Book Description
What goes on in the head of Dan Piraro-stand-up comedian, fine artist, animal rights activist, and creator of the award-winning syndicated comic strip Bizarro? This wildly inventive compendium of cartoons, never-before-seen sketches, photographs, and paintings-along with Piraro's own hilarious and thought-provoking insights into his life and the world at large-takes readers inside the mind of the mad genius with a nationwide following. Much more than just a collection of cartoons, this is the first comprehensive book incorporating all of Piraro's work in a variety of media, interwoven with autobiographical passages that shed light on the evolution of the artist's left-leaning worldview. It's a must-have for Bizarro fans and a terrific introduction for the uninitiated.
Customer Reviews:
Great illustrations, great humor, great message -- great fun.......2007-08-21
Pop quiz: Name an artist whose wildly popular daily cartoon frequently promotes veganism - and who is not Dan Piraro. Stumped? Well, there really isn't anyone else. Indeed, Piraro has that niche pretty much covered and is regarded as the veg community's most-recognized comic voice. His print cartoon, "Bizarro," which began two decades ago, is syndicated in more than 200 newspapers and routinely takes on topics ranging from animal rights and religion to gay rights and politics. The surreal cartoon has spawned a number of equally surreal book-length collections, the latest of which is "Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro."
But this new volume is no mere anthology of "Bizarro" cartoons. Accompanying the pages of comics, paintings, sketches and personal photographs is an extended autobiographical essay that is at turns hilarious and a compelling indictment of agribusiness. The author-artist never misses an opportunity to promote the cruelty-free lifestyle (mentioning, for example, that he won't buy paint brushes made from animal hair), and the book chronicles Piraro's transformation from, as he puts it, "a creative misfit class clown in Oklahoma to a passionate animal-rights advocate in New York City."
As an outspoken vegan activist, Piraro proves himself to be articulate, well-informed and clever. He writes: "Some argue that while we started as vegetarians, we have `evolved' to eat meat. Biologically speaking, we haven't changed at all in this regard. You might as well say we've evolved to smoke tobacco. We've been doing it for centuries and we enjoy it, but we haven't developed a natural need for it, or a defense against its ill effects." You can bet I'll be keeping that analogy handy.
Among the biggest treats in Piraro's revolutionary cartoons are the richly detailed backgrounds and extra jokes for those with the time (and eyesight) to look closely. Regular "Bizarro" readers know that Piraro hides symbols in his cartoons, such as spaceships, sticks of dynamite and pieces of pie. While he purports to explain these objects on his website, bizarro.com, he includes them simply for fun. More serious are the animal-rights messages punctuating his comics. A typical cartoon reproduced in Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations depicts several men at a bar; one guy has a "no veal" button on his jacket while another sports a "Farm Sanctuary" tattoo. Yet another cartoon shows two characters (actually Piraro and his wife Ashley) walking past a vegan café. Perhaps best of all, the themes in these particular cartoons aren't even animal rights, making the premise of compassionate living all the more mainstream.
Even if you're not a fan of comics or Piraro's work, this oversized paperback will look great on your coffee table (even if you don't like coffee - or tables, for that matter). Who knows how many houseguests, unaware of the inhumane practices involved in factory farming, will peruse this colorful, hip-looking book, get to laughing and then realize the deeper truths within its pages? Piraro could be contributing these books for some time. He writes: "People in my family tend to live well past life expectancy, no matter how badly they abuse their bodies, so I figure with regular exercise and my vegan diet, I should live well into the next century." Let's hope so.
Mark Hawthorne, author of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism
Could not put it down!.......2007-01-04
Dan Piraro's new book is so funny I could not stop reading it. I took it to work with me to read during breaks, but found myself sneaking a read or two whenever I could! Still, I did not realize how hooked I was until I found myself staying up until 3:00 am to finish it.
This book is great because Piraro does more than just gather a bunch of comics together. Instead, he tells his life story and then gives examples of comics from each stage of his life. Not only is his writing hilarious, but the added dimension of seeing how his simple, one-pannel gags spring directly from his life was a behind the scenes look at how creativity happens.
A great read. Literally, laugh out loud funny!
What kind of person creates this much visual sense....?.......2007-01-04
I stumbled on Bizaro years ago, and never followed it closely. I picked up this book on a whim at the book store.
