Action Comics #870 (DC – Johns / Frank / Sibal )
“The “Brainiac” finale! It’s Superman versus Brainiac with everything at stake! No longer content to simply eradicate Superman, Brainiac is now determined to destroy Earth like so many other planets he’s left in his wake. But Brainiac’s ship is full of many bottles, inside of which some surprise guest-stars lurk! And while hope may blossom on Brainiac’s ship, there’s one life even the Man of Steel can’t save.”
This marks the end of the latest Brainiac adventure and the beginning of the humongous Superman: New Krypton story arc. Johns does this best to make Brainiac as hate-able as possible while at the same time making Superman more and more of your typical dude. When things look grim and there is not much hope in site, what would a normal guy do? Fight dirty! Yep, Brainiac pushes the right buttons and Clark decides grab Brainy head like a bowling ball for an uppercut to the schnoz.
This moment is made all the sweeter by Gary Frank’s art that makes the last son of Krypton look like a guy you might actually run into on the street. I never thought I would be a fan of the wiry Superman. Instead I usually went for the big farm boy who looked like he stepped off a NFL offensive line. Frank has made me like the Superman who looks like the love child of Christopher Reeve and Brad Pitt from Fight Club. I’ll admit I was skeptical when Gary Frank signed on to the book, but he’s has since made a believer out of me.
Now for those of you are may not be keeping up with the Superman books, the next arc sees the return of Kandor, and also 10,000 Kryptonians. How will this affect the DCU? There is now a city full of beings with powers far beyond those of mortal men. Not only do they have powers, but there is a whole city full of super-intelligent beings thousands of years ahead of anything on Earth. Plus, how will Clark deal with the latest tragedy to hit his family? New Krypton doesn’t look like this is a throw away story arc (like Final Crisis seems to be), but you never know these days.
Grade: A
