SUPERMAN versus BRAINIAC

No One Defeats Brainiac! (DC)
Where: Adventures of Superman #519 When: January 1995 Why: Karl Kesel How: Barry Kitson & Mike Manley

The Story So Far...
The world mourned when Superman gave his life to stop the rampaging behemoth known as Doomsday. To fill his void emerged four heroes claiming to be the genuine article, unaware the real Superman would survive his injuries, and return from the grave to fight for truth and justice once again! Or did he...?

The citizens of Metropolis are forced to question the legitimacy of their hero once again when his corpse rematerializes inside the abandoned tomb! Even Superman himself is unsure of his reality, beginning a search of any villain who may be responsible!

Brainiac appears beyond suspicion, remaining comatose on the planet New Genesis after his last battle. Even in this state, however, his powerful mind envisions the demise of his arch-nemesis! Brainiac did indeed create the false image of a fallen Superman while in his coma -- and now he has returned to make that vision a reality!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Brainiac 6 (Genius)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Superman 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Superman 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Draw 5 (Lasers)
Total: Superman 33 (Super)

Time to kick-off a big month of DC Injustice with the long overdue debut for one of the DC Universe's greatest threats! He's a nemesis well known to Superman, but we're yet to see what he can do in the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

Brainiac is a naturally gifted scientific genius from the planet Colu. Real name Vril Dox, he fought against the Computer Tyrants who ruled his home world, before leaving the planet in search of greater knowledge and experience.

Notoriously known as The Collector of Worlds; Brainiac used his advanced technologies to literally shrink entire cities for storage and examination. The most famous of his stolen domains is the bottled city of Kandor: the last surviving populace of Superman's birth planet - Krypton!

Brainiac became a nemesis for Superman when he found his way to Earth, making various attempts to steal landmass, threaten loved ones, and generally cause terror. During this time he possessed various bodies of artificial and living nature, including a telepathic magician named Milton Fine, and even Lex Luthor!

His powers have included advanced mechanical weapons, remote manipulation of computers and technology, super-human strength, speed, telekinesis, enhanced durability and stamina, and a phenomenal level of natural intellect!

We haven't seen Superman go up against anyone quite like his old nemesis Brainiac, but there have been various instances of battles against the brilliant, the brawny, and well equipped!

Look no further than Marvel's green-skinned Hulk for an opponent who possessed both phenomenal strength and intellect, but was defeated by Superman in Marvel versus DC #3! We also saw him effortlessly stop Lex Luthor in his armored power-suit during a team skirmish in Justice League of America #15!

In Action Comics #713, we saw Superman challenged by a very different opponent - a zealous villain calling himself Saviour! He could literally manifest weapons or super-powers by sheer force of belief, conjuring thought into reality through advanced psycho-kinesis.

For today's feature fight Brainiac has reassumed the Milton Fine personality he once possessed. That means heavy on conjuring and psychic manifestation. The same year as Savior and similar tactics. That means he's dangerous, but the same combination of determination and cunning can deliver Supes to victory.

The Tape: Superman Ranking: Superman (#6)

What Went Down...
Superman and the Special Crimes Unit watch desperately as the green menace called Brainiac stands amidst the carnage of a torn Metropolis street. In his hand he clutches the sweater of Lois Lane: Star reporter for The Daily Planet, and the love of Superman's life!

A hostage, Lois may be - but never helpless! With Brainiac distracted by a mano-a-mano challenge from The Man of Steel; Lois pivots to thrust her boot heel deep into an unsuspecting torso!

Freedom comes with a price. Lois now faces certain death hovering above the gaping chasm rendered in the road -- or so it seems. In reality, the drop is just an illusion cast by the malicious mind of Brainiac! With his trick exposed, he turns his mental powers toward the meddlesome reporter. Superman acts!

Like a living missile Superman fly-tackles Brainiac from behind, diverting his intended mental strike against Lois!

Superman confronts his arch-nemesis over the manifestation of a doppelganger created in the image of his corpse. The accidental apparition becomes Brainiac's physical threat. The dead Man of Steel stands and unleashes raw heat vision!

