posted
From what I understand, the concept of Bizarro was quite popular among younger readers in the early and mid Silver Age. Though it started off as basically a Frankenstein concept, Otto Binder took the one-off Superboy story, applied it to Superman, added a Bizarro Lois and basically built on it time and time again, adding many of the elements he had created for Captain Marvel/Power of Shazam several years earlier at Fawcett. And fans basically went ga-ga over it, sending in enough mail to encourage Mort Weisenger to bump the long-running feature Congorilla (formerly Congo Bill in Action Comics) from Adventure and begin a Tales of Bizarro World series.
Of course, we all know what bumped that feature out
Anyway, does the Bizarro concept appeal to you? I've got to say, I love the Silver Age and I absolutely love the Silver Age Superman family of comics and the mythos built up around it, but I generally avoid all things Bizarro. I just find Bizarro and his world very...'eh'. I don't want to read it.
But I'm open to other's opinions.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
It must have been hilarious when I was six, because I don't remember being annoyed with Bizarro (or Mxyzptlyk) stories back then.
I'd agree the concept is okay, or could be - the idea of an opposite self, where meaning is turned upside-down.
(The two Bizarro Comics collections were pretty good; they were just weird/funny takes on a range of DC characters, not limited to the traditional, white-faced Bizarro.)
posted
I don't like Bizzaro, I get the "opposite" concept ok, but Bizzaro and his world never did anything for me. Even the Bizzaro-Legion story didn't sell me on the concept (although I did see a hilarious panel from Bizzaro, I think it had to do with a GL Bizzaro). Maybe the idea of Bizzaro only works for me in really short doses (like one panel cameo/jokes).
-------------------- Long Live the Legion!
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
I do not "get" Bizarro at all! (I don't much like Frankenstein's monster either) The problem is that it's a one-note joke. The opposite speak and acting like a moron. The Crime Syndicate is a much better and more exciting concept of the "opposite" alternate universe to me.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
I've always thought the "opposite" label is kind of misleading. Bizarro works best as a kind of absurdist comedy, where the Bizarros all follow their own kind of bizarre reasoning that makes no sense to "normal" people. It's not exactly opposite, just strange. It should actually be a lot like Ambush Bug, as I see it. I bet Giffen could write a great Bizarro story.
One thing I actively hate is the use of Bizarro as a villain. Like Mxyzptlk, he should be a pest, but never one of the bad guys.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I agree with stephbarton's 'in short doses'... but only of the Bizarro World concept. I think the current Bizarro is a failed clone or something, isn't he?
That doesn't appeal at all... at least as a largely comedic Bizarro comment on Superman/DCU heroes.
I'm much more drawn to the Earth 3 'Mirror, Mirror' 'opposites', like DrakeB3004. That said, there's room for the more humorous, topsy-turvy Bizarros.
Y'know- I'd like to see a live-action take on the concept. It's something the right actors could really run with. Or run into the ground, I suppose.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I never cared much for the comic Bizarro and family, when I was a kid, although I remember buying some of the books with those characters.
The Trinity TP by Matt Wagnes, featured Ras A Ghul and Bizarro. Ras was shown to have a history with Bizarro and influence over him.
Bizarro didn't talk much and he was pretty frightening!
He was very brutal with Diana, too. The wounds he gave her and a spear between her shattered ribs, would have killed her but she crawled into a Lazarus Pit.
So, I'd have to give a reserved yes answer to your question.
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From: Salem, Oregon USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: I've always thought the "opposite" label is kind of misleading. Bizarro works best as a kind of absurdist comedy, where the Bizarros all follow their own kind of bizarre reasoning that makes no sense to "normal" people. It's not exactly opposite, just strange. It should actually be a lot like Ambush Bug, as I see it. I bet Giffen could write a great Bizarro story.
You get at a good point, Eryk. The original Bizarro World stories were created by Otto Binder with exactly the intention you mention. It wasn't just "the opposite" Binder was going for, but a very absurd, tongue in cheek crazy world. He was essentially recycling many of his prior stories and concepts from the Marvel Family at Fawcett Comics (Tawky Tawny, etc.) and taking them in a different direction. This is a common type of Binder story, actually. He, John Broome and even Gardner Fox liked to use strong doses of humor in their science-fiction stories. Binder's was usually the most absurd sense of humor, as evidenced by his Bizarro and Jimmy Olsen stories. Broome was more of a commentary on 'never do wells actually doing well' like Star Hawkins while Fox also had absurdist qualities.
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: One thing I actively hate is the use of Bizarro as a villain. Like Mxyzptlk, he should be a pest, but never one of the bad guys.
I hate this too. As a strait-up super-villain/bad guy, Bizarro fails on every level. He's impossible to take serious and really only works when you feel a certain degree of empathy for him.
Infinite Crisis was a seris with some good moments but many very bad moments. One of those 'very bad moments' was in #1 when Bizarro kills the Human Bomb. I thought that was completely stupid, ridiculous and just all around atrocious. Bizarro as a killer of other superheroes is not scary; rather they should have used Black Adam or the variety of the evil Superman analogues. The Human Bomb's death doesn't ring as heroic or even memorable, but rather completely ridiculous now. Probably one of Geoff John's worst moments at DC Comics.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Does the concept of Bizarro appeal to me? Only as a one-joke sort of thing.
The only Bizarro "story" that I've ever found memorable was the Bizarro Computo bit in Adventure Comics # 341. Brainy, desperate for a way to defeat Computo, creates a Bizarro version of the villain to hilarious effect. It provided some comedy relief in an otherwise dark (for the times) story.
I know I've read the Bizarro Legion story from Adventure # 329, but I remember nothing about it. I remember little of the reboot Bizarro Legion story.
Bizarro, to me, is like a joke: it grows stale after repeated tellings.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
Yeah, Bizarro is one of those jokes that starts out funny, then gets less funny as it's repeated. Like the Simpsons cartoon about the musical group called the "Be Sharps."
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
I'd agree that Bizarro as villain is a bad direction to take. In the early stories, Bizarro didn't do anything bad intentionally - and didn't understand why Superman got annoyed with him. If he's working with other villains, he should mess them up just as much as he messes up Supes' life.
posted
I'm torn. I love the concept of Bizarro, though it makes no sense. But I realize that he's easy to overuse - worse, overuse in a boring way. The ideas of backwardness and alien logic should be a source for creativity.
I can't say I like Bizarro's traditional Weisinger baby-speak with negations added. He should be a bit more cloud-cuckoo.
One of my favorite Bizarro moments is in "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" Though Superman says of the Mxyzptlk-influenced Bizarro, "It didn't make any sense even by Bizarro standards," to me, it did. If you're emphasizing the backward/opposite idea, why wouldn't Bizarro try to be the perfect murderous villain and then commit suicide? Rather than trying to be like Superman and failing and causing trouble in the process, the Silver Age concept would require Bizarro to try to be Superman's opposite.
But, like most of you, I don't want Bizarro to be a total villain.
So, I can say I'm drawn to the character, but I'm not sure what take I want to see.
-------------------- Tom Strong, on nostalgia: "I suppose it's a ready substitute for genuine feeling." - Tom Strong #6, Alan Moore
From: Calgary, Alberta | Registered: May 2008
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Set
There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.
posted
Don't care for Bizarro stuff at all. Crime Syndicate / Spock-with-a-beard 'mirror universe' stuff is much more my poison of choice.
On the other hand, the Match character, who could be seen as a kind of Bizarro Conner, has been pretty well presented. I guess, if it's written well, I can grok it.
Registered: Aug 2006
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