Superman#43 Spoilers and Discussion

[Miles To Go]

Wow, quite a lot got packed in here...loads of zany ideas and car-crash battles. Heartwarming Lois and Clark scenes, Jon and Boyzarro bonding, a Bibbo cameo, Bizzaro reshapes his world, the Legion of Fun...Bizzaro Damien and his mustache.

It was a piece of broken bizarre brilliance

[The Learner]

LOVED the issue.

[Soubhagya]

Whoah! The issue was a blast. It has a lot of terrific stuff. Though Bizarro-Damian might take the cake. lol.

Wow, quite a lot got packed in here...loads of zany ideas and car-crash battles. Heartwarming Lois and Clark scenes, Jon and Boyzarro bonding, a Bibbo cameo, Bizzaro reshapes his world, the Legion of Fun...Bizzaro Damien and his mustache.

It was a piece of broken bizarre brilliance

Was Bizzaro reshaping the world or Bizarro Luthor? Man that luxurious hair! I know some fans would get a kick out of seeing the mad scientist costume.

And the dialogue was comprehensible this time.

[rosawater]

I absolutely LOVED this issue. Kathy getting a code name makes me think ( and hope ) that she and Nobody might end up on a team with Jon and Damian. It's hilarious that Kathy is still calling Damian "Garth". Also: I find Robzarro and his mustache both amusing and disturbing.

[Rakzo]

LEGION OF FUN!

I loved this issue, really creative take of the Bizarro premise with tons of hilarious moments (How can anyone not smile by looking at Bizarro Damian who loves his best friend Boyzarro?) and wonderful art by Gleason.

But seriously, LEGION OF FUN!

[Katana500]

I absolutely LOVED this issue. Kathy getting a code name makes me think ( and hope ) that she and Nobody might end up on a team with Jon and Damian. It's hilarious that Kathy is still calling Damian "Garth". Also: I find Robzarro and his mustache both amusing and disturbing.

Im hoping the four of them get a book together in july or just end up in Damians titans!

[rosawater]

Im hoping the four of them get a book together in july or just end up in Damians titans!

A book together or in Teen Titans would be awesome. I hope by giving Kathy a code name, Tomasi is laying the groundwork for another book just like King is doing in today's Batman. Here is to hoping that's what Tomasi meant when he said he wasn't done with Jon and Damian.

[Robanker]

I was enjoying this one a lot, and I like that Clark had moments where he was simply confident in himself and protecting others, such as telling Bizarro to step back.

I do understand the complaints regarding Clark being a fan of the Honeymooners, given that the show makes light of spousal abuse, but the uppercut that sends Bizarro astral made it clear why that show in particular was chosen. Sure, it's a cheap joke, but it was amusing.

I lost it at Legion of Fun. I don't recall that from before. I think it's new, but it sounds exactly like a silver age idea and I love it. This was a fun issue for sure.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This was a big improvement upon the first issue, because I didn't have to wade through page after page of Bizarro speak

They mentioned that Bizarro created Htrae, so I guess that's confirmation that this is the original Bizarro. The one in Red Hood & The Outlaws must be the later B-Zero clone from Forever Evil.

[Korath]

This was a big improvement upon the first issue, because I didn't have to wade through page after page of Bizarro speak

They mentioned that Bizarro created Htrae, so I guess that's confirmation that this is the original Bizarro. The one in Red Hood & The Outlaws must be the later B-Zero clone from Forever Evil.

Was it ever hinted otherwise outside of RHaTO ? I mean, in the book, it's pretty clear that this Bizzarro is a second version of the one from Forever Evil (hence why Luthor accepted to save his life and let him be with red hood). Which makes me think that a meeting between the two Bizarros could be great.

[The Learner]

How does one pronounce HTRAE?

[The Dying Detective]

A book together or in Teen Titans would be awesome. I hope by giving Kathy a code name, Tomasi is laying the groundwork for another book just like King is doing in today's Batman. Here is to hoping that's what Tomasi meant when he said he wasn't done with Jon and Damian.

What about this Super Sons book that Tomasi talked about to try to make up for the loss of the title. Or was it about the Blue Falcon and Dynomutt team up?

[Jackalope89]

How does one pronounce HTRAE?

I do it like "hit-tray", personally.

But this was a fun issue. And Robzarro with a gentlemen's/classic villain's mustache was too funny! And with Jon and Boyzarro bonding, it was pretty cool.

[Kirby Krackle]

Robzarro was damn funny! I'm gonna miss this team.

[Superlad93]

Very well handled and fun issue right here.

This issue might just be the most inventive reimagining of a classic golden age Superman story since Morrison had Superman beat up a 5th dimensional evil businessman. The golden age story being reimagined here is the Superman vs the wife beater. Gleason (as I've learned is the main writer for this arc) doesn't just simply up the scale by having him stop an alien abuser. He actually uses the family set up as a tool of contrast, and you immediately understand the cracked mirror aspect of it all. He casts Bizarro in the role of the cowardly family abuser, and Boyzarro is the child who tries to escape the situation. Actually pretty reminiscent of Action Comics #0 in that way. Where this deviates from the normal formula is with Superboy. Instead of Boyzarro having to just put his trust in Superman and hope that he's not as bad as his dad, he has Superboy as a sort of connective tissue. Even though it's cathartic for Superman to give the abuser what he gets, it still lacks a way for the child to relate. From that child's perspective, had another child not been there, it would've like him asking a possibly good t-rex to go help him with the bad one he knows. Using Jon as his first savior is smart, and it's likely why Morrison had the older brother, using Superman's cape and example, save the younger from the stepfather before Superman properly came in and saved them both.

Conceptually speaking, this is probably the run's best use of Superman and Superboy in terms of their basic utility as concepts. Bravo.

That said, and make no mistake, I had a great time, this does miss out on a few things and make questionable changes to others. For one, I've got to comment on how missed an opportunity it was not using Lois and Loiz. Ideally it should've been Loiz and Boyzarro leaving the abusive home. That would've allowed Lois to act as the same sort of connective tissue between Superman and Loiz that Superboy was for Boyzarro. But, I'm more into talking about what something was on its own merit, rather than what I think it should've been. On its own it was still very strong, and got across its point very effectively. However, the questionable change is to Bizarro and how his world works. Based on the backwards nature of the world, wouldn't Bizarro's abuse be love and affection for his family? Wouldn't Loiz punching Bizarro be the equaled to a kiss? Wouldn't the "logical" way to write this be for Bizarro to be conventionally loving to his family, and THAT be the abuse? But if that were the case, then the juxtaposition with the Kents wouldn't work. Bizarro world's rules have never be continues. They change from story to story, so I can let slide that these are just the rules for this story. And if that's the case, I'm left with not real complaints to speak of.

I'm now wondering the significance of Bizarro making the world round, and the Crisis his world seems to be undergoing.

It's also worth noting that Tomasi and Gleason's story for Action 1000 will be using Golden Age Superman, so it's interesting to see that they pay homage to him with their last arc here.