BRAINIAC 5
Real Name: Querl Dox
Class: Extraterrestrial (Coluan)
Occupation: Legionnaire
Group Affiliation: Legion of Super-Heroes
Known Relatives: Brainiac (Brainiac, adoptive great-great-grandfather)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Earth, 30th Century
First Appearance: Action Comics #276 (May, 1961)
Powers: Brainiac possessed unparalleled super-genius, he was a 12-level intellect with a computer brain. Brainiac was unrelentingly logical and analytical. He wore a Legion flight-ring and a force field belt that could also project forcefields around others.
History: <30th Century> Querl, aka Brainiac 5 was the direct descendant of Vril Dox, who raised the intellect of everyone on Colu to twelfth-level to overthrow the Computer Tyrants. Brainiac 5 came to Earth to study at the Time Institute, and ended up joining the Legion of Super-Heroes. he proved a worthy member, inventing and outfitting the team with flight rings and forcefield belts.
(Adventure Comics I #304) - Brainiac 5 and the Legion were set to have their annual vote to elect a new leader, and Saturn Girl was the first to arrive at the Clubhouse. A crystal capsule sent from the Trylop Council of Mernl dropped from the sky warning that their computers predicted a Legionnaire would die using their powers during an upcoming invasion of Earth by Zaryan the Conqueror, and Saturn Girl resolved to sacrifice herself to protect her fellow Legionnaires. She used her thought control to nudge the Legion into electing her leader, then used a rainbow bar from their treasury to make medallions with her face printed on them, and demanded every Legionnaire wear one. She demanded the Legionnaires demonstrate effective use of their powers, and was able to temporarily duplicate each member of the Legion’s powers using the medallions they wore, and proceeded to forbid them for using their powers or going on missions during a probation period because she declared they were not using their powers properly. When Zaryan began his invasion of Earth she responded, and warned the other Legionnaires not to follow her because they were on probation. The Legion thought she’d gone mad with power, but Mon-El had observed her actions from the Phantom Zone, and knew her motivations. Sunspots interfered with him communicating with the Legion, but when they lifted he filled in Lightning Lad on the situation, and he flew into space, determined to keep Saturn Girl from sacrificing herself. He blew up Zaryan’s ship with his powers, but was fatally shot with a freeze-ray. The Legion honored him by placing him in a glass coffin with lightning generated over it by a perpetual motion device, and his funeral was attended by Superboy, Supergirl and Lori Lemaris. The Legion placed a statue of Lightning Lad in their Clubhouse as a tribute to the first Legionnaire killed in action.
(Adventure Comics I #305) - The Legion still mourned Lightning Lad, but had to fill the spot his passing left on the roster, so they held an open audition. Antennae Boy of Grxyor could use his ears as an antennae to tune into any radio station from Earth’s past present or future, but the screeching sound of radio programs blaring over each other drove the Legion nuts, and he admitted he couldn’t control his powers. Dynamo Kid was a reporter hoping to do a story on the Legion, and rigged a device to make it appear as if he had the same powers as Lightning Lad, but the Legion easily saw through his ruse. Marvel Lad demonstrated several of the same powers as Superboy, making the team suspicious. A metal-detector revealed he wasn’t a robot, and he proved he wasn’t Superboy in disguise by handling a piece of Kryptonite kept in the Legion Clubhouse. Cosmic Boy decided to give Marvel Lad a number of initiation tests before letting him on the team. He had Marvel Lad retrieve fluvium, which Brainiac 5 needed for his lead-poisoning antidotes he was developing to cure Mon-El, and Marvel quickly brought some back from a distant galaxy. For his next test fought a feeding Sun-Eater, a being that roamed the galaxy absorbing the heat and energy of suns, and made it flee by blasting it with his heat-vision, which was hotter than a sun. Marvel was told to clear the planet Brogg of space monsters so it would be safe to use as an emergency landing spot for space pilots. The monsters turned out to be illusions created by a 3-D generator. Marvel smashed it and found stolen treasure underneath it, realizing the charade was created by space pirates looking to protect their booty. For his final test Marvel Lad had to create a new element, and by crushing gold, silver and iron into powder and rubbing his hands at superspeed to vibrate the molecules of the three elements he formed a bar of element 152, an anti-gravity metal. Marvel Lad was accepted into the Legion, and pulled off the mask he wore, revealing himself as Mon-El. The day before Brainiac 5 had him test his latest antidote, but told him to wait a day to make sure its’ effects were permanent before revealing himself to the Legion, not wanting to get their hopes up as they had before when Brainiac came up with a cure that turned out to be temporary. Mon-El took one last trip to the Phantom Zone to tell off the Kryptonian criminals who’d tormented him for centuries, and reminded them that good always triumphed over evil. Mon-El was overjoyed that Brainiac had finally cured him, but his spirits were dampened by the passing of Lightning Lad, and vowed to find a way to revive him using Daxamite super-science.
