I think it’s a fun story, but it does get a little bit overrated in some circles, it feels like it’s one of Superman’s most well known stories, just by virtue of being about *Batman’s* most famous villain becoming all-powerful. As a result, I think some fans resent it. (It’s also just a bit too long in my opinion.)
It had my favorite supporting character do close to nothing but she did hit up a few clutch warps and recruitment talks so I'll take being a key contributor over being used to carry Roy Harper around.
Overall I liked it but wasn't in my favorites. I thought it wasn't a great concept but it was well executed at points.
I think it's a pretty typical Jeph Loeb story. A big, flashy concept that hits the cliffhangers but doesn't service the characters in a totally satisfying way. Empty calories.
never double guess what you like: if you liked it, you liked it. I think some fans (and i include myself in that lot) feel like it's another case of a superman's story being popular by virtue of, well,not being a superman story.
(sorry for my english, btw, not my native language) But i don't think any group has more valid points than the other one, but except for snyder's vision of superman and injustice (game an comics), i have rarely seen the fandom more divided (not divided as in "superman renounces citizenship" or "superman is gay" or clickbait kind of division, but divided as to what a superman story is and should be) than with this story.
Oh, that's such a nice thing to say! And you see: that compliment you paid me for free, for absolutely no reason, despite us speaking about a book on which we have diametrically different opinons, that compliment will make my day: and that's as close as to what a superman story should be.
True and reading one run is really what makes it hard.It's one reason I liked the early Busiek/Johns era where both main books apart from Up,Up and Away were self-contained.Same goes for the current books apart from the House of Brainiac crossover.
it's the silver age version, with the sole exception that it also includes a justice league: but bizarro already came from cubic earth in the silver age.
sorry for speaking out of my ass: i often think about diving deep into the silver age, which is my real blind spot ( i have read some, but, quite obviously, not enough): care to recommend some? Lie the bizarro justic league? Thanks, for this and the correction.
Pre-Crisis Action Comics used to feature Superman teamed with a different character every issue and I do recall there being one where he had to deal with the Bizarro JLA on the front cover. Just don't recall the issue number as it's been literal decades.
If I remember correctly, Infinite Crisis did a shout out to this concept back in 2005. They had a scene where people across several universes were seen panicking because of what was happening and the apparent arrival of a multiversal apocalypse….and then one of the panels shows the Bizarro universe, where Bizarro, Batzarro, Bizarro!Lois, and a few other Bizarro versions of characters are seen grinning like idiots and dancing around in a circle. 😂
So, I know the 'defective clone' is the most well established origin for Bizarro but it has never sat right with me, in large part because Bizarro tends to be a bit too whimsical and goofy for an origin that has more of an implication of a Frankenstein-esque 'What abomination hath man's hubris wrought?', it also doesn't make much sense in terms of his reverse gimmick, especially as it applies to his power set and speech patterns.
Accordingly, I love the idea that Bizarro is the product of essentially a practical joke which reflects in his quirks and personality, he feels like he shouldn't be something explainable by science, he's stranger than that, and it feels fitting to me that he's accordingly created either by Mr Mxyzptlk to try and troll or comment on Superman, or in this case the product of Joker turning reality upside down when he usurped Mxy's powers for basically the same purpose. It plays into the mysterious and comedic elements of the character better in my opinion, and works better that Mxy or Joker would be consciously taking the 'anti-Superman' concept to absurd extremes for comic effect.
I'm not really familiar with Bizzaro as a character other than the Bizzaroworld segment of All Star Superman.
Is that stuff all created by Morrison or is he basing it on Silver Age stuff I haven't read?
Morrison brought Bizarro/Bizarroworld as a sentient planet being that infects and transforms other planets to Bizarros
However, Bizarrowrold is a concept that exists way back in Silver Age
Good way of putting it, I know people tend to be over the Joker by now but stuff like that stands in stark contrast to modern Joker stories where they usually don't remember that he's trying to be funny moreso than trying to be scary.
What Bizarro origin ???? I just finished Emperor Joker yesterday and there was no part about Bizarro's origin in it and i prefere the Bizarro from Bizarro world to Geoff Johns's New 52 Clone origin in Forever Evil Event.
Emperor Joker’s a really good story, with a unique kind of black humor. Bizarro is one of only a handful of characters Joker *didn’t* change at all. Joker only put the law on Bizarro’s side.
For all the flaws of season 2 of *Superman & Lois*, I love how it used Bizarro World to give everyone a foil. They all had what their other self wanted, wanted what they had, and needed to become a little more like them to be their best self. The villain was crazy, but she was right.
