It's been an oddly quiet week for DC comics, with just a handful of specials published on Tuesday and, on Saturday, the hotly-anticipated Free Comic Book Day Absolute Power special. Still, the Superman: House of Brainiac Special is a cracker, moving the crossover story forward by presenting a series of snapshots from different parts of the ongoing crisis.
For those not up to speed, Braniac has launched a massive assault on Metropolis and, in the process, captured Superman's family. The new issue is split into three separate chapters. The first is told from the point of view of Braniac himself as he ponders his next moves. The second - and most entertaining chapter - is about Superman's buddy Bibbo Bibbowski as he campaigns for Perry White to become mayor of Metropolis against a regressive, anti-alien opponent. Finally, the third chapter is about Amanda Waller. Yep, this truly is the year of the Wall, as she continues to move things into place for her grand scheme to rid the world of superheroes. It's in this chapter that we get the answer to a long-gestating mystery.
Spoilers for Superman: House of Braniac Special #1
The identity of the mysterious Council of Light has been brewing for a few years now, ever since it was introduced into the Prime continuity in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. In the epilogue to that issue, Waller was seen communicating with a mysterious group of seven figures, their identities masked from us as well as Waller. She appears to have been working with them for quite some time, ever since they returned her from Earth-3 to her home world. Now they want to aide her in wiping out the heroes.
In the new House of Braniac special we finally discover who it is on those screens. Waller, it turns out, has been working behind the scenes to try and find out the identities of her benefactors. She's traced the signal and discovered that it's coming from off-world. With that useful piece of information, she demands to know just who is hiding behind those screens. And the answer is - perhaps predictably given the comic that it's appearing in - the House of Braniac. They've been playing Waller all along.
This is a very different answer to the original version of The Light, which was first introduced way back in a 2010 episode of the Young Justice animated series. In that story, the Light was an organization formed by Vandal Savage and Ishtar, which eventually grew to also include the likes of Lex Luthor and Ra's al Ghul.
"I don't work for you. I'm doing this for me," Waller says before cutting off comms with the Braniacs at the end of the issue. Still, it's very clear that a deadly alliance has been formed, and as we step closer to the Absolute Power event, the DC universe is in greater peril than ever before.
Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 is out now from DC.
House of Braniac is looking good so far. Perhaps one day it will join this list of the best Superman stories of all time.
