#imp of the 5th dimension (Mr. Mxyzptlk)

[sentient-rift]

"Why is there a T-Rex on the road?"

"Heh! Back in the 5th Dimension, that's common. Sometimes there's even a stampede of T-Rexs on the road."

"That's... Concerning...."

[dcdreamblog]

So Johnny Thunder and Jakeem Thunder’s genie is from the 5th dimension right? Is the weird lightning genie like, a different species from the weird short guy in the bowler hat and the tiny dude in the Batman cosplay? Because they don’t look like they could be the same species

Yes, the Thunderbolt is a 5th dimensional being in the same order of magnitude as annoyances like Mr Mxyzptlk (I lived in Metropolis for 4 years, I know him well), he is also some version of a mythological djinn as told in Islamic mythology. I am neither a theology scholar nor a dimensional physicist so I'm relating this information as I understand it, so take all with a grain of salt and know I am DEEPLY simplifying.

The 5th Dimension is a realm of pure imagination, there it is as physical a force as motion or heat and can be just as easily manipulated in the same way a 3rd dimensional organism moving forward and back would be considered wizardry from the 2 dimensional perspective. The native beings of this realm, which they call "Zrfff" in their own language are the "Imps" you speak of, of which Mxyzptlk is the most famous though beings like them have been spotted around both Batman and Aquaman. These beings can appear in our reality only once every 90 days after their previous visit and can be returned to their reality by speaking their own name backwards.

This "5th Dimension" also seems to be where Djinn were born and still mostly reside, created by some higher force VERY early in universal creation. Because they are born and molded of the 5th dimension they can manipulate it easily. They don't exist natively in our reality and require some kind of "anchor" in order to exist like many other arcane beings.

They're two separate classes of beings who inhabit the same dimensional space. From here on in I will refer to the Zrff-ians as "Imps" and the Djinn as "Genies" since that seems to be the accepted parlance.

(The only portrait of the Thunderbolt ever successfully taken solo, 1945)

The Thunderbolt's "real name" (if the concept applies) is Yz, and he is a member of the second class of being a mythical Genie who came into the possession of Johnny Thunder who had the power to bond with Yz because he was the 7th son of the 7th son, born at 7 a.m 7/7/1917 (magic, folks).

He's able to grant any wish his master made using the magic words "Cei-U" which of course Johnny uttered as the then popular sentence filler "Say you".

As Thunder aged he eventually developed Alzheimer's disease, and soon after or even upon the moment of his death he wished Yz into the service of his sudden protege J.J or Jakeem Thunder. This process also seemed to merge Yz and Thunder into a single being who now goes by the name Johnny Thunderbolt. What kind of merging this was or what that would even entail is a question for a VERY dedicated psychologist. And I'm not one of those either.

I should note however, there's no reason they couldn't all be the same species. They're 5th dimensional beings able to manipulate all things via their own imaginations. Trust me when I tell you that Mxy probably doesn't actually "look" like a tiny bald man in a purple bowler hat.

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers

My episode 1 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 2 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 3 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 4 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 5 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 6 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My second half of Episode 7 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 8 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 9 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 10 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

(SPOILERS if you haven't seen the show yet):

We start things off with the title of the episode, "Kiss Kiss Fall in Portal" a fun nod to the lyrics of Ouran High School Host club's OP, Sakura Kiss by Chieko Kawabe. Very apt since Clark wanted to show the cherry blossoms to Lois on their date.

Next Jimmy razzing Clark for his extremely scheduled date plans for Lois and razzing Lois for her gift to Clark. Each of them reference what happened in previous episodes. With the first thing Clark and Lois I talked about it here and the second thing Clark mentioned I talked about it here.

After we cut back from Lois and Jimmy picking up Lois's dry cleaning, we meet the villain of the episode, Mr. Mxyztplk. In the comics, Mxy makes his first appearance in Superman #30 (1944) by Joe Shuster, Jerry Seigel, and Ira Yarbrough as you can see in the page above this text. Mxy is a 5th dimension imp who plays jokes and pranks on Superman and can only be rid of if Mxy says his name backwards. Yeah Mxy is a MAJORLY annoying thorn at Clarks side. MAwS Mxy, as you can tell has a DRASTIC overhaul in design kinda shares color and design choices with Whis from the Dragon Ball Super anime. Also in the show Mxy is a chaos god compared to the annoying imp in the comics.

Classic way to describe Clark Kent. That's a given in any Superman media.

Next we see Mxy mess with Clark by snapping him into his various Superman animation incarnations from the Max Fleischer cartoons, the Superfriends cartoons, and the cartoon that introduced Superman to me, Superman the Animated Series. Shout out to the MAwS team for remembering to give StAS Superman the darker trunks. People often forget that. Same with the red belt on the Fleisher Superman and the cape circling behind the neck of Superfriends Superman when usually the cape exposes the next a lot more too. Very good attention to detail.

With Lois and Jimmy they meet alternate versions of themselves. We meet two different Loises and one Louis Lane. There actually is a Louis Lane in the comics who has connections to Mxyzptlk.

