Review: Power Girl #10

Settle in ... this is probably my last review of this Power Girl run. Barring some major Supergirl crossover, I think Power Girl #10 will be the last issue in my collection. 

This issue was a loose tie-in to the House of Brainiac storyline. But in a very tangential way. So with that connection to the main books over, I'm done.

This issue shows much of what I have been struggling with in terms of the book. Writer Leah Williams continues to me a Power Girl I don't particularly recognize. It leans into a current trope in comics - that our heroes are just like us, traumatized and hurting. That means we are heroes. I go more for the heroes aren't like me but are people I should aspire to be like.

But, for me, this issue's fault lies with the plot. A lot of what we are told seem spurious or coincidental. Much of it doesn't make much sense within the confines of the DCU. It will be easier just to show you.

The art continues to be solid in a sort of grungy way. I like Eduardo Pansica a lot and think his stuff would be perfect for a back alley, ground level book. And I like the Nicola Scott variant cover even more than the standard Yanick Paquette one. No denying the source for Scott's vision.

When does an homage become a copy?

But I seriously love this Kerry Gamill cover from the 80's Power Girl mini-series. Nice updating.

On to this book.

Review: Superman #15

Superman #15 came out last week, ending the House of Brainiac arc and bringing us into Absolute Power. I have enjoyed Joshua Williamson's run on the character and this Brainiac arc has been pretty engrossing. I think it has nicely showcased the new world order that Williamson has made - villains as allies, family as phalanx, Brainiac as universal threat. 

Does this closing chapter stick the landing? The answer is mostly. 

I love the way this story ends, mirroring Superman's origin and leading us to 2 major new plots. I like how the super-family has to come together to bring about victory. Throughout Williamson's run I have been intrigued by this 'new Lex', the guy who wants to be Superman's partner. We see that, at least in this storyline, he was telling us the truth. 

Things I don't know if I completely understand is Brainiac's overall plot. He wants to bring about the Brainiac Queen, it seems, to destroy all life in the universe. That doesn't jibe with historic Brainiac, the one who wanted to gather knowledge. I still don't know if the other Brainiac's are from other timelines? When did Brainiac become overwhelmed with emotions? I suppose if I just say Brainiac is evil I can just accept much of this. I was hoping for more understanding of Brainiac's motives. 

The art is again by Rafa Sandoval who is now one of my favorite artists working for DC. I love his take on Supergirl! And the page layouts, panel construction, and pacing of the book really sing. This felt like a finale to a big story artwise.

I am hoping Williamson stays on the book because I have enjoyed his run and this arc was another good chunk of his run. On to the particulars!

Review: Action Comics #1066

The House of Brainiac storyline wrapped up this week with the last two chapters released on the same day. Interesting choice. The arc has really been very entertaining up to now, building up some mysteries and momentum, throwing characters together to fight the bigger threat, and amping up Brainiac as a mad villain. 

Here in Action Comics #1066, part 5 of 6, writer Joshua Williamson keeps the momentum going. One thing that I like about this story is how we see the breadth of the super-family and even see people like Lobo and Luthor joining in to stop the Brainiac Queen from annihilating everything. There are some interesting possible callbacks to other stories as well that keep a veteran like me happy.

That said, I still don't 100% know what all the mysteries in Brainiac are about. The glitches, the hole in his memory, the gathering of other Brainiacs, the whole goal of the thing is still a little vague in my head. I keep puzzling about the 'why' and I don't get enough answers to be satisfied.

And there are a couple of confusing moments in this issue that also had me wondering where this would all go.

The art remains fantastic as once again Rafa Sandoval and Miguel Mendonca team up to bring us some incredible action. This is a sort of horror/sci-fi setting and it works well. Laura Braga pencils a Lex/Lena backup and brings a very different style but it works for a story looking back at young Lena.

In the end, I think this was a solid book but perhaps not up to the excellence of the prior issues.

On to the particulars.

Review: Superman #14

Superman #14, part 4 of the House of Brainiac event, came out last week and was just another excellent chapter in this arc. Writer Joshua Williamson continues to push this story forward while adding new mysteries and wrinkles to keep the momentum building. He also is leaning into DC history and continuity here. From all the Brainiacs, to call back to recent mini-series, to maybe deeper dives, I love it.

