Bizarro #4 Review

Written by: Heath Corson
Art by: Gustavo Duarte, Darwyn Cooke, Pete Pantazis, Lee Loughridge and Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 16, 2015

In Bizarro, Book Reads You

Say what you will about the early success or failure of the DC You, but I have really been enjoying the mini series that DC has been putting out since June.  Of course, this book is one of them and it's been a fun little road trip starring Jimmy Olsen and Bizarro, but almost as important, a slew of awesome guest stars.  You never know who might pop up and it almost always leads to hilarity.  This issue continues the fun as our heroes head off to Branson to collect a bounty and take in a magic show.  Branson?  Magic?  Yakov Smirnoff?  Let's find out...




After a funny little recap of the entire series thanks to a fortune teller, Jimmy and Bizarro head into Branson.  It may be a magical town, but Jimmy reveals that he simply hates magic.  While he takes a call about his coffee table book proposal, Bizarro gets first hand experience of the selfie craze.  After collecting their part of the bounty from Chastity, they get to the main draw of the issue...a magic show starring Zatanna!

As far as openers go, this one was funny enough, but pretty standard for the series.  It did an okay job of catching everyone up with the goings on here, but kind of points out that not too much happens in the book anyway.  That's okay with me, however, as I'm here for the fun and what could be more fun than combining Bizarro with backwards word magic?

I love Zatanna and while her show starts off pretty tame, it gets a hundred times better when she asks for an assistant from the crowd and Bizarro is happy to oblige.  When she does the old disappearing act, instead of seeing the reaction from the crowd, we see where Bizarro actually goes.  It's a trip from the Rock of Eternity to Skataris and many places in between.  This book has done the same thing before and I had the same reaction then...I wanted to see more.

Like I asked above, what could be more fun than Bizarro and backwards word magic?  How about Bizarro stealing Zatanna's magic, a freaky Friday issue between Jimmy and Bizarro and the whole town of Branson being turned upside down?  Yea, this issue was fun, but I think the best part was when both Jimmy and Bizarro realize what the other has been going through since they met.  It's one of those lessons that can only be learned by walking in someone else's shoes...or maybe their backwards superhero costume and a tuxedo.

After a great guest star makes a crazy appearance, Jimmy and Bizarro are back to normal just in time to be apprehended by the man and woman in black that have been chasing them the entire series.  We find out that instead of apprehending them, they have other plans.  It looks like next issue is going to be an alien conspiracy theory enthusiasts dream come true.

While I always have fun with this book, I am starting to want a little something more.  I love Jimmy and Bizarro together and it's fun seeing the great guest stars, but it is getting a little too predictable. I hope that changing things up with not Mulder and Scully  will makes things fresh for the stretch run.

The art in this series has been great from the start and this issue is no exception.  I have enjoyed the guest artist page each issue and this one has a great one from Darwyn Cooke.

Bits and Pieces:

If you have enjoyed Bizarro up to this point, you will enjoy this issue.  I don't know that newcomers will find a great jumping on point this month, but if you are looking for a fun title that shows the lighter side of the DCU, look no further.

7.0/10