In Superman #349 (1980) (W: Martin Pasko, P: Curt Swan, I: Frank Chiaramonte, C: Adrienne Roy, L: Ben Oda), Clark is forced into a genderbent world thanks to Mxyzptlk where he meets, as you can see on the page, gender flipped versions of his Daily Planet colleagues. Clark is eventually able to escape the world and defeat Mxy where he actually meet Louis Lane, Lois Lane's legit cousin. Bonus fun fact Osric Chau who voices Louis Lane, was the Atom/Ryan Choi on the CW DC shows

The League of Loises have a ship that's kinda similar to one of the ships designed by Rian Hughes and Grant Morrison on the Multiverse Map. I talked more about that map and the multiverse here

Lois Prime here shares similar designs to Fleischer Studios' Lois Lane. Very good homage to the look.

Next scene is EASTER EGGS GALORE and the section that took the longest for me to do. When Mxy and Clark break into the Science and Superhero Museum that Lois Prime created, we see a mace and an elaborately designed box of some sort. If you know your DC universe, these two things are a Thanagarian (alien hawk people) Nth Metal (strongest metal in the DC universe) Maces that is usually wielded by Hawkman and Hawkwoman/girl (as you can see both of them wielding their own respective maces on the comic covers here. The first one is from Justice League #15 (2019) done by Jim Cheung Tomey Moreu and the second cover is from Hawkman #1 (2018) done by Stjepan Šejić) and the box is a Mother Box from the New Gods. The Nth Metal mace makes its first debut in the Brave and the Bold #34 (1961) though it resembles more like flails and even then the Nth metal mace is a morningstar, but its alien technology maybe Thanagarians call these weapons maces where here we call it a morningstar.

Mother Boxes are basically supercomputers that the New Gods use. Created by Jack Kirby and debuted in the Forever People #1 (1971), Mother Boxes have a wide range of uses from energy and molecule manipulation, energy transferring, Boom Tube summoning to travel inter-dimensionally or inter-/intra- galactically, machine manipulation. The page from Who's Who-The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #16 (1986) explains what a Mother Box is in full detail.

The camera then shifts and we see a Green Lantern Power Battery, a T-Sphere, and a book on display. The farthest item is an obvious one, a Power Battery that Green Lantern uses to recharge the Power Ring. This version of the Power Battery and Green Lantern make their debut in Showcase 22 (1959). The final two panels from the comic (W: Jon Broome, P: Gil Kane, I: Joe Giella, L: Gaspar Saladino) shows Hal Jordan recharging the ring with the Power Battery.

T-Spheres are floating spheres used by Mr. Terrific aka Michael Holt. These spheres can form laser grids, act as sensor arrays, bombs, record video and audio, hack into computers, display holograms, and discharge electricity to shock things or people. They make their debut in JSA #11 (2000) as seen there in the middle two panels (W: Geoff Johns, David Goyer, P: Buzz, I: Michael Bair, C: John Kalisz, L: Ken Lopez).

The book is a little harder to pinpoint, but my guess is this is the Book of Souls/the Cosmic Log/The Book of Destiny. If Lois Prime is able to find all this stuff and is able to preserve it in a museum, I wouldn't be surprised if Destiny of the Endless gave her an inert copy of the book for the museum. The book makes its debut in Weird Mystery Tales #1 (1972) (Page art by Michael Kaluta). The book records everything that is, was, and will be. If you haven't read the comics, you might have seen it be used on the CW DC shows rewriting the histories of their characters.

Ok so at the moment I am near the end of my 30 images limit so I will be making another post to hopefully finish the rest, but in the meantime, now that you are down here, feel free to check out the other easter eggs and references posts -

My episode 1 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 2 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 3 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 4 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 5 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 6 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My second half of Episode 7 easter egs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 8 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 9 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Episode 10 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DCCU: Character Essay - Mr. Mxyzptlk

So...did you see the last episode of MAWS?

I just wrote an essay discussing this series, and without making you read that (although here it is if you wanna), let's just say I love almost everything about it, but the villains have me...nervous. Which, yeah, not exactly a unique take on the series, critically speaking. It is, in fact, the most common refrain about the series amongst Superman fans.

Now, since then, to be fair, we've gotten some very promising characters make their debut, or becoming more prominent. Task Force X - which includes Amanda Waller, the General (who's gotta be Sam Lane, but may also take some inspiration from Wade Eiling; time'll tell on that one, though), and a very cool super-armored version of Deathstroke - are our main antagonists, and I'm excited to see what comes out of them. Their former associates, power couple Brain and Monseiur Mallah (who are also gay in the comics, if you didn't know) are a more sympathetic turn on the characters, but quite satisfying in this form.

But no, there's only one real reason I'm making this post. And that is of course, the villain featured in the most recent episode, as of me writing this post. He's already up above, so let's just get into it.

Fun fact about me: I love a lot of Superman villains, but of all of them, my absolute favorite is Mr. Mxyzptlk. He's a mischief-making, chaos-loving, harmless and harmful menace from the 5th dimension, who obeys no laws of the dimensions below. The origin of legends, past and present, of genies, leprechauns, fey, and imps that tease men with ill-fated wishes. An all-powerful being disguised as a man dressed in a funny little hat.