(Adventure Comics I #306) - The Legion held try-outs, and had to reject several well-meaning but unsuited applicants, including Polar Boy, Night Girl, Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad and Stone Boy. The rejects met up and were encouraged by Polar Boy that even though they weren’t Legion material, they could still use their powers to help people. They formed the Legion of Substitute Heroes, vowing to help people and, if need be, the Legion of Super-Heroes in their time of need. They built their own clubhouse in the side of a mountain as well as a spaceship and Science Police monitoring system. They got a warning about giant evolved sea creatures that had escaped from the Ocean Research Laboratory, and were quick to respond, but the LOSH were already on the scene wrangling the beasts. The next Science Police alert came when scientists who’d built a domed city in the Arctic went rogue. They secretly built an atomic power plant under the dome, propelling the city into space, and delivered an ultimatum that they’d use the advanced weaponry they’d built to attack Earth unless they were given tribute. The Substitute Heroes flew into space, but Sun Boy of the Legion streaked through space near the domed city, and fearing they were about to be hit by a meteorite the scientists piloted their city back to Earth where they were apprehended by Colossal Boy and Cosmic Boy. Robot-ships attacked Earth and Polar Boy offered the Legion back-up, but Brainiac 5 refused him, saying the mission was too dangerous for untrained civilians. The Substitute Heroes’ anxieties finally got to them, and they decided they were no help as a team after all and prepared to disband. Chlorophyll Kid spotted seeds that had rained down from space, and used his plant growth powers on one. The seed grew into a plant man that attacked him, and the Substitute Heroes defeated it, and Fire-Lad incinerated the rest of the seeds. They learned from their monitor system that the seeds had come from a distant planet that had also sent the robot-ships. The robot-ships were meant to divert the Legion while the planet rocketed more seeds to Earth to conquer the planet. The Substitutes traveled to the planet, found the warehouse storing millions of seeds, and Chlorophyll Kid used his powers to prematurely grow them to plant men. The planet was now burdened with a population explosion, and had to cease its’ plans of invasion. The Substitutes decided to stay together after all, and were pleased to keep their victory a secret amongst themselves, and attended a parade for the Legion celebrating their defeat of the robot-ships.
