Superman Comic Books
Superman: Special Reports
Brainiac - Part 1 (of 3)
Last
updated: October 7, 2004
The
Amazing Brainiac
Brainiac
is introduced to the re-booted Superman in Adventures of Superman
#438, (penned by John Byrne with art by Jerry Ordway and John
Beatty). Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen and Cat Grant are visiting a circus
that has a mentalist named The Amazing Brainiac. Jimmy and Cat learn
that Brainiac is really a middle-aged man named Milton Moses Fine
who has a drinking problem and who suffers from bad headaches.
Fine's
common-law wife and assistant, Janet Jones, has little sympathy for
him. She wants him to use his powers to make money in the stock
market. Fine tells her that would be wrong. "I shouldn't even
have these powers. No human being should! That's why I get these
awful headaches... why my poor pitiful hours of sleep are filled
with such nightmares! I've been given the power to probe into the
minds of men, and the things I've seen there... the awful things..."
To
Cat and Jimmy, Fine relates his dreams of a mind that has touched
his. This mind claims to be Vril Dox, a scientist and humanitarian
from the distant planet Colu. Dox tells Fine that his body (greened
skinned and blond haired) was accidentally destroyed. Only his mind
has survived.
Suddenly,
Fine collapses, grabbing his head and yelling, "It's DOX!! He's
close! He's trying to... enter my mind...". In another part of
the circus, Clark also reels in pain. Switching to Superman, he
follows the source of the pain -- to Brainiac's tent.
The
reader immediately knows something serious has happened to Fine.
While he looks the same, his word balloons are black, with white
lettering. That, and he pounds Superman with psychic blasts. When
Superman calls the mentalist by his stage name, Fine's possessor
decides that he likes the name and will use it when he becomes
master of the world (begin ominous soundtrack!).
Brainiac
(Vril Dox) is surprised by the latent power in Fine's body. Even
after blasting Superman several times, he says he has been using but
a tiny portion of the untapped power within this pathetic body, and
that, "Locked within this mortal brain are powers such as we of
Colu could only have dreamed!"
With
help from Janet, Superman is able to knock Fine unconscious --
ending the attack. Fine is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward.
Neither Superman nor the doctors seem to believe him when he warns
that Vril Dox is real - and he will be back.
Another
Fine Mess
In
Superman #20, Fine, learning of Janet's death, loses control
of his body to Vril Dox, and escapes during the funeral service. In
Adventures of Superman #445 (written by Ordway), we learn
that Fine's body is rejecting Dox's alien life-force, and that
Brainiac is trying to find an organic serum to cure himself.
Brainiac murders vagrants for their spinal fluid and, later, for
their brains (anybody else having images of old horror movies?).
When he captures Cat and Jimmy, he decides to lure Superman to his
hideout.
While
Brainiac's body is still that of Fine's overweight, middle-aged
Caucasian frame, he wears a snazzy pink and black one-piece garment.
The goatee survives, but the hair has been shaved off, except for a
long tuft of hair on the crown of his head. Fine's skin is peeling
away, revealing green skin underneath.
Unknown
to Brainiac, Fine's body has a brain tumor. It is never made clear
how Fine's brain tumor may be connected to his body's rejection of
Dox. Similarly, the connection between Fine's mental powers and Vril
Dox's own abilities is never clearly explained. Although later
stories imply Dox was highly intelligent on Colu (a trait also seen
in his descendants), there is no indication that he possessed mental
or psychic powers before his discorporation. That he had some such
abilities is evident from the fact that his spirit survives the
destruction of his original body somehow and is able to possess
Fine's body on distant Earth.
Apart
from the reference by Fine that he can read minds and to Brainiac's
comments about his possessed body's untapped powers, we don't know
much about Fine's powers, either as an individual or as contributor
to Brainiac's powers. We later see that Brainiac will complain about
the body's limited data storage abilities. Despite the apparent
power of Fine's mind, too often, Brainiac will 'short circuit'
during critical confrontations. And speaking of confrontations, back
to the story in progress...
When
Superman arrives, Brainiac decides to probe Superman's mind to find
out his secrets and fears. What Brainiac doesn't know is that this
just isn't a good time to tick Superman off. Superman has recently
returned from a "pocket" universe, where three madmen
(Kryptonians from that universe) have killed everyone on their
Earth. Superman felt that he had no choice but to execute them, and
he is struggling to come to terms with his actions (Superman
#21, Adventures of Superman #444, and Superman #22).
Superman
allows Brainiac to see his anger -- and the resulting mental battle
causes a huge explosion that leaves Brainiac unconscious and in
custody. Brainiac's tampering has important consequences to Superman
- leading to Superman's self-exile in space (that arc has been
released in trade paperback). But that's another story.
The
Luthor/Brainiac Team
Luthor,
ever resourceful, is able to gain possession of Brainiac's body. He
has the brain tumor removed and inserts a special device to control
Brainiac. Luthor also provides Brainiac with a psi-amplifier, to
better mentally attack Superman. Brainiac is shaved bald so that the
circuitry can be connected to his head, and the mechanical frame
becomes a permanent feature on Brainiac's cranium.
Superman
recognizes the source of the attacks on him and confronts Brainiac,
but Brainiac manages to both fake his own death and turn the tables
on Luthor. Brainiac gains control only briefly, for in Superman
#27, a new "Gangbuster" invades LexCorp to attack Luthor
(the original Gangbuster is sidelined with a broken back). Brainiac
intervenes with a mental attack, but "Gangbuster" repulses
the attack, and Brainiac collapses, allowing Luthor to regain
control.
Luthor
arranges to keep Brainiac sedated, but in Superman #28, when
Superman leaves for space, Brainiac is instantly aware and tells
Luthor, "I can't feel his mind anymore! He's gone!" This
mental connection or awareness between Brainiac and Superman
surfaces in other stories also.
Brainiac
remains as a backstory until Superman #35, in which Ordway
writes of the comatose Brainiac and his dreams alongside a story of
the also comatose Morgan Edge, who fights off death in the form of
the Black Racer. There's lots of fun for Silver Age fans, as we see
homages to classic stories (Superman trapped in a birdcage, the
living Brainiac-ship, shrinking a city into a bottle). The major
advancement of the story is that Brainiac learns to free his astral
form from his trapped body.
In
"The Brainiac Trilogy" (penned by Roger Stern and George
Perez) in Action Comics #647-649, Superman reviews recent
events and realizes that Luthor and Brainiac must be working
together. Brainiac, who seems to have some mental connection to
Superman, knows that Superman is aware of him. He acts quickly,
taking mental control over Luthor's aide, Happersen, and eventually
the other LexCorp employees. He uses mechanical devices to
strengthen his control.
In
Action Comics #649, Brainiac tells Luthor that he worked for
the Computer Tyrants on his home planet, Colu. When he failed them,
his body was disintegrated. Somehow, his mind survived and was drawn
across space to the brain of Milton Moses Fine.
Meanwhile,
Brainiac's body is submerged in a biochemical bath while it is
treated with recombinant DNA and bionic enhancements. Superman
arrives just as Brainiac emerges from the tank, now green skinned,
with a fit, trim and muscular body. His mustache and beard are
yellow, and he has metallic devices attached to his skull and back.
Brainiac
launches a mental attack on Superman, but once again is defeated by
the power of Superman's mind. Brainiac manages to escape in a
star-ship (later called his "head-ship"), designed as a
robotic face. He promises to return, and Superman promises to be
waiting for him.
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