Superman recovers from the surprise attack and retaliates with a devastating right cross to his mirror's jaw! The imitation Superman appears to share the original's phenomenal durability. He fires back with a right hand of his own!

No mere illusion - the false Superman hoists massive pieces of rubble and smashes them over the true Man of Steel! The genuine article is undeterred, bursting from the debris to attack like a speeding bullet!

The hero has no reason to hold back against the soulless construct. He pummels his short-haired doppelganger as they fly through the air -- and a nearby building! They make a crash-landing at the feet of the Special Crimes Unit, but emerging from the dust are now two identical Supermen!

With the copy now claiming legitimacy, the SCU decide to take everybody in for questioning to sort it out peacefully. Lois Lane has a better idea, quizzing the duplicate heroes on the one person they'd save if Brainiac was about to destroy Earth. One rejects the premise, while the other chooses Lois. The latter, offering the answer Lois wants to hear -- which goes unheard by all others!

With his gambit exposed; Brainiac destroys Turpin's pistol with a bolt of mental energy and rushes for his phony Superman! He dives head-first at the motionless copy -- absorbing its mental energies in a dazzling blast of light!

The Brainiac that emerges is surrounded in a shell of raw energy! He uses his full power to launch a frontal physical assault on his unwavering nemesis!

Superman is sent smashing into a nearby building, but emerges unscathed. Brainiac hoists a nearby truck above his head, responding to his foe's defiance by pile driving him into the street with the heavy duty vehicle!

The villain proposes Metropolis be Superman's tombstone, offering to dig his grave. He does so, pounding the ground with sufficient force to send a very real tremor that rips through the road!

Once again, The Man of Tomorrow paws his way from the rubble. He's getting tired of "everyone trying to do their version of The Death of Superman!" His nemesis doesn't mind playing a "variation on a theme".

A blast of telekinetic energy shunts Superman into a would-be early grave, but the only prematurity is Brainiac's celebratory cackling as he covers Superman in dirt! He rises -- coming for Brainiac with clenched fists!

An uppercut rattles Brainiac inside his telekinetic force field! A right hook snaps his head sideways as if a direct hit! A tackle pushes him through the remaining bricks and mortar of a crumbled wall! A straight right comes with the musing that Brainiac is just two-bit carnival magician Milton Fine! The shell cracks!

The mentalist attempts to reinforce the confidence of his shielding and persona. He claims intergalactic terror at the name Brainiac - but Superman isn't buying it! With but a single extended hand, he catches Brainiac's fist - and responds!

A determined right hand shatters Brainiac's force field!

The impact reduces the fiend to a quivering shadow of his former self. Exposed, he clings briefly to a rejection of defeat before passing out. The mental toll of Superman's attack on his mind and force field clearly too great!

When Brainiac recovers shortly thereafter, he is no longer the intergalactic menace who plagues Metropolis! Instead, he has resumed the personality of magician Milton Fine. Superman helps him to his feet, ushering him to a better life -- at least for as long as it will last.

The Hammer...
A slightly ignoble end for one of the DC Universe's most notorious villains, but a welcome induction into The Comic Book Fight Club!

Brainiac is one of the bigger names to have eluded the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths over the years. There's never been any conceited effort to keep him out of the fighting ranks, but I have to admit, he hasn't been flagged as a priority until now.

It's always been a given that Brainiac comes somewhere just behind Lex Luthor in the pantheon of classic Superman villains. His status was earned over some sixty years of tyranny, beginning with his print debut in 1958.

I tend to think the past weighs heavily on Brainiac. He's a quintessential sci-fi baddy of the time, right at home with movie villains of the '50s and early '60s. Attempts to modernize the character have led to a long and tangled history, not always to the benefit of the character, or the removal of dated reference.

