Brainiac

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

In his initial appearance in Action Comics #242 (July 1958), Brainiac was a bald, green-skinned humanoid who traveled with a white alien monkey named Koko. This story was based on a 1958 comic strip arc featuring Romado and Koko shrinking cities like Dur-El-Va. Early stories saw him stealing the bottle city of Kandor from Superman #141 (November 1960) and attempting to defeat Superman using red-green kryptonite in Action Comics #275 (April 1961). The iconic red diodes on his head appeared on the cover of his first issue but were not shown inside until this 1961 story. Initially, he was said to come from Bryak, a planet where everyone died from a plague, leading him to seek repopulation via shrunken cities. Later, Superman #167 (February 1964) retconned his origin: he became a robot created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu. To mask this, the tyrants gave him an assistant, Vril Dox (Brainiac 2), to pose as his son. Lex Luthor later freed Brainiac from imprisonment and increased his intellect to a twelfth-level one.

In Their Own Story

In Action Comics #544-546 (June–August 1983), writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gil Kane reimagined the character with a new design by Ed Hannigan. Previously, Brainiac had been trapped in the core of a giant computer-controlled planet he built to destroy Superman. In this storyline, titled "Rebirth," Brainiac attempted to free himself by causing the star Epsilon 4 to go nova. His body converted into energy, and his consciousness journeyed through space, where he saw a great hand reach out from a void before releasing him. He also saw Superman's face during this vision. Believing he had encountered the Master Programmer, the divine force behind the universe, Brainiac concluded that Superman was an "angel of death" created to destroy him. He returned with a new body, more determined than ever to kill his foe. In other continuities, Brainiac fled into the 30th century and remade himself as Pulsar Stargrave, a powerful enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes who once masqueraded as Brainiac 5's biological father before being killed by his own blast.

Reader's Guide

To defeat Brainiac, one must understand that he is essentially a living computer program capable of transmitting his consciousness into new forms if destroyed. This artificial nature allows him to be resurrected in various physical bodies, some robotic and others more organic-based. While stories often end in his apparent destruction, his survival is guaranteed by this ability to inhabit different vessels. His intellect varies; the Computer Tyrants originally gave him only a tenth-level intellect so he would not dominate them, but Lex Luthor later upgraded him to a twelfth level. Brainiac 5, his descendant from the 30th century, uses his own "twelfth-level intellect" for good and joined the Legion of Super-Heroes alongside Supergirl. The character's name is a portmanteau of "brain" and "maniac," believed by etymologists to inspire the informal noun "brainiac," which entered common use in the 1970s.

Did You Know?

• Brainiac first appeared in Action Comics #242 (July 1958), based on a comic strip arc featuring Romado and a white alien monkey named Koko.
• Lex Luthor once increased Brainiac's intellect from the tenth level to the twelfth level after freeing him from imprisonment.
• In Superman #167 (February 1964), it was revealed that Brainiac is actually a robot created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu.
• The character's name inspired the informal noun "brainiac," meaning a freakishly intelligent person, which entered common use in the 1970s.
• Brainiac traveled with a white monkey-like alien named Koko in his initial story and subsequent retellings until the character was quickly dropped.