Brainiac 5's first appearance

[greenygal]

We've seen Supergirl and Brainiac 5's most recent encounter, so here's their first story together, several continuities back, when Brainiac 5 was introduced as one of the Girl of Steel's love interests...



"Supergirl's Three Super-Girlfriends" starts with Supergirl thinking sadly about how, as Supergirl, she can't have female friends with whom she can share her secrets--when who should conveniently appear but Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, and Triplicate Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes! To her delight, they explain that they're here because they want her to try out for the Legion. Given that, as detailed in this story, her previous attempt at this ended with her being declared unacceptable because Red Kryptonite had temporarily transformed her into an adult, I don't know how thrilled I would have been about this, but in the Silver Age Superbooks that sort of thing is just par for the course, and they're off for the thirtieth century to try it again.

(And hey, a quick point about this story. It's 1961, this is the Legion's sixth appearance ever, and they have three female characters in their roster as the story starts. You know how long it took the JLA to get to that point? Seventeen years. Not that any of them really do anything in this story, despite the title, but still, they're there.)

Supergirl is introduced to the other applicants, one of whom seems oddly familiar...



I've always been a little skeptical about this "woe, my evil ancestor was evil!" thing. I mean, it's been a thousand years! At some point surely you get to stop feeling deep, personal shame over your unfortunate relatives? But then again, in this story he's trying to court a girl for whom that guy is the only Brainiac she knows, so it's understandable if he makes something of a production of it.



Man, as supervillain demises go, that is just embarrassing. Also, that whole "Superman has a unbreakable code against killing" thing? Propaganda, clearly. I mean, he doesn't even try to save the monkey.



Sweet as this is, I never fail to start giggling at this point. It's a thousand years later and the Kryptonite is still falling. Directly onto the only Kryptonian on the planet. It has a mission!

(Reluctant though I am to admit it, this scene would make a lot more sense if Brainy had set the whole thing up to impress Kara. I mean, it's very convenient, isn't it?)



And there you have the pre-Crisis Brainiac 5/Supergirl relationship in a nutshell: "You're wonderful and I love you madly!" "You are cute, but I have to go now. Maybe later?" We'll see how it goes this time around...

Suggested tags: char: supergirl/kara zor-el, char: brainiac 5/querl dox, group: legion of super-heroes, publisher: dc comics

Comments

[psychopathicus_rex]

Logical enough, except Brainy specifies that he is both the fifth Brainiac of his line (hence the name) and the great-great-great-great grandson of the original - which strongly implies, therefore, that 'Brainiac' is a name and title passed down through the generations. If he's fifth-generation Brainiac - 'Brainiac the Fifth', as it were - that more-or-less says directly that his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-GREAT-grandfather, AND great-great-great-GREAT-grandfather (the original, of course) were all Brainiacs in an unbroken line. (Unless, of course, the title was also passed down to some of the female members of the family, in which case there'd be some mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers thrown in, but you know what I mean. Anyway, 'Brainiac' sounds more masculine than feminine to me, unless you feminized it to 'Brainia' or something.)

[q99]

There's been two female Brainiacs- 4 and 8. I wish they'd bring 8 back :(

And while that fits, it also fits if simply only members of his family have claimed the title but do not have to.

[psychopathicus_rex]

'4 and 8'? Wait-a-minute... If Vril Dox is (maybe) the current Brainiac's son, making him Brainiac 2, then is #4 Brainy's mother? And who's number 3? And who in the wild blue galaxies is #8? Is she a descendant of Brainy's from a post-Legion future? What's going on?

[q99]

4 is Brainy's mother, at least in the Reboot legion version. B3 is unknown in any version to my knowledge.

Brainiac 8 is indeed from a post-legion future and also know as Indigo, who's gone pure synthetic in her body and was sent back to the past. She was mainly in Nightwing's Outsider run.

[ralloonx]

It all kind of depends on which reboot. There have been several, and each one has its own idea of history. Like in one there have been only five Dox generations bearing the name Brainiac, and the name is tied only to that family. In another Brainiac was a title of honor, and Querl was the fifth one to carry it. Had nothing to do with the Dox line. In one his father is Brainiac 4 who tries to do good, and in another his mother Brainiac 4 does evil.
It's messy, confusing, and entirely depends on which continuity. :P

Oh! And Lyrl Dox, son of Vril II, has currently been said to be B3.

[q99]

Ah, I see :)

And that doesn't even get into 12 and 13.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Ohhhhhhhhh-hh. OK. I'm guessing that Coluxians (I think it's 'Coluxians', anyway - isn't that where Brainiac's from?) must live for an awfully long time, since the Legion future is, what, like five hundred years from now, and the line's still only reached #5.

[icon_uk]

They've always been called Coluan, and the Legion has always been sent a thousand years in the future, either the 30th or 31st century, depending on which iteration and point in time.

[psychopathicus_rex]

CoLUans. Right. I thought 'Coluxians' sounded wrong. Veeeeery long-lived, then, those Coluans.

[q99]

Close, Planet Colu/ inhabitants Coluans.

And they are supposed to live a long time, but I still suspect some time without the title's use in there :)

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, possibly, but remember, this is in a science-fiction context, so all sorts of things can be done to prolong life. There's cryogenics, there's rejuvenation treatments and whatnot, there's mysterious cosmic rays, cloning, transfer into a robot body (which the current Brainiac does a lot anyway), etc., etc. Hell, Vril Dox has already had some sort of cloning treatment at least once.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Just a moment, though! A little research on Wikipedia indicates that there IS a Brainiac 3 - he's Lyrl Dox, Vril's son. So presumably he's going to live a helllllllll of a long time, or be put into suspended animation or something, if he's going to eventually sire Brainy's mom.