Customer Reviews

Superman: Brainiac

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When I was a kid I always loved the issues of Superman where the Man of Steel faced Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Each of those villains seemed powerful enough to take Superman down, but together they seemed unstoppable. One of my favorite issues was when they shrank Superman small enough to put into a bird cage. I just really liked the image and the threat of Superman being too tiny to handle the struggle.

I've been a fan of Geoff Johns's work for years. I love how he brings heroic action and a feeling of wonder back to strips that rival what I remember as a child when I first encountered those heroes. This time Johns creates a Brainiac the like of which I have never before seen.

Over the last few years we've had a few incarnations of Brainiac, but somehow they really missed the overall feeling of awesome evil and impending doom that I remembered from the stories I read as a kid. Granted, a lot of things were more terrifying to me when I was younger, but an emotionless, cold machine should be truly creepy. (Terminator really did it for me!) I remember those early stories of Brainiac showing him acting more or less human, laughing and mad and scared. But he had green skin long before Harvey Dent did.

The version of Brainiac that Johns treats the readers to made me feel uneasy at first, then tipped the scales over to a genuine worried state before the book ends. This Brainiac is loathsome and vile, a true villain with its own agenda. I like the fact that Brainiac is actually a giant ship that has various automatons it can send out as probes, sentries, and offensive units. This Brainiac is actually a rolling army when it wishes to be.

The early pages depicting Krypton and Kandor are really good, and the fear those people have of Brainiac is palpable. When I first saw Brainiac do the skull-injection bit, I knew Johns was going to deliver a rough ride for his readers. This wasn't going to be your daddy's Brainiac.

Not only did Johns succeed in breathing new life and fear into Brainiac, but he also pulls off the whole Kandor-in-a-bottle thing. When I was younger, I loved the idea of a bottle city, but as I grew older I became aware that it was impossible to put an alien city in basically what was a terrarium. But I still like the image. I'm glad that Johns was able to save that.

He also reintroduces Cat Grant to the Superman mythos. She has never looked better. Gary Frank's pencils took me a little while to get used to in earlier graphic novels, but I love what he does these days. Superman looks a little different to me, a little less bulky, but that's okay. I love what Frank does with the supporting characters, the panel layouts, and the world. His art is truly fantastic to look at.

Cat Grant is going to be a real problem for Supergirl, as she already has been in that strip's story line. Cat not only has a razor sharp wit loaded with plenty of sarcasm, but Frank draws her as pure eye candy.

Johns also loads the book with extra features as well. We get more of Supergirl's backstory, more Kryptonian history, several Lois Lane pieces, and an ending that is totally unexpected. When I reached the end of the book, I had to sit down and re-read it a couple of times. This story is just that powerful. And it leaves you wanting more, which is always a sign of a successful tale.

If you think you know Brainiac, think again. Now Geoff Johns, he knows Brainiac.

Wow. I must really be behind the times in the Superman continuity. Supergirl is alive again along with Ma and Pa Kent. Kandor remains in the hands of Brainiac whose entire history has been shuffled around. I take it this is a full reboot; I'm just not sure when the reboot happened. I was glad to see Brainiac back to his classic green form with electrodes in his bald head. It looks like artist Gary Frank may have been inspired by Alex Ross's version of Brainiac from Justice although he's dropped the surgical scrubs and added about 150 pounds of solid muscle. Superman's look most resembles Christopher Reeve and Brainiac's probes (his robot army) look like a cross between the Terminator and H.R. Giger's Alien.

The Brainiac arc has received a lot of positive reviews but I cannot in good conscience rate it anything higher than above average. My issue is the way that Brainiac is presented. Brainiac is described as a 12th level intellect meaning that his thinking is vastly superior to a humans and even well above Superman's. You might expect a 12th level intellect to possess some kind of high level planning and sophisticated dialogue. In fact I would think that Brainiac would be on a whole separate plane of thinking. Unfortunately most writers are unable to even approach creating a character with super high level intellect so they fall back on having them crank out powerful weapons. Brainiac's blathering and bragging feels like anything but the product of a superior mind as he drones on about his desire for universal conquest. Rather than create a battle of wits Geoff Johns just has Superman and Brainiac duke it out across several issues. Brainiac says to Superman, "It is incomprehensible you thought you could outthink me" and I had to reread the book to try and find any instance where Superman tried to outthink Brainiac. There are none. Oh, and did I mention that this iteration of Brainiac seems to be as physically strong if not stronger than Superman?