Mr. Mxyzptlk is the Robin Goodfellow of Superman's world. He appears to amuse himself, no matter the cost to the Man of Steel's day. Usually, you can send him back via making him say his own name backwards, but that's just one of the rules to Mxy's games. And make no mistake, that's what they are: games. Mr. Mxyzptlk has played on the side of angels and devils, and he really only cares about his own amusement. And his relationship with Superman, varied as it can be, helps to fuel his morality.

I could bring up the character's live-action appearances (which are notable in their own right), but those are mostly afraid to really go for it. The closest to the original character would be Michael J. Pollard's version in Superboy, a mostly forgotten series from the late'80s, and a version that actually wears the comic book outfit. There's also the Supergirl version, which was notable, and played by Peter Gadiot and Thomas Lemmon; and there's the version played by Howie Mandel (yes, really) in Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman in the '90s, which is a more evil but passable version of the character. Oh, and the Smallville version? Yeah, absolutely doesn't count. If you want a true adaptation for Mxy, you gotta go animated.

The most iconic adaptation of this character was portrayed by the late, great Gilbert Gottfried in Superman: The Animated Series. Now, I say the most iconic, but that's probably a bit biased on my part. In my opinion, this is the most fun and accurate version we've seen of the character, taking from his original design for inspiration. An annoying imp that appears every three months, his debut episode in the series, Mxyzpixillated, is one of my favorite episodes of the series, and goes balls-to-the-wall wacky, as you should with Mxyzptlk.

The character had only a few more appearances in the series after his first, but Gottfried's performance was so memorable, he was brought back for multiple incarnations, including the video game DC Universe Online, and the more recent animated series Justice League Action, which would be one of Gottfried's last performances, and therefore his last appearance as the character. He'll be sorely missed for a number of reasons, but the voice he gave to the imp is never going to leave me.

Which brings me to the version of the character we see in MAWS. And yeah, this is obviously a VERY different version of the character, appearance-wise. Outside of the orange and purple color scheme and one other exception, this version has no design similarities with any version of Mxyzptlk, and is obviously very anime-inspired, as is the entire series. I mean, for Chrissakes, the title of the episode is a reference to Ouran High School Host Club. They knew what they were doing.

We meet Mxyzptlk in the middle of a heist, and he already shows his power and prowess by tricking Clark immediately. Amongst a bunch of fantastic DCU references, and a lot of multiverse talk, we eventually stumble upon his actual goal: the reclamation of an ancient artifact stolen from him by the League of Lois Lanes. And that artifact is...his hat. THE hat. And lemme tell ya, I was overjoyed to see that stupid little bowler.

Once he gets it, we get a glimpse of true Mxyzptlk power, as he goes full chaos lord on us. He's eventually defeated through trickery with portals, and NOT through the backwards name gambit. And even then, he's not actually defeated, and returns in the end to annoy his new target: Lois Lane. Yeah. He's haunting LOIS, not Clark. And honestly, I'm...very intrigued.

This Mxyzptlk is, honestly, a faithful version of the character, straight-up. Sure, there are elements missing, and the outfit is completely different, but he also sort of looks like you'd expect an imp or genie to look. Like Alan Moore said in Whatever Happened to the Man of Steel?, why should an extradimensional imp look like a little man in a suit and funny little bowler? I think this works, honestly.

I'm also excited to see him in the future of the series, and see what they do with the character as a result. Mxyzptlk is, as I said earlier, one of my favorites, whether he helps or hurts the Man of Tomorrow. And if I had one complaint, it's that I want him to go wackier. Like, CRAZY. Watch his appearances in Superman: The Animated Series if you haven't, and you'll see what I mean. The potential is quite literally unlimited when it comes to the fifth dimension imp.

But if that's the case...what would I do with Mxyzptlk in my DCCU?

Mr. Mxyzptlk in My DCCU

I would do...not much more than Easter eggs at first. Look, I love Mxyzptlk, but having him as a character in a film or film series is extremely tricky. But instead, Mxyzptlk is both a seen and unseen force in my DCCU, hovering around Superman's world without actually interfering in it directly. Not exactly his bag, I know, but it's a good way to get him to work in a film series. Essentially, I'm turning him into a background character in the first and second films, to be noticed by only the most observant. Disguised as other characters, maybe making odd gestures every now and then as if to manipulate things around him. The ultimate Easter egg character, basically. Until, possibly the very end of the second, or even the third film in the franchise.

Fast forward to the second film's post-credit scene.

A poker game is being played, but we're table level. All we see are the hands and the cards, which get increasingly stranger as the game goes on. Three voices are speaking, and we get the immediate idea that these people are watching our heroes. Eventually, a fourth voice juts in, and we also find out that a fifth one of them has been invited, but chose not to attend. Finally, we pan up, and we see...some dude.

This guy, whoever they are, should've been a face we've seen in the first and second films, usually hanging around the Daily Planet, but also around Metropolis. In fact, they should be visible in every conflict or battle seen in the films thus far. As we look at the others, we should see similar figures that've appeared in Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash films that've come put by this point. All extras, and all watching our heroes. In fact, it'd be great if the Flash-focused person hasn't appeared yet, because the Flash's film releases after this one.

