Bizarro.

Bizarro is what you get when a copy of Superman goes wrong. He looks like the Man of Steel, has his powers back to front and lives on a planet where everything is upside down. He’s one of the strangest characters in Superman’s world.

Who is Bizarro?

Bizarro is an imperfect duplicate of Superman. Where Superman’s powers work one way, Bizarro’s work the other. Even his name for his home world is reversed.

Bizarro’s first appearance

The first Bizarro appeared in Superboy #68 (1958), created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp. The adult Bizarro, a copy of Superman rather than Superboy, followed in Action Comics #254 (1959).

Backwards powers

He also has vacuum breath. See every colour of kryptonite for the rest.

Htrae and the Bizarro Code

Bizarro’s home is Htrae, which is “Earth” spelled backwards. It’s a cube-shaped planet run by the Bizarro Code: do the opposite of everything people do on Earth.

How Superman beats him

Our source doesn’t describe a standard method. Blue kryptonite is the usual tool (Likely).

Key Bizarro stories

• The “Bizarro’s World” serial (Silver Age)
• Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (1986)

Bizarro on screen

Barry Meyers played him in Superboy, Dean Cain in the Lois & Clark episode “Vatman”, Tom Welling in Smallville and Tyler Hoechlin in Superman & Lois. Tim Daly voiced him in Superman: The Animated Series. For the other twisted versions of Superman, see Superman’s versions and Elseworlds, and for the rest of his enemies, Superman’s villains.