Superman on Television

Superman: The Animated Series - Episode Reviews

Season 2 - Episode 17: "Bizarro's World"

Original Air Date: October 10, 1997

Reviewed by: Jeffrey Taylor

"Me back!" - Bizarro

Action Comics #785 This was the second part in what was ostensibly a Bizarro trilogy in Superman: The Animated Series. It also happened to be the best of the three.

Earlier this season in an episode called "Identity Crisis," (click here to read that review) the Bizarro Superman was created as an imperfect clone of Superman by Lex Luthor and Dr. Teng. It was similar to the story in Man of Steel #5 from 1986.

This episode can be viewed immediately after watching "Identity Crisis" because as the episode opened, only a day or two seemed to have passed. Lois and Superman both intended to search the crater remains of the laboratory where Bizarro was created. It blew up at the end of that episode where Bizarro disappeared, potentially vaporized by the explosion.

Although there have been several completely different versions of Bizarro throughout Superman's multimedia history, the clone version has been the most sympathetic. The version in Superman: The Animated Series began his life honestly believing he was Superman, only to have his identity ripped from him. The ensuing mental degradation and confusion only confounded that notion. The most important thing to remember is that Bizarro was essentially mentally handicapped and he never wrought havoc in order to damage property or hurt people. He yearned for a sense of belonging and simply could not understand that his superpowers were hurting people.

5Rating - 5 (out of 5): Bizarro's reintroduction set a clear tone for the story in that he was looking for a home, or at least a place to belong. That journey brought him to the Fortress of Solitude where he found Brainiac's orb (from the season one episode, "Stolen Memories") which told him all about Krypton, complete with images of the planet. When he returned to Metropolis, he began tearing apart buildings so they slightly resembled some of the images of Krypton. Again, Bizarro never intended to hurt or scare anybody. He was just trying to create a home for himself.

Unfortunately recreating Krypton also meant destroying it, So Bizarro threw a missile at Metropolis to level it, then fought Superman who was trying to stop the missile. It was only when Superman explained that Lois would die, because he knew Bizarro shared his emotional connection to her, that Bizarro flew away to save her. That allowed Superman to redirected the explosion and save Metropolis. The only incongruent moment in the whole episode occurred when Bizarro threw the missile and its engine turned on, sending it to Metropolis. There was no reason why the missile would have activated mid-flight and its trajectory would have brought it to downtown Metropolis. It would have made much more sense if the missile were hurled to Metropolis just from Bizarro's toss.

Superman understood Bizarro's need to find a home. Lois mentioned that it must have been hard going from thinking he was Superman, to losing his identity, while at the same time being part of the destruction of his home at the laboratory where he was created. He also believed Lex Luthor, as his creator, was his father. He lost all of that very quickly. Superman could certainly empathize with Bizarro's condition considering how he learned he was not human and that his home vanished before he was even old enough to remember it.

When Bizarro was in the Fortress, he freed the alien animals that Superman saved back in "The Main Man - Part 2." One of them was a small Lizard with a violent disposition and a mouth with razor sharp teeth that divided along three axes. Although the lizard was violent, Bizarro assumed he was playing and took him under his arm as though he was a pet dog. He even named him Krypto after the super-dog from Krypton. In the comics, Krypto was a white dog. There was a white puppy who played with baby Kal-El on Krypton back in "The Last Son of Krypton - Part 1." So Bizarro probably got the name from Brainiac's orb.

Later when Bizarro was attempting to recreate Krypton, he toppled several buildings. As the people were fleeing, Bizarro noticed a bellhop, whose outfit, at least the colors, was slightly similar to Jor-El's Kryptonian garb. Bizarro picked him up and brought him back into the half-destroyed building saying, "Dada!" Just imagine being in that guy's shoes.

It was incredibly funny when Superman arrived at the Fortress after Bizarro. He found some animals out of their enclosures, but when he approached Brainiac's orb, he saw Bizarro's footprints. He looked down at his own boots, then up to where Bizarro had been standing. The prints were the same shape, but one was turned in on the other instead of being parallel. He immediately knew exactly who it was, which was hilarious considering that they have the same DNA, but Bizarro's deformed stature means that his feet would be crooked as he stood. Even Brainiac's orb thought Bizarro was the real Superman.

In order to keep Bizarro calm, Lois offered to take a tour of his new Krypton-like home until Superman arrived. Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin made guest appearances in order to tell Lois her idea was unsafe, while she was going to do it anyway. Superman arrived in a lead suit with Kryptonite, intent on detaining Bizarro. The Kryptonite failed because Bizarro's DNA was just too different from Superman's due to the flawed cloning process. In the comics, Bizarro was traditionally a backwards Superman, so only blue Kryptonite could adversely affect him.

Bizarro's nature was exemplified when Superman arrived because Bizarro was genuinely happy to invite him into his home. He was so excited to have Superman, Lois, Krypto and his "father" (the bellhop) in his home that for the first time in his miserable existence...

Bizarro was content.

Then he tried to blow it all up to complete the story.

The alien lizard Krypto attacked Superman, ripping his lead suit. Bizarro again thought Krypto was just playing so he threw the Kryptonite telling Krypto to fetch, but it landed near Superman, who soon slid a shield to knock the Kryptonite away, allowing him to escape and save the day. Even though this "version" of Krypto could kill me in a second, I found him somewhat adorable.

For the denouement, Superman offered to show Bizarro what happened to Krypton after it exploded, which enticed Bizarro who wanted to know more. Superman used the spaceship he was brought to Earth in to take Bizarro to a wondrous new planet with oxygen, vegetation and a yellow sun which would allow him to keep his superpowers. He also brought the lizard Krypto so that Bizarro would always have someone to save. It was a paradise where he could live out his days happily, creating the world as he saw fit. Given the sorrow of Bizarro's story, it was a fitting ending. It almost brought a tear to my eye.

Unfortunately, it would all be messed up in an episode from season 3.

To be concluded...

Once again, Tim Daly received double billing as both Superman and Bizarro. Clark Kent did not appear this time around. Corey Burton returned as the voice of Brainiac. Frank Welker, who voiced several characters throughout the series played the bellhop.



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