Finally, as we pan back around to the Superman-focused character, who is smoking a cigar, the conversation turns to what's coming. Mxyzptlk is aware of what's coming for Superman, but the rest refer to "the first Crisis". Mxyzptlk sort of brushes it off, even as they're saying things that hint at the first big even film to come in the DCCU. And these should be vague yet intriguing clues to this event. But Mxyzptlk insists that his guy'll be prepared, and that he has a lot of money riding on that outcome. With that, the mysterious figure looks directly at the camera.

Yeah, realizing that we're peering in on the game, he probably berates the nerds in the audience for knowing who he is without it being said (possibly by turning into a more comic-accurate version of himself) , then confirms that he'll be back in the next one, but not as the big threat. Maybe he'll be there to help, maybe not; depends on his mood that day. After a few more snarky remarks, he gives us a look and tells us to buzz off. We may even get a glimpse at the other imps in the room, those being Bat-Mite, Wondermite, and Mopee. And with that, he snaps his fingers, and the film ends officially.

Yeah, I basically pulled an Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to bring in Mxyzptlk. And, since that scene is one of the best of the film, I don't think that's a problem! In the next film, we know what Mxyzptlk's identity looks like, and he may even give us a wave from the background in his first appearance in the next film. He won't interfere directly, but in the last post-credits scene of this trilogy, he'll finally get caught by Superman. Over time, Superman's had some experience with magic users, probably via Wonder Woman. And magic, in my universe, has a distinctive smell of some kind.

Knowing that Mxyzptlk's been watching him throughout the films, Clark finally confronts him on it, and asks what he wants. And Mxyzptlk actually replies and shows himself, explaining that the battles to come are pretty intense. He won't help or harm, but he just wanted to give a heads-up, mostly because it's fun. With that and a bit more conversation, Mxyzptlk leaves having given this ominous warning.

Does he return? Maybe during a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie, maybe in the Darkseid-based Justice League film to come, who knows? This version of the character is basically a Watcher, maybe throwing in some fun chaos here and there. It's sort of hard to add Mxyzptlk into a film series, because he's not a plotter. He's an all-powerful one-off character who, were he to be introduced as a genuine threat to the films, could just kill Superman immediately. It wouldn't make sense. So, make him neutrally bent, and keep him as a fun Easter egg character.

That take may be disappointing to some, but...like, c'mon, guys, he's a pretty big gun. Having him as the ultimate threat of a film also wouldn't make it very fun, because we don't want to see him get killed, but he also can't really win. It'd just be unsatisfying. I like the idea of making him this greater, scarier presence, while also making all of the imps these all-powerful observant beings that watch over our plane with fascination and/or reverence. And maybe, just maybe, we can squeeze some mischief in there somewhere.

Any other ideas on how you would introduce Mr. Mxyzptlk to a cinematic universe (if you should at all)? Reblog! Comment! I'm extremely curious, frankly. This was one of, like, three ideas I had, but the one I thought worked best.

And if you liked this, check out my other Superman essays here!

[bicokun]

I watched the latest episode of My Adventures with Superman, and that Mr. Mxyzpytlk has me wondering. He’s supposed to be a 5th dimensional imp, and that could mean he transcends time, which should mean that regardless of what 4th dimensional universe he shows up in he’s the same guy. Given that an entire League of Loises has to team up to (temporarily) imprison him, that seems to be the intention, but why does he look and act so different from usual? Is he just doing that specifically to fit in with the MAwS aesthetic? And why is his attitude so different from other appearances? I suppose it could be that we’re simply seeing him at a different point in his life, which given he’s unbound by our concept of time means we can see younger or older versions of him in seemingly random order.

Of course, it could also be that DC’s 5th dimension also has alternate universes and each Superman deals with his own version of Mr. Mxyzptlk. Of course, that also means that this one probably isn’t the one native to MAwS since he apparently just escaped to that universe due to Mallah and Brain, which then leads to the question of what kind of universe he came from? A lot of questions that probably will not be answered, but, hey, unanswered questions are part of the fun sometimes.

Oh, also, I saw that Ouran Highschool Host Club reference in the title and frickin’ guffawed.

[a-student-out-of-time]

What are your opinions about villains who are just evil because they just are or just bored? Like Junko?

//They can definitely work, but I think the big thing for me is the scale of their actions.

//Take something like the movie The Strangers, which is about a group of masked killers whose MO is murdering people who just happen to be home when they knock on the door. That's it. That's their entire motivation.

//This is an example of what's called Thrill-Killing, a real phenomenon where the motivation is the excitement of the action. It's not about who they target, it's just about the act itself. That's scary because it's down to earth and could plausibly happen to anyone.

//On the other hand, when you escalate things to the point that a villain has enormous machinations and plans that go beyond anything small. If you put together a plan to overthrow a government, plunge the world into chaos or blow up reality, having the motivation be "Oh I was bored" feels completely incongruous with that.

//Sheer boredom can only explain so much.

//Now, even this can work so long as it makes sense within levels of scale and power. One of the best examples I know is from Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow? (Which I highly recommend you go read because spoilers will follow):

//Superman's final adventure in this story is where all his villains start coming back, now more dangerous and murderous than ever, and he can't really make sense of it. It isn't until the end that it turns out the big bad of the story is Mr. Mxyzptlk.

