Rogues Gallery #10 - BIZARRO Pt. 1

Deep in the rocky terrain of a cliff near the Grand Canyon, a small jeep roared to a halt near a large facility. Lex Luthor rapidly got out of the jeep and approached the large building, two security guards on either side of him. Luthor punched in a few numbers on a computer screen near the entrance of the LexCorp building. The door to the entrance slid open and the billionaire strutted inside.

Luthor confidently strolled down a dark hallway and finally to a widespread dim-lit room. A tall tube was in the middle of the room. It was full of a lime-colored liquid. In the glass tube, was a silhouette.

“M-Mr. L-Lu-Luthor,” a short scientist stuttered, “we were n-not expecting you for a-at l-least another week.”

Luthor smiled deviously at the stout man, amused by his fear.

“Quite the point, Dr. Lawrence. You see I like to make sure my employees are well prepared for any kind of a surprise.” Luthor smirked.

Dr. Lawrence responded with an uneasy twitch of the mouth. Luthor approached the glass tube. A man was inside of it. His skin pale and cracked.

“What’s the status of the subject?” Luthor wondered as he place his hand on the glass.

Lawrence wiped his glasses off with his shirt, sweat rolling down his forehead.

“Well physically h-he’s as healthy as he can be for his condition. But his mind is still qu-quite unstable,” Lawrence explained, stuttering from the presence of the sinister man.

“You are working on the machine to stabilize his molecules, correct?” Luthor asked, darkly.

“Y-yes, sir. It’s finished but we have not been able to test it.”

“Well don’t you think now would be a good time to start?” Luthor grinned, pondering what was to come.

“B-but, Mr. Luthor, we’re not sure of what affect the machine may have on him. It could kill him!” Dr. Lawrence pleaded.

“Risks are necessary in order for progression, doctor.” Luthor stared at the clone of his greatest enemy. “Prep the subject.”



“Hey, Smallville, did ya hear the news?” Lois asked Clark as they sat at their desks in the Daily Planet building.

“No, Lois...” Clark looked at her strangely.

“Apparently Lex Luthor has booked a flight out west. Left a meeting to do it. Said he had something important to check up on,” Lois told her colleague.

Clark raised an eyebrow. All of the sounds of the world flooded into his brain at the same time. The loud horn of a passing truck, the ticking of a small boy’s watch in Missouri, an elderly woman watching Wheel of Fortune, and finally he heard what he was searching for.

“It wi-will take a minute to release the subject fr-from the containment tube. Are y-you sure this is a wise decision, Mister Luthor?” the voice of a squeaky man questioned, hesitantly.

Clark turned his attention back to Lois.

“Umm, excuse me for a minute. I need to make a quick stop at the restroom.” Clark loosened his tie.

“Same old Clark Kent. Needs to use the bathroom whenever something exciting happens.” Lois smiled to herself.





“Of course I know what I’m doing, you twit!” Luthor growled.

Lawrence took a few shaky steps back as Luthor looked at the computer screens displaying the condition of the subject.

“I have tried everything I can to beat that alien but there is only one way that will show success.” Luthor turned to the scientist. “The only way to stop something as powerful as Superman is with something just as powerful. Both mentally and physically.”


Dr. Lawrence could see the contempt in the man’s eyes.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Luthor snapped.

The green liquid drained from the glass tube. The imperfect replica of Superman’s eyes slowly opened, still adjusting to the darkness.

“Where am me?”

Luthor looked at the doppelganger with eagerness.

“A place of rebirth.”

“Re...birth?” The cracked face man sounded out to himself, trying to figure out what it meant but soon giving up.

Dr. Lawrence stood in the shadows, shaking hysterically.

Luthor held a box in his hands and opened it, revealing a dark red and blue suit with a backwards S symbol.

The clone stared at the apparel for a minute. He touched the symbol with his hand and slid his fingers across it, curiously.

“This is your suit. You are the Earth’s greatest hero, well next to me of course.” A confident smile stretched across Luthor’s face.

The new arrival stared at him, waiting for more information.

“A being known as Superman is trying to destroy the Earth. But you, my friend, must stop him,” Luthor lied, knowing full well that Superman was the Earth’s greatest protector.

“Superman? Me not understand. Me am Superman. Me am hero!” the clone proclaimed angrily, confused by what he had just heard.

Luthor was surprised by the clone’s reaction to the information.

“Rather bizarre, aren’t you...” Luthor stared at the clone.

“Bizarre...” the wide-eyed replica pronounced. “Bizarre...o...”

Lex smiled. “It appears he can talk, unlike his predecessors.”

Lex Luthor’s eyes shifted to the clone. He had to come up with a story fast.

“There is another Superman, an imposter, pretending to be you.”





Bizarro put on the suit and Luthor led him to another section of the lab where a gigantic metallic machine waited.

“Well, shall we begin?” Luthor nodded to Dr. Lawrence.

