Superman `78 #6 concludes the cinematic Brainiac storyline with a struggle against the villain and touches of director Richard Donner! The regular cover is by Mikel Janin with Superman gripped by the Brainac armor in front of an explosion! The “Brainiac Conclusion” is by Robert Venditti and Wilfredo Torres. The armor introduced last issue looks similar to Lex Luthor’s warsuit. This tech first appeared in Action Comics #544 (1983) which also introduced the upgraded Brainiac. The claw of Brainiac’s suit has Superman’s mouth as he is pressed against a wall. He slams Superman back and says he has survived the extinction of his species because of science. Brainiac also mentions transferring his conscious into new bodies.
Superman struggles and then presses him back saying that everyone must have “another chance.” Brainiac shouts that “Humanity”, Earth’s humans, have lost their chances. We see that he is not coldly intellectual, but a raving madman. He says that he has lifted up Metropolis and is about to be miniaturized. Superman says Brainiac is afraid as he holds back the armor’s buzzsaw weapon. Brainiac was trying to preserve civilizations, but it was really to control them. Superman says his father, Jor-El, is a scientist. Also, that Brainiac uses science as a weapon. I always thought that Brainiac’s preservation process, just like the Collector, is just to keep people in a jar like specimens. It is like the Twilight Zone episode, “People Are Alike All Over” (1960).
Brainiac again screams telling Superman, “I lost everything!” Superman counters saying he had the same experience, but was found by two people who loved him. I really like defining moments like this in comics. Superman struggles against the robotic suit and says Brainiac gave up, but he will not, then the suit malfunctions. Superman tries to save Brainiac shouting for him to shut down the suit. Brainiac refuses and the suit explodes. In the remains is an expired Brainiac. The Skull ship warns about the damage to the ship. Superman sees the bottle cities and swipes all of them at super speed. Um, the red lights and destruction of the ship somehow reminds me of Spaceballs (1987), “Six?, what happened to seven?” Brainiac’s consciousness is transferred to new body, he says “science is forever”, and the Skull Ship is destroyed!
Superman realizes as a piece of the Skull Ship crashes on Metropolis the same time as Lois that the ship was keeping the city afloat. We see Lois as Metropolis starts to fall. I love the panel of Lois’ face rippling with the fall, one of her eyes closed, Superman sees the city with its rock foundation start to fall, he streaks downwards. Lois holds on. Jimmy Olsen tries to be positive, but not Perry White. People in street scream. Lex Luthor is flying overhead in a balloon seeing the city’s fall similiar to Superman II (1980). We see Superman holding the city up by its base, it reminds me of Superman Returns (2006), but instead of holding up an island of Kryptonite, he is heroic saving people. The mass starts to heat up from atmospheric drag. Superman looks like he is straining under the weight, another great character rendering!
We see the people of Metropolis blown around, this may be out of scenes of Zod using super breath, but the best part is a cat that seems to be dancing in air! Superman grits his teeth. Then, we get a brief cameo of four very familiar kids, from another Richard Donner film, talking about their field trip. I love the reference, but this would be about seven years before their movie! Superman is straining, neck muscles bulging, this is the most he has carried! Then, an explosion at the fall of Metropolis! We see the aftermath as the city is cloudy from the debris, shadowy, and purplish from the noon sky, impressive colors Jordie Bellaire! Everyone cheers, Jimmy is happy, and Perry has come up with the headline so he wants photos. Lois is weary and a single tear falls for Superman. She turns as a rumbling sound is heard that shakes Metropolis! Then, Superman flies up!
The citizens look up in the sky. Superman waves to them, like he did to Lois in Superman the Movie! Lois is looking at the sky, Superman appears, his smile is classic Christopher Reeve! Lois hugs Superman. Everything is back to normal at the Daily Planet offices. Lois asks Perry if he wants coverage of the police’s warrant out for Lex Lurhtor and NASA recovering the Skull Ship wreckage. He wants both. Clark awkwardly asks Lois on a lunch date, but she has brown bags for them. At the Fortress of Solitude, Superman explains that the technology was lost with Brainiac’s ship to his parents. Jor-El and Lara both trust Kal-El and Lara says he is given them hope. Superman flies over the Earth with his smile, the exact end of Superman the Movie, the sentiment is there. Thanks to Robert Venditti, Wilfredo Torres, and everyone who helped put out this comic! Just one thing, there needs to be more Superman `78! and a team up with Batman `89 and Wonder Woman `77 is needed!
Five Drones out of Five!
#Superman77, #RobertVenditti, #WilfredoTorres, #JordieBellaire, #MikelJanin, #AndrewMarino, #Brainiac
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