WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Superman #42
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Bizarro Superman’s home planet, wife, and son ‘Boyzarro’ are BACK in the DC Comics Universe. Ir’s just one of several new developments in the world of Superman comics, as the Man of Steel closes in on Issue #1000 of Action Comics. That special issue will be an anthology of some of DC’s best writers and their Superman stories - but that’s not the only comic series starring the Kryptonian. For Patrick Gleason and Peter J. Tomasi, it’s business as usual on the main Superma series. And before their own time at the helm is up, they’re bringing Bizarro, his family, and his planet all back into the new DC Rebirth continuity.
The story “Boyzarro Re-Death” sees the son of Bizarro - the Bizarro from his Bizarro planet, Htrae, not the Superman clone teamed up with Red Hood and the Outlaws - living the same life as Jonathan Kent (just… reversed). Until Superman’s son and his best friend decide to do some exploring - and threaten to dissolve the barriers keeping the Bizarro universe from his own.
As DC promises, the battle of Superman vs Bizarro “am not just beginning!”
The real victory of Superman #42 isn’t just that Tomasi and Gleason work to give Bizarro, Bizarro Lois and Boyzarro a family setting similar to the Kents’ in their own Rebirth, but the way it’s executed. In short, the pair recreate Superman #1 in shocking detail, swapping Superman out for Bizarro, and the same for his son and wife.
From Clark’s internal monologue about the strange new world facing his family in DC’s Rebirth, to rescuing a foal from the Kents’ burning barn as his son looks on in admiration. Except for Boyzarro, it’s giving his father a sign of disapproval as he rescues the worms being farmed on their property. All the way up to the accidental death of Jonathan’s cat, with some truly incredible “Bizarro” twists on that encounter.
The simple life of Boyzarro is interrupted when Jonathan and his friend Kathy arrive in an inter-dimensional vehicle (the kind of fun you get to have when your dad is Superman). Examining Boyzarro as if he were a zoo exhibit or wild animal causes some understandable aggression, leading to an up-close and personal staring match between Jonathan and Boyzarro. The resulting energy sends the Earthlings home thinking their adventure is over. But as Jonathan soon finds out, messing with your mirror opposite in the Bizarro universe is a recipe for disaster. Especially when things that happen on Htrae… don’t necessarily stay on Htrae.
With a cliffhanger that brings the planet (and universe) of the Bizarros smashing into that of the regular DC Universe (literally), things are about to get even more complicated. or how long this time?). The story will continue from Issue #42 through to Issue #46, with the scale of the action escalating from a mix-up between Superboy and Boyzarro and all-out war between the Super Foes and the Legion of Fun!
MORE: DC Confirms Superman is Immortal
Superman #42 is available now from DC Comics.
