#bizarro world

[ungoliantschilde]

Bizarro, by Frank Quitely

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

David Rowe

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

A number of people telling me we all need a night off had almost convinced me not to write tonight. 

But then Trump spoke at a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he told a long, meandering story about golfing legend Arnold Palmer that ended with praise for Palmer’s… anatomy. 

He went on to call Vice President Kamala Harris—whose name he deliberately mispronounced—“a sh*t vice president. The worst. You’re the worst vice president. Kamala, you’re fired. Get the hell out of here, you’re fired. Get out of here. Get the hell out of here, Kamala.”  

As Trump’s remarks got weirder and weirder, the Fox News Channel cut away and instead showed Harris being cheered at a packed, exuberant, super-charged rally in Georgia. 

Trump’s speech comes on top of his repeated backing out of interviews and his bizarre appearances. Last night, his advice to an audience in Detroit to vote took its own wild turn: “Jill, get your fat husband off the couch,” he said. “Get that fat pig off the couch. Tell him to go and vote for Trump, he’s going to save our country. Get that guy the hell off our— get him up, Jill, slap him around. Get him up. Get him up, Jill. We want him off the couch to get out and vote.” 

Trump’s performances over the past few days seem to confirm that the 2024 October surprise is the increasingly obvious mental incapacity of the Republican candidate for president. 

It seems clear that a vote for Trump is really a vote for his running mate, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, who if he becomes president will be the youngest American president in our history. At 40 years old, he is two years younger than Theodore Roosevelt was when he took office in 1901 at 42. Vance would also be one of the least experienced presidents ever. His 18 months in the Senate has given him only slightly more experience in office than Chester Alan Arthur, who succeeded James Garfield in 1881. Arthur was a political operative who had never held elected office at all before becoming vice president. 

I’ll be back at the wheel tomorrow.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[alpaca-clouds]

Something I am thinking about a lot while I am in the hospital is how our measurements of expertise are bound so strongly to structures of power. This is not inherent to expertise - it is just how our current system handles things.

The fact that someone has a doctorate in a field of medicine does not inharently enable them on a reality level to actually treat someone, who is sick. It enables them to do so legally, yes, but not realistically.

As someone who has struggled with health related issues forever, I can tell so many stories of times, where it was not a doctor who helped me but some other person. There was a nurse once, who saved me from being poisoned by a doctor, because she realized - other than the doctor - that the doctor accidentally had prescribed me the wrong medication. And there was only two years a nurse in the psych hospital who fixed an issue with my knee that so far several different doctors had failed to fix.

Throughout my life I several times correctly diagnosed myself with medical conditions, after different doctors misdiagnosed me.

The same is happening right now as well. @g-vlssz and I correctly identified the issue plaguing me right now TWO FUCKING MONTHS ago, and my current deterioation in health could've been prevented if any of the multiple doctors who saw me during this time just gave me corticoids. But they didn't, because I do not have a medical degree. It took me six weeks to convince a doctor to just look into our suspicion - a test that any other doctor could have ordered as well.

And the only reason that nobody took it serious, despite me arguing on a medical level (like with blood lab results and stuff) why I was suspecting the thing I was suspecting. And the only reason why it was not taken seriously is, that I do not have a piece of paper by a medical institution that gives me the legal power to just prescribe myself the medication.

Self-Diagnosis is always this massively politically charged topic, especially when it comes to a plethora of disabilities. Not only will doctors often get really angry, when you bring the topic up, but a lot of non-doctors, who believe in the existing power structure will as well.

It is something that on some level does make sense intuitively. Like, sure, we do not want people to be able to prescribe themselves like morphines, I guess.

But a lot of talk also always centers around the fact, that a lot of people do simply fear cancer. So, when some varied symptoms show up, they often will jump to the conclusion of "OMG, it has to be cancer". But... like... You are aware that this happens mostly because those people end up often feeling neglected by their primary medical providers after like going to the doctor for their chronic stomach issues and do not get serious - or will not even get to see a doctor in months because the waiting lists are so long. Nobody WANTS to be sick with cancer - but if nobody looks into any causes, what information do have people to go on? It is simply a fact that cancer is one of those sicknesses with a lot of information available on it. So, when someone starts to google: "Chronic stomach ache cause" cancer will be one of the things that will come up.

I mean, the reason why both I and my friend were correctly able to identify my symptoms (not with the exact sickness but the correct type of sickness) was that I managed to get at least seen by doctors and get some blood work done - and that I simply went into it assuming that the various symptoms that showed up unrelated over the last year without a cause ever being found were connected. And one of the symptoms is something that basically only shows up with the type of sickness I have. No, I did not know that to begin with, but I googled it and other than what the anti-self-diagnosis crowd tells you, you can actually get pretty good information that way.

