Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #87
September 1965
Cover art: Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff
Story: The Arena of Doom
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Art: Al Plastino
Hey Superman learns that Brainiac is a robot! After getting Brainiac to put Jimmy Olsen's brain back inside his head, Brainiac gathers the Anti-Superman Gang. Saturn Queen mind controls Jimbo to steal some kryptonite and the city of Kandor from the Fortress of Solitude. Jimmy gets the kryptonite, but not the city. He just can't find it.
They then make Jimmy summon Superman with his watch, and when the Man of Steel shows up they use the kryptonite to cripple him. The villains then decide they will take a vote on whether to let Big Blue live or not. Superman then begins promising the villains just about anything to let him live. They all vote no except for Brainiac, because Superman promised to give him Kandor if they let him live. He promises the other bad guys their own 12th level computer brain. Only Luthor goes for this, and Saturn Queen, Cosmic King and Lightning Lord still want to kill Supes.
Jimmy commits the act, and Saturn Queen releases Jimmy Olsen so that he knows just what he has done. Wait! Superman lives! The villains are captured in some force-pearls and Superman throws them into space to land in some space jail. The kryptonite was fake and the city of Kandor was hidden inside of it the whole time!
The art just wasn't that good. We had Fat Superman running around.
There were two other stories. A terrible Bizarro Jimmy story. The other story in which Jimmy can predict future crimes when he gets hit on the head was actually kind of funny. The ending of that one had so many coincidences it just made my head spin.
Replies
According to GCD, this is the second part of a story begun in JO #86.
Are you saying this is the first time Superman knew Braniac was a robot?
In Superman #167 (FEB64), over a year earlier, Luthor figured it out and Braniac threatened to kill him for it.
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond, Richard. I was having a heck of a time finding the comic again. Yes, while Brainiac is down on the ground Superman says,"My super-hearing told me you might be a machine disguised as a human--and so I took appropriate action to short circuit you temporarily! Hmm! My x-ray vision confirms you are a computer machine!"
Brainiac responds," Analysis correct!"
Which makes me wonder why it took so long to find out he is a robot.
Richard Willis said:
As I recall, in Adventure Comics #342 during Star Boy's trial Brainiac 5 says that the first Brainiac was secretly a computer in human form. The newsstand feature at DC Indexes says the issue came out the same month as Jimmy Olsen #91.
In "The Lair of Brainiac!" from Superboy #106, a Superbaby story predating the revelation of Brainiac's true nature, Brainiac is depicted as watching a film that shows him discovering that the people of his world have all perished from a plague. In the reprint version of this I've read a footnote was added saying that the film was faked for the benefit of his henchmen. I read the reprint in an Australian comic, so I'm not sure where that version appeared in the US; the only US reprint listed at the GCD was in Superman Family #167.
I remember that Superbaby story and it was in Superman Family #167, complete with footnote. The revelation that Brainiac was an android caused a lot of back-pedaling with the character and especially with Brainiac 5. Several stories including his first appearance clearly state that Brainy was the original's direct descendant but Superman #167 changed all that by inserting (retconning) Brainiac 2 into the mix. Thus B5 never was related to one of Superman's greatest enemies.
Of course, it's never explained why Superman doesn't just SMASH Brainiac into Brainy-bits but I'm figuring that Supes considers the Conniving Computer a sentient being, putting him under his "No Kill" rule.
I didn't know that about Brainiac 5. My recollection is in Adventure Comics #342 he says Brainiac was the foster-father of his "direct ancestor".
In his first appearance in Action Comics #242 (drawn by Al Plastino) Brainiac lacks those scalp circles of his and his disco-collar-and-short-pants costume, although he has them on the cover (drawn by Curt Swan). He also puts himself and his pet Koko into gas-induced suspended animation. I think there's a shot of Brainiac in an early Supergirl story where he's likewise depicted without the scalp circles. In another early Brainiac story, in Action Comics #280, we find that after their encounter in Action Comics #275 Superman left him in the past in gas-induced suspended animation.
Travis Herrick (Modular Mod) said:
Which makes me wonder why it took so long to find out he is a robot.
Since Superman had encountered Brainiac many times by then, does this mean that his super-hearing only kicks in when he decides to use it, like his x-ray vision?
Phillip said
Yeah, I figure Brainiac being sentient would go against his code against killing.
Richard said:
I think it was one of those abilities that had to work my writers fiat. If his super-hearing is always on, then Superman would just be inundated with noises from 100s or 1000s of miles around all of the time. Yet, when the story needed it, he could hear someone crying for help miles away.
They kept stating over and over again that Bizarros were created from non living matter and that they weren't really alive though I find hard to believe, considering their intelligence (such as it was) and their ability to procreate.
And Brainiac 5 pulled the trigger on Computo!
Speaking about Brainiac 5, his first appearance in Action Comics #276 clearly describes him as "the great-great-great-great grandson" of the first Brainiac who was portrayed with no head-webbing. Brainy calls the original "the fiend who was my ancestor".
Of course, this story also has Superman causing Brainiac's "demise"!
The next time it becomes an issue is Adventure Comics #303 (D'62) where Brainy laments that he's "the descendant of such a wicked man!" In fact, his connection to Brainiac is a major plot point.
After Superman #167 (F'64) and its big reveal, I think there was a text page about Brainiac 5 in Adventure but definitely in #342 (Ma'66) this gets cleared up as he confirms that "Brainiac was the foster-father of Brainiac 2, my direct ancestor."
However in Adventure #356 (My'67) has Brainy be an orphan thus starting the mystery of what happened to Brainiac 4?
Sorry, Philip; I took my post down as you were writing yours, for being too quibbling. For those who missed it, I objected that Supes was happy to kill Bizarros and also contributed to the destruction of Computo.
If Brainy was originally the great-great-great-great grandson of Brainiac, shouldn't he have been Brainiac VII?
Regarding Silver Age instances of Superman breaking his vow against killing, in "Love me, love my beast!" from Jimmy Olsen #85 Superman deliberately causes the death of the alien Gnor.
Yes I was going to mention that there were too many "greats" there and later they established that Coluans had far longer lifespans than Terrans.