Cover Story - Top 17 Bizarro Covers

This week marks the live action debut of Bizarro on CBS’ Supergirl.  Granted this is Bizarro Supergirl as opposed to the standard Bizarro Number One of the comics but it’s still a pretty big deal all things considered.  I’m a massive Bizarro fan so this is a pretty big deal for me and I’ve chosen to celebrate by taking you through the best Bizarro covers I could dig up from across the characters very long history.  

This is going to be one of those Cover Stories where the cover collection doubles as an excuse to talk about Bizarro’s exceedingly weird history so in case you ever wanted to know what the deal was with the chalk white rocky Frankenstein Superman that is Bizarro, here we go.

17.

We open in the ‘90s.  This version of Bizarro is essentially the one most people know if they know anything about the character all.  Created as part of the ‘80s Superman reboot, this version of the character was a failed clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor.  The genetic degradation of the Superman clone caused him to go chalk white, get weirdly stoney skin, and develop a kind of dopey and inverted mental capacity but aside from that he’s more or less identical to Superman.  That’s why his speech balloon here is just a grammatical fail instead of backwards talk but we’ll get to that later. 

This cover really speaks to that basic idea of a “Superman gone wrong.”  The visual iconography of Superman bursting through the wall is a pretty solid and reoccurring image within the visual lexicon of the character so inverting that with Bizarro is damn clever, similar to a lot of times they’ve done the same idea with Luthor.  What I really like about this cover is the reversed Superman logo on top.  It’s a cheap and gimmicky concept sure but I’m a total sucker for that kind of thing.  Also, I absolutely love Bizarro’s dopey flop head hair. 

16.

I swear, covers like this are the whole damn reason I do features like this.  A. Bizarro was an incredibly short-lived mid-‘90s mini-series from DC that I cannot for the life of me explain.  It’s not like Bizarro was some blossoming franchise at the time that was in desperate need of a solo series and even if it was, you wouldn’t capitalize on that success with this kind of mini-series.  The book chronicled the story of a human bizarro, a clone of some average Joe that had suffered the same cellular degeneration that had created Bizarro.  I haven’t read the comics myself, in fact I only knew they existed thanks to an old ad I saw in a ‘90s comic once, but according to the other covers A. Bizarro goes on to fight the New Gods and Darkseid. 

Getting back to the cover, this is a great twist on the Bizarro history and origin story.  Bizarro’s always worked as a kind of Universal Monsters esc take on super villains, which we’ll dig into even more so later on the list, and this is a nice iteration of that concept.  I really like the letter work on the intertitles, they play well with the junkie schlock horror/sci-fi nature of the Bizarro concept.  Admittedly, it’s being used as a joke cover, the entire series is a farce, but we’re here to talk about covers not comics and this is a dope cover.  I’d love to see a better book take on the idea of a bizarro plague and put classic horror inflected covers like this to good use.

15.

This is actually the cover of a Bizarro graphic novel compiling various Bizarro stories from the Silver Age.  Back in these days, Bizarro wasn’t a clone but an imperfect duplicate created via an imperfect duplication ray.  As time went on, Bizarro slowly collected up an entire collection of fellow Bizarros and went from being an “imperfect duplicate” to an “inverse duplicate.”  The idea was that Bizarro’s imperfect super-mind created backwards thoughts and memories.  This particular graphic novel includes all the stories set on Bizarro world, a cube planet full of fellow Bizarros.

In case you don’t recognize the image, this cover is drawn directly from Action Comics #1, which featured Superman smashing a car in much the same pose.  It’s a damn good recreation of the original image for a ton of reasons, not the least of which is just how detailed the mimicry is.  It copies the running figures, the smashing car, and even the title banner borrowing from the Action Comics logo of the time.  My favorite part has to be Superman’s completely annoyed and disinterested face in this visual.  He just looks so stuffy and angry to be involved in this Bizarro shenanigans, which is pretty accurate to the tone Superman of the Silver Age.

