Friday, April 17, 2009

You've Been Warned: Superman #379

I wanted to love this comic. I really, really did. I mean, who doesn't love a Bizarro story? And if you heard that Bizarro Aquaman, Bizarro Hawkman, Bizarro Flash and Bizarro Yellow Lantern were all to be introduced, you'd be pretty stoked, right? The problem is that from the awkward Andru/Giordano cover to the very final panel, this books fails to live up to its potential. The concept is fine - Bizarro #1 enlists Superman's help to save Bizarro World. The problems are twofold. First, Cary Bates' script is lacking the humour that makes a Bizarro story to work in the first place. I hear the words 'Bizarro Aquaman' and a thousand good gags spring to mind. Instead of milking that material, Bates decides to kill them all off right away to advance the plot. I'm still scratching my head over that one. Secondly, I really didn't like the Swan/Hunt art in here. Sure, Supes looks super but the Bizarro was simply too human looking - he simply looked like a pale faced Superman in a wig. There was so much potential here, and yet it left me feeling utterly disappointed.

3 comments:

Aqualad said...

I bought this issue at a convention for a dollar. I guess I overpaid.

Scott M said...

Well a buck is just fine - every Bizarro appearance is worth at least a buck. It just bothers me that so much good material was wasted here. Bizarro Aquaman probably deserved his own miniseries.

Izbot said...

I agree this issue was a major letdown. There were so precious few Bizarro appearances during the 70s and 80s -- we finally got this one and it fizzled. I think Dave Hunt was possibly the worst Curt Swan inker ever. Ugh.