Superman #13 came out this week, the second chapter of the House of Brainiac storyline and another winner, especially if you are a Supergirl fan.
The arc started just last week with an absolutely crackling opening chapter, full of action and mystery. Writer Joshua Williamson and artist Rafa Sandoval keep their creative feet on the gas, cranking everything up. We get some new information to continue to build the story. We get new mysteries, including a big one about Brainiac's motivations. And there is still a lot of action, showing just how scary Superman would be if he sort of lost his filters.
In comics, there is more than action and plot. There is characterization. Seeing Superman seethe over Brainiac's attack and take out some of his frustration on Lobo was tremendous. It humanizes Superman a little. And hearing Lobo be a sort of amateur therapist was also fantastic.
But the biggest win in this comic was Williamson's take on Supergirl. She is confident. She is angry, appropriately so given her history with Brainiac. She is brash, willing to take risks to fight her foe. She's young and learning. We even hear about a history with Brainiac 5, something we haven't seen in a long time. That shows that Williamson is knowledgeable of her history and respects it. Heck, even the cliffhanger is a Supergirl moment.
I have been singing Rafa Sandavol's work for a while now. He really is shining here. It's like he has elevated his game, bringing in more layered and detail to his work, perhaps because he was given time to do this whole arc?
On to the book.