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| Superman: House of Brainiac Special, June 2024, art: Steve Pugh, colours: Jordie Bellaire, letters: Dave Sharpe |
As well as reading new comic book releases, I've been playing catch-up with recent Superman storylines and am currently on The House of Brainiac storyline which crossed over between Action Comics and Superman.
It's all good world-threatening stuff as you'd expect from a Superman vs Brainiac story, but what has stood out for me has been the more-grounded Metropolis subplot about Perry White (former editor of The Daily Planet) and his run for city mayor against the populist xenophobe Garon Blake.
And, yes, I may know who won this particular race, but it's interesting to see how they got there.
The oversized Superman: House of Brainiac Special, cover date June 2024, is split into three chapters by different creative teams, with chapter two, Campaign Headquarters, by Mark Russell (with art by Steve Pugh, colours by Jordie Bellaire, and letters by Dave Sharpe) focuses on the build-up to - and aftermath of - a head-to-head debate between the Metropolis mayoral candidates.
The chapter is narrated by Bibbo Bibbowski, Superman's number one fan and owner of the Ace o' Clubs bar in Suicide Slum.
Part of his wonderful monologue particularly resonated with me, possibly more than if I'd read it when it was first published:
"In Suicide Slum, we have a sayin'... nobody yaps louder than a lapdog.
"Every preacher, politician, or mob boss who ever came in the bar -- they all dressed the same. Respectable, legitimate. So you couldn't tell the saints from the killers. And yet, you could always tell. Not by how they looked... but by who followed 'em in."
