Ed McGuinness

As far as Rogues Galleries go, Superman’s got a great one. Not only does he have crazy businessman / president Lex Luthor, but he has the mad-scientist monkey Ultra-Humanite, the genocidal alien Darkseid, the robot Brainiac, the imperfect clone Bizarro, and the incorrigible imp from the 5th Dimension – Mr. Mxyzptlk. This variety in enemies has always kept Superman stories exciting and interesting, and these characters have always been used to show Superman’s intellect and compassion alongside his raw power. With a being a powerful as Superman, how do you create stories where he doesn’t just punch holes in people’s faces and inevitably emerge as the victor every time?

Superman’s intellect is never more evident than when he’s dealing with Mr. Mxyzptlk. As a 5th Dimensional being, Mxy is not bound by our simple 3rd Dimensional laws, and as a result, is nigh omnipotent. Mxy can do and create anything he pleases – so fortunately, he’s more mischievous than evil. His only weakness, and you can thank the craziness of the original Superman stories for this, is that making him say or spell his name backwards forces him to return to the 5th Dimension for 90 Earth-days. Luckily for him, he has a hot redhead girlfriend and a goldfish there to greet him.

In the DC Comics universe, Batman had Bat-Mite, and Aquaman had Qwsp – both imps from the 5th Dimension, and both mischievous. The Fantastic Four, over at Marvel Comics, had Impossible Man. It was indirectly suggested by DC that Impy and Mxy were even the same being, simply moving

between dimensions to cause havoc. Captain Picard also had the omnipotent and quirky Q, who had very similar personality traits and strange grasp of the alphabet. For us, the 5th Dimension is a place that’s written to exist outside of any consistent comic continuity, its residents often breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging that “yes, we are characters in a comic book that you are reading”, interconnecting all various universes and media with its strange awareness of itself as a form of media. Confused at all yet?

In the fourth season of Lois and Clark, Howie Mandel made a guest appearance as Mr. Mxyzptlk, wearing a costume that was highly reminiscent of Trelane, a character from ‘The Squire of Gothos‘ episode of the original Star Trek. Furthermore, Peter David penned a Star Trek : The Next Generation novel that suggested that Trelane was actually Q’s child – thus reinforcing the idea that all of these interdimensional, all-powerful menaces are the same being.

I was reminded of my love of Mr. Mxyzptlk when I opened a pack of Justice League Heroclix and Mxy came tumbling out. How in the world do you create a game piece with unlimited power and make him playable? Well, you severely de-power him and make him more of a nuisance than a threat, it would appear, but aside from this half-inch tall Mxy figure, I realized that I have a noticeable lack of Mxys to display. He’s a severely underappreciated guy. Most of my favorite weirdo bad guys are.

The first time Mxy appeared in figural form was in 1974’s line of 8”, clothed superhero figures by Mego. Because every male figure used the same body, Mxy was inappropriately tall, and stood face to face with Batman and Superman – so while he was the only Superman enemy in the whole line, it still wasn’t a great representation. This figure originally has a smirking face, but DC wasn’t happy with this portrayal of their character, so Mego sculpted a second, open-mouthed face for use on all future figures. Neither of these are among the rarer Mego figures, and both go for about 20 bucks each in fair condition – the smirking version going for slightly more.

Mxy made a reappearance in Mego’s Bend ‘N’ Flex line a year or so later, in his appropriate smaller scale, but made entirely of bendy rubber. Not too many of these figures are still found today in respectable shape, due to the degradation of the paint and materials used to create them. And in 1973, Mr. Mxy made an appearance on a 7-11 Slurpee cup. In 2000, DC Direct made a small plush toy of Mxy’s likeness, a 6” statue of Mxy impishly levitating and glaring, and handed out ‘Say It Backwards – Mr. Mxyzptlk’ mini-buttons for free at conventions.

Still, little respect is paid. He didn’t make an appearance in the Superman Animated Series action figure line, where he made two appearances in the actual show and was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried. He hasn’t been an action figure, and he’s often ignored in the various Superman merchandise that ever-floweth from the hands of Mattel and DC Comics. As a result, it’s not especially difficult to find yourself an encyclopedic collection of Mr. Mxy’s appearances in both comics and merchandise. – except for his first appearance in Superman #30, published in 1944. That’ll run you about 450 bucks. Interestingly, it’s also the first issue where Superman actually flies instead of just jumping around.

In February 2008, Mxy will finally appear in action figure form, in the 5th series of the Ed McGuinness designed Batman / Superman line by DC Direct. Even better, since he’s a figure of little size, he’ll be packed in with a figure of The Joker – another favorite villain of mine.

Everything’s coming up Mxy.

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… 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.