House of Brainiac

Last updated
"House of Brainiac"
Publisher DC Comics
Publication dateApril – June 2024
Genre
Title(s)
Superman (vol.6) #13-15
Action Comics (vol. 1) #1064-1066
Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1
Main character(s) Superman
Lex Luthor
Brainiac
Lobo
Lois Lane
Superboy (Kon-El)
Creative team
Writer(s)Joshua Williamson
Jeremy Adams
Artist(s)Rafael Sandoval
Fico Ossio
Edwin Galmon
Penciller(s)Rafael Sandoval
Letterer(s)Dave Sharpe
Colorist(s)Alejandro Sánchez
Editor(s)Paul Kaminski
Jillian Grant

"House of Brainiac" is a Superman crossover story arc published by DC Comics in April 2024. The series is co-written by Joshua Williamson with artwork by Rafael Sandoval, Rico Ossio, and Edwin Galmon.

Contents

Teased in Superman Annual 2023 #1, the story arc is told in Action Comics and Superman, where Superman and Lobo have to deal with an invasion from Brainiac. The event was released to critical acclaim from critics, with critics praising Joshua Williamson's writing, the art, the characters, and the action.

Publication history

On October 23, 2023 in New York Comic Con, DC Comics announced that the next Superman event will be House of Brainiac released in April 2024. [1] It was also revealed that Green Lantern and Power Girl will have tie-ins to that event. [2] [3]

The event will also debut a new character called the Brainiac Queen. [4]

Plot

Prelude

Lex Luthor removed Superman's identity by using technology from Warworld (home planet of Mongul), Henry Bendrix's machines to amplify Manchester Black's psychic ability because he wants the world to not see Superman and Jon Kent as humans. Superman confronts Lex Luthor, and sends him back to prison. [5]

Superman is then asked by Lex Luthor to be the head of Supercorp (a company that will assist Superman in his heroics). Although Superman is hesitant, he begrudgingly agrees to work with Lex. [6]

Before Superman's first arrival to Metropolis, Luthor had aspired to be the city's first hero, first clashing and then teaming up with Doctor Pharm and Mr Graft to work in their research on green kryptonite, discarding them both when he has no more use of them and stealing their research, which leads them to be vengeful and attack Lex Luthor. Superman and Lex Luthor eventually team up to defeat Doctor Pharm and Mercy Graves. [7] It's secretly revealed that Brainiac put Czarina (Lobo's city) in a bottle, and Doctor Pharm captured Lobo to run experiments on him. [8] After Superman teams up with Lex Luthor to defeat Doctor Pharm and his team, Lobo is freed and Brainiac starts heading to Earth. [9]

Main story

Lois Lane is having her day off after 5 years and greets Connor Kent (Superboy), Kong Kenan, Othul-Ra and Osul-Ra (children they adopted after Warworld Saga), Supergirl, Lana Lang, Natasha Irons, Steel, and Perry White on her way to a yoga session with Jimmy Olsen and Silver Banshee. Superman joins them, but hears an invasion is happening in Metropolis. As Superman and his allies started fighting off the robots and Czarnians, Steel reveals he tried calling for backup but something is interfering with their systems. Superman realizes that Brainiac is the one behind the invasion, and Brainiac sends General Chacal (a Czarnian similar to Lobo) to attack Supercorp where Lex Luthor is detained.Brainiac captures Metallo, Mercy Graves and Lena Luthor (Lex's daughter), while Lex Luthor barely escapes during the chaos. Brainiac captures all of Superman's allies including Silver Banshee and Lex Luthor, and teleports away before Superman can catch him. [10]