It is a well-written summary of Dan Piraro's life (so far) his values and how they have changed, and the things he has done besides being a wise artist/businessman. It is all punctuated with outstanding cartoons and narative about them.
After reading this, I felt I knew the person behind the humor, and was better for it. Time Very well spent.
40 years ago I bumped into Bill Mauldin's "Up Front" on my father's book shelf and got my first glimpse into the life of a cartoonist. I got the same great insight reading Piraro's book.
bizarro bonanza.......2006-04-17
i just picked this up on a recent trip to NYC, being a long-time fan of dan's work. the comics themselves are always amazing, some of them made me burst out laughing on my bus ride home, garnering stares from my fellow passengers. the commentary that goes with the comics is what really makes this book special. by the end i felt like i really know dan and have a sense of what makes his work stand out in the comic world. he also has a great way of conveying the urgency of his politics and views on animal rights in a simple way that is easy for people to understand. dan is a man who has a talent for changing the world for the better with humour, and god knows we can use that these days. the book is highly recommended.
Awesome!!!!!!!!!.......2006-04-03
Wow! What a comprehensive book! Colorful and insightful, it covers everything about the MULTI-talented Dan Piraro. Great cartoons, cool early sketches, awesome fine art, old photos (Dan with afro is my favorite), even pumpkin carvings! Everything you can imagine in a beautifully designed book! Buy now!
Book Description
Dan Piraro lives in a warped and twisted world, and he enables the rest of us to see that we all live there with him. Wherever he gets his weird inspiration, Piraro's single panel comic, Bizarro, has captured worldwide attention. Fans say they identify with the cartoonist's surreal take on everything from passive-aggressive crime to hair transplants to the modern job interview. Syndicated since 1995, Piraro was honored by the National Cartoonists Society with a 1999 Reuben, cartooning's highest accolade. This Sunday Treasury collect the best of Bizarro in a book that will keep fans panting for more!
Customer Reviews:
Fan After The Fact.......2003-11-18
i interviewed dan piraro when this book came out. later i became a fan.
cool book......cool dude.
it makes me go laugh laugh.
it makes me eat more cereal. wear less hairspray.
jack e. jett
the jack e. jett show
Life is Strange--But not for Dan Piraro.......2003-08-06
This book is a fabulous collection of Dan Piraro's "Bizarro" Sunday comics. Unlike other cartoonists, Piraro has the incredible ability to portray realistic ideas and situations while still maintaining a "cartoon atmosphere." His ability to create such imaginative cartoons makes him one of the most original and hilariously funny artists out there. These full-color Sunday cartoons will give you an idea of how witty and true-to-life Bizarro can be.
In addition, each cartoon includes a small caption, perhaps explaining the meaning of the joke, or how Piraro came up with the idea for a certain cartoon. These small bits of information even sometimes explain who certain characters represent and their purpose in the cartoon. Also, in the back of the book, there is an in-depth explanation of each of the hidden symbols that Piraro hides in his comics. This is a genuinely funny book and should be read by all comic lovers--Bizarro or not. Such a chance to take a ride inside Dan Piraro's head is one that should not be passed up.
What's it all about?.......2002-03-11
I think Dan Piraro is one of the few people who have a handle on what life is all about. His cartoons show an insight into our world that precious few have. This latest of his books exceeds what I expected. The comments on his thinking are an added plus that put him over the top.
I don't know how his next book can be any better, but I'm sure it will be. Why am I sure? because I saw his Bizzaro Bologna Show when it came through town, and he was even funnier than I thought was possible.
I really feel sorry for the people in the towns that don't have him in their daily newspaper!!!
Dan Piraro is a comic genius!.......2002-01-22
I've been a fan of Mr. Piraro's work for several years, and almost creamed myself when I heard he was coming out with a collection of his greatest Sunday cartoons!! "Life is Strange and So Are You" lived up to my utmost expectations, keeping me in hysterics for hours on end. My husband threatened to call poison control because he thought I must've accidentally eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms on my pizza, I was laughing so hard-but I assured him through my tears of hilarity that it was all Dan Piraro-who's just too freakin' funny!
I love his drawing style, the vibrant colors he uses, the secret symbols he sneaks in the art, and his outlandish sense of humor illustrated in every gag. The personal notes included with each cartoon give new and much-appreciated insight , sharing the author's comments and inspiration on each panel.
