Madpenguin
"Against Brainiac the conclusion"
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Against Brainiac the conclusion
-
Jun 6, 2012
- by Madpenguin
- posted in Speech Bubbles: Comics & Graphic Novels
Rating:
+3
Superman freed the bottled city of Kandor from the clutches of Brainiac in a brutal battle, that ended with his adoptive father Jonathan Kent being killed by the mad alien. 100,000 Kryptonians were freed, and due to the different views between them and people of Earth they fled the planet. Several figure-heads behind the scenes of Earth are not satisfied with the Kryptonians existence, since they all possess Superman's powers. As a result, they embarked on a genocidal campaign led by Lois Lane's father General Lane. The two sides are approaching a full scale war.
Previous Volumes:
Superman - Brainiac
Superman - New Krypton Volume One
Superman - New Krypton Volume Two
Superman - Mon-El
Superman - Nightwing and Flamebird
Supergirl - Who is Superwoman?
Superman - New Krypton Volume Three
Superman - Codename: Patriot
Supergirl - Friends & Fugitives
Superman - Mon-El: Man of Valor
Superman: Nightwing and Flamebird Vol. 2
Supergirl - Death & The Family
Superman: New Krypton Volume Four.
Superman - Last Stand of New Krypton Vol. 1
Superman - Last Stand of New Krypton Volume 2:
Superman has been shot by red sun radiation, and with the loss of his powers, he's left to fall to his apparent death. The battle inside Brainiac's ship continues yet he still succeeds in re-shrinking Kandor and placing it back inside of a bottle. The battle is far from over, because it appears that was exactly what Zod was hoping for. -summary
We're getting closer to the end of the New Krypton saga, as this volume continues the war with Brainiac, which began when he invaded New Krypton with his brain ship, and dispatched killer robots wiping out the Kryptonians in an all out onslaught. Last Stand of New Krypton Volume 2 written by James Robinson and Sterling Gates, isn't as action packed as the previous volume, as it focuses a little bit more on story. Zod seems to have Brainiac all figured out and the suspense is pretty much there. I really didn't find this book to be predictable, and I was pretty much waiting for the inevitable encounter between Zod and Brainiac, because you already know, unlike Superman, if Zod wins then he's no doubt going to kill him. This volume collects Adventure Comics 10 &11, Supergirl 52, Superman 699, and Last Stand of New Krypton 3.
Robinson attempts to satisfy both Superman and Legion camps by delivering almost an equal amount of face time. The Legion of Superheroes playing such a big role wasn't only unexpected, but it was also a welcoming addition. Their mission is still to see to it that the other bottled cities are rescued to prolong these civilizations, in order to save their future in the 31st century. Those who know the connection between Brainiac-5 and Supergirl would be glad to know they get a reasonable amount of interaction time, with Supergirl knowing something is going on with him, by the way he consistently gives her the cold shoulder. The rest of the team get some battle time along with the rest of the "S-clan", unfortunately these action segments against hordes of robots have ran their course, and there's nothing too interesting to see anymore. The additional plot elements are the only things keeping this story above water; such as Lex Luthor having ulterior motives, with this being cleared up in the next story. To say his actions have deadly consequences would be an understatement, I mean seriously. For the most part, this story does its job in wrapping up various plot threads with the story going out on another cliffhanger, which will make the next volume a "must read now" situation for those heavily into the story.
In addition to the action segments pretty much being "blah", I also had trouble buying into the final confrontation between Zod and Brainiac. This interaction does play a role into the story, by getting the Kryptonians completely under Zod's heel, but without giving anything away, I found the writing to be on the weird side. I just believe the people of New Krypton would have followed Zod unconditionally no matter how he battled Brainiac. I just feel it was weak to sacrifice the physical threat of Brainiac, for the sake of completely unnecessary character development.
As usual in this arc, I think the artwork is pretty good over all. There are some good dialog-less moments, where one can just sit back and look at the artwork, as Brainiac's ship destroys many buildings on the planet leaving almost everything in its path in bright flames. There's quite a bit of focus on the vivid and glossy like backgrounds. Everything is basically easy on the eyes.
Last Stand of New Krypton Volume 2 ends well enough, and it flows into the final chapter of this story arc War of the Supermen. The story is paced rather well, and there's an effort to make everyone feel important, but it wasn't as interesting as the last volume. Overall, this was a decent enough volume to close the books on one end, and set up the final act on the other. If you made it this far, then there's no reason at all to stop.
Pros:
-Plot twist, plus ends on a high note
Cons:
- Not too great in any particular area
Previous Volumes:
Superman - Brainiac
Superman - New Krypton Volume One
Superman - New Krypton Volume Two
Superman - Mon-El
Superman - Nightwing and Flamebird
Supergirl - Who is Superwoman?
