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There's a double dose of the Man of Steel from DC this week as the six-part 'House of Brainiac' arc comes to an explosive close. A lot happens in these final two issues, both created by the team of writer Joshua Williamson, artists Rafa Sandoval, Miguel Mendonca, and colorist Alejandro Sánchez, including a major change of status for Lobo and a change of mind for Lex Luthor. Let's break it all down...
Spoilers for Action Comics #1066 and Superman #15
Part 5 (published in Action Comics #1066) opens with the resolution of the cliffhanger ending of Part 4, which saw the Brainiac Queen take on the House of Lobo and seemingly wipe the Czarnians out. That's immediately confirmed here - all of Lobo's people are now dead, leaving Lobo and Crush as the last two Czarnians in existence once more. That's enough to force the Main Man into a new alliance with Superman. Still, despite the tragedy of losing his family, Lobo takes things pretty well - a fist bump with Superman and an acknowledgement that they are both "last sons" aside, he ends the arc cheerfully heading off on another adventure. Oh Lobo. Consider getting some therapy, mate.
Lex Luthor is the other person seemingly permanently changed by this arc. He may have helped Brainiac build the Queen in the first place, but it turns out that he was smart enough to leave a handy back entrance into its programming. He uses this to "become one with the master brain hive" and take control of Brainiac's network. The plan works - while Superman, Supergirl, and Lobo fight off Brainiac's forces, Lex is able to rescue his daughter Lena and erase the Hive Mind.
Unfortunately, this appears to have the side-effect of deleting Lex's own mind and personality in the process. The final frame of Superman #15 implies that he has no idea who he really is now. This is doubly tragic as the issue has made it clear that Lex has finally come to truly understand the importance of family, and even developed an affection for his former foes. The Lex we're left with at the end of the issue, however, appears to be a blank slate. He could turn out to be very good, or very bad indeed and it'll be fascinating to see how that all plays out, presumably after the Absolute Power event has all wrapped up.
The final big development in Superman #15 revolves around the bottled cities that Brainiac has been collecting. Fans will be well aware of Kandor - the Kryptonian city that was shrunk and kept in a glass bottle by Brainiac and which has been a part of Superman lore since 1958. Part of the 'House of Brainiac' arc has involved the villain collecting and bottling cities from other worlds, all of which are in jeopardy as Superman and Co finally defeat their enemies.
Luckily, Vril and the other surviving members of the House of Brainiac who have turned on their patriarch are said to have taken and re-enlarged all of the bottled cities on a new world, dubbed Colu 2.0. It's described by Lobo as "a giant melting pot of a planet... going to be absolute chaos." Let's hope we get to see what that chaos looks like some day soon...
Both Action Comics #1066 and Superman #15 are out now from DC.
Find out where Lex Luthor lands on our list of the best supervillains of all time.
