Bizarro

Origin

The original Bizarro from the pre-Crisis continuity was a result of a Professor Dalton demonstrating his duplicate ray to Superboy, Superman when he was teen. The duplicate ray created an imperfect duplicate of Superboy. Superboy regarded the imperfect duplicate of himself as bizarre. The creature misheard him and thought he said ‘Bizarro’ and took on the name Bizarro. The creature possessed chalky, white skin along with a childlike behavior. Melissa a blind girl was the only one who found beauty in Bizarro. However, the citizens of Smallville shunned Bizarro, Superboy was forced to kill the doppelganger with the remains of the duplicate machine though Bizarro collided into the machine destroying himself. The remains of Bizarro allowed Melissa to see for the first time.

Later on after Superboy became Superman, Superman’s arch foe, Lex Luthor tried to recreate and perfect the duplicate machine created by the scientist years before and tried to recreate Superman hoping to have his own Man of Steel to do his bidding. This again produced an imperfect duplicate which was named Bizarro. Like the earlier version of Bizarro, this version had chalky, white skin and childlike behavior. He often talked in opposites. This Bizarro instantly fell in love with Lois Lane and a imperfect duplicate of Lois came to be and Bizarro and his own Bizarro Lois went on to find their own Earth and created their own Bizarro World.

In recent years after many retcons, the Superboy history was taken out and Clark has only ever been Superman. The origin where Bizarro was created by Lex Luthor is often times used.

Creation

Bizarro was created by Otto Binder and George Papp and first appeared in Superboy #68 (October 1958). After the character was killed off in his first issue, positive responses and the realization of how many young readers related to the character Bizarro was brought back in the Superman newspaper strips then later in the comics in Action Comics #254 (July 1959). Bizarro’s return included the involvement of the arch Superman foe, Lex Luthor. Bizarro also gained his familiar reverse Superman symbol that is often associated with the character.

Bizarro proved to be popular enough to be given a back up feature in Adventure Comics for 15 issues. Before the time of the the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot done in 1985, Bizarro appeared in 40 comics. The COIE reboot undid Superman’s history of being Superboy which made Bizarro’s origin to changed to model the widely accepted Lex Luthor origin tale. Remaining in continuity, Bizarro became regular part of the Superman mythos.

Character Evolution

Silver Age

In his original appearance in the Silver Age, Bizarro was created as the result of a duplicating ray that was aimed at Superboy. This version of Bizarro bore some resemblance to Frankenstein’s Monster, and died at the end of his first appearance. He reappeared, again as a duplicating ray creation, shortly after his original death, and in this version Bizarro had been created by Lex Luthor. This incarnation of the character existed until the Modern Age.

Modern Age

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new Bizarro was introduced, this one an imperfect clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor. This incarnation of the character was destroyed in his first appearance. A second imperfect clone was also briefly introduced, and died at the hands of Lexcorp. Following this Bizarro’s death, the current incarnation of the character was introduced.

Major Story Arcs

Bizarro

Bizarro has various run-ins with Superman and related characters as both a hero and a villain. He falls in love with Lois Lane and attempts to kidnap her, but later creates his own Bizarro-Lois and retreats to the planet Htrae, a backwards Earth on which he is the greatest hero.

Emperor Joker

Bizarro is created by Joker, and allowed to live on after Joker’s defeat. He is captured by General Zod, the Pokolistanian dictator, who tortures Bizarro for some time until he is rescued by Superman. Bizarro retreats to his newly-rebuilt Graveyard of Solitude.

Infinite Crisis

Bizarro is tricked by Professor Zoom into becoming a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. During his time with the Society he becomes fascinated with the “pretty lights” created by attacking the Human Bomb, and beats the man to death in an effort to continue producing the explosions. At the Battle of Metropolis he was opposed and swiftly defeated by Superman and Kal-L.

One Year Later

During the One Year Later, Bizarro is captured and held by Lex Luthor. He spends most of his time imprisoned in a small room with only a television for company. During his captivity his speech patterns become more regularized, and he also develops a tendency towards outbursts of anger and violence.

