Story Line: Braniac Part 1
Date: June 11th 2008
Price: 2.99
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank

Synopsis: Superstar artist Gary Frank returns as the new world of Superman for 2008 and beyond begins in Part 1 of “Brainiac”! Decades ago, Krypton went to war with Brainiac, a cold and callous alien obsessed with the control of knowledge. Superman believes he’s faced Brainiac before, but he’s about to learn the truth behind his close encounters as he heads down the road to his greatest triumph…and greatest tragedy.

Opinion: Geoff Johns continues to widen the gap between the best of DC comics (those written by him) and the rest of DC’s comics (those written by everyone else). Johns and Frank bring a freshness and excitement to Superman that hasn’t been seen since John Byrne rewrote big blue’s origin in the early 80’s. Unlike Byrne, Johns has a healthy respect for the Superman mythos to match his his creativity and writing talent. Much like his recent Legion of Superheroes storyline, Johns gives us glances of the past where he sets the stage for the Brainiac storyline. It’s Johns encyclopedic knowledge of the DCU that give his story lines weight and importance which are two major aspects that seem to be lacking in most DC comics as of late.

Click through the jump to see the rest of my review!

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On May 28th, the final arch in a two-decade trilogy is set to begin with Final Crisis #1.   Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and what could be the Flash will go toe to toe with the biggest crisis ever to hit the DCU as the nefarious Libra amasses an army of villains to exploit the negative downturns the DCU heroes have experienced in the last couple of years.

Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman) and J.G. Jones (52) are set to revolutionize the universe with their Final Crisis, but to some this is just another event.  Do you think this is going to be the big deal that DC keeps saying it is?  Is it really going to be the end of a trilogy, where everything gets wrapped up from a story started 20 years ago?

Either way, we have an exclusive look at 5 pages from Final Crisis #1: DOA: The God of War, plus a sketch layout of the evolution of Darkseid by J.G. Jones right here:

Click through the jump to see pages 3,4 and 5 of this Final Crisis #1 preview!

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Storyline: Elseworld
Date: 1998
Price: $5.95 US (Huge collectors value now)
Writer: Barbara Kesel and Tom Simmons
Artist: Matt Haley

Synopsis: Elseworld’s Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl is based in a world in which Bruce Wayne was never Batman, and the infant Kal-El did not survive long enough to become Superman. The orphaned Barbara Gordon becomes Gotham’s near-dictatorial protector, and Kara Zor-El as the Girl of Steel teams with Lex Luthor and the Justice Society.

Opinion: Okay, I’m going really old-school on this review, but I love this story. It’s one of the Elseworlds DC released in the 90s, and is one of the few good ones. I mean really good, mostly because it works well. The character designs are great and you can actually understand how the characters you’ve grown to know and love coculd end up the way they are in the story. It has a full, self contained story and actually works as a one-shot and has an open ended-ending. I’m really surprised they didn’t revisit this one like Gotham by Gaslight.

Basically, on the night when Bruce Wayne’s parents were to be killed, Commissioner Gordon (with his wife and Barbara along for the ride from the theater where the Waynes came from) tries to stop Joe Chill. He gets himself and his wife killed. Barbara gets adopted by the Waynes (Liberal guilt!) So…Barbara goes the Batman route, but past the ‘I’m going to make Brother Eye to spy on the meta-humans’ level. She actually blocks off the rest of the world from coming into Gotham.

Then you have Supergirl. Kara gets to Earth and is found by…The Justice Society. With her cousin no where to be found, she’s raised by the JSA and a non-villainous Lex Luthor. She comes off very similiar to the way they’re currently playing Power Girl.

Anyway, the story’s interesting, a good world’s finest for the price. (The Joker eve has a weird crush on Batgirl, which…actually makes sense, given how obsessive the Joker is about Bats.) Fun character designs and a fast paced story make me wonder why every comic can’t be written like this one. Reading it, it’s easy to understand why it’s going for $50+ on the eBay.

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