Superman: Action Comics No. 1066 – Joshua Williamson, writer; Rafa Sandoval, Miguel Mendonca, Laura Braga, artists; Alejandro Sanchez, Pressy, colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Beam: It’s the penultimate chapter of House of Brainiac, and all the plot threads converge when Brainiac successfully summons the Brainiac Queen. This horrific techno-wraith wastes no time in tearing his way through the army of Czarni. That’s enough to terrify Lobo and make him do the one thing no one would expect him to do – admit he was wrong. Reunited, the unlikely alliance manages to turn the tide against the Brainiac Queen and begins freeing the shop’s other prisoners – starting with the Super-Twins, but Superman isn’t satisfied with that. He’s determined to make sure Brainiac doesn’t hold any more prisoners – and he’ll soon receive unexpected help from some of Brainiac’s fellow Coluans.
The question of why Brainiac has reached this exact extent is very interesting, and it increasingly seems like he is not in his right mind – even by his standards. The missing part of his mind is finally explained, but it only seems to drive him further insane. And in the middle of all this is the most compelling subplot this season yet – the strange story of Lena Luthor and how she is connected to Brainiac. Her role is finally explained, and that drives the emotional stakes to immeasurable levels as we see that there is something that really matters to Lex – and he is about to lose it. The visual effects are stunning, but amidst all the action, Williamson has managed to perfectly anchor this story in a very human struggle for family.
And that feeling is reinforced in the backstory, which finally gives us the missing piece of the puzzle about what happened in 2001 after Lena was returned to Lex. He quickly found out that she wasn’t fully human again – and if Brainiac found out, he would stop at nothing to win her back. This story seems to have a lot of sympathy for Lex, as a father who loved his daughter but was faced with an impossible choice, but at the same time, it’s Lex and he always has plans in mind. I just hope we get the chance to see a lot more of Lena once her role in this event is wrapped up.
Reviews of all DC issues can be found under “DC This Week”.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
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