Rann-Thanagar Holy War

Bizarro travels into space to seek a new home world for himself, finally settling on Bizarro World, where he ultimately becomes the planet’s greatest hero. Later, he travels to Throneworld and becomes involved with Adam Strange, Captain Comet, Prince Gavyn and the Weird in their fight against Lady Styx during the Rann-Thanagar Holy War.

Blackest Night

During the Blackest Night, Bizarro becomes involved in a confrontation with Black Lantern Solomon Grundy, with whom he had had some association in the past. The pair fight, and Bizarro eventually emerges victorious, having thrown Grundy into the Sun.

The New 52

Subject B – Zero is awoken by his creator, Lex Luthor after the Crime Syndicate of America defeat the Justice League and publicly announce it to the world. He is immediately commanded to kill a security guard that is with Lex and after being shot by the panicked guard, does so with his bare hands. Now with Lex, he is given a replica of Superman‘s costume and accidentally puts it on inside out.

As Subject B-Zero and Lex venture into Metropolis, they meet various super-villains on the run from the Crime Syndicate, including Black Adam, Captain Cold and Black Manta. With new allies, Subject B – Zero follows underground, however he is hesitant to walk into the darkness of the sewer system. Lex tells him the story of his sister and how he did nothing to save her, hearing this Subject B – Zero says “Bizzaro… try,” and the team continue down the sewer system.

Now known as Bizzaro by Lex and his new allies, they break into Wayne Enterprises where they are greeted by Batman and Catwoman. Before they can fight, Power Ring and an ensemble of villains under the orders of the CSA appear and engage them all.

Bizarro and the rest of the Lex’s Injustice League engage in battle with the Crime Syndicate. The mysterious masked prisoner the Crime Syndicate was holding is revealed to be Alexander Luthor, the Earth-3 version of Lex Luthor. Alexander attacks Lex, and Bizarro goes in to defend him. Bizarro proves to be no match for Alexander and is killed. In his dying moments, he states to Lex that there is no fixing him and that he is sorry. Lex appears to be enraged by the death of Bizarro stating that although Bizarro was a monster, he was his monster.

After the battle, Lex is shown once again again trying to recreate Bizarro. The scientists tell Lex that they should have a perfect clone of Superman in another ten years bu Lex claims that he does not want a perfect clone and instead wants him to be like when he was released the first time, a process that will take another five years.

Forever Evil

A new Bizarro made a debut during the event Forever Evil as joining Luthor’s team against the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3. Similar to previous Bizarros, this version had a child mentality and the reversed powers of Superman. He fell in battle against the people of Earth-3 and it was mourned by Luthor.

DC Rebirth

A newer Bizarro had recently appeared in Red Hood and the outlaws. Hidden in a train with the objective of being destroyed, the criminal Black Mask commissioned Red Hood to recover him to use him in his own unknown plans. Jason with plans of his own is preparing himself to take down Black Mask, using Bizarro (and the rogue amazon Artemis) as an asset.

With Black Mask out of the picture, his men have been trying to fill the power vacuum. Setting up a meeting with some of his old flunkies who sold drugs to the homeless, Jason offers them a chance to get out of the business and leave Gotham. They respond by aiming all their weapons at him, and they ask him how he plans to deal with them. He tells them he won’t do anything, but his friend will. Bizarro then leaps into action and the two begin beating up the gangsters. When Bizarro comes close to killing one of them, Jason has to remind Bizarro to not hurt them badly, reminding him of how Batman warned him when he was too violent. Once they handle the men, their boss calls in backup in the form of Killer Croc. Jason is confused, knowing that Croc was drafted into the Suicide Squad. That moment of confusion gives Croc time to send Jason flying. Bizarro catches him, but in a fit of rage that his friend was hurt, Bizarro freezes Croc’s head solid knock his head clean off before Jason can tell him not to. However, it was an android and not the real Croc. Afterwards, Jason asks Bizarro whether he was 100% sure it was in fact an android. Bizarro says yes in a sad manner. Jason isn’t convinced at all.

