REVIEW: Bizarro: Year None #3

Bizarro: Year None #3 continues Kevin Smith and Eric Carrasco’s take on a very misunderstood character and I have to say they are certainly learning towards a darker and grittier take on Superman’s imperfect double.

But before we get into the issue itself, let’s take a look at the covers! The main cover is by Nick Pitarra and gives us a bit of a ‘day in the life of’ type take on the character. The detail on this is great and really well thought out and for those that have followed the story, also features little easter eggs and clues.

Chris Burnham’s variant is another great representation of the story so far in this series. Burnham’s style is also perfectly matched to that of Pitarra, which allows this to be an extension of what we see in the issue itself. I also love the detail on the cubed Earth and also the stunned look on Jimmy and Perry’s faces as Bizarro hoists it overhead.

Ibrahim Moustafa’s is excellent! The detail here is great as we see Superman catch a glimpse at his imperfect reflection. It’s a simple, but effective concept that really brings to life the consequences of the issue.

Bizarro: Year None #3 opens up as Bizarro encourages Jimmy to teach him how to save people like Superman would and what he would do in any given situation. In this issue it comes to life that Bizarro’s world revolves around a specific event in Jimmy’s timeline and this world is forced to relive it every single day. In this moment, it starts to become clear why so many people of this world are starting to turn on Bizarro and those that he saves in this incident, purposefully run back into the flames hoping for death.

Meanwhile Perry White finds himself kidnapped by his colleagues of this world and tries to get answers too on why people are turning on Bizarro and why he is responding with killing them. Of course, the answer is more complicated and darker than we could have imagined, people are (rightfully) losing faith in him and also their minds in the process. They are forced to relive the same timeline each and every day and now that those who do not support Bizarro are able to track his exact whereabouts, they know exactly how to infiltrate the cracks and get things past him without his knowledge.

As if by clockwork, we find Bizarro exactly where they describe him to be and this moment gives us an idea of how backwards and broken this Bizarro is and how the people around him are treated and not only that, but what his behaviour and obsession is doing to his world. Here we see Jimmy try to explain where Bizarro is failing, he wants to be Superman but doesn’t understand what it means to be Superman – honestly this speech from Jimmy was the highlight of the issue for me and it was written perfectly by Smith and Carrasco. But that message clearly doesn’t set in as Bizarro fumbles General Lane’s plan to overturn him.

The interior art is by Nick Pitarra, colours by Michael Garland and letters by Dave Sharpe. I hate to continually say this, but the artwork has really made me struggle to read this issue. The story itself is solid, as is the concept and in parts the artwork really shines, especially towards the end of the issue. Where this team shine is in drawing backgrounds and adding the details that matter, but for me the artwork struggles on character design.

(7/10) Bizarro: Year None #3 gets pretty dark in places and shows Bizarro to be more of a villain than the misunderstood hero we know and love. With that said and the artwork aside, this issue really does up the game and stakes for this story leaving me excited for the next issue.