Category: indoctrination

Bizarro is a fictional character that appears in publications published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Superboy #68 (1958), and was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp.

Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character has appeared in both comic books and graphic novels; and other DC Comics-related products such as animated and live-action television series; trading cards; toys and video games.

Bizarro debuted in Superboy #68 (Oct. 1958), writer Otto Binder casting the character as a Frankenstein’s monster pastiche that possessed all the powers of Superboy. Shunned for his grotesque appearance, the teen version of Bizarro only appeared in a single comic book story. An adult version, however, followed soon after: debuting in the Superman daily newspaper comic strip, featuring in Episode 105: “The Battle With Bizarro” (Strips 6147-6242 :Aug. 25, 1958 to Dec. 13, 1958). This storyline also introduced the strange speech patterns that became synonymous with the character, with all of Bizarro’s comments meaning the opposite – eg. “bad” means “good”. The newspaper version also wore a “B” on his chest, as opposed to the distinctive “S”.

Writer of the strip Alvin Schwartz stated:
“I was striving, you might say, for that mirror-image, that opposite. And out of a machine which would reveal the negative Superman, came the mirror image, – always remembering that in a mirror everything is reversed…The times were such that one-dimensional characters, your standard superheroes, even in comics, seemed rather simplistic, like paper cut-outs. What was demanded was the full dimensional personality – a figure that carried a shadow, if you like. I was certainly inspired to some degree also by C.G. Jung’s archetype of “the shadow” – and Bizarro certainly reflected that, as well.” (read more) (click title)