(Adventure Comics I #307) - Space pirate Roxxas and his crew wee looking for a valuable target, and during their search they raided the planet Oranz, stealing all their cold light globes. The Legion responded, with Sun Boy heating a mountain to white-hot temperatures to provide light for the natives until they could produce more cold light globes to light their cities. The Oranz shot down one of the pirate’s rocketships, which Brainiac 5 examined, declaring it capable of faster-than-light-travel. He immediately went about replicating the technology so the Legion could pursue Roxxas. With several members on offworld missions the Legion conducted an emergency membership drive. Jan Arrah of Trom, said he had an amazing power, but couldn’t reveal it to all of them. They assumed he had a good reason for his conditional application, and he showed it to Saturn Gir, who promised not to reveal his power, but assured the Legion he’d be a worthy member. Dubbed Mystery Lad, he accompanied the Legion using the faster-than-light rocketships Brainiac 5 duplicated to the waterworld of Vuruna, where Roxxas and his men had looted valuable colored pearls. Roxxas dropped z-bombs on the pontoons of a city in Vuruna, and Cosmic Boy used his magnetic powers to keep the city afloat until repairs could be made, but Roxxas managed to escape. Saturn Girl used her telepathic powers to follow the pirates to a dead world, and Mystery Lad helped them escape an ambush., The captured pirates recognized Mystery Lad, who looked guilty on meeting them, and Invisible Kid suspected he was secretly a space pirate. The Legion continued to pursue Roxxas and his crew, and Mystery Lad got out in front of them, surrendering himself to the pirates. They’d raided his homeworld because the residents were capable of transmuting one element to another, and they planned to force the natives to turn lead into uranium so they could create a doomsday weapon, the threat of which would let them conduct unopposed raids across the universe. The residents of Trom fought back, and were all killed except Jan, who fled, and Roxxas had pursued him ever since, which was was he was hiding the nature of his powers. Jan said he’d rather die than help them, and turned the hull of their mothership into gas. The pirates had oxygen helmets and fled, only to be captured by the Legion. Invisible Kid, still suspicious of Jan being allied with the pirates, had followed him onboard Roxxas’ ship, and gave him an oxygen helmet, saving his life. Cosmic Boy welcomed Jan as a full member of the Legion, dubbed him Element Lad, and promised that the nature of his powers would still be kept a secret to everyone but the Legion.
(Adventure Comics I #308) - The Legion unveiled their official flag, made of an indestructible material and luminous enough to be seen for hundreds of miles. They draped a Legion flag over Lightning Lad’s coffin when his body began to twitch. Lightning Lad had seemingly been revived by the constantly firing electrical bolts above his coffin, , but claimed to be suffering from some memory loss. The Legion suspected that Lightning Lad’s powers might have worn off while he was dead, and agreed to secretly test his powers. Sun Boy was absolutely convinced Lightning Lad was powerless, but decided he’d cover for him, fearing his heart would be broken if he was taken off the Legion. Scientist Jon Arkol needed a massive amount of electricity to power his latest experiment, and the Legion had Lightning Lad fly to his lab’s hilltop condenser to charge it up. Sun Boy used his powers to heat the air, creating a lightning storm that powered the conductor. The commissioner of the Science Police learned that the rumored Thieves’ Planet where crooks from around the universe hid out was a reality, and although he didn’t know the exact location he knew which space sector it was in. The Legion flew to an asteroid in the sector, waiting for any criminal ships to pass by. When they spotted one Cosmic boy, still unsure of Lightning Lad’s powers, ordered the legionnaire to take it down with a lightning bolt. Sub Boy reflected a burst of heat and light off a cliff behind Lightning Lad, which struck the criminal ship, bringing it down. The criminals were from the Hydra World, and had stolen a group of rare animals from an intergalactic zoo. The Legion placed the animals safely onboard their own ship, but Chameleon Boy took a liking to Proty, a Protean that could shapeshift just like him, and decided to keep him as a pet. Thieves’ World was hidden from the world by an invisibility shield, but the Legion located it using the coordinates set in the Hydra World criminal’s spaceship. The Legion tried to pass themselves off as criminals, but the master of Thieves’ World was a telepathic sentient ball of electricity and soon found them out. He had his Atom Guard robots apprehend them and throw them in his jewel jail, but Chameleon Boy had his new pet transform into a gun, allowing the Legion to bluff their way out of prison when a guard came to feed them. The Legion tore through Thieves’ World, apprehending a number of criminals, and Lightning Lad used his powers to short-circuit the master. The Legion were all surprised to see Lightning Lad unequivocally demonstrate his powers, but sun Boy was especially shocked because he knew “Lightning Lad” was an imposter. He’d noticed that Lightning Lad was suntanned except on the back of his neck, indicating he’d had long hair until he recently clipped it, and Lightning Lad had no Adam's apple, which meant he was a woman. The imposter was Lightning Lad’s sister Ayla Ranzz, who wanted to carry on her brother’s heroic legacy, and the Legion let her join the team as Lightning Lass. They still hoped the day would come when they could revive Lightning Lad for real.
(Adventure Comics I #309) - The Legion furthered their education by taking classes via closed-circuit TV so they’d never miss a lecture no matter where they were in the galaxy. The Legion held tryouts and Jungle King brought in a wild borlat and demonstrated his power to control any animal using hypno-mental commands. While bragging about his powers and explaining how his father Dez-Nu gave them to him using experimental energy rays his concentration broke and the borlat tried to attack him. Sun Boy disabled the borlat, and the Legion turned Jungle king down because of his lack of control over his powers. Jungle King was in a furious rage over his rejection, and the Legionnaires wondered if his father’s ray experiment had altered Jungle King’s brain. The Jungle King traveled to Monster World and assembled a team of wondrous beasts to serve him as the Legion of Super-Monsters. He renamed himself the Monster Master, and planned on getting revenge on the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Science Police alerted the Legion after he robbed the Space Bank and bragged he’d go after the rarest gems in the universe. Brainiac 5 deduced that he could only be talking about the comet jewels of Korr’s Sky City. Sky City was built on a platform that extended into the stratosphere to avoid Korr’s deadly smog. Monster Master’s Earthquake Beast created an earthquake that started to destabilize Sky City’s base, and the Legion went into action. They fought an even battle with the Legion of Super-Monsters, but Sky City’s base started to crumble, and they had to abandon the fight, using the Legion spaceship to hitch a cable around Sky city’s base to stabilize it while Monster Master made off with the comet jewels. Saturn girl picked up monster Master’s thoughts and realized his next target was Inshar, the World of Giant Flowers where he planned on stealing valuable seeds. The Legion came up with a plan to have chameleon Boy duplicate the form of one of the Super-Monsters to get the drop of Monster Master. The Legion captured the Drill Beast and Chameleon Boy took its’ place, but Bouncing Boy, who’d been told to stay behind with the Legion spaceship because his powers were no match for the monsters, tried to go after Monster Master. Monster Master, alerted to the Legion’s presence, flew off in his spaceship with his super-Monsters and the disguised Chameleon Boy. Brainiac 5 yelled at Bouncing boy for ruining their plan. Monster Master hid out on a rocky planet when he discovered Chameleon Boy’s presence. Monster Master sicced Omnibeast on him, but Chameleon Boy lured the monster into one of the rocky planet’s tunnels it got trapped under a cave-in. Monster Master flew off again, and the Legion predicted he’d return to Monster World to bolster the ranks of his Legion. Bouncing Boy redeemed himself on Monster World by tricking the Earthquake Beast, the most powerful of the Legion, into swinging its’ massive tail at a cliffside, and it was trapped under falling rocks. Ironically Monster Master was killed when the Gas Creature, a monster he’d twice rejected from his own Legion, vaporized him.
(Adventure Comics I #309 reprinted in Adventure Comics I #500.(Adventure Comics I #309) - Mobster Blackie Burke was suffering from hallucinations after being wounded in the head during a gang war, and his doctor advised he take a relaxing vacation in the country. Blackie visited Smallville, and after an uneasy sleep he started his first day there on a hunting trip. He spotted Superboy flying out of his concealed tunnel, and realized the only nearby house was that of the Kents. Blackie was in shock at his luck discovering Superboy’s secret identity of Clark Kent, but worried he might have hallucinated the whole thing. He got a visit from Dirk Jagger, the son of jailed mobster Joe Jagger who said his dad’s connected friend Ace Brodie hooked him up with some kryptonite and a secret lair so he could destroy Superboy as revenge for sending his father to prison. Blackie told him his suspicion that Clark Kent was Superboy, and ordered some sandwiches from Pa Kent’s general store. Clark arrived with the food and when Dirk shoved the kryptonite at him he fainted. Dirk and Blackie took him to Dirk’s secret lair filled with Superboy museum pieces, including statues of Lara and Jor-El and a book detailing Superboy’s life on Krypton. There was also a Superboy disguise, and Dirk said he was going to pose as Superboy to help Ace pull off some robberies. He’d heard Professor Hugo Stanton from Metropolis had perfected a super-serum and they planned on tricking him into giving it to Dirk. They left Clark to die of kryptonite poisoning and traveled to Metropolis. Professor Stanton gave the disguised dirk a quiz to prove he was the real Superboy, and he passed after having studied the Kryptonian chronicle. He flew Blackie back to the lair where Clark appeared dead, having turned green. The Lara and Jor-El statues talked, telling Blackie they’d have their revenge on him for murdering their son, and when Blackie tried to take off Dirk’s Superboy mask he was shocked to see it was his real face before passing out. “Dirk” was actually Superboy. He’d seen Blackie in the woods and realized he’d seen him emerge from his tunnel, and after using his x-ray vision to spot the anti-hallucination in Blackie’s pocket he came up with a plan to make Blackie think he was suffering a relapse. He posed as Dirk and the kryptonite he had was fake. “Clark” was played by Brainiac 5, whose green skin gave the illusion that Clark had died of kryptonite poisoning and Professor Potter disguised himself to play Professor Stanton. Super-ventriloquism to make his parents statues talk was the final part of his charade. Superboy thanked Brainiac for his help and flew Blackie through the time barrier, back to the night Blackie had arrived in Smallville. Blackie was convinced the previous day was just a nightmare, and when he visited Pa Kent at the general store to get some fishing gear he told him that he’d suspected Clark was Superboy and they had a laugh about it.
(Action Comics I #381) - The Legion closed shop for the night, with Brainiac 5 staying behind for night duty. Karate Kid walked home, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad went to catch a 3-D movie and Chemical King offered to give Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy and Matter-Eater Lad a ride home so he could show off his new air-car. Matter-Eater Lad had him drop him off a while away from home because he didn’t want his fellow Legionnaires, who lived in expensive upper level units to see that he lived in the lower level slum with his parents. Matter-Eater Lad got into an argument with his parents because his father Rall spent his entire pension and most of Matter-Eater Lad’s Legion check on his gambling habit, and decided to leave home. After spending some time with Shrinking Violet he was convinced he had to face his problems head-on and agreed to return home after his father promised to give up gambling.
(Superboy I #188) - Chameleon Boy and Ultra Boy manned the Legion space
exploratory station when they discovered magical blood-crystals floating in
space, and brought them in to examine them. They crystals were created by
Mordru, and they instilled their possesor with an intense hatred of Superboy.
Chameleon Boy handled the crystals, knocked out Ultra Boy and traveled back to
the 20th Century to kill Superboy. Ultra Boy alerted Brainiac and the
Legion, and they went after him,
but he fooled them by shapeshifting to pose as Superboy. Chameleon Boy tried to
kill Superboy with kryptonite, but Superboy restrained him and buried him
underground, because this negated Mordru’s magic. He dug up Chameleon Boy and
returned him to the future with a story to share with his teammates.
(DC Comics Presents #2) - Superman was traveling to the future to prevent a civil war between the Volkir and Zelkot alien races, and the communicator the aliens placed on him disrupted the normal rules of time travel. He found himself stuck in the 30th Century alongside Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes. Recalling a dream he had as Superboy he forced a super-collision between himself and his younger self, returning both of them to their proper times.
(Legion of Super-Heroes III #3) - Lightning Lord reformed the Legion of Super-Heroes and invaded Orando. Dawnstar, Wildfire, Mon-El, Ultra Boy, Chameleon Boy, Timber Wolf, Phantom Girl, Shadow Lass and White Witch set course for Orando, but were being followed by Terrus and Zymyr. Zymyr opened a spacewarp that warped in most of the Legion of Super-Villains to ambush the Legionnaires. On Earth Cosmic Boy agreed to keep watch on the planet while Element Lad assembled the rest of the Legion to fly a ship to Orando. Cosmic Boy was worried about Element Lad devoting all their resources to Orando, but trusted his judgment. He was thankful when Night Girl sent a video message offering the help of the Legion of Substitute Heroes. Projecta and Karate Kid were chained in a cell next to Light Lass, and Lightning Lord visited her to again plead with her to join him, saying she’d join his Legion in a passage to a new world where they would rule. She made it clear she’d rather die, and he called her a traitor to her own blood, grabbing her and shocking her before walking off disgusted, saying he no longer had a sister. Dream Girl woke in her crashed ship on Orando, finding Star Boy and Shrinking Violet still unconscious. She recognized Projecta’s castle from her vision where a Legionnaire was die, and she was ambushed by Hunter and Silver Slasher. Dawnstar and her teammates were in danger of being overwhelmed by the Legion of Super-Villains until element Lad and his reinforcements arrived. Nemesis Kid, Cosmic King, Neutrax and Ron-Karr placed the polymer screen around Orando, and hooked it up to their stolen powerspheres. They planned to warp Orando away to another world where there was no Legion of super-Heroes. Nemesis Kid had always been drawn to the powerful, and couldn’t wait to arrive in a new world where he’d be the supreme power, planning on declaring himself the emperor of a universe. Zymyr was prepared to warp the planet, but Nemesis Kid wanted to give his Legion a little more time battling the Legion of Super-Heroes to see if they could kill any of them before they left. The Legionnaires were winning, so Nemesis Kid gave the order to warp away the Legion of Super-Villains, inadvertently taking some of the Legionnaires with them, and warped Orando to a space between dimensions.
(Legion of Super-Heroes III #4) - Tyr was furious that Nemesis Kid had kept him away from battle, and reminded him of the blood oath they’d sworn to kill the Legion. Nemesis Kid reminded him that Zymyr’s warp had captured Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl, Element Lad, Chameleon Kid and Shrinking Violet, who sat in prison cells alongside Projecta, Karate Kid and Light Lass. Nemesis Kid said that finding and conquering new worlds was their priority, but Tyr demanded satisfaction. Nemesis Kid said he could take one of their spaceships and Zymyr would warp it back to the space where Orando once orbited so he could continue to fight. Tyr asked who’d join him, and Terrus, Titania, Silver Slasher and Hunter followed him. Silver Slasher and Titania claimed Blok for themselves, still bitter that he’d betrayed their League of Super-Assassins. In the space around Orando Brainiac 5 worked out how the LSV stole the planet and told his fellow Legionnaires his conclusions about their methods and motives. The disruptors Light Lass was manacled in exploded, and she could once again use her powers. She woke Karate Kid, who freed himself from his disruptors through sheer force of will, and he freed his wife and the other captive Legionnaires. Light Lass snuck aboard Tyr’s ship, and found that either the destruction of her disruptor manacles, the shock she’d received from Lightning Lord, or both, had restored her powers. She unleashed a massive lightning blast on Tyr and his allies, shocking them unconscious, and took control of the ship. Dream Girl, acting as deputy leader with Element Lad on Orando, called Cosmic boy to check in on Earth. Cosmic boy now had the back-up of reservists Bouncing Boy and duo Damsel, the Legion of substitute Heroes and the Legion Academy. On Orando the freed Legionnaires tried to destroy the powerspheres on the polymer screen around Orando, hoping that would return the planet to its’ proper spacetime, but they were overwhelmed by the LSV guarding the screen. Projecta pleaded with Karate Kid to save her planet, and he confronted Nemesis Kid in one-on-one combat. Nemesis Kid said he knew they’d end up fighting to the death from the day they’d first both joined the Legion of Super-Heroes. Nemesis Kid adapted Karate Kid’s skills and mercilessly battered him, but Karate kid refused to give up. Nemesis Kid demanded he lay down and die, but every time he knocked Karate kid down, the hero got back up. He’d sustained life threatening injuries, but Karate Kid managed to wrest his flight ring back from Nemesis Kid, told Queen Projecta he’d always wanted to die in battle, and flew into one of the powerspheres, causing it to explode and killing himself in the process.
(Legion of Super-Heroes III #5) - The Legionnaires waiting in the space where Orando once was were met by Gigi Cusimano, who recalled them to Earth by orders of the Science Police, and Brainiac 5 protested that the order was irrational. Gigi flirted with Sun Boy, and negotiated with Dream Girl, who convinced her to allow Brainiac 5, Sun Boy, Shadow Lass and Mon-El to stay put should Orando return. Queen Projecta cradled Karate Kid’s charred corpse as the Legion of Sup-Villains surrounded her. Projecta raged at the villains, saying they’d ravaged her planet and killed her husband, and demanded they leave Orando. Nemesis Kid told his teammates to stay back, saying he wanted to be the one to kill her. Light Lass observed the events from Orando from her ship, and, unwilling to see another teammate die, changed course back to the planet. Light Lass charged into battle against the Legion of Super-Villains, but Lightning Lord demanded they leave her be, because she was his sister, and because she’d betrayed him he had the right to kill her. Light Lass almost pitied her insane brother, but after a fierce battle she soundly beat him. The rest of the LSV prepared to attack her when her teammates stranded on Orando came to the rescue, with Element Lad disabling several of the LSV by changing the air around them to helium, causing them to lose consciousness Nemesis Kid told Zymyr to call in the rest of their team as backup, and Projecta assured him she was going to kill him. Element Lad disabled Ol-Vir by turning his clothes to lead, poisonous to Daxamites. The rest of the LSV were soon overwhelmed, and Mist Master, Ron-Karr and Radiation Roy decided the fight was already lost, and boarded Zymyr’s ship, warping themselves back to the space around Orando. Zymyr decided that their dream of finding new worlds to conquer was never to be, and said he would no longer be burdened by humans, and prepared to warp away. His spacewarp accidentally took Light Lass and Lightning Lord with him back to his homeworld Gil’Dishpan. Projecta created illusions of Hell, telling Nemesis Kid that was where he belonged. His power dispelled her illusions, but she Projecta didn’t back down, saying she was the descendant of wizards and kings, and needed only her own strength to finish him. Projecta snapped his neck, and told her stunned former teammates that as queen it was her right to execute a condemned man. The villains aboard Zymyr’s ship crashed and were easily captured by the Legion, and Brainiac 5 hoped to repair the ship to brink back their stranded teammates, but Gil’Dishpan technology defied all known physics and his own super-genius. Projecta held a funeral for Karate Kid, and told her subjects she blamed herself for allowing such evil on her world. The remaining members of the Legion of Super-Villains were contained in one of Zymyr’s spheres, and she instructed the Legionnaires to enter the remaining sphere. Projecta said Orando was ill-suited for modern times and contact with other planets, so she’d use Zymyr’s machine to find new worlds where Orando and her citizens could be left in peace, and told the Legion to never seek her out. Orando warped away, and the Legionnaires hoped their teammates would capture Zymyr and rescue them. Esper Lass sent a telepathic message to the Legionnaires, mocking them. She’d penetrated Zymyr’s mind, and knew how to use his spheres, allowing her to warp herself and her teammates away while the Legionnaires were stranded in their sphere between dimensions.
(Legion of Super-Heroes III #11) - The entire Legion of Super-Heroes held a quorum to deal with Legion business that’d been kicked down the road for months. Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl rejoined the team, and after the meeting they met with Cosmic Boy to reflect on their past. Cosmic Boy said they provided a sense of continuity since they were the original Legionnaires, and they all started to feel a little bit old.
(Legion of Super-Heroes III #12) - The Science Police alerted the Legion to space-pirate raiders attacking freighters, and Superboy decided to join the Legion in responding since he was visiting. He bemoaned that 20th Century threats no longer challenged him. The Legion overwhelmed the pirates, whose ship then vanished into thin air. Dawnstar was frustrated that they left no trace behind for her to track and worried that when Brainiac 5 tinkered with her powers to increase them he’d made them faulty. Brainiac 5 assured her that wasn’t the case, and had a theory as to how they disappeared, calling in Phantom Girl to have him confirm it. The pirates reappeared and Phantom Girl phased into their ship before the pirates spotted the Legion and disappeared again. Within moments the ship reappeared and Phantom Girl had the the pirate leader, a native of Bgtzl like herself, in custody. The pirate ship had an amplifier that increased the Bgtzlian’s ability to turn intangible, a power related to Bgtzlians returning to their home dimension. The Legionnaires returned to Earth to vote for the new Legion leader, with Element Lad running against Brainiac 5. Element Lad was pleased that he had the support of the original Legionnaires. The original Legionnaires announced they were leaving active duty, but wanted to share their ideas for the future of the Legion with Element Lad. Element Lad convinced them to become permanent rotating advisors that could be called form the reserves in an emergency or offer guidance to new members. The votes came in, and Element Lad prevailed. The Legion’s biggest fan, Flynt Brojj, awaited the news and came to Legion hq to hear it first. The original Legionnaires and Element Lad decided their fans always stuck with them through thick and thin, so they’d let Flynt be the first to hear.
(Legion of Super-Heroes III #14) - The Legion interviewed applicants during their membership drive and had them demonstrate their powers. The Legion Academy all tried out, with Bouncing Boy on hand to cheer them on. Mentalla applied for membership, saying she’d be a valuable addition because her powers were similar to Saturn Girl, although her telepathy was used to control minds instead of reading them. Comet Queen, Magnetic Kid and Tellus all made it to the second round, and were given a trial by fire, joining the Legion on a mission to find out why the bridges and drainage systems of the California Coastal District were breaking down. Brainiac 5 led the mission, and had Mon-El team up with Magnetic Kid to use their powers to raise the newly sunken sections of California. Comet Queen rescued civilians in danger of drowning and Tellus picked up the thought-patterns of someone with sabotage on their mind. At Legion hq Energy Boy demonstrated he ability to create nuclo-globes when Polar Boy interrupted him by freezing his nuclo-globe and hands to show the Legion that he’d gotten much better at controlling his powers. He told the Legion he’d dissolved the Subs, and asked that they waive their old rule that new applicants had to be under 18 to consider him. Tellus led his teammates to the northern cost, where he sensed the thought-patterns coming from. The coast buckled and Mon-El went to investigate, finding Dev-Em on the scene. Dev-Em was now working for the U.P.’s Counter-Intelligence Corps and was also investigating the damage being done to California. Dev-Em made it very clear he was not impressed with the new would-be Legionnaires, and said the Legion would be better off if they offered him membership again. Dev-Em said the Corps had learned that the Dark Circle left behind a few stragglers on Earth to commit acts of sabotage, and Tellus tracked down the saboteur, an Ontiir clone. The clone sat in a weapon-chair and was set off another destructive device that caused a tidal wave. Mon-El used his heat vision to evaporate the tidal wave while his teammates tried to pierce the clone’s forcefield. Quislet, an adventurer from a microscopic dimension flying in a miniatures Trans-D Vessel, joined the fray in an attempt to impress the Legion. Quislet could animate inanimate matter, and took control of the clone’s weapon-chair, using it to defeat him. Quislet returned to his Vessel, and the weapon-chair crumbled to dust, as was usually the case for any matter Quislet possessed. The Legion inducted Magnetic Kid, Polar Boy, Quislet and Tellus as new members. Saturn Girl said she had a recruit with an excellent reason to join the team, Sensor Girl. She wouldn’t reveal anything about Sensor Girl, but asked the Legion to trust her, much like they trusted her telepathy when she recommended Element Lad as a member, and the Legion welcomed Sensor Girl to their ranks.
(Legion of Super-Heroes III #15) - Brainiac 5 was at the Time Institute, which was being battered by a wave of anachronistic incidents caused by the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Brainiac 5 dreaded knowing that history recorded Supergirl would perish during the Crisis, and he wished their was some way to change the past.
Comments: Created by Jerry Siegel & Jim Mooney
Brainiac 5 received a profile in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3. He received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #13 and Who's Who in the DC Universe #9 under the Legion of Super-Heroes entry.
Brainiac's appearance in Adventure Comics I #304 was reprinted in Adventure Comics I #403, 499, Adventure Comics I #305 was reprinted in Adventure Comics I #403, Adventure Comics I #306 was reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #1 and Adventure Comics I #500, Adventure Comics I #307 was reprinted in Adventure Comics I #500, Adventure Comics I #308 was reprinted in Adventure Comics I #403, 500, Adventure Comics I #309 was reprinted in Adventure Comics I #500, Legion of Super-Heroes III #3-5, 11, 12, 14, 15 reprinted in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #328-330, 336, 337, 339, 340.
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