The Milton Fine version (seen today), though visually distinct, doesn't do a great deal to ingratiate the character into preference. I've gotta note: I really looking at this issue. Mike Manley's finishes are sumptuously strong and really pop with the bold colour palette of Glenn Whitmore. All those vivid purples, greens, and oranges are a treat with those deep inky blacks! Always nice to see Superman in bold blue and red, too. Trunks included.

The big-headed, moustachio magician still feels as much a throwback as a green man from outer space who wants to shrink the city. I have to imagine that's one of the reasons the character remained in flux.

I have some appreciation for the robot-bodied Brainiac that came just prior to the possession of Milton Fine. Immortalized in the Super Powers toy line and comics, and briefly seen in Crisis on Infinite Earths, that version did a solid job of reinventing a visual palette worthy of the pop culture of the eighties.

The skeletal robotic vision came a year before The Terminator was in theatres, and gave Brainiac a real sense of menace. It was a big departure from the green skinned villain of yore, but still felt like it had a foot in the sci-fi tropes of a bygone era, lingering fondly in popular reference.

I imagine the relatively short-lived robot form was a tough sell to traditionalists, and I ultimately appreciate subsequent attempts in the 2000s to consolidate the various styles. The modern Brainiac that's still a green-skinned humanoid, but suitably symbiotic in his relationship with technology, is a nice fusion.

As time goes on, I tend to see increasing value in restoring some characters to their original presentation. Modern sensibilities have had a tendency to push things into a convergence of repeating motifs. The more the meanings of early reference fade into obscurity, the more they become viable as a sense of identity, rather than anachronism. For those who know, the fifties spaceman with the citywide shrink ray is a torchbearer. For those who don't, he's an eerie phantom of strange intent.

Slithery, techno-tendrils add danger and a creepy pseudo-organic vibe that feels almost The Matrix meets Hellraiser. I'm not sure if the current version of Brainiac will endure as the definitive vision, but I've got no beef.

That's the version you'll find in Injustice 2 when it invades home consoles May 16th! Brainiac is the big bad boss invading the world of the fighting game sequel. Featured fights in May will be taking loose inspiration from the game, spotlighting some of the new and returning characters!

This entry is a big one for fans of the fighting ranks, as well! Superman punches his way back into the Top 5 with today's feature victory. Trainspotters will note he bumps Marvel rival Hulk back down to #6 as a result!

Want to see more of the fights that shaped the ranks? Dive into the Secret Archive to find every battle organized by publisher, series and issue. Or, follow along on Twitter and Facebook to get daily fights inspired by the topics of the day! Throw a like and a share to amaze your friends and support the site!

Winner: Superman
#5 (+1) Superman
#158 (+117) Dan Turpin [+1 assist]
#524 (new) Lois Lane [+1 assist]
#839 (new) Brainiac

JUSTICE SOCIETY versus MORGAUTH
"It was a Dark and Stormy Night..." (DC)
Where: JSA Strange Adventures #1 When: October 2004 Why: Kevin J Anderson How: Barry Kitson

The Story So Far...
In a world where the fantastic powers of the Justice Society of America make even the most bizarre science-fiction story appear pedestrian, the tastes of the masses are changing!

Circulation of the Amazing Stories pulp magazine is falling in a 1940's America concerned with the threat of Nazi violence, and the exploits of the nation's greatest super powered heroes. In an effort to save his business, budding editor, Hugo Gernsback, calls upon his most popular writer to work with a little-known author, whose submissions have been rejected for years.

As a member of the JSA; Johnny Thunder has had a ground zero vantage point of the team's greatest exploits, experiencing them from behind the might of his mystically charged Thunderbolt! His latest submission is yet another tale of personal triumph, when only he and his Thunderbolt have the keys to defeating the mysterious monster menace of Morgauth!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Wonder Woman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Spectre 7 (Omnipotent)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Spectre 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Spectre 7 (Malleable)
Fighting Ability: Hawkman 6 (Warrior)
Energy Power: Spectre 7 (Cosmic)


- The JSA are: Green Lantern, Starman, Hawkwoman, The Spectre, Dr. Mid-Nite, Dr. Fate, Mr. Terrific, Hawkman, Atom, Flash, Wildcat, Hourman, Wonder Woman, Star-Spangled Kid, Sandman, Dr. Occult, Johnny Thunder, and The Thunderbolt.

