superman titles for a long while, picking up titles here and there featuring the Man of Steel, always to be disappointed, now Brainiac arrives on the scene and Geoff Johns makes it as if we have never seen or knew Brainiac at all, and if you thought you knew, now you know, you never knew. Soak that statement in for a second and then ask yourself, why? Why have you not gone to pick this issue up?



Let’s get into the particulars. Geoff Johns definitely starts off the right way by rewinding time for the reader to a point where we first think we know of how devastatingly devious and calculating Brainiac is. We are taken back to the moment he captured the shrunken city of Kandor. General Zod is defending the city when Brainiac ship arrives along with Brainiac Robots, overwhelming the Kryptonian forces. The shear menacing threat that Brainiac is to the Kryptonian is conveyed quite clearly within these panels, drawn very well by Gary Frank. Many sites are complaining of Frank’s Christopher Reeve rendering of Superman, the simple answer to that is to most Reeve is and will forever be, Superman.



Geoff transitions from this back story to the office space of the Daily Planet and its comedic relief with ease and great capability displaying the dual-nature of Superman/Clark Kent with even greater capability. Someone tell me why is it that Morrison is writing Final Crisis making all his revamp ideas become tired continuity when it is clear Geoff has the better grasp on the content and characters and pleasing more readers? Superman hears Brainiac’s ship in space and quickly flies to its location which happens to be right above the Kent Farm. Superman battles a Brainiac Robot and Geoff’s uses the confidence Superman conveys in fighting this foe for the umpteenth time to illustrate that even the Man of Steel has no clue who Brainiac really is. The environment transitions keep the story on pace along with Geoff’s handling of each situation and magnifying its significance to illustrate and make Brainiac’s “true” existence a mystery.



The issue ends with a view of Brainiac’s ship and a number of bottled cities, it’s almost reminiscent of the fortress of Solitude and its contained eco-environments and experiments, finally to the flesh and circuitry Brainiac in the midst of it all with the simple, yet deep question, who is Brainiac? There is a lot on the horizon for this series and I am going to be following the ride, as a member of my Trinity this title automatically gets elevated to Prime Status for you the reader to follow, this is the 1st part of a 5 part series and I will be there every step of the way. Take a look at the next 2 titles in the series and satiate your appetite. By the way I definitely think it is time for some new VS Reflections Brainiac cards, don’t you?

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