I have yesterday contacted a lawyer. I will talk to that lawyer later today. But I cannot help but think about not only how unfair this entire situation is to me (had the doctors given me corticoids 8 weeks ago, I never would have ended up in hospital), but also towards other people. Because right now there is a lot of healthcare money and man hours put into my case. Things that would be probably be better spend with someone, whose issue could not be fixed by just giving them a two weeks course of corticoids. Like, I am taking up room in this hospital for at least two more weeks, and by the end of it my health insurance will have paid between 30 and 40k for this. Simply because my GP was not available and nobody else would just give me the medication I needed?

[extraordinary-heroes]

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #4 (Cover art by Riley Rossmo)

[ufonaut]

After two-fisted detective Jim Corrigan was murdered by gangsters, a voice from beyond charged him to return to Earth and punish the guilty in the eerie guise of... The Spectre!

Jim Corrigan in Bizarro World (2005) #1

(Chris Duffy, Craig Thompson)

[momachan]

"This an imaginary story (Which may never happen, but then again may) about a perfect man who came from the sky and did only good. It tells of his twilight, when the great battles were over and the great miracles long since performed; or how his enemies conspired against him and of that final war in the snowblind wastes beneath the Northern Lights; of the women he loved and the choice he made between them; of how he broke his most sacred oath, and how finally all the things he had were taken from him save for one. It ends with a wink. It begins in a quiet midwestern town, one summer afternoon in the quiet, midwestern future. Away in the big city, people still sometimes glance up hopefully from the sidewalks, glimpsing a distant speck in the sky... but no: it's only a bird, only a plane. Superman died ten years ago. This is an imaginary story... Aren't they all?"

Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? The Deluxe Edition (2020). "Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?".

[nefarious-616-necromancer]

[kramlabs]

[rjavenuru]

Bizarro World Voltaire?? 🤣🤣

That has to be just about the strangest thing I have ever seen. 😅

[thevindicativevordan]

one aspect that i’m actually really glad is seemingly being touched upon more recently is the fleshing out of the other settings in the super mythos. maybe it’s cuz i’m a fan of D’nD and One Piece but i don’t like whenever stories tend to keep Superman stuck to Metropolis. it feels reductive in a way. don’t get me wrong, the city is a staple of the character, it’s where his supporting cast and the majority of his villains are. And it could even be much cooler if they took inspo from the Metropolis you’ve pitched in the past. But if we’re talking about THE Man of Action, i wanna see that guy going everywhere! i wanna see him going off to Warworld and fighting Mongul or getting beamed up into Brainiac’s Skullship or fighting Xa-Du in the Phantom Zone or teaming up with the New Gods to fight on New Genesis and Apokolips and Bizarro World, and so on and so forth. the fact the movies have only kept him in cityscapes have been a disservice if you ask me

Always want to see Metropolis get fleshed out more, but having other settings for Superman stories is a benefit. More should be done to tie those settings to Metropolis somehow, if for no other reason than to spice Metropolis itself up as the city full of weird shit. Stuff like Intergang working for Darkseid or Steelworks using Warworld tech to provide clean energy, I'm a fan of that. If memory serves me right, the Superman 2000 pitch had Bizarro be his world's ambassador to Earth, with the embassy in Metropolis which is a concept I loved. For the Phantom Zone, I've had the idea that Stryker's Island should extend into the Zone somehow. Maybe there's another section of the prison that gets placed there, to house the real powerhouses, and connected to the Earth section via portals? For the 5D, my pitch would be that there are areas in Metropolis that are "attuned" to the imps from there, and historically people tended to build houses dedicated to arts or religion on those spots because that was where the imps would occasionally "bless" people with visions.

[striveattemptfail]

rho #2

rho #18

rho #27

what i can gather re: bizz's story to this point:

bizarro both created and destroyed bizarro world

he created and populated it with other bizarros like himself bc he felt like no one understood him

bizarro world was earth's counterpart, including a happy superfamily and dual identity life for bizarro (ie: "not clark kent")

during this period he made a lot of mistakes, with one panel implying that he even made a deal with lex luthor (who was presumably president at the time)

bizarro destroyed it bc he knew, ultimately, that everything—his planet and everything he was doing—was fake

what he regrets most is abandoning and killing his family

some things to glean from this:

in this webtoon: bizarro world = htrae from pre-crisis/earth-one, NOT bizarro world from post-crisis/pre-n52

however, it very much strays from htrae's ending (which involves a very convoluted plot ft. the phantom zone and also mr mxyzptlk that i still don't quite understand)

(the tl;dr is that a wizard began destroying htrae, and the bizarros living on it were glad to see the apocalypse occur, so in a very twisted move, bizarro lois and clark used a rocket to shoot bizarro superboy into the planet's core to finally destroy it, and when the planet exploded bizarro was beheaded in the chaos to land at clark's feet to utter his last words before dying)

(i swear this is real and imo it is the least complicated part of the story)

compare this to bizarro world from post-crisis/pre-n52, where that planet's counterparts were very literally opposite to new earth: loiz (bizarro lois) was miserable and hated bizarro (unlike clark and lois' loving relationship)

but afaik, bizarro world was never destroyed during new earth's existence

now, it's clear that the webtoon is drawing inspiration from htrae for bizarro's happy family life

but it's also drawing characteristics of bizarro from post-n52/prime earth with his angst and inner feelings

