Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 is the Absolute Power prologue you didn't see coming
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Fans might have been tempted to overlook this week’s Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 when it was first announced — it was, after all, a one-shot issue tying into the main storyline happening in the regular Superman and Action Comics that was officially described as “Chapter 2.5.” If it’s not even a full chapter, some fans might have asked themselves, how big of a deal could the issue really be?
Here’s the thing, though: for anyone tracking the march towards DC’s big summer 2024 event, Absolute Power, Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 turns out to be pretty essential. Here’s why.
Superman: House of Brainiac #1 is split into three chapters; two of them are written by Joshua Williamson, who’s writing both Superman and Action Comics during the House of Brainiac storyline, and who has been one of the primary architects of the DCU since 2021’s Infinite Frontier era. The middle chapter, meanwhile, is written by Mark Russell, with art from longtime collaborator Steve Pugh. It’s a somewhat disconnected story about Perry White running for Mayor of Metropolis — a subplot in Williamson’s Superman title — and, although it’s arguably the heart of the issue (or, at least, the most heartfelt chapter in the issue; it’s a really lovely, meaningful read), it’s not what we’re here to talk about.
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