Brainiac (comics)

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Pre-Crisis

First appearing in Action Comics #242 (July 1958), Brainiac was a bald, green-skinned humanoid, who arrived on Earth and shrunk various cities, including Metropolis, storing them in bottles with the intent of using them to restore the (unnamed) world he ruled. He was accompanied by a "space monkey" named Koko.

Related Topics:
Action Comics - Metropolis

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While fighting Brainiac, Superman discovered the villain had previously shrunk the Kryptonian city of Kandor. He was able to restore the Earth cities to full size, but the Kandorians sacrificed their restoration to help him. Superman stored the city in his Fortress of Solitude, vowing to return the natives to full size.

Related Topics:
Kryptonian - Kandor - Fortress of Solitude

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Brainiac's legacy was revealed in Action Comics #276, in a Legion of Super-Heroes back up story. This introduced the green-skinned, blond-haired teenager Querl Dox, or Brainiac 5, who believed himself to be Brainiac's 30th century descendant. Unlike his apparent ancestor, Brainiac 5 used his "twelfth level intellect" for good, and joined the Legion alongside Supergirl, with whom he fell in love. His home planet was given variously as Yod or Colu.

Related Topics:
Legion of Super-Heroes - Brainiac 5 - Supergirl - Colu

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In Superman #167 (Feb 1964) it was discovered that Brainiac was a machine, created by the "Computer Tyrants of Colu" as a spy. To increase the illusion that he was alive, he was given a "son", a young Coluan boy who was given the name Brainiac 2, but escaped. This was Brainiac 5's ancestor. It was later revealed that his name was Vril Dox, and that he went on to lead the revolt against the Computer Tyrants.

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It was in this story that Brainiac first appeared with a distinctive gridwork of red diodes across his head, later explained as the "electric terminals of his sensory nerves". This would remain his appearance until Action Comics #544 (June 1983), in which he was forced to create a new body, a metallic skeleton with a green, honeycomb-patterned "braincase". He retained his appearance until the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Related Topics:
Diode - Crisis on Infinite Earths

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