(yes, i stan brainzarro. and tbh rebirth bizz is still somehow a good character despite lobdell writing him?? a miracle tbh)

it's also very clear that [webtoon] bizarro intends to make things right, or at least do right by his family now that he has a second chance

rho #27

all that being said: i'm curious to see how this'll be resolved

it'll almost certainly be rushed like a printing house during deadlines, and given the previous arcs it'll also be a disappointing ending despite having a really interesting start, but i am looking forward to seeing how webtoon bizarro continues to blend different continuities/character histories together. he's been the most successful among the outlaws in terms of story and characterization, and i've been pleasantly surprised by the direction taken for him thus far

don't fcuk this up patrick young istg if bizarro gets the short shrift in this webtoon i am legally claiming him from dc

[aboutzatanna]

Bizzarro Zatanna from Superman 80 Page Giant (2011):   

Does Bizarro Zee cast her spells by speaking normally but the opposite of what she means or does she cast them the normally but the opposite opposite of what she means?  

[witch-hattery]

The thing about Bizzaro World is that you can't figure it out. It will automatically thwart any attempts to understand it through the use of multiple negatives. Think you figured out whether the negatives were even or odd? No you didn't. one more negative will pop into play at the last minute.

[sebeth]

Who's Who In The DC Universe #2: Big Sir, Bizarro, and Bizarro World

Big Sir by Carmine Infantino and Klaus Janson

Dufus P. Ratchet “was born with a malfunctioning pituitary gland that allowed his body to gtow to monstrous proportions, while his mind stopped developing past the intelligence of an eight-year-old”. FYI, Big Sir is listed as 6’9” and 307 lbs.

Ratchet was kept under observation at Central City’s Breedmore Mental Hospital.

The Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery freed Ratchet and outfitted him with high-tech armor provided by the Monitor. The Rogues manipulated Ratchet into believing the Flash was a bad guy by claiming he killed a rodent. Ratchet went on a rampage that nearly killed the Flash (Barry).

Barry took Ratchet to Gorilla City where their scientists corrected his mental deficiencies. He now has a near-genius IQ and is “seeking to make a valuable contribution to society”.

The only Big Sir stories I’ve read were his appearances in the “JLI” era of the Justice League series. This version of the Injustice League consisted of Big Sir, Cluemaster, Clock King, Major Disaster, Multi-Man, and the Mighty Bruce. This version of Big Sir was most definitely not a genius. He was more of a sweet idiot. I’m not sure when or how his genius IQ was retconned as he was created shortly before the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Barry died in the Crisis and the Flash comic was cancelled around the same time. The Flash comic was re-booted with Wally West as the Flash. Big Sir did not make any appearances in the early years of the Wally West series. Justice League International began shortly after the West-Flash series started. So how did Big Sir lose his genius IQ? Were Giffen and DeMattis simply unaware of the IQ upgrade?

Read Justice League International, not only for Big Sir, but for the whole cast of characters – heroes, villains, and supporting. Great series, highly underrated.

Bizarro by Kevin O’Neill

Lex Luthor reconstructed a duplicator ray (invented by Professor Dalton). Luthor used the ray on Superman but created an imperfect duplicate. “Composed of lifeless matter, this duplicate also shared Superman’s memory, but in a distorted manner.”

Luthor named the creature “Bizarro”.

Bizarro searched the world for love and acceptance resulting in Lois Lane using the Duplicator Ray to create an imperfect duplicate of herself.

Bizarro and Bizzarro-Lois left Earth and soon founded the Bizarro World in another galaxy.

Bizarro rules the planet, “happy in the company of his family and friends.”

Bizarro is one of the more well-known villains of Superman. I first encountered the pre-Crisis Bizarro in the Silver Age Legion of Super-Hero stories. The 1980s saw much of the early Legion of Super-Hero stories reprinted in a pocket digest format. He wasn’t so much villainous as an over-eager nuisance. Frankenstein’s Monster had to be an inspiration for the creation of Bizarro – the imperfect appearance, the rejection by his creator, the search for love and acceptance – all the story beats are there.

Bizarro will always be one of my favorite Superman Family members. Post- Crisis, Bizarro has had many versions ranging from threatening (Injustice) to heartwarming (Red Hood & the Outlaws).

Bizarro World by Curt Swan and Karl Kessel

A short entry that details the inhabitants of Bizarro World. Bizzaro has used the Duplicator Ray to create duplicates of Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Lana Lang, Krypto, Mr. Myxzptlk, the entire Justice League of America, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Bizarro-Lois predates the creation of Bizarro World.

The World has a Bizarro Code: “Us do opposite of all Earthly Things! Us hate Beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect for Bizzaro World!”

Superman reshaped Bizaarro World to make it an imperfectly-shaped cube.

[graydog-mod1]

Bizarro World

[ufonaut]

Does the flaming wheelie inspire terror? I mean fear? This car must strike fear into the superstitious and cowardly.

Bizarro World (2005) #1

(Kyle Baker)