BUY THIS BOOK, IT WILL CRACK YOU UP!!
P.S. Thank you, Mr. Piraro, for giving of yourself, and for gracing the world with a heaping dose of laughter--exactly what we need!
Life Is Strange and So Are You.......2002-01-20
Bizarro is by far one of the best cartoons in print today. He is clever, extremely funny and obviously he is a good artist. This book is cleverly done with all the little extra comments on each cartoon. They give a small insite into the mind of this cartoonist. It is truly a Sunday Treasury.
Customer Reviews:
Stream of conciousness at it's best!.......2000-08-07
The reason I chose that title is because Dan Piraro seems to think of simple everyday things and then let loose his imagination to create these amazing comics. Just like The Far Side and Steven Wright, there are things in his books that will make you think "why didn't I think of that?" Of course, there are also some that will make you scratch your head. All the while, you will be looking at some of the greatest comic art ever shown in a newspaper. This guy has a gift and you owe it to yourself to check out the often weird, often hilarious world created by the brain of Dan Piraro. I'm glad I did!
The Best of Bizarro is awesome.......2000-06-18
Well, this is a great collection. The artwork is great, but it's the clever conceptions that make these cartoons so funny. There are no stock characters or favorite themes, every panel is original and fresh. Highly recommended.
Book Description
Where else could the world's greatest alternative cartoonists run rampant through the DC Universe in an all-new anthology of utterly unhinged stories and art? It could only happen in the BIZARRO WORLD! This 200-page volume features work by many of the fantastic creators who worked on the BIZARRO COMICS book (and made it an award-winner)!
Customer Reviews:
This book am so funny me cried........2005-03-17
This is the sequel to the Bizarro Comics anthology from a few years ago. Like that book, this one features "alternative comics" types doing their versions of DC superhero comics. There are some great comics here, and also some not-so-great comics. But almost all of the comics are at least interesting. One thing I have to say is that you really need to be a fan of DC comics in order to understand the references in many of these stories. I don't think someone who is not into superheroes will get very much out of this book. But for those of us who do like superheroes, it's a lot of fun.
This book rocks!.......2005-03-16
Man, I am glad I picked this one up! I bought the first Bizarro book in softback format, and so I figured I'd order this one when it came out, and it is every bit as good as the first one IF NOT BETTER!
It's really well produced book, nice thick pages and good color.
As far as stories and art goes, DC again paired up underground/alternative cartoonists with each otther (one writing and one drawing) to hilarious and/or strange outcomes. But it works, though!
I think the best story in the book is either Batman & Monkey by M. Wartella, or Tony Millionaire's Batman. I guess it looks like I'm biased towards Batman, but I'm not. I like Wonder Woman best of all. But back to Bizarro World... other notable sections of the book were drawn by James Kochalka, Jason Paulus, Bagge/Hernandez, Rick Altergott, and Evin Dorkin.
Some things I DIDN't like about this book: The cover pales in comparison to Groening's on Vol.1. and some of the art is actually piss-poor (notably Kyle Baker, Brian Ralph, Michael Kupperman, and Scott Morse), looking like the artists spent, like, one hungover morning working on the art and just rushed it in.
Actually, there are a few other good stories
worth mentioning by Hunt Emerson, Ellen Forney, Tim Laine, & Danny Hellman. And how can I not mention excellents scripts by Peter Bagge, Harvey Pekar, Evan Dorkin (+++),uh... and others I can't seem to locate write now.
Oh, one other thing. Notably absent are these people who appeared in the first anthology and for some reason (idiocy?) were not in this vol.2: Stephen DeStephano, Bill Wray, Ariel Bordeaux, and, as I mentioned earlier, Matt Groening!
OK, so that's enough of my yappin'. BUY THIS NOOK!
Less than the first but still great.......2005-02-20
Bizarro World had a lot to live up to following in the footsteps of the award winning Bizarro released several years ago and well... it fell short. The new Bizarro book is excellent but just not as memorable as the original. The Bizarro books (can it now be called a series?) use popular alternative cartoonists to create short stories featuring characters from the DC universe from icons like Superman to obscure characters like Kamandi.
Here are some of my favorite stories from Bizarro World.