During the Golden Age of superheroes in the forties, many of the heaviest hitting heroes united to form a powerful syndicate of heroism called the Justice Society.
Among the well-known founding members were; Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Sandman, the Spectre, Dr. Fate, Hourman, and the Atom.

Despite an ebb and flow through time that has seen the team maintain varying degrees of activity, they have endured to the modern day. Extending the JSA's lifespan is a new legacy policy which allows a new generation of new members inducted by relation to former members, be they by blood, or by spirit.

- Morgauth is a hellish tentacle beast from the darkest depths of occult imagination. The extent of the lovecraftian creature's powers are uncertain, but it's resistance to magic appears to extend even to the might of The Spectre, whose powers only appeared to make the monster grow larger in their only confrontation (in JSA: Strange Adventures).

Math: JSA Ranking: Hawkman (#31)

What Went Down...
"It was a dark and stormy night...," recounts the pencil of Johnny Thunder.
At the mysterious Hotel Necro the JSA are locked in mortal battle with an immortal creature of infernal origins! Dr. Fate and Starman do their best to stem the creature's writhing tentacles as it bursts from every orifice of the hotel!

The Spectre grows to towering proportions to bathe the Hotel Necro in the glow of his wrathful arcane energies! Dr. Mid-Nite delivers a grim prognosis, unable to sense any ill effects felt by the creature. To the contrary, Morgauth bursts from the bondage of the hotel architecture, seemingly invigorated by Spectre's blast!

The Green Lantern joins Starman in an aerial assault on the bustling monster, but their energies, founded in strange science, appear to have no effect on the creature raised from a runestone.

From the ground; the Sandman attempts to turn the tables to no avail, using his custom gas gun to try to give the nightmare creature a bad dream of it's own. All the while Hawkwoman, Hourman, the Star-Spangled Kid, Flash, Mr. Terrific, and Wonder Woman all grapple with the growing sprawl of animated tentacles!

Wildcat's blows bare a brutish charm as he battles the snarling tendrils with old fashioned fisticuffs. On the verge of running out of luck, the champion brawler finds himself surrounded, only to be saved by the pint-sized might of the Atom!

From the neighbouring rooftops above Dr. Occult clutches his mystic disc and compells it's energies to strike at the beast. Instead, the mortal man summons only the wrath of Morgauth, whose giant tentacle reduces his vantage point to firewood! Only the highflying intervention of Hawkgirl saves his life!

Meanwhile; Johnny Thunder was receiving a helping hand of his own from Wonder Woman and her indestructable golden lasso! Her rescue leaves Johnny Thunder able to cite the mystic command, "Cei-U," calling forth the mighty Thunderbolt!

Johnny directs his friend to the menacing monster, whose weak point proves to be it's gigantic central eye! The Thunderbolt streaks directly into he beast, reducing it to slop with his triumphant emergence!

The Hammer...
Well, of all the tangled tales to tie into... We're tempted to call this one a shared victory for the entire Justice Society, but it would be not without some contrivance. Technically Thunderbolt deserves the win, even though the story is told from Johnny Thunder's perspective, and we could assume the already admirable efforts of the JSA deserve more than a statistical assist credit. This isn't the only layer relevant to our on-going statistical tally, however...

The presence of characters like Dr. Occult and Star-Spangled Kid have raised certain questions about the situation of the story in DC history. With only the most unique exception, we analyse characters from alternate universes as part of the potential of their key-universe counterparts, so it's effectively a non-issue.
Strange Adventures could, however, very easily be interpreted as an untold tale from late in the pre-Crisis (or Earth-2) JSA; if not a stand-alone story.

Whew. If you found that paragraph utterly asinine, more power to you!

I like the Justice Society! I like the Golden Age!
I can't claim to be any kind of expert on the intricate histories of all these heroes, but there's an instant asthetic that makes them instantly recognisable, and delightful. It has come to my attention, however, that there are shade of ignorance that can radically change the interpretation of what these characters are.

