Superman: Brainiac Attacks

Lex Luthor has a humble goal: to take over the world.

Lex is no moustache-twirling villain, however. He understands the power that popularity buys. Also, his wealth is meaningless if the government seizes it.

Therefore, he must maintain a squeaky clean image: never (get caught) breaking the law, and give lots of money to the poor.

His natural charm and philanthropic ways have made him the second most beloved person in all of Metropolis, behind the quintessential hero Superman. “Rich guy gives to charity” pales in comparison to “handsome alien saves the day.”

Saving the world is PR gold, so Lex built a world-saver: the Lex 9-thousand. It’s a space laser designed to shoot down all alien threats that dare to venture too close to Earth.

Brainiac, one such threat, makes short work of the satellite, breezing past it like it was nothing. This robot-alien, hell-bent on gathering the data it needs to dominate the universe, promptly sets down outside of Lex’ facility and steals all its information.

Superman arrives and puts a stop to Brainiac, smashing it to pieces. Demoralized, Lex rummages through the ruins and finds Brainiac’s control chip, the only thing to survive Superman’s fist.

Back home, Lex makes a deal with what is left of the alien computer. In exchange for a new body, Brainiac must defeat Superman, then leave Earth off its list of planets to conquer.

An agreement reached, Lex launches Brainiac into space to fuse with the Lex 9-thousand. The laser couldn’t put a scratch on Superman before, but thanks to the kryptonite Lex gave him, Brainiac might have a fighting chance.

Saturday at 8:30 AM on Toonami (ch 306) from Saturday, 15 May