In "The Wonder of it All" a high school aged Wonder Woman learns that using her new Golden Lasso to force her friends to give their honest opinions about her nets her more information than she wanted.
The Spectre/Jim Corrigan unleashes his ghostly vengeance on his fellow officers at the police station for such minor infractions as hogging the copy machine. It's actually pretty funny.
Green Lantern has a revelation about his weakness to the color yellow in "It's not Easy Being Green". The story seems like a homage to the old EC Mad magazine comics.
In "The Power of Positive Batman" Bruce Wayne finally resolves his issues with the murder of his parents and decides to retire and sail around the world. Clark Kent decides to join him and the two sail off.
Aquaman decides to attend open mic night and sing a song about his relationship with Mera. Like a lot of the stories this one is just sort of a slice of life tale showing the private lives of superheroes.
Tony Millionaire returns with another strange Batman story. His art has a very old gothic style to it as if the story were something dug up from the 40's rather than a brand new tale.
In "Personal Shopper", Alfred is out describing, to a mechanic, the specifications for a car he wants to purchase. You know, bulletproof, 200 MPH, space for rocket launchers, huge bat like fins on the rear. Wonder who that might be for?
There are also some clunkers in the batch. Lantern Sentai in particular seemed pointless besides showing the Lantern Corps as Manga. In "Jing Kal-El" the Superman origin is rewritten with Kal landing at the North Pole and taking on the mantle of Santa Claus. I just couldn't figure out why. Some of the stories just stopped as if they're meant to be continued in another edition of Bizarro. "Bizarro Schmizarro", for instance has Luthor change Bizarro no. 1024 into a normal looking Superman (save for the Question mark on his chest) and then the story stops with a promise of more to come.
Bizarro World is sometimes great and sometimes not so great. It's less than the original book but I still recommend it. The Bizarro series has a long way to fall before it can be considered average.
Better than the first!!!! Me am like!!!.......2005-02-12
This second collection of stories (the first being Bizarro Comics) again turns DCs icons over to some of today's best alternate cartoonists and is a very enjoyable romp through the DC Universe. Take underground comics, your favoite DC comics, old Mad Magazines and your favorite strips from your local alternate newspaper, blend and this is what you get.
The framing sequence with Bizarro was more enjoyable to me than in the first one and seemed to blend in better with the rest of the volume.
The book seemed a little heavy on Batman stories, but don't worry there are a broad range of characters that get the "Bizarro treatment". The tales ranged from homage, to parody, to satire to dope dreams to slice of life pieces that would almost (heavy on that word) be welcome in a regular DC comic or annual.
Particular standouts were:
Tony Millionaire taking on Batman again in a story that evokes a 1930's Batman feel.
A Legion of Super-Heroes tale where a corporation driven Brainiac Five drives the Legion to rebellion. The story and art makes you think Kurt Swan and Shooter could have drawn and written this on some crazy rainy night.
Evan Dorkins and John Krewson turn Kamandi into a slacker who'd rather veg out than help talking tigers, and lions and apes (oh my!).
This volume was fun. The hits far outweighed the misses. If you did not like one story don't worry the next one will be along soon.
Well worth it.
Average customer rating:
- Superman: Tales of the Bizarro World
- Un-sane
- Ready to Start Climbing Mt. Everest, Lads?
- Me hate this, make me so mad.
- Pure, delightful sillyness
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Superman: Tales of the Bizarro World
Jerry Siegel
Manufacturer: DC Comics
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ASIN: 1563896249 |
Amazon.com
Me hate Bizarro Superman. Him worst idea DC comics ever have. Him stupid! Talk funny! Him live by Bizarro code:
- Us do opposite of all Earthly things!
- Us hate beauty!
- Us love ugliness!
- Is big crime to make anything perfect on BIZARRO WORLD!
Superman am strong, handsome, and morally spotless--boring! But Bizarro Superman am ugly, stupid, and unethical. Him wonderful! Me hate him!
From his very first appearance in the 1950s Superman newspaper strip to the episode of Seinfeld devoted to him, Bizarro has flown (backwards and upside down) into comic fans' hearts. Tales of the Bizarro World is a purist's delight, collecting 15 full-length stories of Bizarro and friends (Bizarro Lois, Stuporwoman, Bizarro Krypto, and hordes of copies of Bizarro Number 1). It's full of great episodes like "Bizarro's Secret Identity" (he's a reporter at the Daily Htrae--"Earth" spelled backwards) and "Bizarro Goes Sane!"