14.

This cover comes from a smashing 2000s Bizarro story by the one time golden boy of DC Geoff Johns.  It was part of a trilogy of great stories by Johns that led up to the New Krypton story arc at the end of the decade.  Like I mentioned earlier, Bizarro as a character has always been deeply rooted heavily in horror iconography and this cover is a great exploration of that idea.  The Bizarro of the time was the same failed Superman clone set-up that punctuated the #17 spot only this story explored the idea of Bizarro being affected by different forms of solar radiation the same way Superman is (red son = no powers, yellow = powers, etc.)  The story also introduced the idea that while under a blue sun Kryptonians have so much power they’re get “Super Vision” which allows them to transfer Kryptonian powers to other beings. 

It’s a dopey concept for a story with this kind of cover design but then again when the book is called ‘Escape from Bizarro World,’ a certain degree of dopiness is to be expected.  Back to the cover, my favorite element of the visual has to be Bizarro’s face design.  The way in which Bizarro’s deformities are realized changes from artist to artist and this kind of strained, corpse-like look is a major favorite.  He was originally modeled on Frankenstein’s monster so it certainly fits the characters roots and is pretty unique visually.

13.

I swear, I cover more dopey and forgotten event comics here than on Panel Vision.  In case you’re wondering why this cover looks like a playing card or why Superman is wearing a black costume it’s because this cover was part of a major Superman event at the time entitled Emperor Joker.  It was a fun event of the era in which Joker gained the god-like powers of Superman foe Mr. Myxztplk and became lord of the entire universe.  Today this story is kind of memory holed, owing mainly to its very weird cop out ending of “and then everyone forgot it ever happened.” 

Part of the event was that Joker re-imagined a ton of Earth’s heroes while also building his own JLA and the head of it was Bizarro.  The cover is meant as a reflection of that and a nice reference to Joker’s playing card aesthetic overall.  I really like the idea of Bizarro and Superman as two sides of the same coin as it gets to an often overlooked tragedy in the characters.  Superman is so often alone in the universe and Bizarro is the one entity that should be like a brother to him, but only ever ends up at best a dangerous nuisance and at worst a violent menace. 

12.

Fun fact: it’s not immediately obvious from the cover but the story this is part of is actually a direct sequel to Emperor Joker, in which the Joker gains the power of the god-like Batman supporting character Batmite.  They’re written by the same author, Jeph Loeb, who’s one of those weirdly hit or miss authors who tends to make a lot of lasting characters but not necessarily lasting stories.  He’s the guy who came up with Hush and Red Hulk but his only really lasting story is Long Halloween, one of the quintessential “early years of Batman” comics that’ve come to dominate far too much of the Batman pantheon. 

As for this cover, it made it on the list for the presence of Batzarro, a character Loeb didn’t exactly make-up but did reintegrate into continuity.  A lot of Loeb’s Bizarro work is drawn explicitly from the Silver Age, in that he’s the guy who decided modern Bizarro should speak in backwards talk and do the opposite, as evidenced by this cover here.  As much as I like to talk about the horror elements of Bizarro’s identity and iconography there’s just as much comedy baked into the character’s core concept and this cover’s a great example of that.  I really like how incredibly happy Bizarro and Batzarro are to be hanging out together and doing just…whatever.  This is definitely a less threatening and cuddlier vision of Bizarro but still a pretty fun one. 

11.

Speaking of cuddlier Bizarros, this is easily the friendliest version of the character ever conceived.  This Bizarro mini-series was part of the very shortlived DC branding initiative known as DC You, an attempt to get away from the failed stigma of the New 52.  DC You didn’t really stick the way DC seems to have hoped it would as they’re already scuttling it in favor of this summer’s DC Rebirth initiative.  All that aside, this Bizarro series wasn’t terribly great, even as an all-ages comedy adventure kids book it ends up ranking bellow a lot of BOOM Studios Adventure Time comics or Dark Horse’s Little Hellboy books.  This cover, on the other hand, is awesome.

Like I said, Bizarro is a pretty multi-facetted character who lends himself well to a ton of elements and tones and exploring his comedy side here is a smart move for a kids’ comic.  After all, Bizarro as a character is most similar to the Hulk in that he says goofy things and smashes stuff and that’s something kids really respond to.  I really like the cartoony redesign of Bizarro here with the massive, Popeye-esc forearms and giant chin.  Also the idea of Bizarro veering around a page before popping off screen is just too perfect.

10.

Bet you didn’t think you’d see any Matt Groening artwork on this list but yep, that’s him, creator of The Simpsons.  The comic this comes from is a weird graphic novel collection of short bizarre parodies of DC characters bookended by a story about Bizarro and Mr. Myxztplk teaming up to fight an inter-dimensional gamesman named A.  Like I said, it’s a weird concept and I honestly don’t know what the thinking was in terms of why this series was created but it’s honestly pretty funny and a nice read if you’re ever interested. 

As for the cover, it’s weird seeing all these DC characters filtered through Groening’s uniquely cartoony style but not totally out of left field.  These kind of smooth, strong lines are a staple in comic characters and Groening’s exaggerated physical features aren’t terribly removed from the over muscled heroes of the DCU.  My favorite part though really has to be the concept of Bizarro’s cube bubble pipe and the idea that he’s somehow able to blow cube shaped bubbles to trap everyone.  Cubes have become a defining element of Bizarro’s iconography like his craggily design or name tag so they’re always nice to bust out and this is easily the best use of them. 

9.

Now we’re getting into the actual Silver Age adventures of Bizarro itself and if you thought the previous covers were weird you haven’t seen anything yet.  During this period of time, Bizarro had a whole planet of fellow backwards Bizarros just like him and Superman would periodically have adventures on this Bizarro world, which was itself a cube planet.  This is the era when Bizarro started wearing his big “Bizarro No. 1” nametag, so as to differentiate himself from the other Bizarros on Bizarro world.  There was some other craziness too but we’ll get to that in due course.

As for this cover, the idea of a Bizarro baby is decidedly creepy and disturbing, like a zombie baby in its own way.  Plus, the idea that a normal baby would slowly transform into a Bizarro is even freakier, like a horror movie.  What I really like though is Superman’s appearance on this cover.  I mentioned that he’d periodically visit Bizarro World to make sure things were alright there but why is he stalking Bizarro’s family from behind a big rock in this cover?  What, exactly, is Superman’s endgame in this situation other than creepily watching sad couples as they complain loudly that their child is ugly.

8.

In case you didn’t know, 80 Page Giants were extra-large sized issues DC would put out from time to time in the Silver Age full of several pre-existing stories repackaged into a single comic.  That’s the case with this Tales of Bizarro World comic.  All the stories at hand had already been told in other comics, they were just being put together here so DC could resell them as a single compilation.  Thus I get to include 5 great moments of Bizarro crazy weirdness instead of just 1 so it’s really economical for me. 

My favorite of these 4 has to be Bizarro’s “Secret Identity,” which is the most spot on parody of Clark Kent’s glasses disguise I’ve ever seen.  The Bizarros meets Frankenstein visual is honestly pretty on the nose given how much of this character was borrowed from Frankenstein but given the actual story is about an actor not the real Frankenstein monster I’ll let it slide.  The Krypto cover is also pretty hilarious, especially Bizarro’s dopey and vacant face back in the doghouse.  

Actually if you look closely it’s spelled “Dawg” in this context, so maybe Bizarro was just ahead of the curve.  Also, holy shit Lois’ Bizarro daughter is trying to smasher her kneecaps with a hammer; that’s terrible!  In case you were wondering, she doesn’t have invulnerability or anything like that so I have no idea how she wasn’t badly injured by that bit of Bizarro shenanigans. 

7.