Geoff Johns writes big event stories but they don't have the depth of a writer like Alan Moore or Grant Morrison. Morrison's All-Star Superman showed a Superman who used his brains more than is brawn and this was one of the things that elevated All-Star above other Superman stories. I was a big fan of Infinite Crisis by Geoff Johns but I have to confess that he is a more limited writer than Moore or Morrison. I think of Geoff Johns stories as being sort of like summer blockbusters with a big bag of popcorn. The Sinestro Corps War struck a real cord with comic fans and Johns knows how to give the audience what it wants. I enjoyed the Sinestro Corps War but I prefer a more subtle touch like Morrison's Batman R.I.P.

Superman/Brainiac can actually be read though entirely in probably around an hour in other words Johns is not big into heavy dialogue. There are pages in a row without any dialogue at all and that's not necessarily a complaint. Done correctly, a minimum of dialogue can be very effective. The story is good and the art is well done it's just that I felt it could have been even more and this may be a case where I was let down by some high expectations.

It's been years since I collected comics. Superhero books have become so joyless and dark, they hold little appeal anymore. Sometime in the last twenty years, Marvel and DC quit marketing to kids altogether, focusing instead on the aging fanboys that make up the peer group of the industry's writers and artists. The tangled continuities and regular reboots that infect the characters and worlds of comic books are enough to keep casual readers away. Which makes it all the more enjoyable to find Superman: Braniac.

In my view, Superman is rarely done well, but writer Geoff Johns and penciler Gary Frank form a creative marriage that serves the Man of Steel well. As the title suggests, the story centers around the return of Braniac who sends his probes around the universe looking for civilized planets to steal knowledge from and promptly destroy, but only after shrinking and abducting a city from each one to keep as a specimen. As it turns out, these robotic probes are what Superman has been fighting all these years, not the real Braniac. One such robot comes to Earth and Superman promptly dispatches it, but not before analyzing the Kryptonian's blood and sending the information to the real Braniac. Turns out, Braniac doesn't like the idea of someone out there sharing Kryptonian culture and science, which he believes now belongs soley to him. So naturally, Superman must be eliminated. Fearing Braniac's probes will destroy other planets, Superman goes searching the galaxy for the creature. Only problem, Braniac captures him and sends another probe to destroy the Earth.

The narrative is intriguing and moves quickly. Johns is one the few guys who seems to have a solid grasp on the Superman mythos. He has respect for the character, and it shows here. Superman and his world are recognizable, and casual readers will have no problem jumping into the story. The Braniac portrayed here is sort of a technological boogeyman who terrorizes the galaxy. He is genuinely creepy, somewhat reminiscent of the Borg in Star Trek. My only quibble with the story was a less than epic feel given what was at stake with the plot. I think there was room to go farther with the story and characters.

The visuals are supplied by former Hulk artist Gary Frank, and it's his best work yet. Frank was born to draw Superman. His art has a clean, clear quality to it, despite fine details. He also does what few artists can, which is to give every character his or her own unique face. None better than Superman himself who Frank renders in a near perfect likeness to Christopher Reeve. Frank fails in only one area. The layout, particularly the fight scenes between Superman and Braniac, is at times boring and uninspired. This hurts the dramatic weight of a story that wasn't very deep in to begin with. All said however, Superman: Braniac is a satisfying read, and one of the better Superman stories.

Geoff Johns is consistently wonderful. The art is equally brilliant.. Superman Braniac is one of my fav superman tales. It is a bit short.. but filled with story.. Superman is drawn in the likeness of Christopher Reeves, and the parts taking place in the Daily Planet are funny.. with a tad of folk-lore.. all of which i like. Braniac.. reminds reminds me of Galactus meets the Matrix.. he's pretty creepy..

here's the plot if you want.. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

A robot probe arrives on Earth and battles Superman. Before being defeated, the probe sends information about Superman's blood to the original Brainiac. Supergirl then reveals to Superman that Brainiac is suspected to have shrunk the Kryptonian city of Kandor and placed it in a bottle, that Milton Fine was infected by nanite probes, (which later migrated into Doomsday, the Brainiac 2.5 android, and finally into Lena Luthor), sent by the "original" Brainiac to look for Superman and that, in current continuity, no-one has ever actually met the "real" Brainiac. Superman is captured by Brainiac when Superman finds him attacking an alien planet and preparing to steal a another city for his collection.

Superman escapes, just in time to see Brainiac emerging from his "bio-shell". This new version of Brainiac resembles a much larger and more muscular version of the original, pre-Crisis Brainiac, and has motives similar to the Animated Braniac on TV.. traveling the universe and stealing the knowledge of various alien cultures, abducting and shrinking cities from each planet as samples, and then destroying the planet so that the value of the destroyed civilization's knowledge becomes priceless. Brainiac travels to Earth and prepares to abduct the city of Metropolis.