When he gets back to Ma Gunn’s old orphanage, now the Outlaws base, Jason talks to Artemis about what happened. Jason feels guilty for reprimanding Bizarro, and he asks if it’s crazy for him to fell that way. Artemis tells him that anyone other than him would be crazy. Artemis shows him several videos of the scientists responsible for creating Bizarro, revealing that Bizarro is only one of many Bizarro clones, leaving a warning as to how dangerous Bizarro truly is, and capturing Lex Luthor ordering the clones’ destruction. After seeing a video of a Bizarro clone killing a scientist, Jason wonders if it’s too risky to trust Bizarro, but Artemis tells him that the question he needs to worry about is whether he can do the right thing if he becomes to dangerous; kill Bizarro before he kills us. Jason is reluctant, but Artemis reminds him that while their lives are just as important as Bizarro’s, they have an obligation to the innocents who can’t protect themselves from someone like Bizarro.

Bearing in mind Artemis’s words, Jason heads to the Batcave. Alfred comments that he always visits right after Bruce heads out, which is exactly how he likes it. Jason then asks Alfred if Bruce ever regretted taking him on as Robin. Alfred tells him that everyone always believed in him, no matter how bad things got. Jason asks Alfred to leave the cave and not tell Bruce he was here. Now alone, he gets what he came for; a shard of Kryptonite with which to kill Bizarro.

Later, he and Bizarro head out into the country and sit on a lakefront Jason occasionally visits. Jason talks about his first time there, and how seeing it reminded him what a small part of the world he was. Bizarro tells him that he liked the world, even before he was freed from his container. He talks, with his back turned to Jason, about having Superman’s memories implanted in his mind, and the real memories he has of Jason and Artemis. As he talks, Jason loads the Kryptonite, forged into a bullet, into a gun. As Jason aims the gun, Bizarro tells him that even though he isn’t perfect, Jason showed him the path to being better, and promises to try to be the best version of himself. Saddened by his speech, Jason holsters the gun and tells Bizarro it’s time to go, but Bizarro asks to stay and enjoy the scenery a little while longer.

The Life of Bizarro

The story takes place in Red Hood and the Outlaws. Bizarro finds himself at Ma Gunn’s home for criminally infirmed. Bizarro is really ill and Ma Gunn tries whatever she can to restore him to his health.

Jason believes that he will recover whereas Artemis thinks he should not kid himself. Ma says that it is a fact that his cells are deteriorating at a rapid rate, which means that Bizarro needs rest.

Furthermore, Jason and Artemis soon realise that they should let him rest and decide to watch the news. It is reported that Solomon Grundy is on the loose and he is rampaging through the streets.

Withouth any hesitation, Jason and Artemis decide to face Grundy but their efforts are not enough.

Back at Ma Gunn’s place, Bizarro wakes up and he decides to face Grundy himself. Ma tells him that this is a death wish.

Bizarro hits Grundy with multiple punches which results in Grundy being knocked out.

However, by using all his brute power, Bizarro is weakened and lays on the ground…..resting.

Lex Luthor takes Bizarro to Lexcorp tower and he does whatever needs to be done in order to restore Bizarro’s health.

Meanwhile, Jason and Artemis are having a little chat. Jason does not fully trust Lex and he is doubting whether they have made the right choice. Artemis tries to reassure him and says that Lex is the world’s preeminent scientist. As a matter of fact, he created Bizarro. Therefore he is the one who understands Bizarro’s needs. Jason tells her that it is all sounds great, but it does not change the fact that he does not trust Lex.

Lex has a green needle which he injects in Bizarro’s chest. What exactly Lex used, has yet to be revealed. Lex tells Jason that Bizarro is going to be fine……after a brief period of adjustment. Bizarro is now smart?!

Powers and Abilities

Bizarro possesses all of the powers of Superman, but several of these powers manifest as the opposite of Superman’s. He is super-humanly strong and invulnerable (enough to withstand attacks from the likes of Superman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lanterns), and capable of flight and superhuman speed, as well as possessing enhanced senses. His eyes emit freeze rays as opposed to Superman’s heat vision, he is only capable of x-ray vision through lead, and he breathes flame in opposition to Superman’s freeze breath, among other opposites. Under a blue sun he develops Bizarro Vision, the ability to create new Bizarro-like duplicate characters. He is vulnerable to Blue Kryptonite rather than Green Kryptonite.

