“House of Brainiac” ends today with Superman #15, a fairly solid crossover event for DC Comics. Brainiac has shown his cards with Queen Brainiac, decimated the Czarnian army he used to snatch up Superman’s friends, and now has one last chance to win. Unfortunately for him, Superman and his friends are loose, but surely, an army of Brainiacs can stop them!
Superman #15 opens with Lex Luthor and his daughter Lena jacked into Brainiac’s machine fighting digital enemies. Lex is trying to save his daughter and not himself for once, while Superman and his family/friends fight in real life to give them time. Essentially, we have a fight comic when the more friends you have, the better the odds.
The tropes of fight comics do rear its head here, with few surprises. By working together, the heroes rise up, which is a trope we see time and time again. Aside from Lex’s possible face turn, Brainiac and his army of Brainiacs fall fairly easily. In fact, with the hype of multiple Brainiacs involved, they are pretty disappointing.
Sweet cover for Superman #15.
Credit: DC Comics
Key elements of this story continue to build Lex’s connection to Brainiac. He’s the only mind that can take on Brainiac, but what this means for the future could be huge. He’s also showing signs of being a true hero as he cares for Lena.
Possibly, the best sequence of the issue involves Brainiac losing the integrity of his mind. Captions let us know how much of his intelligence is left, acting like a ticking time bomb as key things need to be fixed or saved before he dies. Rafa Sandoval’s art in these scenes is excellent and an intense series of moments.
Sandoval continues to excel at double-page layouts and splashy art. He is one of the best superhero artists working today, and thanks to his art, this book is event-level in quality.
Writer Joshua Williamson also wraps things up well here. There are quite a few plot threads, but by the end, it all makes sense and is pretty tidy. Even Queen Brainiac and her next move make sense. Props should go to him for pulling off a fairly self-contained and well-orchestrated crossover.
Superman #15 wraps up a crossover event that was mostly a huge success. Key characters are changed, big stakes occur, and even new villains have been created. That’s a win if I ever saw one.
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