Superman confronts Lobo at Warriors Bar in Coast City on the invasion in Metropolis but Lobo denies his involvement. Brainiac tortures Silver Banshee, when he starts coughing up blood, and asks his Brainiac clones to take him to the cooling chamber. Superman explains to Lobo what happened, and Lobo recognizes General Chacal, with Supercorp creating vehicles for Superman and Lobo to head toward Brainiac's ship due to the United Planets quarantining Earth. As they are heading toward Brainiac's ship and pass the United Planets headquarters, they are attacked by General Chacal and his minions. Brainiac heals himself and frees Lex Luthor, where Lex Luthor tells Brainiac if he leaves Lena Luthor alone, he will give him Superman. Brainiac is about to take Lana Lang to experiment her, but Supergirl realizes Brainiac's technology is from a planet called Colu, and deactivates their prison because of her experience with a Future Brainiac. However, Superboy and Supergirl realize they still don't have their powers, and have shrunk. [11]

Superboy and Supergirl hide from Brainiac's wolves, and convinces Livewire and Parasite to free themselves and go to Brainiac's station. Livewire and Parasite return Superboy and Supergirl to their normal size, and encounter Lex and Brainiac experimenting on Lana Lang. Brainiac captures the duo, and transports him, Lex, and Supergirl to his homeward Colu. Supergirl escapes from her bonds and takes Lex with her, with Brainiac sending reinforcements to capture them. Superman and Lobo fight off the Czarnians but retreat once they realize General Chacal is stalling them for Brainiac. They go to Hardcore Station, a place where intergalactic aliens stop to rest, and meet Space Cabbie. Lobo asks where Brainiac is, and General Chacal finds them by tracking Lobo's scent. General Chacal asks Lobo to take his position as leaders of Czarnians and asks Lobo to take out Superman. [12]

Superman initially gains the upper hand, but General Chacal helps Lobo capture Superman. Brainiac decides to run his experiments on Lena, while deciding to capture Lex and Supergirl after Lex tells Supergirl that Brainiac is starting to lose part of his memories after bonding with him. Both of them are saved by Colu (Brainiac's race) people, with one of them claiming to be Brainiac's son. Brainiac takes the captured Superman, Parasite, Livewire, Superbly, Livewire, and Parasite to his room, where he uses their energy to create his wife Brainiac Queen. Lobo and General Chacal plan to leave, but Brainiac betrays them by ordering Brainiac Queen to slaughter the majority of Lobo's people in order for her to gain more power. [13] [14]

Tie-ins

Green Lantern

The United Planets order Guy Gardner to bring Lobo in due to his dangerous behavior. Guy Gardner finds out Lobo has seemingly been wrestling and calls Booster Gold to confront him on letting Lobo be in a wrestling match, but Booster Gold hangs up. Guy Gardner interrupts the match, and takes Lobo into custody, but is confronted by space dolphins. [15] Guy Gardner and Lobo hide from the space dolphins, and goes to a planet to ask for an interspace transmitter for backup. Guy Gardner learns that this "Lobo" is just a random Czarnian, and the Czarnian accidentally reveals their location to where all the bounty hunters will want to attack "Lobo" due to the high bounty. [16]

Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1

Brainiac reminisces on how similar Krypton and Czarnia (Lobo's home planet) origins were, except Czarnians unlocked the secret to immortality. This caused conflict between the Czarnians where one side wanted to spread their knowledge across the universe, while the other wanted to spread destruction. One Czarnian name General Chacal rebelled the benevolent Czarnians and led a rebellion. The leader of the benevolent Czarnians named Tribb discovered Brainiac and asked for his help.

In exchange for Brainiac taking care of General Chacal, Tribb would give him one city of her planet, and give him the secret to immortality. Brainiac agreed, but discovered that Czarnians are inherently violent, and one day the benevolent Czarnians will be just as ruthless as General Chacal. Brainiac betrayed Tribb and captured the city of Paz, overrun by the General's forces, for his collection, but felt slight regret over seeing what he had done.