Alternate Versions

Amalgam

Bizarnage is a DNAlien created by the Cadmus Project, and an enemy of Spider-Boy. He is an amalgamation of Bizarro and Carnage.

Justice League of America: The Nail

Several Bizarro-like clones are created by Lex Luthor.

The Superman Monster

Bizarro appears as the monstrous creation of Viktor Luthor.

Superman: Red Son

A clone similar to Bizarro, referred to as “Superman 2,” is created by Lex Luthor in order to provide some opposition for the USSR-based Superman. This version of Bizarro is a hero, and ultimately shows this by sacrificing his life in order to stop a nuclear missile from detonating and killing millions.

Trinity

Bizarro is created by Luthorcorp as part of Project Replica. He is sealed for some time in Antarctica before being released by Ra’s Al Ghul, who uses him to attack various targets and incite panic and chaos around the world. He is later apparently killed.

Justice

Bizarro appears as a member of the Legion of Doom. This version of the character returns him to his Silver Age origins.

All-Star Superman

In the All-Star Universe, Bizarros are essentially cloned worker drones from an alternate universe known as the Underverse. They are capable of infecting normal humans with the Bizarro mutation through touch.

Earth-2

Bizarro is one of of Darkseid’s soldiers, and he was led by Steppenwolf. In this Universe, Bizarro is referred to as ”Brutaal.” He was created by the corps of Earth-2 Superman, and he has power levels very high to the point where he was capable of Easily taking out Alan Scott. Bizarro had some of Superman’s feelings in tact, such as Superman’s feelings towards Lois Lane. Brutaal later killed his own mentor, Steppenwolf, and it wasn’t revealed that Brutaal wasn’t the real Superman until another Kryptonian managed to cause enough damage to him, so his true form was released.

Earth-29

In the universe of Earth-29, Bizarro is the dominant life-form and everything is reversed.

Other Media

Animation

Super Friends

Bizarro is a recurring character in the Super Friends franchise:

• Challenge of the Super Friends – Bizarro appears as a member of the Legion of Doom in most episodes in this series. He is voiced by Bill Callaway.
• Super Friends – Bizarro appears as an antagonist in this series, and eventually rejoins the Legion of Doom. Bill Callaway reprises his role.
• The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians – Bizarro appears in the episode “The Bizarro Super Powers Team,” wherein a Bizarro Mr Mxyzptlk attempts to make Bizarro World into the most beautiful planet of all. He is voiced by Danny Dark.

The DCAU

Bizarro is featured as a recurring character in the DC Animated Universe:

• Bizarro first appears in Superman: the Animated Series, voiced by Tim Daly (who also voiced Superman in the same show). The show uses the post-Crisis explanation of Bizarro as the result of a failed cloning program, though he resembles his classic Silver Age incarnation. This version is initially unaware that he is a clone, but slowly deteriorates mentally and physically. He makes his first appearance in the episode “Identity Crisis”, and appears in several episodes later in the show.
• He later appears in a number of Justice League Unlimited episodes, now voiced by George Newbern (who replaced Daly as the voice of Superman). This version of the character appears to have had his mind altered in order to make him comply with Luthor. He first appears in the episode “Ultimatum,” attempting a prison break with Giganta. He returns in the third season as a member of Gorilla Grodd‘s expanded Secret Society of Supervillains.

Justice League Action

Bizarro appears as a recurring character in the show, voiced by Travis Willingham.

Live-Action Film

• Though he does not appear in person, Bizarro inspired a character in Superman III. The evil Superman in the film (portrayed by Christopher Reeve) was based on Bizarro, but lacked the character’s trademark deformities or low intelligence. He was also depicted as a more vicious and deadly character, as opposed the mostly harmless buffoon Bizarro is popularly characterized as.
• Despite again not appearing in person, Bizarro did inspire a character in Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. A deleted subplot from the film would have featured a prototype Nuclear Man played by Clive Mantle, whose appearance, intelligence and personality were all clearly based on Bizarro.

