Friday, November 20, 2020

Bizarro Comics

Bizarro Comics is a rather odd collection of stories written and illustrated by a star-studded cast from the realm of Indy comics. It's book-ended by a Mr. Mxyzptlk/Bizarro yarn that's straight out of Chuck Jones' Looney Tunes!

An alien conqueror arrives in the 5th Dimension with the intent of adding it to his domain. But this despot wants to be fair. He's willing to play a series of games (best out of 5) for the plain of existence. 

With Mxy appointed as the de facto ruler of the 5th Dimension, it's the imp's role to win those games. But when he's caught cheating, Mxyzptlk must appoint a substitute champion. Naturally, he wants Superman to win the games for him. But what version? Faced with the Golden Age Man of Steel, that time the Man from Tomorrow's head was replaced with an ants, and that ill-fated electric Superman from the 90s, Mr. Mxyxptlk stumbles upon Bizarro! 

Not the Superman he was hoping for, a technicality makes Bizarro the champion of the 5th Dimension. And that's where the craziness really begins. 

Sidekicks, giant apes, teen angst and an apocalyptic concert for the ages, there was a wide assortment of stories in this book. But what really was the selling point for me was the inclusion of the Letitia Lerner: Superman's Babysitter story that resulted in the recall and ban of the Elseworlds 80-Page Giant. 

That legendary comic has now since been re-released (and I own a copy) but it was a while before I finally got around to reading. Actually, No! That's not true. This is a re-read. But other than that Elseworlds tale, I just don't remember this book at all. Now that I think about it, I must have checked this out from the library and then later found a really cheap copy. 

Yeah. That's what I did!

Was it worth a second chance? Yeah. For the most part. Some of those stories were truly weird. But I enjoyed the chance to substitute some 2020 insanity for some good ol' fashioned DC Comics lunacy. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars. 


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