//Mxy started in the Silver Age as a goofy little imp. He's an incredibly powerful immortal sorcerer from the 5th dimension who can warp reality on a whim, but he usually only does it for laughs. He can only be banished by tricking him into saying his own name backwards. It's just goofy fun for the most part.

//Alan Moore's take on the idea is "Do you really think a 5th-dimensional sorcerer would resemble a funny little man in a derby hat?" Nope, he operates on a completely alien level of morality, where he has to fill his immortal life with things to do and so the reasons for his actions don't matter.

//WHttMoT happens because, after spending 2,000 years being mischievous, he's gotten bored of the same old shtick and wants a change. He's decided to spend the next 2,000 years being evil, starting with Superman's death.

//The boredom aspect works here because Mxy already has the power to actually pull off the things he does in story, driving Supes' villains to new extremes, without it coming off as incongruous. He becomes the greatest foe Superman ever faces in that story.

//So boredom can work as a motivation, but it has to make sense with what the character can do and would want to do to alleviate that boredom.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Mr. Mxyzptlk Goes Rogue

by Longitudinalwave Mr. Mxyzptlk, the nigh-omnipotent imp from the 5th Dimension, decides that, as part of his latest prank on Superman, he'll steal a page from about a thousand sitcoms, and switch the minds of the Justice League of America with the minds of the Flash's Rogues. Captain Cold, who hates change as much as he likes money and beer, is not thrilled to suddenly wind up in Superman's body, and Superman is even less thrilled to end up in the pain-racked body of a criminal who hasn't exactly done a bang-up job in taking care of his health. Neither one of them particularly likes or trusts the other, but unless they want to be stuck in each other's body forever, they and their teams are going to have to find a way to work together long enough to get the swap reversed.   This story doesn't really fit into mainline canon; it's just something I wrote for fun. I felt it was about time to take my shot at this old trope. Words: 3817, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: The Flash (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Barry Allen, Wally West, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Diana (Wonder Woman), Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Oliver Queen, Zatanna Zatara, Shayera Hol, Leonard Snart, Lisa Snart, Mark Mardon, Sam Scudder, Evan McCulloch, George "Digger" Harkness, Hartley Rathaway, James Jesse, Mick Rory, Roscoe Dillon, Mxyzptlk (DCU) Relationships: Roscoe Dillon/Lisa Snart Additional Tags: Freaky Friday body swapping via https://ift.tt/Hh9nzT2

[scottwbeattie]

Review: Superman - Action Comics vol. 3: At the End of Days

Grant Morrison at Some of His* Most Morrison-y

In 2008 Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely created not only the best Superman story in All-Star Superman, but quite possibly the best superhero story period. So when it was announced Grant Morrison would be spearheading the new-look Superman of the New 52, you couldn't help but hope that we might get another all-time classic Superman story. Was the result great? Well, it depends on your perspective.

From the outset, I should say that Superman is my favorite fictional character and that Grant Morrison is one of my favorite writers, so it was almost guaranteed that I would enjoy this. That said, while All-Star Superman is a straightforward story that can be enjoyed by anyone, Morrison's Action Comics run is the writer at some of his most esoteric.

The final volume of Action Comics sees out the conclusion of an ongoing story that began in the first volume involving the 5th dimension imp Mr. Mxyzptlk, his lover, and their nemesis, Vyndktvx. I genuinely like the way that Morrison takes a classic Superman foe in Mr. Mxyzptlk and slightly retcons his history to make his conflicts with Superman more playful, which fits well with his character. However, as anyone familiar with Grant Morrison knows, he has never met a high-concept that he didn't like, so Morrison takes the 5th dimension and goes absolutely mad with it, having Superman simultaneously fight Vyndktvx across multiple dimensions. It delivers a lot of great moments but can be hard to follow, given the way it switches back and forth from dimension to dimension often from panel to panel.

One thing that helps this volume is that, aside from the Travel Foreman-drawn #13 (one of the all-time great Krypto stories), Rags Morales and Brad Walker split art duties for the entire volume. Morrison's script in the hands of a different artist could have been unreadable, but Morales and Walker's more straightforward and clear storytelling makes it easier to read.

As noted earlier, this definitely won't be for everyone, but fans of Grant Morrison will love this. I'd like to think that, even if Morrison isn't your cup of tea, you can at least respect the ambition of his story and how he nails each of the characters' voices. Admittedly, I didn't like this volume quite as much as I did the first time I that I read it, but it's still an enjoyable read.

*-Grant Morrison identifies as Non-Binary, however, Morrison has said that while he accepts it as "a badge of honor" when others use the "they/them" pronouns for him, he still uses the "he/him" pronouns to refer to himself, which is why I have used "he/him/"

[blanddcheadcanons]

unknown to the imps of the 5th dimension, their reality-warping powers echo further than most, throughout the multiverse and it's Dark reflection. every time Mr Mxyzptlk would transform Superman and his friends, a new world would form in the Dark Multiverse, with that "new" world being an identical duplicate that never saw itself turned back to normal. fortunately, most of these worlds are still brighter than the usual Dark Multiverse Earth, if not especially stable.

