Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Superman #202

Superman #202 (On Sale: October 17, 1967), AKA 80 Page Giant #G-42. features a Curt Swan and George Klein cover depicting the Tales of the Bizarro World theme.

First off we have "The Shame of the Bizarro Family" from Adventure Comics #285 by Jerry Siegel, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye. The Bizarro family celebrates the birthday of Bizarro Jr. The next day at school, the boy is humiliated in school and becomes a family disgrace when he gives the correct answers in school.

Meanwhile, Superboy and Krypto break the time barrier and come to Bizarro World. The Bizarros capture them and make a Bizarro Krypto. They then force Superboy to play a twisted baseball game to determine the fate of Krypto. Superboy frees his pet, and the two return to their own time.

Bizarro Jr. still has not improved in school. He passes a test which gets him expelled. That night he dreams about several movie monsters. The next day he is honored by everyone because unknowingly while dreaming, Bizarro Jr. carved a version of Mt. Rushmore using the faces of Dracula, the Wolf-Man, Frankenstein, and the Witch-Queen.

Next we have "Bizarro's Amazing Buddies" from Adventure Comics #289 by Jerry Siegel and John Forte. Angry that Earth TV is ruining their children’s minds, the Bizarro’s vow to smash all TV sets on the planet. Bizarro No. 1 decides to make a TV show using historical monsters as the stars. He travels back into the past searching for information about monsters. Inadvertently, he is mistaken for the Abominable Snowman, Frankenstein, and the Devil.

Finally he arrives in the prehistoric age where Titano lives. He encounters the monster and is impressed. When he returns to Bizarro World, the children believe Bizarro is lying about Titano and is really referring to King Kong.

Third up is "Bizarro's Secret Identity" from Adventure Comics #288 by Jerry Siegel and John Forte. Bored with her daily life, Bizarro Lois Lane becomes a reporter at the Daily Htrae with her husband Bizarro. She is sent to find a story at the Bizarro jail where she meets Bizarro Kltpzyxm. The friendly imp gives Bizarro Lois super powers, and she becomes Stupor-Woman.

Using her powers, Bizarro Lois quickly becomes big news, as she helps the citizens of Bizarro World. Bizarro tries to guess the secret identity of Stupor-Woman, correctly believing it to be his wife. Although, she gives him plenty of evidence, it takes a while before he has proof.

Bizarro is angered by his wife’s actions as it is against Bizarro law to accept gifts from criminals like Bizarro Kltpzyxm. However, Mr. Mxyzptlk happens to be passing by Bizarro World and causes everyone to forgot about Stupor-Woman and removing her powers.

Next is "Bizarro Meets Frankenstein" from Superman #143 by Otto Binder, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye. Bizarro travels to Earth to prove himself the scariest monster in the world. He is jealous that a new Frankenstein television show is claiming the monster to be the scariest, so Bizarro attacks the actor playing the role.

Bizarro then flies around the movie studio in an attempt to scare people. However, the people on the sets believe it is just Superman in disguise, so they laugh. Their laughter angers Bizarro, forcing the real Superman to trick his imperfect duplicate into leaving Earth by making it appear that people are scared of him.

The fifth story is "The Bizarro Invasion of Earth" from Superman #169 by Jerry Siegel and Al Plastino . Bizarro returns to Earth, bringing with him several of his Bizarro brethren. The imperfect duplicates decide to help Superman, so they fix things such as the Liberty Bell and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then, Clark Kent and Lois Lane are held-up for the Daily Planet payroll. Bizarro smashes the Daily Planet globe, causing the letters to fall and strike the crooks.

Sixth up we have "The Bizarro Perfect Crimes" from Adventure Comics #291 by Jerry Siegel, John Forte and George Klein. Bizarro Lois Lane is kidnapped by three criminal Bizarros. The criminals force Bizarro Number One to commit perfect crimes for them in exchange for the return of his wife. They fly to Earth where Bizarro leads them to a junk pile which is considered valuable treasure by the Bizarros. Unsatisfied with stealing the junk, the criminals force Bizarro to commit more crimes.

Realizing that he will forever be forced to act as a criminal to serve the kidnappers, Bizarro leaves to think. When he returns, he leads them to a planet of coal, which is considered very valuable. The crooks tell him where Bizarro Lois is held, and he returns to Earth.

Lastly we have "Bizarro Creates a Monster" from Adventure Comics #292 by Jerry Siegel, J0hn Forte and George Klein. Bizarro sets out to locate a monster for a movie. He finds a cave-man on another planet and uses the duplicator ray on it to create Sapollo, a handsome man. The citizens are frightened by Sapollo’s appearance and only an insane Bizarro Lois Lane will kiss him. A movie is made which frightens the population even more.

Sapollo is forced to flee as the Bizarros chase the handsome monster. The insane Bizarro Lois helps him get to the Bizarro Fortress where the cave-man is held captive. Bizarro Kltpzyxm merges the two into one being again, and Bizarro No. 1 releases the cave-man.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

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