REVIEW: Bizarro: Year None #1
Bizarro: Year None #1, “Chapter One: The Planet” marks the return of the illustrious Kevin Smith to the DCU. This four issue mini series may, or may not, help define the origins of Superman’s imperfect clone and the world he inhabits. Making the story all the more interesting, it also acts as the inaugural adventure of Perry White and Jimmy Olsen. So, hang on to your hats, kids! This is sure to be one heck of a ride.
The standard cover is by Nick Pitarra and Michael Garland. Standing on the edge off the cubed planet Bizarro World, Bizarro presents himself in a savior-esque pose. This imagery is seen a few times within the issue and it adds a nuanced perspective to the character that is rarely seen.
The legendary Frank Quietly does a variant and it’s easy to see the artistic similarities between Pitarra and Quietly’s work. Posed in homage to the classic Rodin sculpture, ‘The Thinker’, we’re given yet another interesting perspective of Bizarro. Not usually thought of as a particularly intelligent character, this cover suggests we reevaluate that idea.
The variant by Dan Mora plays with the opposites theme of Bizarro by giving us a “Totally Normal” Al Yankovic cameo cover. It makes perfect sense for the Bizarro version of “Weird” Al Yankovic to be wearing a suit & tie, combed down hair, and carrying a briefcase. Adding Bizarro and Batzarro behind Al makes this the perfect compliment to Mora’s variant of ‘Batman/Superman: World’s Finest’ #50.
Other great variants are by Fernando Pasarín & Oclair Albert & Arif Prianto, and Ibrahim Moustafa, with Nick Pitarra & Michael Garland’s cover getting the foil treatment.
Nick Pitarra and Colorist Michael Garland also handle the interior art for ‘Bizarro: Year None’ #1. Their work is incredibly detailed and it’s easy to get lost dissecting each panel. It really makes the world feel alive and “real” which oddly makes the cubed nature of Bizarro World seem plausible. Where most Bizarro tales play up the comedy or horror aspects of the character, this one has started on a more serious tone and the art truly helps define and ground it in that vein. Intentional or not, there’s also an ‘All Star Superman’ feel to the interior art which elevates the story in all the right ways.
Kevin Smith and Eric Carrasco get lettered by Dave Sharpe for this fascinating reintroduction of Bizarro ‘s origins. At his core, Bizarro is a fairly tragic character and this issue really builds on the initial intentions he has for his world and the safety of its people. This is Bizarro before the imperfections take hold and turn his skin chalky white and adle his brain, but there’s hints of those more familiar traits already within his character. How he came to be is subtly described through the context of the story and can almost be seen as a throw away line. That seems to indicate this isn’t an origin of “how”, but an origin of “becoming”. The tragedy of his downfall is more important than the specifics of his creation. All of this being told through the eyes of Perry White and Jimmy Olsen. The George Lucas storytelling trope of an epic tale being told through the narrative of two seemingly minor characters shouldn’t be lost on avid Kevin Smith fans but it’s fascinating to see it within the infancy of those characters’ relationship. This is definitely not a typical Bizarro outing and surely not one to pass up.
(8/10) I absolutely love the timing of this release being April Fool’s Day. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the style of art being used, but I feel it works well for the context of the series. Other than that, I’m super excited to see how Kevin Smith unfolds this story and based off this first issue, I have a feeling we won’t be disappointed.