[sentient-rift]

Peni Parker in a different universe J. Johana Jameson has a Podcast show called Just The Facts With J. Johana Jameson where he talks about everything that is going on in their New York including updates of that universe's Spider-Man and has hilarious outbursts 😂.

"Ha ha ha! You're right! I listened to them, and his outbursts are comedy gold!"

"Seriously, though, what's that guy's problem with Spider-Man?"

"Lack of perspective, perhaps? Mr. Jameson sees Spider-Man as a menace rather than someone who wants to help because with great power comes great responsibility."

"I know the feeling... I had some harsh critics back at home who didn't understand what it means to be a superhero..."

"Are they the same people who see you going around dressed like a maid, working in restaurants, and promoting mediocre ice cream like a real responsible hero should be doing?"

"No, they're the people who saw me using the Kltpzyxm Method."

"The 'Kltpzyxm Method?' What in the 5th Dimension is the Kltpzy...?

"HEY, WAIT A MIN...!!!"

"Nya! Serves you right, you annoying imp!"

"Hee! Watching Mxy getting easily tricked to say his name backwards, though not as funny as Mr. Jameson's outbursts, is still pretty entertaining."

[stealingyourbones]

You know that honestly is understandable. The names of these two are pretty darn wild.

Yes these indeed are both real characters. Mr. Mxyzptlk is a 5th dimensional imp who enjoys bothering Superman and playing cosmic pranks on him. The pranks can range from constant bad luck to reality changing shenanigans. The only way to make him go back to his dimension is for him to say his name backwards. His stories in comics (especially the golden and silver age era) was chaotic nonsense shenanigans piled hopin even more chaotic shenanigans. All he wants to cause is chaos. He plays pranks and stews up mayhem just because.

He’s quite similar to BatMite who is also a 5th dimensional imp who obsesses over Batman. Normally, he makes Bats go through strange mysteries that need to be solved because he thinks Batman is so cool and can figure out anything. He truly just wants to see Bats do his work while partly driving the man insane. Batmite originally was an imp who helped the batfamily but as time wore on he started to act the same way Mxy does towards Supes.

Ms. Gspltlnz is his wife!! (Im characterizing her from the Superman The Animated Series episodes.) She doesn’t mess around with the heroes In the third dimension but instead just wants Mxy to stop obsessing over these guys and spend time with her. They’re pretty cute together and in the comics she usually endorses her husbands pranking shenanigans.

Mxyzptlk in the animated series was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried (RIP) which I fully believe was the best voice actor they could have possibly chosen.

Biggest thing though is he’s of the fifth dimension. He transcends time. He transcends dimensions. He is far powerful that just a funny magic man that causes chaos but he chooses to stay at that level because it’s fun.

Short DPXDC Prompts #678

Danny opens one of the doors in the GZ and walks right into Mister Mxyzptlk’s house.

[earth-ai]

Mr. Mxyzptlk is an occasional visitor to Earth AI from the 5th Dimension. A kind of magical imp, he can actualize anything his demented mind can conceive and creates havoc whenever he arrives. The only way he can be sent back to the 5th Dimension and his hallucinogenic nightmares can be ended is by hearing his name in polite conversation, and since most humans find his name unpronounceable he is extremely difficult to defeat!

[docgold13]

365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out Villains - One Villain, Every Day, All Year… 


December 10th - Mister Mxyzptlk 

More of a mischievous annoyance than outright super villain, the being known as Mr Mxyzptlk is a vastly powerful imp heralding from the extra-dimensional realm of The 5th Dimension. He traveled to earth out of boredom hoping to cause a little trouble for his entertainment. He quickly happened upon Superman who he identified as an ideal candidate to match wits against. After causing all manner of bizarre chaos, the Imp agreed that he would return to his home dimension if Superman could succeed in somehow tricking Mxyzptlk into saying or writing his own name backwards. A seemingly impossible task, but Superman managed to use his wit and guile to succeed and Mxyzptlk angrily fulfilled his end of the bargain and disappeared. The imp would return on numerous occasions to bedevil Superman and other heroes with his madcap antics. Mxyzptlk’s own hubris almost always proved his undoing as the heroes were regularly able to trick the imp into saying or writing his name backwards, once more sending him back to the Fifth Dimension. A version of the character featured in the television series Lois and Clark portrayed by actor/comedian Howie Mandel; another version appeared in the show Smallville played by actor Trent Ford; while actors Peter Gadiot and Thomas Lennon have portrayed him in the show Supergirl. Mr Mxyzptlk first appeared in Superman #30 (1944).

[the-overanalyzer]

Counting Down With Countdown - #31

W DNT ND N STNKNG VWLS

Countdown’s slimy tendrils extended to cover every corner of the DCU. Even the 5th dimension wasn’t safe, as Mr. Mxyzptlk and Ms. Gsptlsnz discovered to their shock. But who could kidnap an imp? It isn’t Monarch, although we do see him recruit the Crime Society in this issue. Darkseid wouldn’t countenance Mxy’s signature frivolity, nor would the Monitors. In fact, none of our antagonists have been very active, excluding the still-unknown God-killer. We don’t have a bad guy yet, our top villain slot is wide open.

Prime real estate, you might say.

