Posted in: Batman, Comics, Crisis, DC Comics, Justice League, Superman | Tagged: absolute, absolute brainiac, Absolute Crisis, Absolute Superman, brainiac, darkseid, Legion Of Super Heroes
How Last Week’s DC Comics Threads Lead To Next Year’s Absolute Crisis
How threads from last week’s DC Comics titles Superman Year One Thousand and Knight Vision lead to next year’s Absolute Crisis
Article Summary
- Absolute Crisis is shaping into more than Darkseid vs the Absolute Universe, with Brainiac emerging as a major threat.
- Superman Year One Thousand ties Darkseid, the Infinite Man, and the Legion of Super-Heroes into Absolute Crisis.
- Brainiac One Million, Pandora, and other cosmic players are all pursuing their own agendas around Darkseid’s war.
- Upcoming DC stories point straight to Absolute Crisis, as Absolute Brainiac and multiple Superman variants collide.
It is looking more and more like Absolute Crisis won’t just be Darkseid and the Absolute Universe, with a crossover into the DC Universe. It looks like Brainiac will be heavily involved as well.
As the Superman Annual: Year One Thousand saw Superman achieve godlike status to fix the timeline broken by Darkseid…
But also a threat to that restoration from another cosmic being…
But a threat to Superman as well as the timestream…
He did have opposition from The Infinite Man. Who had lived for centuries in the timestream. And I’m not going to lie, does look a bit like Superman…
And also is up for messing with the timestream in regard to the Legion Of Super Heroes.
Did Superman save the Legion, all the Legions, from a future or parallel version of himself?
All of this goes back to Darkseid, of course, including this Absolute Legion…
Which are, in the absence of Superman, being hunted by Brainiac.
Specifically, Brainiac One Million, seeking favour from Darkseid, is also working for Darkseid. While over in the Justice League Knight Vision Annual, Batman and Lex Luthor team up, granted visions by Omega Energy as part of dealing with Darkseid’s upcoming threat, the Absolute Crisis…
As Pandora, with a similar reality and time-shaping power set, also works for Darkseid right now, much to Brainiac One Million’s bemusement.
Might she have let her tools get taken by Prometheus? Or is this someone else?
It’s a gig economy in the DC Universe; everyone’s got a side hustle with Darkseid. But Brainiac is making other plans to deal with Superman and Darkseid, and take the future, all of it.
And giving us a timeline without any superheroes at all…
Is this to be a new home for Superboy Prime, who came from such a world, and has been leading in the Superman title recently? And as Brainiac recruits another Superman variant to his cause…
We have also seen the recent Absolute Superman titles continue their dealings with the Absolute Brainiac, with a very different origin. Who knows about the Prime DC Universe courtesy of Mirror Master…
… and was inspired by it to create their own Absolute Lax Luthor…
And has even been there himself… or at least, he will do.
Superman #29 (W) Joshua Williamson (A/CA) Dan Mora
So, what’s to come? Well, in upcoming solicitations, the new Legion of Super Heroes will see the character Brainiac 1 of 5 trying to solve a murder, with Matter Eater Lad. Absolute Superman #22, #23, and #24 continue Superman’s hunt for Absolute Brainiac, with Metallo, The Toyman and then Steel in “Get Brainiac” ahead of #25, in which, as well as Hawkman, Black Adam, they team up to take down Absolute Brainiac.
Here it is in black and white if you need more detail…
We also have DC All In Saga: Darkseid Vs The World in October that will “present the hidden past of the being called Uxus, his descent into Darkseid, and his plans for the fate of all creation” Justice League Unlimited #24 gives us a “war between Lex Luthor and Batman” as “the future. Dreamer, Brainiac Queen, Red Tornado, and more vie for the fate of tomorrow”
And the first Absolute Universe crossover event in November. But first, this week? Absolute Superman #22. With Absolute Brainiac on the cover…. but only in the sky. This is not Brainiac.
This is Mentallo. And a variant cover pays a lovely homage to John Byrne‘s first appearance in the 1986 reboot…
Absolute Superman #22
Superman #2 (1986)
But there is only one direction all this is heading… the Absolute Crossover event and then, for 2027…
As Scott Snyder says “eventually we have a story where these universes have to meet, and it’s coming in 2027 into 2028, but I want to be very clear it is not going to interfere with the Absolute Universe or really the books you love in the main universe. And it is definitely not in any way going to end the Absolute Universe. The Absolute Universe will continue as long as people love it and are reading it.”
- Absolute Superman #22by Jason Aaron, Juan Ferreyra
Superman will stop at nothing to see the universe’s most vicious madman brought to justice. But before he can get his hands on Brainiac, Superman will have to go through Metallo, a man with Kryptonite in his veins. “Get Brainiac” begins here, kicking off the march to a game-changing blockbuster issue #25! $4.99 4/9/26
- Justice League: Knight Vision Special by Mark Waid, Joshua Williamson, Miguel Mendonca
The Justice League has offered a number of villains amnesty, allowing them to prove they’re on the side of the angels. But what they didn’t see coming was the void that would leave in the world of super-villains! Batman and Lex Luthor must work together to investigate a Justice League villain who wants to fill that void, capitalizing on shifting priorities and the visions of the future that the DC Universe’s champions saw at the end of DCK.O. to create a dangerous new weapon! Can Batman and Lex set aside their differences to stop them? This crucial issue in the All In Saga sets up new threats for the Justice League’s heroes and villains! $5.99 7/29/2026
- Superman Annual: Year One Thousand #1 by Joshua Williamson, Eddy Barrows, Yasmine Putri
SUPERMAN AT THE END OF TIME! At the end of DC K.O., Superman became King Omega with the powers of a god. But after pushing Darkseid back to the Absolute World, Superman rejected the Heart of Apokolips…and went missing. Now the story of where he went can be told! The future was infected by Darkseid and his Legion–leaving a trail of death and disaster in their wake–including the Legion of Super-Heroes. Now Superman is using Time Trapper’s powers to heal the future and correct the damage that has been done. But Superman’s godlike powers are fading fast, and he may become lost at the end of time! $5.99 7/29/2026
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