There are three sort of plot lines in this issue. Superman and Lobo are skirmishing while General Chical watches on. This plot sort of truncates in this issue and not in the way I assumed it would. I like being surprised. And when I say it truncates, it truncates.

There is the ongoing Lex and Supergirl team-up. Obviously I am following this one pretty closely. Given the weird history when Matrix Supergirl hooked up with Lex, seeing the two together always has some historical resonance. I like here how both don't seem to like or trust the other but they understand that Brainiac is the bigger threat. Here there are a couple of new nuggets to mull over.

The last plot is Brainiac's actual plot. We know he has some holes in his memory ... I have a theory, We know he is building something. We get to finally see it. He actually kind of wins in this issue with the book ending on an ominous cliffhanger. 

Together that is some great stuff. I have the usual questions and nitpicks. But from a story view, this is great.

Rafa Sandoval and Miguel Mendonca combine on art again here and continue to shine. Sandoval's Superman is the sort of physical presence I like. Giant, broad chested, intimidating when he needs to. Mendonca does most of the Supergirl pages and his style is a little rough but solid. The action and panel composition is great. 

On to the details.

Brainiac Who's Who Pages

With House of Brainiac showcasing all the forms of Brainiac and with my recent review of Action Comics #544, I was struck with how much Brainiac has changed over time. One of the ways I sort of try to catalog the changes on this site is to look back at some of the official biographies of characters ... the Who's Who pages.

We'll start with the original, the mid-Crisis 1985 Who's Who. This issue was on the racks just 2 years after Action Comics #544 and the same month as Crisis on Infinite Earths #6.  So this version of Brainiac was relatively new. 

This is a nice page with art by Ed Hannigan, the designer of the new form. There is a nice retelling of his origin, a 12th level intelligence construct sent out by the Coluan computer tyrants to reconnoiter worlds for them to conquer. Given Vril Dox as a pseudo-son to cement the humanoid persona.  I forgot about that aspect of his origin to be honest.

But this catches us up to the recent change to this emotionless 'unique organic' life form with infinite technology at his disposal. 

While this version only was around for 5 years or so, it struck a chord. I am glad this design remains around today either in the Brainiac ship form or the drone soldiers look. 

But the changes didn't stop there.

Review: Action Comics #1065

Action Comics #1065, the third chapter of House of Brainiac, came out this week and was a full-throttle, warp speed adventure, filled with brawls and plot progression. In many ways, this was a Supergirl issue, once again pushing the new reality that she is the second in command of the Super-family, the field general. Throw in some Superman/Lobo fun and a back-up story that brings back a favorite character of mine and this was a big win.

I'll start by saying Joshua Williamson is really crafting an excellent event here. There is still a lot of mystery around what Brainiac is doing here. What are his goals and motivations? He isn't acting quite like the cold collector of knowledge. The gathering of Brainiac doppelgangers is fascinating. And what is this 'missing knowledge' in his mind that is shorting him out. 

I like seeing a more proactive and frankly more physical Superman. His family is missing. Brainiac is a threat. He needs to find the villain and he'll use most any means possible. I like seeing Lobo as a sort of dark mirror of Superman, dealing with his own General Zod. Even Lex is intriguing as I try to understand his motivations and goals here.

But this is a Supergirl site and she dominates a lot of the issues. There was plenty I loved. She is smart and calculating. She is brave and pretty fierce in her determination to defeat Brainiac. Heroes and villains respect her and her leadership as she leads her team through the Brainiac ship. That's all great. 

She wields a gun and a knife in this issue. (Conner wields an axe.) I guess given the situation, that makes sense but isn't my favorite image.

She literally spits in the face of Brainiac. That seems a little bit childish and crass for my take on Kara.

She does something foolish and possibly suicidal at the end of the issue. That sort undermines the intelligence and leadership she showed before. Maybe not the best.

I am trying to see all that through the lens of her facing down her own personal boogie-man in Brainiac. I suppose she can veer towards the unhinged.

Still, for Supergirl, this has to overall be a positive. She is a main character, a hero, and proactive.