“Sorry, Luthor, but I won’t allow it.” Superman stood in the entrance, arms folded.

Bizarro looked from Superman to Luthor, having no clue what to do. Luthor nodded at Bizarro.

“Imposter! You am not Superman!” Bizarro charged at the Man of Steel.

“Calm down!” Superman pleaded, dodging a punch.

Luthor made eye contact with Dr. Lawrence and they ran to the emergency exit.

“You am imposter! Bald man told me all about you!” Bizarro tried to grab Superman but was kicked in the gut, sliding across the floor.

Superman followed but Bizarro jumped to his feet and took a deep breath. He exhaled and blew out a flurry of raging fire. Superman leapt out of the way.

“What the...” Superman stared at Bizarro.

Bizarro glared at his enemy and suddenly Superman’s leg froze. Superman gasped at the sight of his leg frozen to the floor.

“How did you...” The hero looked up to see Bizarro look at his remaining leg which froze on the spot. "You have powers like mine?"

Bizarro approached him slowly, cautiously. Bizarro’s counterpart used this moment to his advantage. Superman used his heat vision to melt the ice off.

“Huh?” Bizarro was surprised by the counterattack.

Superman leapt to his feet and stared at his disfigured clone. He realized that his opponent wasn’t evil. Just...confused, but dangerous.

“I’m sorry.” Superman frowned but he knew what had to be done.

The Last Son of Krypton flew through the air towards Bizarro and with all of his strength, his fist cracked into Bizarro, sending the clone crashing into the machine. Electricity sparked around it from the impact. Bizarro seemed to not be able to move and screamed in agony as the machine began to explode. There was a flash of bright light followed by a thunderous boom. The machine self-destructed and Superman soared through the roof as the facility went up in a ball of flames.





Superman hovered high above in the air, overlooking the destruction. He frowned. That explosion was sure to have killed Bizarro, and Luthor seemed to have escaped.

Looks like I’m too late. There was something strange about that machine. It looked like it was hurting Bizarro which meant it may have been capable of killing the clone.

Superman widened his eyes a tiny bit as his x-ray vision kicked in, surveying the building. He tried to see through the rubble but to no avail.

Typical Lex. Lead-lined walls, Superman thought.






In the wreckage of the lab, a figure emerged from the rubble. Dust slid down the dark blue suit and maroon cape.

Uhh. What happened? Wait...

The figure looked around the destroyed room.

Life seemed to be going at normally but everyone seemed to moving very slowly. He wasn't sure why that was, but he knew he was normal.... He felt like he was normal.

The man looked at his hands. Peach-colored and full of life.

I’m...

The man looked into a shattered shard of glass to see his face. A gleeful smile emerged on it.

“...perfect,” he finished his thought and announced aloud.





Luthor was on edge, sat in a leather chair, in his private jet, across from Dr. Lawrence.

“The boy scout...of course he ruins everything...thinks he has to be involved with every tiny detail of everyone’s life!” Luthor growled, staring out of the window.

“You’re r-right, s-s-sir.” Lawrence shook in his chair.

Luthor’s eyes shifted to the scientist with satisfaction.

“What’s the matter, Mr. Lawrence? Don’t like to fly?” Luthor smiled, knowing full well why his employee was so nervous. He was used to having that effect on people.

Luthor’s moment of amusement ended however as he tried to replay in his head everything that had happened in the last few hours.

Luthor began to whistle to himself, his eyes closed. Dr. Lawrence wiped some sweat from his forehead, hoping Mr. Luthor hadn’t noticed.

“Wh-wha-wha-what’re you hum-humming?” Lawrence twitched nervously, regretting immediately that he had tried to start a conversation with the intimidating man.

“Beethoven’s Ninth,” Luthor replied quietly, his eyes still shut tight. “Do you like Beethoven, Mr. Lawrence?”

The technician hadn’t expected this.

“Um...yes, ye-yes, sir...”

“Good man.” Luthor continued to whistle as the jet passed through the clouds.





Superman could see Metropolis in the distance as he passed through the clouds. The Man of Steel descended down toward the magnificent skyscrapers of the city. As he passed by what seemed to be endless rows of windows, a plea for help rang through the air. Superman looked up ahead to see a construction site with an enormous crane on the top of it. The crane was spinning out of control as the operator inside hollered in horror. Citizens on the street below ran, screeching.

Superman sped up, approaching the construction zone. The crane suddenly detached from the pillars it was on.

“No!” Superman cried as he raced towards the failing machine as it plummeted towards the crowded streets below.

The operator was thrown from the crane and fell through the air. The crowd below panicked and started to run from the area. Superman had to choose. He flew to the descending operator and grasped his leg him in mid-air but realized he was too late to catch the monstrous object. After a moment, there was no crash or any screams of agony. Superman opened his eyes to see the crane floating in the air, above the mass of people below.

The crane began to ascend towards the Man of Tomorrow and the construction worker in his arms held on tighter. The machine stopped in front of him. The crane raised higher and Superman saw a man holding it up with ease.