Animated Film

• Superman: Doomsday -A character never explicitly identified as Bizarro but clearly intended to resemble him appears in this animated film. A clone created by Lex Luthor, he rebels against his creator and attempts to combat villainy, but lacking a moral centre he goes too far. He is voiced by Adam Baldwin.
• JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time – Bizarro appears in the film as a member of the Legion of Doom, voiced by Michael Donovan.

• Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League – Bizarro is a major character in the film, voiced by Nolan North.

• Superman: Red Son – A version of Bizarro dubbed “Superior Man” appears in the movie, voiced by Travis Willingham.

Live-Action Television

Superboy

Bizarro appears in a number of episodes of this television series. His origin reflects the original Silver Age origin of the character. He makes his first appearance in the episode “Bizarro… The Thing of Steel.” He is portrayed by Barry Meyers.

Lois & Clark

A version of Bizarro appears in the episode “Vatman”. This incarnation is physically identical to Superman and shares all his powers, and also lacks Bizarro’s characteristic speech patterns. He does appear to have limited mental capacity. He is portrayed by Dean Cain.

Smallville

A character referred to as Bizarro but bearing little resemblance to the comic character appears in this show, making his first appearance in the episode “Bizarro”. This version of the character is a Kryptonian lab experiment that was trapped for some time in the Phantom Zone. He is portrayed by Tom Welling.

Superman & Lois

At the start of the show’s second season, a mysterious creature is revealed to be trapped beneath Smallville’s Shuster Mine, slowly punching its way to the surface. Superman begins to experience visions of the creature’s quest to escape, hinting at a possible psychic connection. When the creature finally emerges in the third episode while wearing a specialized containment suit, it is initially hinted to be Doomsday, only for its damaged helmet to reveal that it looks like a disfigured version of Superman. The final shot of the episode reveals the creature to be Bizarro (played by Tyler Hoechlin, who also portrays Superman), complete with a tattered version of Superman’s cape.

Video Games

• Superman – Bizarro appears in this spin-off of the animated series. He is voiced by Tim Daly.
• Superman: The Man of Steel – Bizarro appears as an antagonist in this game.
• Superman Returns – Bizarro appears as both an antagonist and a playable character in this loose adaptation of the movie of the same name. He is voiced by John DiMaggio.
• DC Universe Online – Bizarro appears in this game. He is voiced by John Mandia.
• Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes – Bizarro can be obtained as downloadable content for this game. He is voiced by Travis Willingham.
• Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Bizarro appears as a playable character, voiced by Nolan North.
• Injustice 2 -Bizarro appears as a playable character in this fighting game, with Patrick Seitz providing his voice. He is available as an alternate DLC Premier Skin for Superman.
• Lego DC Super-Villains – Bizarro appears as a playable character, voiced again by Nolan North.

Merchandise

• Bizarro was featured in Kenner’s line for Superman: The Animated Series.
• Bizarro was featured in Mattel’s DC Super Heroes line of action figures.
• Bizarro was featured in DC Direct’s line for the Justice mini-series.
• Bizarro was featured in DC Direct’s Superman line as well as their Last Son and Superman/Batman lines.
• Bizarro was featured in the DC Universe Classics action figure line from Mattel. He was also featured in a special SDCC-exclusive 2-pack with Faker.
• DC Direct produced a statue diorama showing Bizarro fighting Superman as part of the Ultimate Showdowns line.
• Bzarro was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
• Eaglemoss Publications produced a Bizarro figurine.
• Kotobukiya produced a Bizarro statue.
• Bizarro was featured in the DC Bombshells line from DC Collectibles.
• Bizarro was featured in the New 52: Super-Villains line from DC Collectibles.
• XM Studios produced a Bizarro statue.
• Bizarro was featured in the DC Primal Age line from Funko.
• Bizarro was featured in the DC Multiverse line from McFarlane Toys.