We last left Superman surrendering to Brainiac and taken to his Skull Ship, he is painfully miniaturized into the Bottle City of Kandor, meeting his parents, Jor-El and Lara! Kal-El, powerless in the bottle city, accepts leadership from his father. Then, we get Lois Lane taken by Lex Luthor to unveil his plans! Superman `78 #4 has a cover by Brad Walker with Luthor peering into the bottle city with Superman, Jor-El, and Lara with Kryptonian cities looking up at the supervillain with Lois also looking in.
“Brainiac Chapter Four” is by the team of Robert Venditti and Wilfredo Torres. It begins with Brainiac witnessing the devastation of his planet, Colu. Tears fall from his green face. Currently, on the skull ship, Brainiac’s face is attached to his drone-like body and pieces of his cybernetics is attached like Tony Stark with his Iron Man suit by the sentient ship. In the bottle city, Jor-El addresses the assembled Kryptonians at tables. He turns over his leadership to Kal-El. The Kryptonians raise their tube-like glasses to him.
Afterwards, he is met by several officials about housing, the Science Council’s theory on the passage of time inside the bottle, and a red-haired woman asks if Kal-El has thought about a “union.” I’m not certain if this Kryptonian house is new. He is left to contemplate at a balcony. Kal-El tries to drink a toast to himself, but spills the liquid on his house symbol. Jor-El walks up to him and his son admits that he belongs on Earth. His father has said that over the years he tried to find a way to escape, the red radiation that duplicates the effect of Krypton’s sun, Rao, cancels out Kryptonian powers.
Jor-El could build a containment suit to protect from the radiation and also bathe the wearer with yellow sun radiation. He could also find a way to alter the radiation to yellow rays. Still, Venditti has some tricks up his sleeve in the writing department. In the lab and secret hideout of Lex Luthor, it looks like a science station from the 70’s, nice design Wilfredo Torres. Luthor goes on a rant and Lois asks him what is the purpose of the machine. He says it’s a space transmitter designed to pick up alpha waves from the receiver he planted on Superman before he left with Brainiac.
The transmission is beamed from satellites, out of the Luthor’s building in Metropolis, past Earth to Brainiac’s skull ship and finally to the Bottle City. It is visual, but you can almost see the camera panning following the sound. Kal-El walks the corridors and sees an image of himself in Kryptonian robes. He strikes the mirror-like crystal wall and breaks it suffering pain in his hand. Kal-El faintly hears his Superman name called out. He walks to his Superman uniform and hears Lois. The receiver projects Lois on the crystal like a hologram, interesting to see a human hologram on Krypton, she asks him why he changed his hair.
Then, explains that Luthor found a way to bring him back, but Kal-El is suspicious. In his red flooded control room, Brainiac is informed by the ship that it picked up a transmission from Earth to Bottle 7351, Krypton! Brainiac orders his skull shiop to return to Earth. In split panels (excellent design!), Lois speaks to Kal-El, says that Brainiac must have intercepted the transmission. Luthor enters the hologram and Kal-El tells him that he is drawing Brainiac’s attention. Kal-El explains to Lois the situation with his parents to Lois, but the transmission is breaking up and fades away. Back at the hideout, Lois is angry, and Luthor revels at a meeting with Brainiac. The Skull Ship appears above the bridges of Metropolis and Brainiac makes the announcement that someone has dangerously threatened the Earth.
We see Metropolis citizens in several panels until we get to Perry White looking out his window blinds. On a rooftop, Lois is angry at Luthor for promising that Superman will return, we see in the dark clouds the tentacles of the Skull Ship. Lois leaves to cover the story. Jor-El and Lara check on their son and Jor-El asks him about the signal. He explains that the transmitter that went through the walls of the bottle city is exactly what he needed! Brainiac announces that a challenge is made to him, Luthor agrees, but that means humanity is a threat. Then, he tells the Earth that Metropolis must be preserved! We had Ultron lift a city in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), but this is a whole new level turning it to a bottle city! Superman `78 gives some hope in the Bottle City of Kandor situation, but then brings up the consequences!
Four Drones out of Five!
#Superman78, #BrainiacChapterFour, #RobertVenditti, #WilfredoTorres, #Colu, #Bottle7351
Comments
Post a Comment