The newcomer wore a dark blue suit, and a crimson cape rested on his back. Superman recognized the shield on his chest. A backwards S.

“That symbol...You?” Superman questioned but then he saw the man’s face.

It was a perfect mirror image of himself, right down to his baby blues.

“Thought you could use a hand.” The new and improved Bizarro chuckled as he lifted the crane above his head.





“How’d this happen to you?” Superman questioned.

Superman and Bizarro stood on a rooftop overlooking the crowded street that was now filled with news crews and civilians spreading gossip over what had happened.

“It happened when you punched me into that machine. I was caught in this huge explosion and then everything went white,” Bizarro began to explain. “And then I woke up to see that I wasn’t a failure anymore. I was just like you.”

Superman looked down over the edge of the skyscraper to see commotion in the streets. Bizarro’s eyes looked at the Man of Steel for a moment.

This is great! I finally can have a life I’ve always dreamed of, Bizarro thought to himself.

“So you’re saying...I did this to you.” Superman turned back to his counterpart.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I consider this a miracle.” Bizarro put his hand on Superman’s shoulder.

Superman looked at the hand for a moment. Bizarro smiled and opened his mouth, “In fact, I had something I wanted to ask you about.”






Luthor sat in his office at LexCorp, staring at the paperwork for his Project Facade. Dr. Lawrence sat across the desk from him, his head held low.

“Well do you think we could restart? I mean the process was interrupted. That grotesque clone did not go through the procedure. We need to find a way to recover from this...” Luthor muttered as he stared at the diagrams and theories on the project.

The doors to the office opened and a security guard of Luthor’s entered the room.

“Sir, you might want to turn on the TV,” the man announced.

Luthor made eye contact with him and knew it was of great importance. Luthor pressed a button on his desk and a large TV descended from the ceiling. An image appeared of a crowd cheering and Superman standing next to what appeared to be another Superman.

“Well, I’ll be damned...” Luthor gazed at the television with great intensity.






A tall, blond-haired man wearing a fancy suit, complete with a scarlet tie, stepped into a warehouse full of crates. A group of muscular men stood in the middle of the only lit area in the building, watching a TV.

“What’s this?” the blond man questioned as he stepped in.

“Boss, look at this! Superman’s got friends!” One of the cronies pointed to the television screen.

The blond-haired man, known as John Osborne, a notorious arms dealer in Metropolis, slowly approached the TV, with a curious expression pasted on his face.

“This might ruin our shipment plans. Two Men of Steel; One is already hard enough to deal with.” John paced near the crates.

“But, boss...” one of the henchmen began.

“Silence! I’ve already come up with a solution, thanks to our new shipment of weaponry.” John tapped his hand on one of the crates.

“You’re a genius, boss,” the goon proclaimed.

“Hand me that crowbar,” John ordered and the man picked up one off of the ground and handed it to his leader.

John slid the crowbar underneath the top of the crate and ripped it open, revealing a crateful of emerald rocks, shining brightly onto his face.

“No matter how many of something you have, if they all have the same flaw then they are useless...” He picked up a piece of the green rock from the crate and looked at it closely.

“Kryptonite. Superman’s Achilles’ Heel. Soon we will use it on both of these Supermen.” John eyed the stone and chuckled quietly to himself.






Superman and Bizarro were surrounded by the crowd as microphones and reporters with notepads stared at them.

“Superman, what is your reaction to this recent turn of events?” a beautiful red-headed reporter wondered.

“Well, it’s very fortunate that Bizarro has been transformed into...um...me.” Superman smiled as photographers’ cameras flashed.

Bizarro laughed under his breath, so surprised by the attention he was getting.

“So now that there are two Supermen, is Metropolis big enough for the both of you?”

“Of course, but that is only if Bizarro wishes to stay,” Superman replied.

Bizarro smiled at the crowd, happy about the response.

“This is a question for you, Bizarro,” The doppelganger turned his attention to a gruff man with a white mustache and a notepad and pen. “Do you like the name Bizarro or are you going to change it?”

“Well, I guess I could be called Kid Superman.”

The reporters laughed. Superman wasn’t expecting this positive reaction but he could see the eagerness in Bizarro’s face.

Something was up though. Something Metropolis’s hero couldn’t put his finger on. He never expected his counterpart to be a comedian. It was as if he was actually warming up to the crowd, attempting to outshine Superman.






“Excuse me but I’d like to make an announcement,” Bizarro told the crowd as the reporters’ microphones closed in.

The whole street went silent and everyone waited in anticipation.

“I know I’m not the original Superman. I know I am not the All-American Hero of this city. But I promise you I will do everything within my power to protect it from greed, poverty, injustice, and threats. I will work tirelessly for the people of Metropolis!”

The crowd started to cheer and Bizarro stood tall.

“Starting now, I will be aiding Superman in his defense of the world.”