I honestly have no idea where this cover comes from.  I think it might be tied to the series of Who’s Who? pages DC published in the ‘80s in the wake of their first reboot but the visual design of Bizarro is way too rooted in the Silver Age for that to be the case.  Whereever it’s from it’s great by every metric.  

This is one of the most metaphorical Bizarro covers we’ve seen, or at least I assume it is, there’s every possibility this is a comic about Bizarro putting on an elaborate marionette show for his Bizarro friends and family.  Personally, I’d like to think this is a comic about Bizarro gaining god-like control of all of reality, hence the “Bizarro World” title, punctuated with a little cube world instead of an O, nice touch. 

Despite the comedy overtones of this cover there is an edge to the image, a kind of creepy background horror that infects a lot of black humor.  In this case it’s the implication that the entirety of life is being run by a psychotic backwards creature that could just as easily snap your spine as try to hug you.  That’s honestly what’s so creepy about the idea of Bizarro, how obtuse he is to the harm he causes.  Occasionally authors will infuse the character with a greater degree of menace but most of the time he’s like Lenny from Of Mice and Men only with the power to bench press a continent. 

6.

The only non-Superman Bizarro cover to make it on this list but the visual construction of this cover was just too great to leave off the list.  The idea of Bizarro Supergirl isn’t exactly a new concept but it’s only come up in recent versions of the comic, specifically this issue.  

This is from the mid-2000s Supergirl series that, while not a favorite, did give us a handful of pretty great covers and this is a good example of that, mainly thanks to the cheeky blend of metaphor and literal cover design.  In case it isn’t clear, the idea of this cover is that Bizarro Supergirl has burst out of a building and shattered the mirrored glass of its side.  So what we’re seeing is Supergirl reflected against the remaining glass and cutting over Bizarro Supergirl’s image. 

It’s an on the nose visual, sure, but Bizarro stories are rarely subtle and this is superheroes, a degree of on the nose blatantness is acceptable.  This cover really works as an embodiment of the best ideas of this comic series.  The book was all about Kara’s quest for defining her own identity (which ultimately boiled down to multiple secret origins, none of which were very interesting) so being confronted with a twisted and inverted vision of herself is a great externalization of that struggle.

5.

Another cover from Geoff Johns Escape From Bizarro World, this one featuring the Bizarro JLA.  The Bizarro league is a very weird element of the Bizarro mythos that I’ll probably cover in greater detail down the line.  The main concern tends to be authors not being certain how they should implement the league’s backwards nature IE if that should make them a threatening force to behold or a ridiculous joke to be tipped over by the gentlest of breezes.  This version blends the two extremes fairly well I’d say.  

A lot of that has to do, again, with the iconography at hand.  Folks like Batzarro and Yellow Lantern are looking pretty dopey and comical in this cover, meanwhile Bizarro Flash and Bizarro Wonder Woman are these disgusting, twisted, malformed creatures lurching towards the reader.  They’re much more oriented towards Bizarro body horror than anything else, though not quite to the degree as the Bizarro’s in Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman, though that’s a story for another day.  Finally, you’ve got the kind of brutal anger and fury on Bizarro himself and Bizarro Hawkgirl in the background.  It all adds up to a nice cross section of the many tones Bizarro can take. 

4.

Fun fact: Bizarro first appeared in a Superboy adventure.  I’m not sure why or how that thinking came together but for a while there, Bizarro adventures were relegated the stories of the boy of steel.  Superboy is a story for a different day but this cover marks the first ever appearance of Bizarro world as well as the first indication of Bizarro working off of reverse thinking.  

You’ve got the cube ball, the backwards held bat, Superboy losing by winning, and even an upside down flag in the background.  My favorite part of this image has to be the shocking number of Bizarro Superman clones populating the field; seriously they’re the entire baseball team.  Also, I’d note that if Superboy somehow knew everything was the opposite on Bizarro world he probably should’ve known not to hit a home run. 

