Warning: Spoilers for Superman #15 and Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1 ahead!

DC’s Absolute Power event begins with deadly symmetry, with the Brainiac Queen poised to become the ultimate weapon against Superman. The parallels between the two are set out in explicit detail, with the circumstances in which Brainiac Queen arrives at Amanda Waller’s doorstep eerily imitating Superman’s own escape from Krypton, especially as depicted in the iconic 1978 Superman movie.

The plot is all-too familiar: with Brainiac’s mothership set to explode in Superman #15 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval, a dying Brainiac does all he can to place his “offspring,” Brainiac Queen, into an escape pod. As the Queen’s home explodes in the distance, the rocket carries her to a crash-landing on earth.

When Amanda Waller recovers Brainiac Queen in the “Stage Three” story by Williamson and Gleb Melnikov from Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1, Waller “raises” the blank version of Brainiac Queen in a simulation set in the American heartland, blatantly thumbing her nose at Superman’s own coming of age with the Kents.

Brainiac Queen Shares Superman’s Tragic Origins

Page from Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1

The destruction of Krypton is one of the most integral and dramatic elements of the Superman mythos. The image of the surviving ship and its sole inhabitant flying through the void is both chilling and iconic; while instantly recognizable from multiple comics and films, it was 1978’s Superman that seared the image of an exploding Krypton into the minds of audiences across the globe and hammered home the sheer destructive tragedy of the hero’s origin. The panel of Brainiac Queen’s escape pod being prepped immediately conjures those images back to mind.

Equally integral to the Superman mythos is Clark’s adoption and rearing at the loving hands of the Kent family. This, too, is perverted: while Amanda Waller presents a nurturing facade as she “raises” Brainiac Queen, Waller is deliberately molding the impressionable mechanical intelligence into a weapon of war against the Justice League and other super-powered figures who are presented as “outsiders” attempting to invade her home. By contrast, Clark’s loving adoption is a deliberate and explicit appeal to the American immigrant story, reiterating the message that all are welcome and that the best of humanity can come from any origin.

Brainiac Queen Is the Closest DC Has Come to a True “Anti-Superman”

DC has tried to present foils to Superman before, with figures like Bizarro (Superman’s equal in strength, but opposite in every other way imaginable) and Lobo (another super-powered last son, but with none of Superman’s responsibility or compassion). However, Brainiac Queen comes closest to driving a knife into the heart of the Superman narrative by echoing his origins so closely. Loved and cherished by her parent, sent off to escape a dying home, Brainiac Queen’s origin mirrors Superman’s in every way – but, in a dark twist, she is being “raised” by the worst America has to offer.

Superman #15 and Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1 are available now from DC Comics.