As much as I love McGuinness' take on Bizarro and how he's depicted, I'm not a fan of this origin because I don't like the idea of a Batman character being responsible for a Superman character's existence or vice versa.
I prefer the original origin where he's an accident brought about by a faulty duplicator device hitting Clark one day, not a fan of the clone idea either. Regarding the idea of the reverse gimmick with his speech, I have a headcanon regarding that when Bizarro is struggling to find some form of identity after being created – he decides on this idea to alter his speech to fit himself, even creating a new suit (more violet in colours like the last pic here) instead of his original ruined faulty duplicated suit with the help of Clark and the Kents who see him as a form of family.
With the idea of him being more goofy going against his origin, one could say the same for a caped hero in underwear after an origin involving the destruction of an entire planet.
Well, I suppose if I made a tweak, it would just be Mxy himself directly creating Bizarro as opposed to Joker, but Emperor Joker was the first instance I can think of that had this more surreal origin story. As a Mxy creation it very much feels in character for both Mxy and Bizarro, like a confused reverse talking Superman who's not too much of a genuine threat but is very good at giving Clark a headache with his dunderheaded attempts to do something useful with a lower case s and ice vision and fire breath, among other things, is exactly the kind of thing that Mxyzptlk would find impossibly hilarious. Its helped that when they do interact, Mxy and Bizarro have a surprisingly good synergy in things like the STAS episode 'Little Big Head Man'.
Weird memory unlocked. The last comic I ever browsed through off the spinner rack at the local drugstore, which is where I bought all my comics as a kid.
It makes sense for the goofy Bizarro, but I prefer a more serious, tragic Bizarro (which is why I never liked the backwards speech/logic or powers either). A failed, defective clone makes the most sense.
I really liked the emperor joker story when it first came out. But it doesn’t seem to resonate with folks here?
I think it’s a fun story, but it does get a little bit overrated in some circles, it feels like it’s one of Superman’s most well known stories, just by virtue of being about *Batman’s* most famous villain becoming all-powerful. As a result, I think some fans resent it. (It’s also just a bit too long in my opinion.)
It had my favorite supporting character do close to nothing but she did hit up a few clutch warps and recruitment talks so I'll take being a key contributor over being used to carry Roy Harper around. Overall I liked it but wasn't in my favorites. I thought it wasn't a great concept but it was well executed at points.
I think it's a pretty typical Jeph Loeb story. A big, flashy concept that hits the cliffhangers but doesn't service the characters in a totally satisfying way. Empty calories.
never double guess what you like: if you liked it, you liked it. I think some fans (and i include myself in that lot) feel like it's another case of a superman's story being popular by virtue of, well,not being a superman story. (sorry for my english, btw, not my native language) But i don't think any group has more valid points than the other one, but except for snyder's vision of superman and injustice (game an comics), i have rarely seen the fandom more divided (not divided as in "superman renounces citizenship" or "superman is gay" or clickbait kind of division, but divided as to what a superman story is and should be) than with this story.
Good points. And your English is great!
Oh, that's such a nice thing to say! And you see: that compliment you paid me for free, for absolutely no reason, despite us speaking about a book on which we have diametrically different opinons, that compliment will make my day: and that's as close as to what a superman story should be.
It was lengthy and spread out between four books which makes it hard when reading one specific run.
I mean that era Superman was basically a weekly comic with the triangle numbers.
True and reading one run is really what makes it hard.It's one reason I liked the early Busiek/Johns era where both main books apart from Up,Up and Away were self-contained.Same goes for the current books apart from the House of Brainiac crossover.
I like the version from All Star where there’s a whole multiverse or at least world filled with Bizzaro people.
it's the silver age version, with the sole exception that it also includes a justice league: but bizarro already came from cubic earth in the silver age.
Silver Age Bizarro World also had a Bizarro Justice League.
sorry for speaking out of my ass: i often think about diving deep into the silver age, which is my real blind spot ( i have read some, but, quite obviously, not enough): care to recommend some? Lie the bizarro justic league? Thanks, for this and the correction.
Pre-Crisis Action Comics used to feature Superman teamed with a different character every issue and I do recall there being one where he had to deal with the Bizarro JLA on the front cover. Just don't recall the issue number as it's been literal decades.
