Action Comics #866

Brainiac part 1

After the brief bit of filler last issue, we begin the new arc and...and...now, I want the whole thing now. Geoff Johns, please email me with the scripts cause I do not want to wait. You will tell me all your secrets.

Okay, issue starts on Krypton 35 years prior to present day and Brainiac's robots are attacking and bottles Kandor (which is strange, cause I thought Kandor was bottled in some other event but this is DC, which stands for Duuuuuuuuuuuh, Continuity?).

Fast forward and we see Clark and Lois in a staff meeting at the Daily Planet where new editors are introduced to the staff including Cat Grant making her return. After the meeting, Clark senses something and takes off to do his Superman thing fighting one of Brainiac's robots. The robot shuts down in the middle of the fight after sending a signal back to the mothership and we are treated to this sweet revelation at the end that knocked me on my ass. Seriously, Johns is thinking big for this story. Huge! I'm not spoiling it so pick it up.

Johns is DC's golden boy. There are so many moments in this issue that never fail to impress. The attack on Krypton was cool shit, the staff meeting was laugh out loud and te reveal at the end was great. Gary Frank, a great artist in his own right sells me completely on this issue. Cat Grant...wow! Wow! Total slut, and I wish she was real. Great tits. I shouldn't say this about a cartoon but I would kill to hit that. But the thing that impressed me the most was this one page moment with Jonathan and Martha Kent. It's a one off page, it's only a few panels. Martha is calling Jonathan for breakfast. I couldn't turn the page. There is one panel with Martha looking at Jonathan, it's a silent panel, and it's so stupidly simple that I think most folks would overlook it but there is such an emotional depth that I was taken aback. It's rare that an artist can hit an emotional note so pitch perfect. I mean you have guys like Greg Land and their one note, porn face expressions that really keep comics in general in the realm of juvenile nonsense. Frank is, clearly, capable of elevating it. This guy needs to do something independent, something quiet and thoughtful. He's wasting his time with the capes and tights shit. That panel, man, that page is evidence of the kind of storytelling this man, the medium in general, is capable of. Beautiful.

Overall, this is a must have. It's dubbed a "Sightings" issue, though I don't know why. It's a breezy read but I highly recommend this issue.