Bizarro World
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| Bizarro World (Htrae) | |
 If this infobox is not supposed to have an image, please add "|noimge=yes". |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| In story information | |
| Type | Planet |
| Notable people | Bizarro Yellow Lantern Batzarro |
The Bizarro World (also known as Htrae) is a fictional planet in the DC comics universe. Introduced in the early 1960s, Htrae is a cube-shaped planet, home to Bizarro and his companions, all of whom were initially Bizarro versions of Superman, Lois Lane and their children. Later, other Bizarros were created to add to the population including Bizarro Flash, "the Yellow Lantern", Bizarro-Kltpzyxm and Batzarro, the World's Worst Detective.
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[edit] Concept
In the Bizarro world of "Htrae" ("Earth" spelled backwards), society is ruled by the Bizarro Code which states "Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!". In one episode, for example, a salesman is doing a brisk trade selling Bizarro bonds: "Guaranteed to lose money for you". Later, the mayor appoints Bizarro #1 to investigate a crime, "Because you are stupider than the entire Bizarro police force put together". This is intended and taken as a great compliment.
Later stories introduced Bizarro versions of Superman's supporting cast, including Bizarro-Perry White and Bizarro-Jimmy Olsen, created by using the duplicator ray on characters other than Superman and Lois Lane, as well as the children of Bizarro and Bizarro Lois. There was even a Bizarro-Justice League and Legion of Super-Heroes: the Bizarro League and the Legion of Stupor-Heroes.
"Tales of the Bizarro World" became a recurring segment in Adventure Comics from 1961 to 1962.
On one occasion, Keith Giffen portrayed Htrae itself as being sentient — "Me am the Bizarro World. Planet Earth not think ... therefore, me do" — and its only sane inhabitant was the Bizarro Ambush Bug.
In the new comic books, Bizarro lives in a Metropolis graveyard he calls The Graveyard of Solitude.
In the imaginary story, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, which served as an ending to Silver Age Superman continuity, Bizarro destroyed Bizarro World in order to be a better imperfect duplicate of Superman.
After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Superman: Man of Steel miniseries rebooted Superman continuity. The editors and writers at DC Comics considered Bizarro World to be too silly and childish, so they did not reintroduce Bizarro World in the reboot. Though in Superman (vol. 2) #87, the second Post-Crisis Bizarro clone creates a "Bizarro World" which is a warehouse made to look like a surreal Metropolis. However, the Fifth-Dimensionally empowered Joker recreate Earth into the cube-shaped Bizarro-Earth, populated by various odd and bizarre inhabitants. Eventually the Joker is defeated and Earth is returned to its normal state.
The distinctive cube-shaped Earth of Bizarro World did briefly appear in the pages of Infinite Crisis alongside the other Earths in space. A close-up, labeled Earth-0, is seen wherein a smiling Bizarro is strangling a smiling Bizarro-Lois, with Bizarros Hawkman, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White standing alongside and laughing.
A cube-shaped planet, populated by assorted Bizarros, was discovered orbiting a blue sun by a Thanagarian patrol ship.
In Action Comics #855, Bizarro captures Jonathan Kent and takes him to the cube-shaped world, prompting Superman to follow him.
Outside mainstream DC continuity, All Star Superman #7-8 featured the return of Htrae and Bizarro, in which the sentient cubic Htrae attacked Earth until Superman distracted it away, unfortunately experiencing loss of his abilities due to the superheavy gravity pull of Htrae as it retreats back to its own realm, as well as doppler shift which replicates the effects of red sun radiation, eroding his superpowers. On this revisionist Htrae, he encounters Bizarro duplicates of Batman, Jor-El ("Le-Roj") and Zibarro, a perfect duplicate of Superman. There is also a imperfect duplicate of the Statue of Liberty visible in the background, although unnamed. Htrae vanishes back into the Underverse, a newly discovered dimension, at story's end.
[edit] In popular culture
The concept of "Bizarro" has been ingrained in popular culture where it has come to mean a weirdly mutilated version of anything, not confined to characters in DC Comics publications[1] and as such, so has the concept of Bizarro World.
"Bizarro Land" is referred to by Captain Hero in the episode "Gay Bash" of animated series Drawn Together, as is a Bizarro Captain Hero who is never given a name. Though it is not the same place it maintains many of the same features as Bizarro World except that the speech is normal. Captain Hero in "Drawn Together" believes he was in Bizarro Land, rather than a public restroom at a bus station that sells Bizarro Land postcards, when he had a sexual encounter with his Bizarro duplicate.
[edit] Seinfeld
The concept of "Bizarro World" is a fundamental element in "The Bizarro Jerry", the 137th episode of American sitcom Seinfeld. In the episode, Elaine makes a new group of friends who represent inverted types of the normal Seinfeld gang. Jerry labels them a bizarro world. These characters are kind, considerate, curious about the world around them, and good citizens. Though Elaine is initially attracted to their friendly ways, she is ultimately turned off by the formality and lack of simple camaraderie which she enjoys with her old, selfish, shortsighted group. A second reason for her leaving the Bizarro group is the fact that she is "normal" Elaine. Conceivably, her Bizarro version would be ladylike.
[edit] In other media
- Bizarro World makes its first television appearance in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, in the episode "The Bizarro Super Powers Team". It is seemingly populated by countless Bizarro-Supermen, led by the original Bizarro.
- In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Bizarro's World", Bizarro finds the Fortress of Solitude where he interacts with Brainiac and discovers his "origin". Soon he creates his own Krypton on a section of Metropolis and uses a theater as the House of El. Later, Superman gives Bizarro his own world to protect, a moon with vegetation and a green sky showing a Saturn-like planet, and several other moons. The episode is based on the comic book Superman (vol. 2) #87.
