Action Comics #858 - DC

Another fantastic issue written by Geoff Johns. I'm telling you, this guy amazes me more and more with every comic he puts out every month. But to add icing to the cake, Gary Frank takes over on the artistic chores this month. And as you can see, he's put out 2 amazing covers for the first issue. The one on the right is the variant. Of course I had to get both. What can I say? I'm a sucker. But since the Justice League isn't doing the multiple covers any more, I guess I have a little breathing room. Right? At least that's the way I look at it. Anyways, this story starts out much like Superman's origin, except it's an alien planet in the year 3008 that's exploding. They decide to send their son to Earth because, " . . more that a thousand years ago, Earth embraced the doomed planet Krypton's great gift . . . their last son . . . . . Earth made him into the greatest hero who ever lived." And off goes the rocket. However when it lands this time, it's a completely different Earth from that which was so accepting of their first alien visitor. The family that finds him, looks upon him with disdain. " . . . it's a child. And alien child . . . . we must do what all law-abiding citizens would . . . we kill it." We then go back in time to our own era. Superman has encountered a Brainiac robot that's walking through down town. His obvious response is the direct approach, but upon attacking it, a view screen emerges with the image of Brainiac 5 in it. Before he can go any farther Brainiac 5 has to shock Superman in to remembering his friends from the future. So then we get a little flashback scene of when Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl first came back to see him, when he was an awkward teenager. This story is tied in with the previous one that ran the League and Society books. "We all agreed not to get you involved in this . . . . but . . . no choice any longer. Their mission proved unsuccessful, and my experiment tapping into the speed force is going to take more time." He then presents him with a time-sphere that's been calibrated for the year 3008. The same year that the alien had come to Earth. A coinkidink? As Superman leaves, the Brainiac robot explodes. And it seems like Superman's time travel is a lot rougher than it's supposed to be. First of all, when he lands, he finds that the Legion are now outlaws. Then, when Colossal Boy, Wildfire and Dawnstar decide that they should probably just send him back the time sphere explodes. Superman also finds out that no one has seen or heard from Brainiac 5 for more than 6 months and that the Earth now has a red sun, so he has no powers. This is looking to be another incredible story. I'm kinda wondering though, if this is going to have anything to do with the Final Crisis storyline. Anyways, it's nice to see one of the original books brought back to greatness like this. I can't wait to see where we go from here.