The art in the main story is done by Rafa Sandoval and Miguel Mendonca and really shines. I love Sandoval's barrel-chested Superman, a sort of modern Wayne Boring! And Mendonca somehow makes the jacket Supergirl costume look good! Mirko Colak brings a dark, heavily shadowed art in the back-up, a perfect style for the story itself.

Okay, enough prologue. On to the book.

Review: Superman House Of Brainiac Special #1

I've very much been enjoying Joshua Williamson's House of Brainiac. We're just two issues in and I am already clamoring for more. So I was pretty excited to see the Superman House of Brainiac Special solicited for a dreaded 5th Wednesday.

Now the first two issues sizzled. This one has three stories, two directly linked to the Brainiac arc and one catching up on Perry White's mayoral run. 

Joshua Williamson writes the two Brainiac stories. The first one covers how Brainiac got a hold of the Czarian city he controls. It also gives us another link to the uncertain thinking we have seen Brainiac suffer from in this arc. The second Brainiac story has a much better reveal, something that I really liked. Unfortunately it also involves the now ever-present Amanda Waller, a character I could do without. Edwin Galmon provides a sterile futuristic art style to the Czarnia story. Fico Ossio brings a much muddier, grittier art style to the last story.

But it is the middle story that I found lacking. Writer Mark Russell does two things which sat wrong with me. One, he puts forward a rough and rumpled version of Perry White. That's not my Perry. And Russell is known for the political leanings in his stories and this one is no different. This one is a bit heavy handed and rather simplistic in its approach to a real problem. Steve Pugh remains rock solid on art. 

So this felt like a little step back from the tsunami of the first two issues. On to some details.

Review: Power Girl #8

At some point I will stop collecting Power Girl. Probably soon. After the nonsense of the cat issue and the two issue Ferimbia storyline along with the confusing characterization for the main character (unlike any take on her in her existence) and the omnipresent, omnipotent Omen character, I was ready to drop it. 

Then Power Girl #8 was listed as a House of Brainiac tie-in and I felt compelled to stick around. 

I should not have been surprised to be underwhelmed with the book. There is one interesting moment that is specific to this book and it's tenuous supporting cast and subplots. There is one interesting moment that is more a DCU moment which I enjoyed. And at least Power Girl uses her powers and is adequate in battle. But once again writer Leah Williams has a good chunk of the book spent on a cute scene. Omen again seems unstoppable. And the Brainiac links are few. 

Eddie Pansica is back on art and I like his style. He handles the action parts quite well. Perhaps his years on Supergirl prepped him. I am a big fan of Yanick Paquette and I like his playful cover with Crush pushing Power Girl out of the cover pin-up pose. But in some ways the cover is a reminder that, at least in this volume, Power Girl has rarely been the star in her own book.

On to the issue.

Review: Superman #13

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.

DC Comic Solicits: April 2024

The April 2024 solicits for DC Comics came out last week. Here is a link to the entire slate:
https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-april-2024-solicitations-covers/

This includes a place holder for DC's FCBD comic. Not much has come out about this book other than it will introduce the next big event and is a reaction to something '30 years in the making'. Now Zero Hour came out in 1994 and the rumors on line are of an ultimate universe style line at DC. But that strikes me as similar to the ' ____ Earth One' books. 

More pertinent to this site is the beginning of House of Brainiac running through the Superman books. I am pretty excited to see a true storyline running through all the books! 

Action Comics #1064
Written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
Art and cover by RAFA SANDOVAL
Variant covers by JORGE JIMÉNEZ, PAOLO RIVERA, and MICHAEL WALSH

HOUSE OF BRAINIAC PART ONE!

BRAINIAC ATTACKS! Brainiac’s Lobo army invades Metropolis in an action-packed oversized issue! The Super family and all the heroes of Metropolis join the fight, but will they be enough to hold off Brainiac’s lethal and crazed soldiers?! Can Superman and Lex learn what Brainiac is searching for? He’s not bottling Metropolis, so what is he collecting instead?!

First off, I am so happy that Rafa Sandoval is back on the book. I have come to really love Sandoval's take on the character and the whole family.

One thing for sure, under Phillip Kennedy Johnson's tenure, the super-family grew. With a team of Kryptonians, Phaelosians, and others numbering (I think) 9, you need a big threat to bring some realistic risk. An army of Lobos? That'll do.