Review: Bizarro

Quick Summary

Pros: The story is charming and heartwarming. The humor is on point and even better if you are a general fan of DC Comics. The artwork looks nice, especially the guest spots.

Cons: Bizarro language can be frustrating to understand at times. The plot is a little generic.

Overall: This is a carefree book about two unlikely friends and their strange trip across the United States. Featuring a lighthearted story and packed with humor, this book is accessible to all fans, regardless of how much they know about DC Comics. Anyone looking for a few laughs from a DC Comic book should give Bizarro a read.

Story

Bizarro, written by Heath Corson, is an unexpected treat for the comic book world. Featuring a charming story and fantastic humor, this book is a success in everything it tries. Plus, it provides an unusual form of meta humor about DC Comics in general, packed with references that hardcore DC fans can uniquely appreciate. It isn’t the most deep or thought provoking book on the shelves, but that isn’t what it is trying to be. It is trying to make you laugh, which is something it is sure to do.

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The best part about Bizarro isn’t necessarily the narrative, though it certainly doesn’t hurt. The story sees Jimmy Olsen and Bizarro travel across America in order to get Bizarro to Canada, which the duo have dubbed “Bizarro America.” Though initially cold toward Bizarro, Jimmy’s attitude goes full circle by the book’s conclusion and he ends up truly becoming friends with the man. It is a charming and heartwarming little adventure, though not necessarily something which hasn’t been done before.

The true highlight of the book is the comedy and, for me personally, the best jokes were references to the DC Universe. Subtle references to DC’s fan base, the CW television shows, and even tropes about comic characters saturate this work and give a bit of meta humor. In particular, Riddler stealing Jimmy’s Superman watch, and subsequently being arrested after using it, might have been my favorite joke of the book. Overall though, this is a book with plenty of little treats to keep DC fans entertained.

However, this isn’t saying that one must have an abundance of knowledge about DC Comics in order to appreciate Bizarro‘s humor. Whether it’s the ridiculous plot, Bizarro’s comedic understanding of the world, or even slapstick humor, there is plenty for everyone here. Plus pop culture references to modern music, The X-Files, and Canadian stereotypes keep things even more relevant. This accessibility makes the book even better and ensures that everyone can read and enjoy this comic.

The only real problem I had when reading this book was understanding Bizarro. Part of the joke around Bizarro is his tendency to speak “backwards;” he says good instead of bad and love instead of hate. However, since not every word he says is “flipped” understanding exactly what he is saying often involves a micro-translation. It is a minor inconvenience but is still something that affects the reading process.

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Art

Gustavo Duarte’s artwork throughout this collection is not breathtaking or exceptional in standard ways. However it consistently looks good and works well with this type of story. It makes the series feel like a Saturday morning cartoon and gives it all the charm one would imagine. It also makes the entire story seems more relaxed and carefree, which is exactly the tone that the writing needs. Overall, this is a nice looking book that I could not imagine being done in any other way.

In addition, this miniseries features a number of appearances from guest artists, mostly in the form of one page spreads. Some of these guest spots help in demonstrating a specific element of the story, such as Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba’s depiction of Bizarro’s spiritual map. Others just look amazing and help to make the book look nicer overall, such as Francis Manapul’s Flash or Darwyn Cooke’s Zatanna. Either way, these guest pages contribute a lot to the book and I found myself looking forward to them in each issue of this collection.

Continuity

Bizarro is a miniseries generally unconnected to the rest of the DC Universe. Besides a few minor mentions to random storylines from earlier DC series, there is nothing that takes place directly leading into this book. Readers are free to enter this story with as much or as little knowledge of these characters as possible