This cover’s a prime example of Silver Age tropes in their prime while avoiding a lot of the trickery that tends to punctuate these old covers.  Unlike the covers were Superman murders peoples or reveals his identity this cover doesn’t need outlandish lies and misdirection to sell its story, it gets by on shock and awe alone.  That’s the glory of Bizarro in the Silver Age; he really was that weird. 

3.

Oh my god look at that clock in the background, not only is it a heptagon, none of the sides are even.  In fact, there are almost know evenly crafted shapes here, look at the diamonds on the jury bench: they’re all oblong and non-uniform.  Other fun fact about the clock; none of the numbers are in the right order and the hands are both bent and broken.  That is a shocking amount of detail for a comic from this early in the Silver Age. 

Fun background details aside, this is just a fantastic image.  Like the Superboy cover part of the greatness here is the collection of identical Bizarro Supermen and Bizarro Lois Lanes that make-up the jury, but a bigger detail is the special alignment of the cover.  

Unlike the Superboy image, which was fun but kind of cluttered, this cover is so perfectly divided into three aspects between the title, the jury, and the accused it’s downright beautiful.  It’s so crisp and clear and memorable, one of those Silver Age covers that just sticks with you in a kind of instant recognizability.  I guarantee if you remember any cover from this list it’ll be this one.  

2.

Fun fact: Jimmy Olsen has his own comic for the longest time.  So did Lois Lane at the time actually, it was all part of an attempt by DC to increase the footprint of their Superman brand as the Silver Age proved more profitable for superhero stories.  Actually, a lot of Jimmy Olsen’s adventures became huge parts of Superman canon and DC universe continuity overall as it’s where Jack Kirby first experimented with the idea of the New Gods, but that’s a story for another day.  

The other common theme of the Jimmy Olsen comics was pretty much a common theme of all comics at the time: crazy transformations.  Seriously, they turned Jimmy into a werewolf, a porcupine man, a genie, an elastic superhero, a super intelligent being, and, unsurprisingly, a Bizarro.

This is actually one of the few instances where a character has been transformed into a Bizarro rather than a Bizarro being created as a separate entity from the character.  It’s a creepy idea that didn’t translate to even the barest bit of menace in this amazing and delightful cover.  Like a lot of the truly great Silver Age covers, a big part of this cover’s appeal is the alignment of the key elements and how well it divides the cover into three segments.  

Actually, the cover is trisected in both horizontal and vertical directions as you’ve got Jimmy, Perry, and Superman working as 3 color bars along the middle and the characters, table, and title splitting the cover vertically.  If there was one thing great Silver Age covers understood it was the art of spacing and covers like this are a great testament to that. 

1.

Yep, the best Bizarro cover is his very first appearance but I mean just look at this thing, it’s incredible.  The cover is drawing primarily from Bizarro’s horror roots and is, as I mentioned, heavily inspired by the Universal Frankenstein films.  That visual of the angry mob and the deformed monster framed upon a rock is classic Universal in terms of horror iconography.  

However, the true genius of the cover comes from borrowing more from Bride of Frankenstein.  In that film, the monster is framed as a tragic figure, forever isolated from a world his own hideous nature prevents him from functionally interacting with and eventually choosing to destroy himself and his bride because “we belong dead.”  It’s a heavy ending and speaks to a greater level of depth and tragedy than the monster was ever afforded in later sequels.

That same tragedy extends to Bizarro but is the hardest flavor of Bizarro story to do but this cover knocks it out of the park and it really comes down to that speech balloon.  Yes, the actual dialogue is stilted and dated but the sentiment is a perfect example of what makes Bizarro so tragic.  

Remember, he’s a duplicate of Superboy and that does extend to his moral compass in this iteration.  In this version, Bizarro genuinely wanted to do good, to be a hero, but his freakish nature and his own fractured mind kept him from ever truly achieving that.  It’s like a Greek tragedy, the same powers granting him the chance at heroism also cursing him to never achieve it.  This cover is that subtext made flesh and it is easily the best Bizarro cover. 

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