[pluckyredhead]

A Guide to the Super Sons, Part 2: Jon Kent (Superboy)

Time for another installment in “please please please get on this Super Sons train with me, there’s lots of empty seats and I have already raided the snack car”! Last time, I told you about Damian Wayne, son of Batman. Today we’re talking Jon Kent, son of Superman.

This is Jon:

Why yes, he is an actual precious angel from heaven, I’m so glad you noticed.

Biography:

Jon’s origin is either very simple or very complicated, depending on how much detail you give.

Simple version: He is the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Easy peasy!

Complicated version: Oof, okay, let’s see.

To put this as succinctly as possible: Lois and Clark fell in love, she found out his secret, and in 1996, they got married, and remained happily so for fifteen years. Then, in 2011, DC decided to reboot their universe, erasing all that history. Clark and Lois were no longer involved, and also everyone’s costume was much dumber. Sad times all around.

In 2015, DC told a big crossover story featuring different versions of their characters across various realities. One of those realities showed the universe before the 2011 reboot, which is known as the Post-Crisis universe (the post-2011 universe is the New 52), and we got to see married Clark and Lois again. And Lois was pregnant! Whoa!

Because the rest of Lois’s life has to be really shitty to karmically balance out her being flawless and having the best possible husband, she wound up giving birth in the Batcave with Clark as her doula and a creepy alternate universe version of Batman’s dad sobbing in the background. But she got this li’l nugget out of it!

Pictured: a nugget.

Clark’s adoptive father’s name is Jonathan and Lois’s father’s name is Sam so Jon is basically Dad Dad Kent, but it’s fine. (In the post-Crisis continuity, Sam Lane definitely committed genocide against the remaining Kryptonians including Clark’s aunt/Supergirl’s mother, but sure, name your kid after him, forgiveness is divine I guess.)

The Post-Crisis universe is then destroyed, but the Kents are able to escape to the New 52 universe. Since there’s already a Clark and Lois there, post-Crisis Clark and Lois decide to change their names to White (in honor of Perry 😭) and settle down to anonymous, non-superheroic, non-Pulitzer-winning-and-constantly-falling-out-of-helicopters lives.

Well, okay, they’re both still totally doing those things, but discreetly in order to keep Jon safe. They also don’t tell him that Clark’s (a backup) Superman or that they’re all from another dimension. Sure hope he doesn’t wind up being as clever and curious as his mother with a side helping of super hearing!

Whoops.

Just as Jon’s getting his head around all these revelations and his new powers, the other Superman and Lois, the New 52 ones, die. Our Clark and Lois just kind of...take over their lives? Yes, it is a little creepy. The “White” family moves from California to “upstate” of whatever state Metropolis is in and inexplicably changes their unconvincing last name to the even less convincing “Smith,” again to keep Jon hidden.

(Somewhere in there Batman finds out about all this and is like “Please make your son be friends with my poorly socialized feral demon child.” But we’ll cover Jon and Damian’s friendship in Part 3!)

Shortly thereafter, Jon is kidnapped by the Superman villain Mr. Mxyzptlk, an imp from the 5th dimension who likes to show up and annoy Superman periodically. He’s mad because he thinks Superman has replaced him with a new playmate (Jon), so he makes Clark and Lois forget about Jon’s existence. Luckily for Jon, the souls of the New 52 Clark and Lois (the dead ones) are still hovering around, and Jon asks them for help, but only manages to put them into his parents’ bodies, displacing his parents’ actual souls.

BUT THE POWER OF LOVE SAVES THEM ALL!!! And also somehow combines the souls of the Post-Crisis and New 52 Clark and Lois, which combines the ENTIRE POST-CRISIS AND NEW 52 UNIVERSES, and that’s how we get our current continuity, Rebirth, and also why Jon is no longer a secret and Clark and Lois’s friends are like “Oh yes, Jon who I’ve known all his life, what a good kid.”

DC! It’s a headache!

The Kents move to Metropolis and things are mostly pretty cool except that Jon’s powers are a little unpredictable. Also, he gets a glimpse of a possible future where, um, his powers go haywire and he kills a lot of people. Which is why when Clark’s deranged biological father Jor-El shows up and offers to take Jon to space to learn how to use his powers, Jon leaps at the chance. Clark and Lois are skeptical but eventually agree, even though JOR-EL IS A LITERAL SUPERVILLAIN.

Yes, definitely let your son go into space with the man with the kryptonite eye, great plan, Kents.

This is what Jon looks like when he comes back:

HI YES I WILL BE ANGRY ABOUT THIS FOREVER. Turns out Jon fell through a wormhole into Earth-3, where there’s an evil version of his father called Ultraman, who kept him imprisoned in a volcano for literal years. So even though only three weeks have passed since his parents ABANDONED HIM TO OUTER SPACE AND THE CLUTCHES OF A MANIAC, about 6-7 years have passed for him and he is now approximately 17.

*snorts angrily like a bull*

CLARK AND LOIS WOULD NEVER. THERE IS ALREADY A TEENAGE SUPERBOY. THIS IS BULLSHIT.

(No, I don’t know where he got the scar. He’s literally shown without it three seconds before he encounters Clark. Maybe he cut his face on a cloud?)

