DC Reveals the Most Sadistic Brainiac Ever in Absolute Superman

Absolute Superman has changed up a number of classic DC characters over the course of the first seven issues, but few have made as disturbing an impression as Brainiac. While we’ve had glimpses of Brainiac to this point, nothing prepared us for the full unveiling of just how insane this version truly is, and it’s easily the most sadistic and unhinged version of the character to date. We’re going to dive into his origin and why he’s taken that disturbing title, so prepare for big spoilers from here on out.

First Impressions

Brainiac makes an immediate impression thanks to the Omega Strikeforce invading his Lazarus facility, who meet their deaths in extremely brutal ways. Brainiac takes the first soldier out by painfully shrinking their skin, and that’s only the first attack. Then a second soldier ends up paralyzed after his muscles are taken away, and a third soldier starts throwing up his own bones.

You then see another soldier starting to fire back as you can see a blob of flies on the floor beside him, but that soldier has his hand caught in a blast that suddenly makes his hand massive and deformed. That soldier is then hit with a number of spiky purple orbs that seem to be leeching off his armor, and yet somehow things get far worse for him moving forward.

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That’s because we see that soldier on Brainiac’s operating table a bit later, and Brainiac has been operating on him in any number of sickening ways. His legs and arms are separated by cables now, and his brain has been extracted from his head and put into a container hovering above the table, though it is still connected, so he is still alive. Brainiac is speaking to him as if he were a confidant, and then reveals he’s also operated on his own brain over time, trying to cut certain things out.

The Origin

We then see how this Brainiac first came to be, and he was just one of many clones amongst the Brainiac Collective. This version was created to clean up refuse and put them into the liquidator, though that refuse was actually dead or decommissioned Brainiac clones, and there was a sea of them. This caused this Brainiac to question what he was and his purpose as he continued to get rid of clones for almost 3000 days, and a meeting with one clone who was still clinging on to life finally broke him completely.

After more than 49,000 days, he finally left the liquidator and went to seek the others on the ship, but he realized that everyone that was on the ship was either dead or gone, and he then took his place as the top Brainiac, though as well learn later, there is still parts of the Collective in the universe that aren’t aware of him.

As his final act of the issue, Brainiac destroys the brain of his captive before moving on to Superman-related matters, and it’s then revealed that this Brainiac has his own clones now doing exactly what he was made to do for almost 50,000 years. You can find the official description for Absolute Superman #7 below.

“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?”

What did you think of Brainiac’s debut? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!