Warning! Contains Spoilers For Action Comics #1061!
DC has finally remembered that they have a perfect evil Superman in Bizarro. The company has frequently attempted to perfect the trope of “Superman, but he’s evil” with Ultraman, Injustice Superman, and many more examples over the years. Now, DC is returning to one of its formative attempts, and might just have solved the “evil Superman” formula.
Action Comics #1061 – by Jason Aaron, John Timms, Rex Lokus, and Dave Sharpe – finds DC has finally embracing Bizarro’s destiny as a darker and scarier Superman. This story shows Bizarro enraged at the loss of his planet; after being empowered accidentally by a group of wizards, he seeks out Earth to get his revenge on Superman.
As Superman battles with Bizarro, he desperately tries to plead with him, remarking that Bizarro is “a good man“, to which Bizarro chillingly responds, “No, Superman is Good Man. Bizarro is his opposite.” This finally allows DC to explore the idea of an evil Superman without needing to make Superman himself evil.
“Darker & Scarier”: After 65 Years, DC Is Finally Fixing Superman’s Most Wasted Villain
Bizarro is one of Superman’s most recognizable — and goofiest — villains. Now DC promises that he’s being taken in a much darker direction.
Bizarro Admits That He’s Truly Superman’s Opposite
Bizarros come from many different places. One of the first Bizarro’s was the result of a scientist’s ray gun accidentally hitting Superman, resulting in an imperfect copy being made. Other versions of Bizarro are often imperfect clones created by Lex Luthor. However, one of the longest-lasting versions of Bizarro is from Bizarro World, also known as Htrae, a backward version of Earth that has a Bizarro version of everyone. These Bizarros have typically been harmless, just reverse versions in silly ways, such as Bizarro Flash being incredibly slow, or Bizarro Lex Luthor being incredibly dumb, but DC has realized that Bizarros can be so much more.
After the tragic loss of his planet, Bizarro fully has reason to embody the “evil Superman” trope. Bizarro is everything Superman isn’t, he’s supposed to be his polar opposite. DC usually has Bizarro portrayed as a bit of a bumbling nuisance, someone who doesn’t mean the destruction he causes. But with the destruction of his planet, Bizarro has taken a much darker turn. He now fully intends the destruction and pain he causes and this might be the direction the character remains for a while. Instead of putting an alternate version of Superman through some tragedy to explore the idea of an evil Superman, DC could simply use Bizarro.
Bizarro Brutally Attacks Superman
There are infinite universes in the DC Multiverse and yet, despite this, one of the most recurring tropes is that of evil Superman. The reasons why he becomes evil rarely matter. DC simply loves exploring the idea of Superman being evil. It’s such a popular idea that it’s even bled into other mediums, like The Boys. But one of the core aspects of Superman’s character is the fact that he could never truly be evil. It’s one of the reasons people dislike the trope so much, but Bizarro gives DC the perfect excuse to explore an evil Superman, someone who stands for the opposite of everything Superman believes.
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