Brainiac steals Metropolis, and prepares to fire a missile that will destroy the sun, and the Earth itself. Supergirl deals with the missile, while Superman battles Brainiac. Superman knocks Brainiac out of his ship, and into a swamp, where Brainiac is overwhelmed by the filthy microscopic organisms covering his body. Superman uses this distraction to defeat Brainiac. While Superman frees the cities of Metropolis and Kandor, the Braniac sends a missile to the Kent farm. The farm is destroyed, and Jonathan Kent suffers a fatal heart attack because of it.

It is not revealed whether this version of Brainiac is an artificial intelligence or organic creature, only that he claims to have a "Coluan brain".

You know you want it..

After reading this, I found myself regretting that it wasn't adapted as a screenplay and film. Everything in the presentation presents itself as a basis for an amazing Superman movie, from the visual depiction of Clark kent as Chris Reeve to the meticulous arrangement of the frames as an action film storyboard. I haven't been this involved in a Superman book since I read "The Man of Tomorrow". The bad guys were truly frightening and threatening, Brainiac was well developed (a film treatment might need a bit more backstory) and the inclusion of Zod, Non and Ursa along with the bottled city of Kandor made for a thrilling read.This one is essential!

There's a lot to like here, from the snappy banter in the Daily Planet newsroom to the heartfelt treatment of the relationship between Pa Kent and his adopted son. It's an enjoyable Superman tale on par with the first Superman film--no surprise, since Geoff Johns co-wrote a storyline with Richard Donner recently. "Brainiac" comes so, so close to perfection...until...

...the creepy-looking Brainiac shown on the cover gives way to a heavily muscled version who looks like a WWE wrestler. He proceeds to get into a fistfight with Superman. Why would an alien with an intellect as advanced as Brainiac's be reduced to trading blows with a super-powered Kryptonian? This is a Geoff Johns book, though, so I can't be too disappointed that it devolved into a wrestling match.

As far as the story concerned Brainiac, I was pleased. For me though, it fell apart in the end **SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT** when an attack by Brainiac on the Kent family farm results in Jonathan Kent having a heart attack and dying. I am not a regular reader of Superman, but I love the character and have enjoyed him for over 30 years. Is it me, or does this just keep happening? It seems that whenever I tune-in to Superman, Pa Kent bites it again. In the final pages of the story, we see a grief-stricken Superman coping horribly with his adoptive father's death, but I felt nothing but irritation that it happened yet again (and was interwoven with the climax). How about in the next Superman story we learn about how Jonathan Kent comes back to life so when they kill him in the story after that we at least have something to reference before they bring him back to life and before they kill him again and . . . . well you get the point.

Geoff Johns has managed to carve out a niche and reputation over the last decade for redefining and revamping outdated villains and heroes. When it was announced he would be taking on Brainiac, I became both excited and worried. The 'Superman: The Animated Series' depiction of the character is one of my all-tome favorite villains. And yet, the comics Brainiac has been unfortunately lacking and uninteresting compared to his animated counterpart. I never thought it would become interesting.

Enter Maestro Johns.

Johns' story manages to revamp Brainiac and tie him more to his animated counterpart without totally burying or destroying the villain's long and complex history. The result is a truly terrifying take on one of comics' most iconic villains and repercussions that will continue to reverberate throughout the Superman mythos for the foreseeable future.

As for the artwork, Gary Frank continues to display excellent artwork and is well deserving of the title of perennial Superman artist of our generation. To anyone who's become interested in the Supes books as a result of the "New Krypton" storyline, this is your jumping on point.

The return of Braniac. The real one. Clark finally confronts the stealer of worlds in an epic battle to free Metropolis and restore the Bottled City of Kandor. Pretty straight forward story, this story really shines in its characterization of the relationship between Clark and his father. The tragedy that befalls Jonathan Kent in a variety of Superman incarnation stories finally catches up with him in continuity, with devastating consequences for Clark. Anyway, the best part of this is that in its epic scope, it finds time to deal with the fundamental relationship that created Superman.

The thing that gets me about this story is that Superman finds out that the Brainiac he has fought over the years is merely a probe. I liked how Kara displayed her fear of Brainiac and recalled his attack on Krypton, abducting the city of Kandor. Her fear of him was so great that she loses control of her heat vision, melting the Brainiac probe. This story is simply Geoff Johns in a nutshell, bringing childhood wonder to a more mature story.

As for Brainiac, I liked how Geoff returned him to his Silver Age origin, being a collector of knowledge and destroying every planet he assimilates. He is shown as a cold, calculating being with little or no emotion, and he never really leaves his ship because he doesn't want to dirty his hands (mysophobia). In the 90's, Brainiac was simply a psychic named Milton Fine, but then had countless other bodies, some organic and some robotic. When Superman finally met Brainiac, he was thrown for a loop because he was several inches taller than Superman and his physical match.

Overall, I liked this particular take on Brainiac, and I enjoy a good Superman story that tests the Man of Steel's powers and morals.