What's most pleasing, and most irritating, about the whole Bizarro thing is that sometimes Bizarro World is opposite Earth, and sometimes it's just... well, bizarre. Writer Jerry Siegel and artists John Fort, Wayne Boring, and Curt Swan were clearly having fun when they created Bizarro, and fans can't get enough of the weirdest guy ever to wear a red cape.
Don't buy Tales of the Bizarro World! It stupid comic. It not make you laugh! --Bizarro Therese Littleton
Customer Reviews:
Superman: Tales of the Bizarro World.......2006-06-25
I always enjoyed reading the Bizarro Tales when I was a kid. They were funny to read, because they did everything backwards on their planet. If you are a Superman fan, I think you will enjoy these stories which are a part of the Superman universe.
Un-sane.......2005-11-09
SUPERMAN: TALES OF THE BIZARRO WORLD is a collection of stories that ran as backup features in Adventure Comics #285 - 299 (1961 - 1962). They follow the adventures of Bizarro #1 and his family on the cube-shaped planet Bizarro World (Htrae), which is populated by imperfect duplicates of Superman, Lois Lane, and other familiar supporting characters from the Superman titles. Xaime Hernandez supplies a cover that is an excellent tribute to Action Comics #1.
Fittingly, the humorous introduction to this collection is written by none other than David Mandel, the writer of the "Bizarro Jerry" episode of Seinfeld. What follows is 185 pages of weirdness, courtesy of regular writer Jerry Siegel and artists John Forte, Wayne Boring, and Curt Swan. Of course, we're all familiar with the Bizarro grammar, which throws standard rules out the window. In addition, teeth are brushed with shoe polish, flowers are pulled from weed gardens, alarm clocks signal the time to go to bed, cars have square wheels, and best of all: everyone knows that Bizarro #1 is really Bizarro Clark Kent. The stories are absolute chaos, with plots frequently shifting directions and concluding nowhere near the initial premise. But remember, this is the Bizarro World, so no complaints here! Also, they are quite funny - there are some priceless bits of dialogue, and for some reason, the fact that Bizarro Perry White smokes exploding cigars makes me laugh every time I think of it. John Forte is the primary artist for these stories, and his depiction of life on Htrae captures the oddball mood of Siegel's stories perfectly, with bent skyscrapers, multiple planets in the afternoon sky, and colors that would make any visitor from Earth vomit.
If there's any complaint I have for these stories, it's that Siegel sometimes overdoes it in reminding us that Bizarro culture is so different from ours. For example, while a Bizarro will indeed drive its car through an intersection on a red light, I don't need to be told that, on Earth, we stop at a red light, in order for the gag to work. The stories would work more smoothly if Siegel had just left the interpretation to us. But that's a small complaint - I spent more time laughing at the stories than nitpicking. Cheers to DC for a well-deserved reprint!
Ready to Start Climbing Mt. Everest, Lads?.......2004-09-05
This is subversive, dangerous, anarchic, wonderful, gut-wrenchingly funny stuff. These comics first appeared in Adventure Comics in the early 60s. They're more on-target now than they were then. (It probably seemed silly in 1963 when a dieting Bizarro-Lois ordered a steak.)
See Bizarro become a trial lawyer, direct a horror film, and dress up as President Kennedy for Halloween. There's not a clunker in this book. Don't miss it.
Me hate this, make me so mad........2003-03-21
This book am so awful. Sometime me read and feel very mad at universe. Me read to me 4 year old son. Most comics am not violent enough for he. This am 'cause made long time ago when comics having more blood. Now we talk bizarro all over house. Make us sad sad sad.
Pure, delightful sillyness.......2002-09-04
You know, as much as I appreciate the plethora of "Bizarro" reviews for this book, I feel there should be at least ONE straight review for people who aren't in on the joke. So in case you don't quite get it -- Bizarro is Superman's imperfect duplicate. Everything he does is the opposite of Superman. That's pretty much the gist of it.
This book collects the "Tales From Bizarro World" series from the old Adventure Comics title -- stories about a whole planet of Bizarros, including Bizarro-Lois Lane, Bizarro-Jimmy Olsen, Bizarro-Lex Luthor, Bizarro-Supergirl and even Bizarro-Krypto the Superdog.
Amazingly, these stories were written by Superman creator Jerry Siegel himself. They're pretty simple, pretty light, and some of them make absolutely no sense even in BIZARRO logic. It's fluff, but it's enjoyable fluff. It's pure, beautiful Silver Age wackiness, and it's well worth the read for any fan of Superman or goofy comic books in general. Pick it up.
Customer Reviews:
I got mine autographed by Kyle Baker!.......2004-08-21
This book features DC comics characters in stories by alternative cartoonists. The stories are not part of the regular DC continuity, so the artists are allowed to do pretty much whatever they want with them. This is not just a series of short stories, though. The book has a framing story where 5th Dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk has to defend his dimension by playing a series of games with a creature called "A". After he gets himself disqualified, Mxyzptlk is forced to find a "champion" to play on his behalf, and he accidentally picks Superman's imperfect duplicate, Bizarro. Mxyzptlk tries to teach Bizarro how to be a hero by showing him a bunch of comic books. So, Bizarro draws his own comics, which are really the ones created by the aformentioned alternative cartoonists. As for the comics themselves, well, they are different, that's for sure. Some are funny, some are serious and some are just plain weird. The most notorious story here is "Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter", By Kyle Baker. It was originally supposed to be in a comic called "Elseworlds 80-Page Giant", but that comic was recalled and destroyed because some people at DC got cold feet over the comic's contents. (I don't want to give away what happens, but the story involves baby Superman having things happen to him that would kill an ordinary baby). This is a fun book that features interesting interpretations of super-heroes.
Coool idea.......2004-07-27
I liked this book, which, as other reviewers have said, features indy talent doing mainstream comics. I liked the framing story, which has Mr. Mxyzptlk, mischievious imp from the 5th dimension, waking up to find himself declared president of his home dimension. Unfortunately, the great dimension conquering gamesmaster A invades and challenges Mxy to a duel. After disqualifying himself, Mxy is allowed to picked a champion to represent himself from a catralogue which has every single version of every single superhero. Figuring that Superman does such a good job kicking him out of his dimension, Mxy selects him. But after the real Superman blows him off, Mxy accidently selects Bizarro, Superman's weird, backwards (and possibly insane) clone. Given 30 minutes to train him, Mxy exasperatedly gives Bizzaro a bunch of comics to read. But this makes the mixed-up Bizzaro to decide to defeat A by drawing comics...
And this is the result. Many of the short vignettes are quite good, Some are funny ( the Metal Men one, the Solomon Grundy gets bored one, the Superpets, the green lantern boot camp, the Aquaman in the bath tub, etc.), some are poignant (Supergirl and Mary marvel, the Bat cave, the sidekicks, etc.), and some are just cool. There a re very few stinkers here (the only one I can think of is the pointless Hawkman story. My only problem is that a lot of the stories are too short ( one or two pages) and that several writers or artists are iinvoloed in a huge amount of the stories, while others are barely there at all. Overall, a good book, and I'd read something like this again (sequel, anyone?)
Pretty Amusing........2003-04-06
The variety of storytelling styles by the dozens of creators who worked on this book almost guarantees that no reader will like every single story (or, conversely, hate every one). The types of humor vary widely also: there's MAD- and PowerPuff Girl-style parodies, Ren-and-Stimpy-type weirdness, also some outright slapstick. The Kyle Baker story reads exactly like a Chuck Jones cartoon. One of the Aquaman sketches reads like Spy-Vs-Spy. A few, like the Eddie Campbell story, manage to be extremely bizarre without being particularly funny.
The stories are all 10 pages or less with the exception of the two-part 75-page framing tale involving Mxyzptlk (which is entertaining although not quite as funny as the best of the shorter works). The creators are generally people who have worked on Vertigo and "indy" comics.
Me am disappointed, Greg........2001-12-03
Bizarro Comics presents a mixed bag of stories featuring DC's most famous characters, as portrayed by a stellar array of alternative comic's best Writers & Artists. Unfortunately, most of the stories aren't up to snuff.