Anyway, Clark and Jon (and Supergirl) immediately have to go into outer space to deal with some interplanetary conflict and Jon makes the suggestion that the various planets involved create a United Planets, modeled on the United Nations, to prevent this. Not only do they agree, but this turns out to be such an important idea that the Legion of Super-Heroes, a team of teen heroes from the 31st century, shows up to inform everyone that this day is still celebrated in the future as Unity Day and also could Jon please pretty please come join the Legion because he’s basically the savior of the universe and also dreamy?

Jon is like - I shit you not - “Well, I have to check with Damian first.”

But he does in fact wind up joining the Legion (sure, Clark, let him go again, it went so well the last time!) and has been a member now for about 5 issues? He’s a little discombobulated these days. Anyway, you can find his current adventures in Legion of Super-Heroes and presumably he will occasionally guest star in his father’s various books.

Personality:

Jon looks pretty much exactly like Clark, but don’t be fooled! He is absolutely Lois’s child too - in fact, in a lot of ways, he’s more like Lois. Like her, he’s brilliant, inquisitive, teasing, impulsive, careless of his own safety, and 100% ready to fight anyone at the slightest provocation, especially if they are bigger than him. But like Clark, he is pure sweetness and wants to be friends with everyone and everything, including whoever he just fought.

This is most immediately evident with Damian, as we’ll see in the next installment in this series, but also in the way he urges both of his parents to reconcile with their horrible biological fathers because they’re his grandpas, come on, it can’t be that bad! In a lot of ways he’s defined by his seemingly endless capacity for trust and forgiveness, although he has also lived a life filled with love and support so he doesn’t really have a scale for, like, things so bad they justify estrangement. He’s also had a lot of upheaval in his life, as Jon White in California and Jon Smith in Hamilton County and Jon Kent in Metropolis, with only Lois and Clark as his anchors, so it makes sense that he’d want to build more family and stability.

In summary: pure of heart but feisty, because his parents raised him right. (Until they abruptly didn’t, but that’s Bendis’s fault and I’m ignoring it with both hands.) Even as a teenager he really retains that boyish sweetness.

Relationships:

Clark and Lois: I don’t know what to tell you. They are literally a perfect family and I want Clark and Lois to adopt me but also I’d like to somehow marry into that action because yowza. It’s just unconditional love and support and trust all the way down.

Jonathan and Martha Kent: Okay, so technically they were dead when Jon was introduced and have since been retconned to being alive but only since Jon went to the future, so theoretically he loves them but we have no canon interactions.

Jor-El: Jon has finally been convinced that this particular grandpa is not one he wants to hang out with, but I think Jor-El’s dead again so who cares.

Sam Lane: Jon really really wanted to have a relationship with him which Lois was super (ha) on the fence about because Sam’s the worst (see above, re: genocide) but she eventually let them hang out (okay, Jon stowed away on her clandestine mission to rescue Sam when he was lost in a jungle held by enemy soldiers) and Sam was like “Well, I hate your filthy alien father but you seem pretty cool.” Sam’s also dead now. Maybe. He’s a super spy so he fakes his death a lot. No interactions between Jon and Lois’s sister Lucy yet.

Supergirl: Jon and Kara (who are technically second cousins, since she and Clark are first cousins) don’t interact very much because comics exist only to deprive me, but they’re sweet when they do.

Kon/Conner Kent/Superboy: Okay, so there was a Superboy before Jon, in the Post-Crisis universe, who is a clone of Superman and Lex Luthor (yes, there is a canon Clex baby), and he is a hotshot 90s teen and I would die for him. Genetically speaking, that makes him Jon’s big brother. He has recently been reintroduced to the main DC universe and if he and Jon don’t eventually interact I will write such a sternly worded letter, you don’t even know.

The Legion: Eh, he just met them, there’s no there there yet.

Krypto: The El family dog from Krypton. He loves Jon almost as much as I do, which is a LOT.

Kathy Cobb: Jon has even fewer friends than Damian, since he’s only been around five years and his family keeps moving. Kathy was his closest neighbor in Hamilton County and took all of his poorly hidden weirdness in stride, which made sense when it turned out she (and a bunch of the rest of the town) were also aliens in hiding.

Hey, it’s Kathy! And Krypto! Did I use this specific panel because it also includes Damian sleepy and grumpy in Jon’s clothes? YOU CAN’T PROVE ANYTHING.

Next up: the Super Sons friendship!

[ao3feed-supercorp]

Mr. Mx Reveals the Truth

by SuckerForLove24

A new Mxyzptlk shows up at Kara's door to inform her of what the last one did. Mr. Mx fixes the mess Mxy created after Kara trapped him in the 5th dimension.

Words: 1595, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Supergirl (TV 2015)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Kara Danvers, Mxyzptlk (DCU), Alex Danvers, Lena Luthor

Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Additional Tags: Soul Mates AU, kara and lena are soul mates, post s5e12 Back From the Future Pt 2, Kara finds out the truth about her love life, Mxy cursed Kara, Mxy is a bad imp, Mr. Mx is a good imp, Soft and Fluffy, Supercorp endgame

from AO3 works tagged 'Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor' https://ift.tt/2u9kD5W via IFTTT http://archiveofourown.org/works/22794397