Action Comics # 868 - Brainiac, Part 3 - Greetings

What a tough week... Secret Invasion, Batman, Hellboy, Green Lantern Corps, Astonishing X-Men, even S.I.: Young Avengers/Runaways..sorry bout the bold.. All amazing comics, all worthy of the pick of the week. Action, however, stood out the most. Let me start by saying, which I may have said before, I hate Superman, but the Johns/Frank run has turned me, kinda... I've never liked any of Supers rogues, they're all weak sauce. Brainiac was the only one I kind of enjoyed. (Also adding Mr Mxyzptlk is awesome) I've seen quite a few comics with Brainiac and enjoyed the character. This arc, completely revamps the character. Not only is a completely new character, considering Supes never met the REAL Brainiac, but this one is colder, tougher, and unrelenting. This guy looks completely menecing. Johns really knows how to jump into a character's mind and write him. No two characters have the same quirks or personality, everyone is very distinct. At this point in time, Johns is one of the, if not, best major label comic writer.

Gary Frank is on the art.... And it is beautiful.  Along with Brad Anderson on colors, they create an amazing book. The best part of this book is the composition, how Frank sets up his panels. Panic, anger, confusion, all of these emotions that these characters are feeling, all amplified just by Frank's panel set-up. The art side of things is great and really fun to look at. It's a great mixture of the new and silver age styles that make it a great read.