B is also for Bizarro

Another action figure with a distorted face (see previous post) and also from DC comics as well as the DC Animated Universe, it's none other than Bizarro.

Bizarro was Superman's deficient clone. He was a tragic figure and more misguided and manipulated rather than intentionally evil. Bizzaro was an imperfect duplicate of Superman created by Lex Luthor. Using a stolen strand of Superman's DNA, Luthor developed his own "Superman", a prototype for a line of super-guardians available to the general public.

By dialing 555-LEXX, a person in trouble could have one of Luthor's guardians rescue fly to their aid anytime of the day or night - for a price. Unfortunately for Lex, it didn't work. The cloning process was unstable and the Superman clone mutated in form and mind into a grotesque parody of the Man of Steel dubbed a "Bizzaro" by a horrified Metropolis.

Possessing bits of the original Superman's memory, Bizzaro set about imitating Superman's heroic actions with disastrous results. Trying to save an old woman from being struck by a bus, Bizarro did not quickly fly the woman to safety as Superman would have done, but punched the bus, sending it and its thirty-odd passengers crashing into the river!

Several more fiascoes of this sort led Bizarro into a showdown with the real Superman. Superman won the battle and placated Bizarro by giving him complete jurisdiction of the moon. Now Bizarro patrols the moon much the way Superman patrols Metropolis. Still, Bizarro operates on his own warped logic, and he could return at any time to again make life hard on Superman. The fact that he has a crush on Lois Lane doesn't help any, either.

As he was a (disfigured) clone of Superman, Bizarro possessed the superhuman abilities of strength, speed, flight, durability, super senses, x-ray and heat vision. Bizarro's strength allowed him to lift roughly 100 tons (200,000 pounds) under optimal conditions, marking him in the higher strength levels of the superhuman community. He was capable of flying or running near mach 3 and was durable enough to survive massive explosions or forces. Unlike his predecessor however, Bizarro was rather unintelligent (making him easily manipulated by beings such as Lex Luthor and Mr. Mxyzptlk) and was unaffected by Kryptonite.

Bizarro is sort of like a Frankenstein Superman ;p To see the real Superman, check out my earlier post HERE for a comparison of how different or similar they both look :)