The good first: Artist Stephan DeStephano's Bizarro is soooo freakin' weird, I just couldn't stop chuckling every time he appeared. And he appeared a LOT, but more on that later. Writer Chris Duffy gives Bizarro such a freaky speech pattern that the laugh quotient is high, at least in the framing story....As for the shorter stories, Wonder Girl Vs. Wonder Tot was adorable, The Silence of the Fishes and The Man Who Cried Fish (Both starring Aquaman) were hilarious, the Batcave story was touching, and the Sidekicks trying to start their own Super-Team was weird and wild. The coloring and production values in all of the stories were GREAT, and DC really serves up a georgeous package at a reasonable price. There's a lotta bang for your buck...
Now the bad: Some of the stories were just plain stupid (The Wonder Woman goes shopping story), and others were amateurish (Hawkman saving a kidnapped egg...), and the framing story, while funny and enjoyable, is WAAAYYYY TOOO LOOOONGGG!!! It's over 80 pages by itself. Why?? And why is Matt Groening taking credit for the cover that was clearly drawn by Bill Morrison?
Overall, it's a beautiful book, with a few very good stories, and I'll recommend it for those reasons.
Mostly junk, with a few *teriffic* stories.......2001-10-16
Someone had a great idea with this book, but it was ruined by the legal dept. and higher-ups. First issue is the cover. It was supposed to be by Daniel Clowes (who is actually a talented artist) but was rejected because it was too deconstructive of DC's heroes. (You can find the black & white version on the web, just run a search.) And on into the book, which has an embarrasingly contrived "wrap-around" story that is filled with obscure DCU references and was done by half-a-dozen different "creators" -- essentially, it's mainstream. Some of the stories are good, but they could have been a lot better if the authors (talented cartoonists themselves) could have illustrated their own stories. Essentially, no one working on DC's major characters can write and draw his own story unless he has incorporated himself, because of character ownership and other legal issues. Another nail in this collection's coffin right there. All but one of the stories is in color (another nail) and much of it was colored by in-house DC colorists (another nail).
HOWEVER, there are two or three stories in here that are definitely worth reading. Better make that two. I'm talking about HAWKMAN by James Kochalka/Dylan Horrocks (art, letters, color by D.H.) that is wonderful with a wonderfulness I can't begin to explain -- just READ it, it's so heart-warming and funny and beautiful and i don't know what else. And then there's BATMAN by some writer and TONY MILLIONARE who draws the "classic batman style" in glorious *black and white* (actually black and sickly green) and it's wonderful.
There are some other nice stories in here, but those two are the only ones that really hang together and work well (and have ONE artist).
Anyway, this book will probably blow away people who've never read a good alternative comic, but for me it's not so impressive. Do read those two stories I mentioned, though.
peace out -- yakov.
Product Description
The destined-to-be-classic tale of the Last Son of Krypton by Geoff Johns, Richard Donner and Adam Kubert continues! The explosive return of Bizarro threatens the future of Krypton's last son as Clark Kent and Lois Lane make one of the most heartbreaking decision of their lives. Plus, what does Lex Luthor have to do with all of this?
Customer Reviews:
Nice to read, but not what I and other readers would expect.......2000-06-17
The plot: Lex Luthor II is dying because of some clone deseases, and he desides to create another superman clone and put his mind on it. The clone obviously ends up a bizarro, escapes luthor and things happen. He tries to re-create his world (in an abandoned warehouse, not like in the 38's Superman), with Lois in it.
The story is nice to read, but it's most definitely not what I would have expected when I saw the title. The excuse to re-create Bizarro was stupid. Bizarro's World wasn't another misformed planet, but some sort of old warehouse. Plus, it's a 5-issues story when it could have been a lot less, they just made it bigger to sell more.
Anyway, it's not boring. I would just read something better, like "Erradication!".
Average customer rating:
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Action Comics #697 : Featuring Superman in "War of the Super Powers" (Bizarro's World - DC Comics)
Roger Stern
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000T6H0NK |
Product Description
The dynamic writing team of Geoff Johns & Richard Donner joins artist extraordinaire Eric Powell (The Goon) for Escape from Bizarro World, a 3-part story that will thrill and horrify! Bizarro returns to kidnap one of the most important people in Superman's life. But what does the twisted, ersatz Man of Steel want? The only way to find out is to travel to the enemy's home: Bizarro World!
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