DC Comics delivers the Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 to comic stores this week, and it lives up to its billing as "Chapter 2.5" throughout three compelling stories that paint an impressively complete picture of the current state of things and how they came to be. These stories not only matter to the greater story, but also serve to flesh out that world pre- and post-attack, while also teeing up the next big move in Brainiac's master plan. Read Full Review

The story does a great job of setting up the next arc for these characters. Waller continues to be a menace and the art in this issue showcases that brilliantly with its use of shadows. Read Full Review

The cause and effect of Brainiacs latest attack filters through the Superman mystique with this latest special. Each story creates a past, present and future sense as victory inches closer for the collector of worlds. The creative teams highlight the influence of events that fans will not want to miss on NCBD. Read Full Review

Jumping away from the Superman/Lobo action, the House of Brainiac Special provides deep background and deeper stakes for the event. Read Full Review

The art and storytelling are all top notch, where my issues lie are with the relevancy of this 'book 'Superman: House Of Brainiac Special #1' to the House of Brainiac crossover. Read Full Review

Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 brings an issue that expands a little on Brainiac's past and possible motive for his current invasion. Naturally, the stories in this issue are hit-and-miss, with the first one being the best story by default, while the second is the worst, and the third is the second best but it has a bit of trouble. The third story makes a big reveal concerning Amanda Waller and her mysterious secret allies that may divide readers invested in her story and the upcoming Absolute Power event, so mileage will vary on that. Read Full Review

This special is fun if you want more insight into Brainiacs story and plans, but overall, it is a filler issue. The biggest crime of this issue is theres no Superman. If you really care about the House of Brainiac storyline and background Superman characters, this issue is for you. The issue falls right in the middle of not being terrible, but not being a big deal if you decide to skip it. Read Full Review

I still don't quite like this Amanda Waller. I don't quite how she is able to be so threatening to the most powerful heroes and villains of the DCU. I don't like when Batman stares down Darkseid either. So overall an okay issue. But I am looking forward getting back to the main arc. Read Full Review

This is a typical DC anthology issue that was going pretty well. Then Amanda Waller arrived and ruined. Read Full Review

Superman: House Of Brainiac Special #1 makes the bizarre choice of sandwiching a heavy-handed one-shot about immigration, that has nothing to do with Brainiac, written by Mark Russell, between two shorts that give readers a small nugget of info about Brainiac's plans and motivations. I don't know what DC Editorial was thinking with this special, but it wasn't anything good. Read Full Review

This book had three different stories and my favorite was the one least associated with House of Brainiac. All of them were good, though. I liked learning about Brainiac’s past with Czarnia in the first one. The third one was my least favorite, possibly since I haven’t read Dark Crisis at this point in time. The second story, however, was pretty good. I enjoyed seeing the struggles of Perry running for mayor and his journey through the campaign. Hopefully we get more of that soon, but I do feel like it’s unlikely, at least for a while.

I am a bit generous with the rating on this one, but as someone else said (and I agree), this is exactly what a filler issue should be. It even advertises itself as one (2.5 and all that). You get to know some background history so there are no hanging plot points, you get to see some foreshadowing from a couple of years ago pay off and you get a bit of the politicking on earth going on.

The Perry White story is ham fisted yes, but rather realistic. I would expect this type of thing to regularly happen. People trying to evict aliens sounds like it would happen every 5-10 years honestly with all the madness superheroes bring. People would grow tired. Now could the story have been better? Yeah its written by Russell so you are not getting the A game here.

As for the Brainiac stories, I enjoy the lore drop of the first part. Waller is overused by this point but I like the connection and reveal of the council. At least, if the foreshadowing is right, we will be done with her at the end of Absolute Power.

Good art. more

While this is a filler issue, I really think this is a good example of what a filler issue is. It fleshes out why Brainiac is doing this, I like Perry White trying to convince that not all aliens are bad, and I love the reveal of who the Society of Light was that was teased all the way back in Dark Crisis.

This issue is comprised of 3 mini-stories meant to provide insights on how the current Brainiac storyline is playing out across parts of the DC Universe we haven’t seen yet.

Superman scribe Joshua Williamson helms the 1st & 3rd stories & writes them as if they’re part of Brainiac’s mission log. The 1st story provides background on the villain’s past conquests on Krypton & Czarnia, giving readers some more explanation of why Lobo is involved. The 3rd story sheds more light on how Amanda Waller fits into Brainiac’s plans. It was easily my least favorite of the 3. Neither of these stories was groundbreaking or felt like they’ll have major payoffs later on, acting more as fillers for some event-specific world building.

Mark Russell joins the fray for the middle story & focuses on Perry White’s struggling mayoral campaign. This one gets an outsized amount of pages compared to Williamson’s, and it’s a not-so-subtle metaphor for the US’s current state of political discourse, using the anti-Supers fever spreading through Metropolis as a stand-in for the rise in hatred against almost any minority group over the past few years. This isn’t anything new for comics, though Russell executes it well here.

Even though the 3 stories weren’t home runs, the art teams nailed the visuals throughout the entire book. Artists Edwin Galmon, Steve Pugh, & Fico Ossio, & colorists Jordie Bellaire & Rex Lokus bring a level of life to all three stories that the scripts alone couldn’t achieve & deserve a lot of credit for making this book worthwhile.

Overall, this was a fine, if unspectacular addition to the House of Brainiac arc. The main story has been great enough so far that I’m not mad that this was a short distraction, but I can defnitely say I’m ready to get back into the main plot. more

The Brainiac related back story was alright but the whole Bibbo story was such a grag being far too long and lacking any subtlety. Though I generally agree with Mark Russell's politics, I hate his writing and wish he'd remain off cannon storylines as he's only focused on politics not writing an interesting story.

Waste of a read

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• RKS

RKS - May 4, 2024

It was written by Mark Russell what did you expect? The guy is a Hack.

Smithd33 - May 4, 2024

Wasn’t just him. But yes. Point is on point.

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