Bizarro No 1 has learnt sorcery and cast a spell on Metropolis, turning everyone into twisted versions of themselves. Even Superman is displaying the blurred thinking, backwards speech and cracked, white flesh. So what does this mean for the greatest marriage in comics?
And with that, Superman snaps out of his Bizarro period. Love conquers… not all, sadly. Lois remains in her ‘opposite’ state and the reporter carves out a new role.
Superman is too busy stopping citizens from killing themselves to concentrate on saving Lois.
And while Superman works day and night to keep his people safe, his superheroic colleagues try to deal with the bigger picture.
Superman, somewhat unbelievably, manages to stop any Metropolitan from killing themselves or anyone else. Then Bizarro No1 returns… or does he?
Goodness me, this is a dark story, with the stakes getting ever bigger and the heroes ever more stymied. I’m reading this as an imaginary story, given that the other heroes take Superman’s word for it that only he can operate in the city safely… there’s no way Supergirl, Superboy and the rest of the Justice League types would abandon him. Can you really imagine Batman not risking everything to help? And how powerful is Bizarro’s newfound magic that every sorcerer this side of poor old Dr Fate is failing to find a solution? What about putting everyone to sleep? Or sending the city to the Phantom Zone for awhile?
So yes, this ‘Superman Superstars’ serial by writer Jason Aaron and artist John Timms may be best read as outside whatever passes for DC canon this week. That way we can sit back and enjoy the intensity of the story, the dark drama leavened by black humour.
Superman is typically admirable as he refuses to give up on anyone, staring down Bizarro No1, who invaded his mind after last issue’s apparent demise. Finally, the beleaguered Man of Steel realises there is someone who may know who to deal with a white-faced madman.
I can’t imagine anyone reading the comic, or indeed this post, won’t guess who that is. What will surprise is the tweaked design Timms has come up with, a modern take on a classic.
As last issue, Timms upholds his end of the storytelling with rare style, getting all the emotions – madness, despair, determination – across and varying the angles to keep the eyes interested. And the colouring of Rex Lokus ups the excitement. The tones are especially useful in letting us know a particularly disturbing scene is happening in Superman’s head – Aaron’s script could be a tad clearer on this front, as here a flashback sequence stops us seeing a clear transition between reality and vision. Otherwise, kudos to Aaron for some solid plotting and dialogue, and showing the part Superman’s ‘neighbours’ played in bringing disaster upon themselves.
Plus, we get the lettering of Dave Sharpe, whose talent for fitting fonts to art benefits event page.
I think this story concludes next issue, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Superman sorts everything out. And if we could also get a happy ending for poor old Bizarro too, that would be lovely. Cracked white fingers crossed!
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
His Avengers cemented a mild dislike for Aaron’s writing into extreme dislike so I’m not surprised by your problems with what you read. He warps everything he has to fit his story and often leaves guest-characters with no current home unusable or unrecognizable. He’s like Tom King without the PTSD. I might read this with your notion of treating it like Haney’s Brave & The Bold.
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Oh god, how did you put up with the wildly inconsistent Bizarro speak?
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‘Tom King without the PTSD.’ I’m so jealous of that line!
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This was a stronger story that the opener, and while I enjoyed it, I agree with your points. Much of the story has people out of character (Since when does Batman say “yeah”???) and the idea that Dr Fate couldn’t counter the spell is laughable. However, Aarons wants to tell this story, rather than tell a Superman story. . .or a story reflecting what we know of the DC Universe. We will see if he can stick the landing.
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This story had me wondering what happened to the iron control DC’s editors had at the time of the New 52? Writers like George Perez were micromanaged, and lesser lights had content dictated according to their accounts. I can think of at least four big deal writers who while doing great work have also been allowed affronts to established character and continuity*. Three of them did no such thing at Marvel but one of their editors there they shared was Tom Brevoort so that’s not much of a surprise.
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*I use the term loosely as DC’s continuity has been undermined by the first Crisis being a financial success and overdoing going back to that well WAY too often. If a Wonder Woman series suddenly picked up from the cliffhanger never resolved when editorial decided to give Diana Prince back her powers, I doubt I’d even blink.
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I dream of Tom Brevoort going to DC, he’s such a fan. Marvel must have him on an amazing contract. Maybe if DC hadn’t moved to Burbank…
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Dead right on the Batman dialogue, but at least it’s not ‘HH’!
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I disliked this issue so much I’m opting out of the followup, and telling my shop to pull Action from my preorders. As you note, Martin, it makes no sense in terms of “only Superman” and “I can assure you no one in this entire city has died from this chaos.” And to Steve’s quick note above, Aaron has no idea how to make a consistent version of Bizarro logic.
In the first page you reprinted, Lois speaks in opposites (even that is inconsistently thought through) and later she simply has reversed morals, burning books “for freedom.” Sure, everyone does their own version of Bizarro logic/dialogue, and I can live with that. I just want to know that the writer of the one story I’m reading now has SOME understanding of the characters and world and can apply it consistently.
I hate to come in so negative, but this issue really left a bad taste, especially following Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s great, family-and-character run. Replacing that with Half-Baked Big Ideas Run Amok is a huge disappointment.
—bpm
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It’s fair enough to pack in this series, these things are expensive. I’ll hopefully let you know enough about the next storyline and creative team to decide whether to pop on board.
As for Bizarro-Speak, I’ve pretty much given up on expecting writers to keep it straight. It’s not actually complicated but so often Bizarro’s are written like Sixties Superbaby having a strop.
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I had some mild optimism after the first issue but it is lost after this.
Some bits I like – Superman shaking off the affliction, Lois’ bizarro form being a book burner.
But other stuff, the sometimes on/sometimes off backwards speech, the vision of Superman killing people (that I read as actually happening first), the complete scope of this story (the whole world is a disaster .. without deaths?), and a sane joker. It all reads rough.
Sort of a waste of John Timms.
-Anj
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Jon Kent Superman, now this… maybe John Timms has upset someone at DC. His artwork certainly elevates this story.
Looking forward to reading your detailed take… tomorrow?
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I’m having fun with this story, even though it’s definitely a step down from the intricate PKJ run. It’s like replacing a scalpel with a chainsaw.
But I loved Bizarro Lois as a bookburner, echoing all the non-Bizarro MAGA rhetoric we’re getting over here. I loved the enlistment of Constantine and Blue Devil, although it hasn’t amounted to much yet. I loved the conversation with Batman — and I hate to disagree, but Batman can say yeah. (Remember the prohibition against Batman sitting down? This feels almost as silly. There are characters who use formal language as part of their character shorthand — Dr. Fate, Thor, Raven — but Batman ain’t one of them. Although I don’t think he’d say “ain’t.”) And I think I’m going to enjoy what the last-page guest star has to contribute in the next issue.
Timms’s art is terrific, for the most part. I was a little confused by the flashback and then the Superman-turning-into-Bizarro sequence that followed; I’m not sure if that’s on Aaron, on Timm, on Lokus’s colors, or what. Any of them probably could have made that clearer in some way.
As for the idea that Superman has prevented EVERY death in the city (and the world? Is it the whole world now?) as it works to try to kill itself? That seems preposterous to me, given the extent of the destruction. That really seems like a case of the writer wanting to have his cake and eat it too.
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Yeah, the ‘no one died’ bit is ridiculous. All those people wanting to kill themselves or others, but none of them doing it at the same time? It’s ridiculous.
I’m glad it’s not just me who was confused by the flashback.
So looking forward to seeing what you think of this week’s issue, next month.
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