… which, in Bizarro language, means that I love Bizarro. It takes some getting used to.

See, the history of Bizarro is a long and complicated one, but it’s one that always rejuvenates my love of comics books – especially Silver Age type stories, when bizarre sci-fi scenarios began dominating the general crime tales. I’m not into the really cool superheroes and bad guys with nice haircuts and sunglasses and a clear intent. I’m really into the bewildering, misbegotten characters whose bumbling plans and inept henchmen or grotesque appearances thwart their nefarious plans time and time again.

What you need to know about Bizarro is that he’s an ‘imperfect duplicate’ of Superman (either created by a machine or from a parallel dimension, depending on what you read) who first appeared in 1958, he’s very easily swayed, and he’s not very smart. To speak Bizarro language, you must say the exact opposite of what you mean. While his motives throughout the history of DC Comics are very hard to interpret, it’s generally believed that he thinks that he’s doing positive things. Unfortunately, since Bizarro logic and morality is inverse to our own, he’s actually doing harm when he comes to our Earth. Inasmuch, you could go to Bizarro World (or Htrae, as it is also called), punch a kitten off of a tall building, and you’d likely be lauded as a hero. Please note, though, that a Bizarro kitten would probably be really ugly and super-strong, and possibly carrying a shank, so don’t get any ideas. Bizarro is a major Superman nuisance, but I’d hesitate to call him an ‘archnemesis’, due to his sometimes-helpful nature. You’ve probably heard the term ‘bizarro’ in the general lexicon of our language, either in reference to a particular Seinfeld episode, or anything that’s the ostensible opposite of something else.

For something so unabashedly ridiculous, I adore him, and when I adore something, I want action figures of it. This week, DC Direct released the fourth installment of their Superman/Batman series of action figures, based on the artwork of Ed McGuinness and the ‘Vengeance’ storyline. In the past, I’ve been unenthused about this whole line of figures, given the fact that many of them have been a single, oddly-proportioned body repainted differently to represent a handful different characters. DC Direct themselves stated that the initial wave of figures was a rushed job, with the sculptor given the last-minute assignment of sculpting a male body based on the unique art of McGuinness, instead of a different body for each character. Since then, McGuinness’ art has grown on me – kinda cartoonish, hyper-muscular, but action-packed. They’re still using the same bodies in this fourth wave, complete with what fans have dubbed ‘tyrannosaur arms’, which are sculpted in such a way to be permanently sticking out at angles to the body due to mega-musculature.

This fourth set includes a Bizarro, as well as a Batman Beyond (from the future), a Batgirl and a Supergirl (both from an alternate universe), a Kryptonite Batman (which is a green, glowing Batman and cooler than it sounds), and a Batzarro (Batman’s Bizarro duplicate). Bizarro’s been an action figure a handful of times before, but this guy with the big, backwards ‘S’ is my new favorite. As action figures go, Bizarro doesn’t have too much articulation, with turns at the wrists and neck, bends at the knees, hips and elbows, and ball-jointed shoulders. Since a generic body is frequently used, the only sculpting of consequence is Bizarro’s head, which is a great interpretation of the original artwork.

The figure is painted cleanly in the dark-purple and maroon Bizarro colors, and detailed all the way down to blue tips on his pointy hair, and tiny little wacky spirals for pupils in his eyes. A glossy maroon is used on Bizarro’s boots, while a matte finish is used on the rest of the figure.

He is accessorized by his ‘Bizarro #1’ plaque, which he adopted when there was some confusion about which Bizarro was the first, and ergo best, Bizarro on Htrae. He wears this childishly-scrawled rock around his neck on a rope. He’d hardly be Bizarro without it.

If I have a complaint about the figure, it’s that this particular figure has a very loose, malformed joint on the left elbow, which seems in danger of breaking under any pressure. The sculpt does not take into account the rotation of the figure’s wrists either, so when they turn, there’s a large incongruity between the two oblong shapes of the hand and where it connects. Despite this, it’s a great addition to a growing collection of Bizarro figures in a growing selection of styles. DC Direct figures generally retail for about $15 at retail, but the price generally drops to $10 per figure when purchased in sets.

You am not buy this figure. It completely not worth the money.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 21st, 2007 at 5:00 am and is filed under collecting fyi, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.