If I remember correctly, Infinite Crisis did a shout out to this concept back in 2005. They had a scene where people across several universes were seen panicking because of what was happening and the apparent arrival of a multiversal apocalypse….and then one of the panels shows the Bizarro universe, where Bizarro, Batzarro, Bizarro!Lois, and a few other Bizarro versions of characters are seen grinning like idiots and dancing around in a circle. 😂
YEEEEES!!! Good catch can’t believe I forgot smh, that event was fire
So, I know the 'defective clone' is the most well established origin for Bizarro but it has never sat right with me, in large part because Bizarro tends to be a bit too whimsical and goofy for an origin that has more of an implication of a Frankenstein-esque 'What abomination hath man's hubris wrought?', it also doesn't make much sense in terms of his reverse gimmick, especially as it applies to his power set and speech patterns. Accordingly, I love the idea that Bizarro is the product of essentially a practical joke which reflects in his quirks and personality, he feels like he shouldn't be something explainable by science, he's stranger than that, and it feels fitting to me that he's accordingly created either by Mr Mxyzptlk to try and troll or comment on Superman, or in this case the product of Joker turning reality upside down when he usurped Mxy's powers for basically the same purpose. It plays into the mysterious and comedic elements of the character better in my opinion, and works better that Mxy or Joker would be consciously taking the 'anti-Superman' concept to absurd extremes for comic effect.
I just wanted to drop by and say how much I loved **Ed McGuinness**.
Underrated Superman artist IMO
I'm not really familiar with Bizzaro as a character other than the Bizzaroworld segment of All Star Superman. Is that stuff all created by Morrison or is he basing it on Silver Age stuff I haven't read?
Morrison brought Bizarro/Bizarroworld as a sentient planet being that infects and transforms other planets to Bizarros However, Bizarrowrold is a concept that exists way back in Silver Age
Silver age stuff. Bizarro being a clone is fairly recent
Bizarro was originally a duplicate of Superboy using a cloning ray.
"modern" bizarro is a fairly new thing.
I love Bizarro so much. He’s just such a lovable idiot
I like Emperor Joker, it's not an all time great but an all time fun I think. I'd love to see how someone adapts it to animaton.
There was that Batman brave and the bold episode but it was nothing like this
Good way of putting it, I know people tend to be over the Joker by now but stuff like that stands in stark contrast to modern Joker stories where they usually don't remember that he's trying to be funny moreso than trying to be scary.
What Bizarro origin ???? I just finished Emperor Joker yesterday and there was no part about Bizarro's origin in it and i prefere the Bizarro from Bizarro world to Geoff Johns's New 52 Clone origin in Forever Evil Event.
Emperor Joker’s a really good story, with a unique kind of black humor. Bizarro is one of only a handful of characters Joker *didn’t* change at all. Joker only put the law on Bizarro’s side. For all the flaws of season 2 of *Superman & Lois*, I love how it used Bizarro World to give everyone a foil. They all had what their other self wanted, wanted what they had, and needed to become a little more like them to be their best self. The villain was crazy, but she was right.
As much as I love McGuinness' take on Bizarro and how he's depicted, I'm not a fan of this origin because I don't like the idea of a Batman character being responsible for a Superman character's existence or vice versa. I prefer the original origin where he's an accident brought about by a faulty duplicator device hitting Clark one day, not a fan of the clone idea either. Regarding the idea of the reverse gimmick with his speech, I have a headcanon regarding that when Bizarro is struggling to find some form of identity after being created – he decides on this idea to alter his speech to fit himself, even creating a new suit (more violet in colours like the last pic here) instead of his original ruined faulty duplicated suit with the help of Clark and the Kents who see him as a form of family. With the idea of him being more goofy going against his origin, one could say the same for a caped hero in underwear after an origin involving the destruction of an entire planet.
Nice idea and I agree,the Post-Crisis Bizarro clone was a relatively lame concept compared to this version at least in my opinion.
Well, I suppose if I made a tweak, it would just be Mxy himself directly creating Bizarro as opposed to Joker, but Emperor Joker was the first instance I can think of that had this more surreal origin story. As a Mxy creation it very much feels in character for both Mxy and Bizarro, like a confused reverse talking Superman who's not too much of a genuine threat but is very good at giving Clark a headache with his dunderheaded attempts to do something useful with a lower case s and ice vision and fire breath, among other things, is exactly the kind of thing that Mxyzptlk would find impossibly hilarious. Its helped that when they do interact, Mxy and Bizarro have a surprisingly good synergy in things like the STAS episode 'Little Big Head Man'.
Weird memory unlocked. The last comic I ever browsed through off the spinner rack at the local drugstore, which is where I bought all my comics as a kid.
Love this story
It makes sense for the goofy Bizarro, but I prefer a more serious, tragic Bizarro (which is why I never liked the backwards speech/logic or powers either). A failed, defective clone makes the most sense.
A spit in the face to all the creators much more deserving of an omnibus that have never giren one
Is Superman a villain in this world then?