Superman - New Krypton Volume Three
Superman - Codename: Patriot
Supergirl - Friends & Fugitives
Superman - Mon-El: Man of Valor
Superman: Nightwing and Flamebird Vol. 2
Supergirl - Death & The Family
Superman: New Krypton Volume Four.
Superman - Last Stand of New Krypton Vol. 1
Superman - Last Stand of New Krypton Volume 2:
Superman has been shot by red sun radiation, and with the loss of his powers, he's left to fall to his apparent death. The battle inside Brainiac's ship continues yet he still succeeds in re-shrinking Kandor and placing it back inside of a bottle. The battle is far from over, because it appears that was exactly what Zod was hoping for. -summary
We're getting closer to the end of the New Krypton saga, as this volume continues the war with Brainiac, which began when he invaded New Krypton with his brain ship, and dispatched killer robots wiping out the Kryptonians in an all out onslaught. Last Stand of New Krypton Volume 2 written by James Robinson and Sterling Gates, isn't as action packed as the previous volume, as it focuses a little bit more on story. Zod seems to have Brainiac all figured out and the suspense is pretty much there. I really didn't find this book to be predictable, and I was pretty much waiting for the inevitable encounter between Zod and Brainiac, because you already know, unlike Superman, if Zod wins then he's no doubt going to kill him. This volume collects Adventure Comics 10 &11, Supergirl 52, Superman 699, and Last Stand of New Krypton 3.
Robinson attempts to satisfy both Superman and Legion camps by delivering almost an equal amount of face time. The Legion of Superheroes playing such a big role wasn't only unexpected, but it was also a welcoming addition. Their mission is still to see to it that the other bottled cities are rescued to prolong these civilizations, in order to save their future in the 31st century. Those who know the connection between Brainiac-5 and Supergirl would be glad to know they get a reasonable amount of interaction time, with Supergirl knowing something is going on with him, by the way he consistently gives her the cold shoulder. The rest of the team get some battle time along with the rest of the "S-clan", unfortunately these action segments against hordes of robots have ran their course, and there's nothing too interesting to see anymore. The additional plot elements are the only things keeping this story above water; such as Lex Luthor having ulterior motives, with this being cleared up in the next story. To say his actions have deadly consequences would be an understatement, I mean seriously. For the most part, this story does its job in wrapping up various plot threads with the story going out on another cliffhanger, which will make the next volume a "must read now" situation for those heavily into the story.
In addition to the action segments pretty much being "blah", I also had trouble buying into the final confrontation between Zod and Brainiac. This interaction does play a role into the story, by getting the Kryptonians completely under Zod's heel, but without giving anything away, I found the writing to be on the weird side. I just believe the people of New Krypton would have followed Zod unconditionally no matter how he battled Brainiac. I just feel it was weak to sacrifice the physical threat of Brainiac, for the sake of completely unnecessary character development.
As usual in this arc, I think the artwork is pretty good over all. There are some good dialog-less moments, where one can just sit back and look at the artwork, as Brainiac's ship destroys many buildings on the planet leaving almost everything in its path in bright flames. There's quite a bit of focus on the vivid and glossy like backgrounds. Everything is basically easy on the eyes.
Last Stand of New Krypton Volume 2 ends well enough, and it flows into the final chapter of this story arc War of the Supermen. The story is paced rather well, and there's an effort to make everyone feel important, but it wasn't as interesting as the last volume. Overall, this was a decent enough volume to close the books on one end, and set up the final act on the other. If you made it this far, then there's no reason at all to stop.
Pros:
-Plot twist, plus ends on a high note
Cons:
- Not too great in any particular area
What did you think of this review?
Helpful
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Thought-Provoking
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Fun to Read
12
Well-Organized
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Post a Comment
FM_ALEX
June 08, 2012
Man I really need to check all these out, revisit some while others will be all new.
Madpenguin
June 09, 2012
You're going to like these probably a lot more than me. It has everything you like.
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woopak_the_thrill
June 07, 2012
"In addition to the action segments pretty much being "blah", I also had trouble buying into the final confrontation between Zod and Brainiac." I feel that way a lot these days when it comes to comics. I dunno, it is almost as if something is being held back.
Madpenguin
June 07, 2012
I don't know, in regards to Marvel it always felt like that less. DC just has trouble more often finishing their stories with a bang.
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About the reviewer
Madpenguin
Member Since:
May 22, 2011
Last Login: Jun 15, 2013 08:21 PM UTC
Last Login: Jun 15, 2013 08:21 PM UTC
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