Bizarro (DC Comics)

Bizarro is a supervillain/anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in Superboy #68 (1958). Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956 – c. 1970), the character has often been portrayed as an antagonist to Superman, though on occasion he also takes on an anti-hero role.

Publication history

Bizarro was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp, and first appeared in Superboy #68 (1958). He debuted in the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956 – c. 1970),

Fictional character biography

He was created as a result of a flawed cloning process, which resulted in a being that mirrored Superman's powers but had a distorted, opposite personality and appearance. Bizarro's skin is typically depicted as pale or gray, and he often has a blocky, awkward demeanor, contrasting with Superman's heroic and graceful nature.

Powers and abilities

Originally, this Bizarro's abilities were the same as Superman's, but in homage to his Pre-Crisis counterpart, this Bizarro also developed reversed powers as well as adding things like "x-ray hearing" and "spotlight vision." Instead of possessing heat vision and freeze breath like Superman, he has freeze vision and flame breath, the latter recently shown in Batman/Superman #22 (Loeb, McCGuinness, Vines) He has also been discovered to be physically more powerful than Superman, but the nature of his fractured mind leaves him unable to access that potential.

In other media

In addition to appearing the company's publications, he has also appeared in adapted media and tie-in products, such as animated and live-action television series, trading cards, toys, and video games.