Superman: Doomed #2 – Review
By Steve Lam
Writer: Greg Pak, Charles Soule
Artists: Ken Lashley, Szymon Kudranski, Cory Smith, Dave Bullock, Jack Herbert, Ian Churchill, Aaron Kuder, Vicente Cifuentes, Norm Rapmund
Supergirl #34 Recap
In Queens, New York, a disabled teenager named Michael discovers an unconscious Supergirl and protects her in the subbasement of his building. As Supergirl wakes up, she recalls to Michael the events of Superman’s Doom infection. Supergirl later learns that Michael’s disability stemmed from a car accident and that his parents are now missing. Supergirl vows to him that she’ll find him. After Supergirl recharges from the Sun, she flies to Metropolis to rescue civilians. There, she discovers Michael’s parents and rescues them. Finding Michael to tell him the good news, Brainiac’s psychic beam suddenly invades the neighborhood and puts everyone, including Michael, into a trance. Supergirl, unaffected, inspects the source of the beam and discovers the origin to be Brainiac’s massive ship — with Cyborg Superman emerging from it.
Spoiler-Free Reaction
After a month-long wait, the conclusion to the Superman: Doomed series is here. With the writing talents of Greg Pak and Charles Soule, Superman: Doomed #2 contains not just great action, but some fine storytelling that gives readers a great conclusion with some great possibilities.
Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!
As Lana watches the residents of Smallville worsen from Brainiac’s trance, SuperDoom (Superman fully taken over by the Doom virus) flies towards Brainiac’s mothership. As Lois telepathically links with SuperDoom, Martian Manhunter uploads a map of Brainiac’s ship into SuperDoom’s brain for the purposes of finding Brainiac’s location.
As SuperDoom penetrates Brainiac’s ship, Perry White enters SuperDoom’s mind and communicates with Clark Kent. Clark quickly finds out that it’s a ruse to get him to stop SuperDoom from completing his mission. After Brainiac reveals himself, he tells Clark that if SuperDoom succeeds, billions of people will die because their minds are linked to his own. Brainiac has unified all the minds in a bid to reimagine the universe. With this power, Brainiac can create a utopia where Superman isn’t even needed anymore.
In the Fortress of Solitude, Brainiac’s psychic powers assimilate Steel and Lana. Martian Manhunter is quickly ambushed by Cyborg Superman (Zor-El). But Batman creates a distraction which allows Supergirl (Kara) to launch a surprise attack against Cyborg Superman. Back inside of SuperDoom’s mind, Brainiac attempts a scare tactic on Clark: if Brainiac is not allowed to have the power to recreate the universe, then the Kryptonian prophecy of Kara killing her father, Zor-El, will come true. But Supergirl only incapacitates Cyborg Superman, and Lois enters his mind and attempts to free him from Brainiac’s control.
Brainiac, failing on his prediction that Supergirl would kill Cyborg Superman, conjures up another false future — one that involves a retired Bruce Wayne living in a crime-free Gotham City. The trick almost works, until Superman mentions Diana (Wonder Woman). When Bruce questions who Diana is, Superman discovers that it’s another one of Brainiac’s deceptions. Little does Brainiac know, Wonder Woman has been in the Phantom Zone. Making a deal with Mongul, she uses the power of Warworld to attack Brainiac’s ship. With the ship’s defenses down, SuperDoom infiltrates the core.
Lois, entering SuperDoom’s mind, is greeted by Superman, who tells her the reasons for Brainiac’s attack. He was a scientist by the name of Vril Dox. When his planet was under attack, he lacked the knowledge to save his family. With his family gone, Brainiac hoped to recreate a universe where his family could exist. Brainiac suddenly awakens and attacks Lois. In a final bid to win the battle, Lois is able to transfer Brainiac’s power, sourced from the billions of stolen minds, into SuperDoom.
With Lois freed from all traces of Brainiac’s control, even her telepathy power, and the billions of minds restored, SuperDoom forces Brainiac through a black hole. As the Doom virus burns off, Superman is restored to normal, but is lost with Brainiac. The final scene is the by-product of Brainiac’s attempt to reimagine the universe combined with the effects of the black hole — the creation of a multiverse with previous incarnations of various characters.
Wrapping It Up
Superman: Doomed #2 is an excellent final chapter to the Superman: Doomed series. I found Charles Soule’s and Greg Pak’s writing to be superb. The story was well-balanced between action-filled epic battles and crucial character development. Giving Brainiac (Vril Dox) a more “human” reason to his mission was something I didn’t expect. In most incarnations, Brainiac was just a logic-based collector of worlds. His mission to recreate his family was almost noble, which, in turn, gave him a sympathetic edge. Of course the most compelling plot development of the story is the creation of the multiverse when Superman and Brainiac go through the black hole. I was surprised that Superman: Doomed would impact the rest of the DC universe in this fashion. It also seems to tie into Futures End #22. Could DC be creating another Crisis storyline? If so, will the histories of each character pre-New 52 appear again? I’m excited to see how DC will go forward with this.