If you've been reading the Infinite Wars of late you know that October is all about monsters and spooks, and that before that, we'd been paying quite a lot of attention to the meeting of Mortal Kombat and the DC Universe [ie; Dark Kahn]!

It's been an interesting interpretation that the T-rated departure for the blood soaked franchise is an admission that the appeal of the series skews toward a younger demographic. It's quite possibly true, but at the very least, I've found, the MK audience has a far less exposed palate with which they taste the fictional domain. For many, brightly coloured characters like Captain Marvel and Green Lantern were bitterly received, with no notion of the irony.

This trend might cast a lot of aspertions toward MK fans, but to look inward, it probably also reminds us how important perspective is to understanding, and appreciating, some of these most beloved relics of comics' Golden Age.

A regularly recurring subject has been the asthetics of "darkness" read as both adjective, and abstracted noun. The word's use as a buzzword in mass media has ensured fans of all walks of entertainment have their own shallow expectations of the word. It's fair to say even in comics there is a widespread misconception about what darkness might entail and how it applies to the DC Universe.

For the original heroes of the thirties and forties -- a certain amount of thematic darkness was retained from it's pulp predecessors, before being sanitized and reprocessed as post-Werthem goo. Heroes like Batman, Green Lantern, Sandman, and many others of JSA fame, all tackled macabre and horrific tales in their early adventures. While the debate is an evolving one, these World War II era characters also shared a moral compass that has come to accept certain extremes of violence, in the case of some, prosecution by murder.

In recent years DC comics has gone to great lengths to give it's characters and universe a hard edge of consequence. Despite being well recognised for their accessible materials for children, the publisher has managed to avoid being as conservative with it's sacred cows, placing violent stakes on the threats they face with a conceptual drive that has fairly justified them [see; the totem of justice].

Wonder Woman's penchant for swordplay and fatal brutality (breaking Maxwell Lord) garnered much more attention than the genocidal mass murder of three million undertaken by Black Adam. These hero-driven events say nothing of the controversy stirred by novelist Brad Meltzer's 2004 mini-series, Identity Crisis, which set the tone for the DCU with the rape of a beloved supporting character and a string of murders.

Attentive writing has really been on DC's side for the past decade as they've rebuilt the DC Universe as a cohesive entity. It's fair to say of most comics that they challenge the shallow nature of "darkness" as defined by gimmickery and trinkets, benefitting so from a language and precedent developed over seventy years. The emotional, psychological, conceptual, and ethical are all on display.

What is darkness? I think it's all these things.
I do hope, however, that fans of both Mortal Kombat and DC Universe can come to accept certain grounds of perspective. The DCU deserves full credit for the luxuries it is afforded by it's extensive network of titles, characters, writers, artists, and decades of history. This perspective is communicated through it's properties in ways the uninformed may not appreciate, but do not diminish.

I cannot communicate adequately the particulars of what it is about these antiquated heroes that is so charming and valuable. In meeting the much younger, less exposed audience it really has brought this home.
I suppose what I'm musing is that it's a misconception that does them the disservice. These characters in their long lives possess so much of the same make-up that their many descdents have - and then some!

At the same time, the great charm of a Sandman or Starman might just be the quaint simplicity that encompasses their character. They are the among the purest superhero concepts, summed up by their design and place in the world.
The popularity of retro-modern in the mid-00's really captured that and while it might have been better done in Detective Comics or JSA at the time, it's still very evident in Strange Adventures.

Suffice to say, there is still much to ponder, and more spooks and monsters to see as the month progresses. [EDIT: However, Mike fell ill after writing most of this entry, and consequently the month may be condensced upon his return.]

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4

To the best of our knowledge JSA: Strange Adventures has not been collected, but you'll find plenty more on offer in the Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe! Collections featuring most issues reviewed previously on the site are all on offer and by using purchase links provided you not only benefit from Amazon's services, but also help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars!