Action #870: well, either the foreshadowing was all misdirection, or the ending of this issue is, because it sure looks like [spoiler]they just killed off Pa when it looked like it was going to be Ma[/spoiler].
Either way, it's ground that's been tread before, and done better. [spoiler]Morrison's version of Jonathan's death in All-Star was one of the high points of the series.
Of course, speaking of Morrison, Ma COULD still die in Final Crisis. But that would pretty much suck if they BOTH got killed off by supervillains in the span of a few months.[/spoiler]
All in all, not a great Brainiac story. All the buildup, the whole "All the Brainiacs before have been merely shadows of the one, true Brainiac!" retcon, several issues of making him out to be the ultimate badass...and then he turns out to be a gigantic pussy.
But man, I am loving Gary Frank's art.
The New Krypton plot shows some promise. We'll see if it becomes a long-term thing or just another Chris Kent "this will change everything!" followed by an immediate return to status quo.