In the present day, Perry White is running for mayor who is nervous about his debate against Garon Blake who wants to deport aliens living in Metropolis. Perry White is uncomfortable with the increase in xenophobia in Metropolis and talks to a bartender on what to do. During the debate, Garon Blake thanks Brainiac for abducting the aliens during the recent invasion. Perry White points out that thanks to the aliens living in Metropolis, people are safer and all Garon Blake wants is their money. An alien girl is discovered in the debate, which leads to a riot. However, one of Garon Blake's supporters decides to join Perry White's side after seeing how violent and xenophobic the supporters were to the alien. Amanda Waller meets with the Council of Light, which turns out to be multiple versions of Brainiac. [17] It's revealed that Brainiac teleported Amanda Waller and her Suicide Squad when they fought the Crime Syndicate before Dark Crisis. Amanda is angry that Brainiac used her, and warns him to stay out of her way. [18]

Titles involved

Main series

Tie-ins

Critical reception

According to Comic Book Roundup, Action Comics #1064 received an average rating of 8.5 out of 10 based on 9 reviews. [20] According to Comicbook Roundup, Superman #13 received an average rating of 8.8 out of 10 based on 13 reviews. [21] Action Comics #1065 received an average rating of 8.3 out of 10 based on 11 reviews. [22] Gabe Hernandez from Weird Science wrote, "Superman #13 has the makings of a rock-solid Superman adventure. The plot developments are intriguing, Williamson's possible motivations for Brainiac could open the door for a new status quo for the character, and the action is on-point." [23] David Brooke from Action Comics wrote "Action Comics #1065 further proves that "House of Brainiac" is a great superhero adventure worth checking out. Combining the space opera with action works wonders to keep readers entertained with a story they've never seen before." [24]

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References

  1. ↑ Epps, Justin (2023-10-13). ""House of Brainiac": Superman's Cosmic Enemy Brainiac Is Finally Returning to Change the DCU Forever". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  2. ↑ "Superman and Lobo Visit the House of Brainiac This April!". DC. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  3. ↑ Brooke, David (2024-03-14). "DC reveals June 2024 'House of Brainiac' crossover details • AIPT". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  4. ↑ Forsberg, Taylor Blake (2023-10-17). "Meet DC's New Brainiac Queen: This Twist on the Iconic Villain Is DC's Next Big Bad". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  5. ↑ Gayen, Sayantan (2023-05-01). "Superman & Lex Luthor's Partnership Leaves The Man of Steel With a Ticking Time Bomb". CBR. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  6. ↑ Dodge, John (2023-04-21). "Superman Just Scored a Major Win – For Lex Luthor". CBR. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  7. ↑ Lawrence, Brandon (2019-06-14). "Superman #12 Review". Black Nerd Problems. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  8. ↑ Morrison, Matt (2023-08-09). "Comic Review: Superman Annual #1 (2023)". Comic Book Movies and Superhero Movie News - SuperHeroHype. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  9. ↑ Hernandez, Gabe. "Superman #12 Review" . Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  10. ↑ Rose, Hannah (2024-04-09). "REVIEW: Action Comics #1064 Spotlights Superman's Most Personal Enemy". CBR. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  11. ↑ Morrison, Matt (2024-04-16). "New House of Brainiac Villain Makes Even Lobo Uneasy". Comic Book Movies and Superhero Movie News - SuperHeroHype. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  12. ↑ Hernandez, Gabe. "Action Comics #1065 Review" . Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  13. ↑ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  14. ↑ Comments, Rich Johnston | (2024-05-20). "Amanda Waller And The Brainiac Queen This Week (Spoilers)". bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  15. ↑ "Green Lantern #10 Review: The Lantern Rebellion Begins". Comics. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  16. ↑ Franey, Christopher (2024-05-14). "Green Lantern #11 review". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  17. ↑ Comments, Rich Johnston | (2024-04-29). "House Of Brainiac, Amanda Waller And Council Of Light Spoilers". bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  18. ↑ Beasley, David (2024-04-30). "REVIEW: Superman: House Of Brainiac #1". The Aspiring Kryptonian - Superman Superfan. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  19. ↑ As, Trevor Van (2024-03-10). "Superman: House Of Brainiac Reading Order Checklist". How To Love Comics. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  20. ↑ "Action Comics #1064 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  21. ↑ "Superman #13 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  22. ↑ "Action Comics #1065 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  23. ↑ Hernandez, Gabe. "Superman #13 Review" . Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  24. ↑ Brooke, David (2024-05-15). "Action Comics #1065 review". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
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