“Yesterday’s” Comic> Superman Adventures #3

“Who says there’s nothing good on TV?”

Superman Adventures #13

DC Comics (January, 1997)

The light from Krypton’s explosion is about to reach Earth, while Professor Hamilton studies an orb containing the history of Krypton that only Superman can activate and see the information from. Brainiac, who left part of his programming within Lexcorp’s computers, builds an army of robot cats that merge into him and a minion. He wants the orb and threatens Lois to get it, but Superman threatens to destroy the orb unless he releases Lois and puts his computer mind into it, completing the history of Krypton with what Brainiac knew. Then Superman watches the light from his home, as Hamilton reminds him that Krypton survives in the orb…and in Kal-El.

What they got right: McCloud is almost psychic, as Brainiac would actually use something similar to return in the show, only he had to force Lex to build him a new body there. So while I would balk at messing up the show it’s neat how close he was to what actually happened, and Brainiac didn’t just pop up without explanation, as some villains will coming up.

What they got wrong: Maybe my memory is off but I don’t recall Superman using telescopic vision in the show (actually, when was the last time he used telescopic and microscopic vision in the comics?), much less being able to see better with it than an actual telescope. The Kryptonian device containing the history of Krypton was a box, not an orb, that responded to Superman’s touch, and scanned his forehead. I supposed this could be an early concept of what we finally got in the pilot onward, though, so that would be what’s in the files McCloud received. The story does also explain why the box had Brainiac’s voice and was referred to as Brainiac.

Recommendation: A decent story but this is a series finding its place in the Superman multiverse. Still, it’s not a must-own tale since the cartoon will invalidate it for the most part.