Review by Win Wiacek
One of the most consistent fictional motifs is the Dark Opposite: a complete yet closely identical antithesis of the protagonist. Rock yourself to sleep at night if you wish, by listing deadly doppelgangers from Professor Moriarty to Sabretooth to Gladstone Gander.
Sometimes though the word isn’t ‘dark’, but ‘daft’.
Imperfect Superman duplicate Bizarro has now celebrated almost seventy years of quirky un-life, evolving into a potent symbol, with his childlike simplicity and complex, often-baffling reverse reasoning (“Us Bizarros Do Everything Backwards!”) perplexing and delighting generations of readers.
The shambling simpleton’s odd yet enduring appeal even brought lauded film director Richard Donner back to the characters he had transformed into global sensations in Superman: The Movie and Superman II. The lead saga is co-written by Donner’s old assistant Geoff Johns, with macabre and stylish illustration from Eric Powell and colourist Dave Stewart.
For reasons unknown Bizarro abducts Jonathan Kent from Smallville, calling him “father” as it bundles him into a rocket and soars away. Consulting his Fortress of Solitude computers, Kal-El takes precautions against his deduced destination’s blue sun before taking off in hot pursuit.
On arrival, Superman is astounded to see square world Htrae, but even more so on landing when he is brutally attacked by a mob of zombie-like Bizarro creatures led by imperfect duplicates of Clark Kent and Lois Lane.
‘Escape from Bizarro World Part II’ resumes the grim tale with glimpses of Bizarro’s well-meaning but disastrous time on Earth, why he left and how the incredible square planet was created. The power of the blue sun is also revealed to have given the flawed duplicate the gift of creating companions to populate this strange new world. Those semi-sentient souls are currently debating how best to be rid of Bizarro and his smooth pink-skinned Perfect Duplicate as a leader rises amongst them. Bizarro Luthor conceives a cunning plan and a “Sekrit Wepin” he readily unleashes.
It’s a fun-filled, action-packed tribute to the anodyne insanity of the 1950s Superman, a delightful commemoration of simpler times. You can sample them first-hand as the rest of this compilation provides a trio of vintage yarns starring the Imperfect Icon.
Although later played for laughs, the warped double’s earlier appearances were generally moving or menacing light-tragedies, such as Otto Binder and Wayne Boring’s ‘The Son of Bizarro!’ Here the fractured facsimile and his wife produce a perfect human baby. The fast-growing, bonny-looking tyke has a full set of super-powers, but is shunned by the freaks populating his world.
1984’s ‘The Mark of Bizarro!’ is a truly outrageous escapade by E. Nelson Bridwell and Curt Swan. Bizarro is bored with his lack of awesome adventures alongside the Bizarro Justice League, so creates a really challenging menace in the malformed shape of Bizarro Amazo.
The final rerun comes from John Byrne’s Superman re-boot in 1986. Byrne stripped away vast amounts of accumulated baggage yet Lex Luthor remained his greatest foe and this episode deals with the creation of Bizarro – cloned by the brilliant villain from illegally acquired Superman cells.
The creature was intended to give the richest man in Metropolis a super-slave of his own, but the flawed process results in a rapidly-degenerating freak whose uncontrolled depredations terrorise the city more than imperilling the true Action Ace.
This capsule of crazed counterfeit costumed crusader capers offers fun and fearsome frenzy in equal amounts. It’s a deliciously offbeat outing for the World’s Finest Hero, and proves yet again that imitation is the sincerest and most effective form of flattery. In the UK a hardcover edition was also issued as part of the DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection.
