Absolute Superman gave fans an eerie introduction to one of the most sadistic Brainiacs ever, but that wasn’t the only introduction of the issue. Brainiac’s quest to discover Superman’s origin and identity made significant strides in Absolute Superman #7, as Brainiac discovered Superman’s planet of origin, and that led to Brainiac finally getting his hands on Superman’s greatest weakness, and it didn’t take long for Brainiac to put potentially lethal plans for Superman into motion. Spoilers are incoming for Absolute Superman #7, so if you haven’t read the issue yet, you’ve been warned.
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This started out with Brainiac making a call to the Collective, where he asked for any and all possible leads related to Superman’s identity and planet of origin. Most of the Collective either balked at the request or didn’t know anything, but one member matched the red dust sample to Krypton’s thermal signature.
It’s then revealed that no Brainiac ever set foot on Krypton, as it never warranted the Collective’s interest, since they never managed to develop interstellar travel. The Brainiac with this knowledge revealed that they did visit the former site of Krypton and retrieved samples of its meteoroid remains, and they display what is described as a virulent range of radioactivity.
Our Brainiac gets the sample’s elemental composition sent over to him and then ends the call before printing the sample. Once it’s complete, he has his clones run tests on how the meteorite interacts with the dust from Superman’s cape. The final page then shows Brainiac examining the sample, and later we see him infusing a Peacemaker with a number of upgrades.
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We then see that Brainiac has been busy since his Kryptonite discovery, as we see he has developed a new armored suit for the Peacemaker that also includes several Kryptonite-powered weapons. That includes a host of kryptonite-infused bullets, and the target is Smallville. As we know from last issue, Superman just returned there, so the collision between Superman and Brainiac is happening very very soon.
As the panel above shows, this Brainiac is evil beyond any sort of power-grab: his grim origin story has twisted him into a sadistic killer who gains pleasure from watching even his allies die. With Kryptonite in his hands, and a reinforced Peacemaker to do his bidding, Brainiac stands a good chance against Superman, and if he does, we could be set to see Kal-El’s most brutal defeat from a villain revelling in the opportunity to torture and kill him for sport.
Here’s the official description for Absolute Superman #7: THE HORRORS OF ABSOLUTE BRAINIAC, REVEALED! His stolen alien technology is at the heart of Lazarus Corp’s global success. But he operates out of a seedy lair, packed with bottled cities… cities he tortures relentlessly, just to hear the faint chorus of screams. Who is the mysterious Brainiac? And why is he so interested in the Last Son of Krypton?”
Absolute Superman #7 is in comic stores now.
What did you think of the big reveal and of this more sinister Brainiac? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
