BIZARRO COMICS

Aptly named...

Reviewed by Matt Singer

This book is so hip it hurts.

Well, granted, a hip comic book is about as oxymoronic as huge, mutant, city-conquering shrimp. But as hip as a graphic novel can be, that's how hip BIZARRO COMICS is.

I just wish it was a better read.

Besides the hip factor, you also have a gorgeous package, some fabulous talent involved and a range of art that is simply amazing to behold. BUT (and this is a big but, one t, not two, get your mind out of the gutter and stop expecting a Roseanne Barr joke) as much as I love just flipping through this book and going through the art or displaying it on a bookshelf, it just isn't particularly great. Good, I suppose. But not great. And that is disappointing.

The book is essentially an anthology of short Elseworlds tales featuring famous DC characters, done in unconventional means by some of the biggest and best independent comic makers currently working. (A short list includes Evan Dorkin, Kyle Baker, Paul Pope, Eddie Campbell, Andi Watson, and lots more.) But instead of just making a big book of short stories, they throw in a framing device in which Mr. Mxyzptlk's fifth dimension is under siege from an unstoppable being known as "A" and he must find a protector to help him. He accidentally winds up with Bizarro instead of Superman, who then creates these stories to stop this A character. (How exactly making wacky comics will stop A is never dealt with.)

Problem one lies in the framing story by Chris Duffy and Stephen DeStefano. While it's basically an excuse for the anthology element to exist, it's also really funny. Their "The Bizarre Wars" story that frames the book makes up about 60 pages of a 230 page book. And it's very, very funny. A great, goofy Mxyzptlk story.

But then we get to the anthology. While I absolutely adore most of the art, most of the stories just aren't funny. Not that they're necessarily trying to be funny; most are quirky, weird, independent comics - fine in the context of a straight anthology. But when featured in a book framed by sixty pages of extremely funny material one expects humor. For the most part what's here isn't. The initial result leaves the reader fairly cold.

It also doesn't help that several pieces are written by Evan Dorkin. His work is the funniest outside of that frame story and overshadows everything else. I loved "Silence of the Fishes" and "Bored on a Monday" but each are only two pages long.

Reviewing every single piece in this book could take a lifetime. Since I've only got a thousand or so words, I'll be brief. There are some highlights: Jeff Smith and Paul Pope's "Help! Superman!"; Jef Czekaj and Brian Ralph's "The Man Who Cried Fish"; and Kyle Baker's "Letitia Lerner: Superman's Babysitter" (originally published in the notorious ELSEWORLDS 80-PAGE GIANT which DC destroyed after complaints about the super-tot being baked in a microwave oven and published here for the first time in the US). [Ed's note - and creating a high-priced vehicle to contain this story is likely DC's reason for creating the BIZARRO project in the first place.] Some pieces fell completely flat: "Who Erased the Eraser?" and "The Tinocchio Syndrome." Others - "The Clubhouse of Solitude" or "Inside the Batcave" are fine but not funny. So do they fit with this anthology?

Upon re-reading it, I find myself less critical than the first time through. If I try to enjoy each story separately it works better. But really, the book is called BIZARRO COMICS, wouldn't you just expect the whole book to be?

The hefty thirty dollar price tag certainly doesn't help matters. It would certainly be worth it if you could read it without paying (try reading a friends or see if a store will give it to you on discount). But the high price and hit-or-miss nature keeps me from fully recommending it.

I wish I could.

Recommended with reservations (book doesn't know what exactly it wants to be, and is rather expensive. Wait for the softcover.)