Bizarro (Earth-One)

From DC Database

Contents 1 History 2 Powers and Abilities 2.1 Powers 2.2 Strength level 2.3 Weaknesses 3 Notes 4 Trivia 5 Recommended Reading 6 Related Articles 7 See Also 8 Links and References 8.1 Footnotes

History

Criminal mastermind Lex Luthor once acquired the designs for a Duplicator Ray first envisioned by a scientist named Professor Dalton. Modifying the device, Luthor intended on using it to create a super-strong clone of his nemesis, Superman; a mindless slave who would obey Luthor's every command. However, the duplication process failed, and resulted in the creation of an imperfect duplicate of Superman. This artificial being, later began to refer to itself as Bizarro.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Flight
• Ice-vision
• Flame-breath
• Invulnerability

  Strength level

Bizarro No. 1 possesses a strength level equitable to that of Superman.

Weaknesses

All Bizarros are susceptible to the effects of Blue Kryptonite. An imperfect duplicate of Green Kryptonite, Blue Kryptonite robs a Bizarro of its superhuman talents. Prolonged exposure to Blue Kryptonite will ultimately prove fatal to a Bizarro.

Notes

• This version of Bizarro (Earth-One), including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the Multiverse in the 1985-86 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series and is now considered apocryphal.
• Although Bizarro No. 1 is the most famous of all related characters, he is not in fact the first Bizarro. In October of 1968, writer Otto Binder introduced a Bizarro character who functioned as an imperfect duplicate of the Earth-One Superboy. This bizarro was the product of a scientist named Professor Dalton and was destroyed after making only one appearance. ^[1] The back-story of the first Bizarro was later re-imagined by John Byrne for issue #5 of the 1986 limited series, Man of Steel.

• In Grant Morrison's Animal Man "Deus Ex Machina" storyline, Psycho-Pirate, while in Arkham Asylum, recreated characters removed from continuity, exposing the fourth wall to the protagonist. This version of Bizarro was one of them. Bizarro appears as he originally did in Pre-Crisis Superman comics. He obviously disappears when everything returned to normal.

• Although the word "Bizarro" functions as the character's proper name, it is also a neologism, used to describe any object or circumstance which may appear out of the ordinary. In the WB/CW television series Smallville for example, Chloe Sullivan has often used the word "Bizarro" to describe strange events taking place in the community.

• Bizarro's physical statistics are based upon that of the Earth-One Superman.

• Although Bizarro No. 1 seemingly died in Superman (Volume 1) #423, this tale is regarded as an imaginary story and does not take place within established Earth-One continuity. The final fate of Bizarro has yet to be revealed.

Trivia

The Bizarro character and concept has been referenced in various movies and television programs.

• Sealab 2021 (which airs on Cartoon Network) has satirized the Bizarro concept (episode #17).
• Episode 105 of South Park, called "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig," features a clone of Stan Marsh that is mutated in appearance, and wreaks havoc on the town.

• The reality TV parody, Drawn Together, featured a Bizarro Captain Hero at one point and as Captain hero laments "What happens in Bizarro world, stays in Bizarro world" regarding a homosexual fling with his Bizarro Self.

• Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic used the Bizarro concept (although using a different name) as an important plot element; it was a comic book read by the characters in the story arc A Game of You.

• The comic strip This Modern World occasionally transforms into "This Bizarro World" in which all the characters are crude duplicates of our world and speak in a Bizarro-like manner.

• Al Franken's book Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations features a parody of Republican politicians and other right-wing personalities using "Bizzaro speak" - in other words, saying the opposite of what they really mean.

• The television series Seinfeld, with its many Superman references and in-jokes, devoted an episode to the Bizarro concept, "The Bizarro Jerry", with Elaine dating a mirror opposite of Jerry who had his own Bizarro versions of friends George, Kramer, and Newman. (Since the "Bizarro" group were actually nicer, smarter, and more responsible than the "normal" group, it is arguable that the Elaine's original friends are actually the Bizarros.)

• Sometimes, when the WWE RAW show comes from Canada, Jerry "The King" Lawler refers to the country as "bizarro world", where the locals root for heels like Christian because they hail from Canada.

• There is a fledgling literary movement calling itself Bizarro (see bizarro fiction) featuring a collection of authors (including Carlton Mellick III, Chris Genoa, Jeremy * Robert Johnson, Kenji Siratori and Steve Aylett) and small presses (Eraserhead Press, Raw Dog Screaming Press, and Afterbirth Books) who specialize in weird, offbeat fiction.

• The video game Final Fantasy VII included a boss character named "Bizarro Sephiroth".

• In the toy and cartoon series of the 80's He-Man, there was a character named Faker, who was created by the villain Skeletor to take on He-Man. He looked just like He-Man, but had blue skin.

• In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Dopplegängland," Cordelia Chase refers to that reality as "Bizarro World." She uses the term again later in the Angel episode "You're Welcome," when she learns that former evil vampire Spike has reformed and become a hero and Angel is now head of the Los Angeles office of the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart ("What kind of freakin' Bizarro World did I wake up in?!").

• The Alan Moore version of Supreme included two homages to Bizarro. Emerpus was Supreme's counterpart from a mirror dimension, who literally did everything backwards. The Shadow Supreme was a duplicate with a similar origin to Bizarro, but was actually evil.

• In the Stargate SG-1 episode "Ripple Effect" Col. Mitchell refers to an SG-1 team from an alternate reality as "The Bizarro SG-1"

Recommended Reading

• Adventure Comics (Tales of the Bizarro World) feature
• Tales of the Bizarro World

Related Articles

• Duplicator Ray
• Lex Luthor (Earth-One)
• Superman (Earth-One)

See Also

• Discuss Bizarro (Earth-One) on the forums
• Appearances of Bizarro (Earth-One)
• Character Gallery: Bizarro (Earth-One)
• Quotations by Bizarro (Earth-One)
• Images featuring Bizarro (Earth-One)

Links and References

• Bizarro article at Wikipedia
• Bizarro article at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
• Bizarro article at Superman: Through the Ages
• Bizarro article at Supermanica
• Bizarro profile at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
• Unofficial Website of Tales of the Bizarro World

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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Bizarro. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with DC Database, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Superboy #68 at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics