Recently, DC Comics unveiled the “Superman Superstars” initiative, in which “celebrated writers and artists” would collaborate on “can’t-miss Superman stories in one of DC’s flagship titles,” Action Comics. With the endeavor spanning January to December of this year, our first all-star pairing features writer Jason Aaron, artist John Timms, and colorist Rex Lokus on Action Comics #1061.
Not only is Aaron writing Superman for the very first time, but Bizarro too, and it’s a tale that spans rich alien worlds. Sure, Aaron is no slouch when it comes to writing these worlds — his 20-plus career at Marvel is proof of that — but DC Comics is a whole other ball game. Still, Aaron and company certainly look to hit the ground running, as they explore Sorcerer’s World and a tale of Bizarro seeking aid and guidance. The question is, though, what price is Bizarro willing to pay to truly get what he seeks?
I recently sat down with Aaron to unpack his work on both Action Comics and Batman: Off-World — which you can listen to here. Honing in on Action Comics specifically, Aaron offers up his novel perspective on Bizarro, writing this new story arc, his favorite Superman story, and much more!
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: I adore what you’re doing with Bizarro. You’re also dealing with another alien world at DC [similar to Batman: Off World]. This time, it’s the Sorcerer’s World. Is it fair to say your interest lies with alien worlds when it comes to DC or is it just a coincidence?
Jason Aaron: <Laugh> Not exactly. I mean, with this, it served a specific story function, and I was trying to send Bizarro down a certain path. With that, we kind of start with the idea of a Bizzaro who’s lost and alone. This is the Bizarro from Bizarro World, right? He’s got his Bizarro version of Lois and a Bizarro version of Superboy, but he’s been kind of separated and cut off from that world. So he is completely alone, wandering our universe, wandering space, trying to find somebody to help him and find a way back home. He goes to Sorcerer’s World, kind of not really knowing why, he is kind of angry and flailing and desperate. Something happens there that sets him off on a dark and dangerous new path.
AIPT: I think long-time DC fans will really appreciate the call back to Sorcerer’s World. History seems really important to DC fans.
JA: You’re right. Again, even though I’ve spent the last 15 years exclusive to Marvel…I wanted to show it’s not like I just read a DC comic for the first time last year. Been reading a lot of them over the years since I was. The first comic I ever bought was an issue of World’s Finest. I learned to read in large part ’cause of DC comics. I think you’ll see over Batman Off-World and this stint on Action Comics. You’ll see references to little things sprinkled in here and there. Sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways. Some of it’s me kind of showing up to the candy shop or the toy chest. Cracking open the toy chest for the first time wanting to touch a lot of different ones. I’ve seen it over the course of my career.
Like, at Marvel, when a new writer comes in, “Well, how do I fit Spider-Man into this story?” I think there’s always that sense of like, “Oh, I kind of snuck into the party, and at some point, somebody’s gonna realize I’m not supposed to be here, and they’re gonna tell me to leave, so I’m just gonna try to write everybody I want.” I think there’s a little bit of that, hopefully not in a way that is detrimental to the story. It’s all little bits here and there and some of the bigger bits that are important to the story. But you’ll, you’ll definitely see more of that in in Action Comics.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: Do you have a favorite Bizarro story?
JA: I don’t know that I could have said yes to that before I kind of started working on this. If I had to, it probably would’ve been those issues of All-Star Superman. For me, a lot of reference points to Superman go to All-Star Superman. ‘Cause it’s maybe my favorite Superman story of all time. I love that Bizarro story, but as part of this, I also went back and read a lot of those Bizarro world stories from the fifties, which kind of played into this a lot, which at the time were very much played for laughs.
When you read ’em now, to me, I came away feeling sorry for Bizarro. Like this poor guy. Like, he’s just sort of like, “Look at this idiot. He’s got all Superman’s powers, but look how stupid he is.” This poor dude’s just trying to live his life, you know? Yes, his way seems ridiculous to us, but he is just like, he just loves his kids and is just trying to do right by ’em. So I came away just like, “Oh man, poor Bizarro.” That kind of factored into this, too. It’s a Bizarro story, of course it’s gonna be somewhat ridiculous, right?
I’m trying to take that ridiculousness in a darker and edgier direction. You can play that code of Bizarro out to some pretty dark degrees, and we start to see that in the second part of the story. What does it mean for this guy to be Bizarro, and what might happen that Superman kind of starts to understand a little bit of like it’s not the easiest thing to be Bizarro?
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: Whenever I read Bizarro dialogue, I’m like, “How do they do this? How do they pull it off?” Do you have a method for writing Bizarro dialogue so you don’t lose your own mind <laugh>?
JA: No. I haven’t figured out how to do it without losing my own mind. You definitely see different iterations of the Bizarro talk as the story goes along. ‘Cause I realize at some point, as we see more Bizarros popping up in the story, it becomes like gibberish in your mind to me. If you’ve got five characters talking like that. The way Bizarro talks has evolved over the course of the decades. He didn’t always say every single sentence in a negative. So some of it is like, how do you embrace this? How do we do this for effect when it makes sense? But also, at some point, kind of go back to the way he talked back in the Silver Age ’cause it’s not just playing it for laughs. I want it to feel emotional at times and scary at times. It’s been an ongoing challenge, I think, to figure all of that out.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: There’s got to be a decoder or something, like switching it around. Do you just write the dialogue normally and then reverse it somehow?
JA: I did that when I wrote Yoda for the first time in Star Wars. I quickly figured out it’s hard to just write Yoda Talk. In my first draft of the script, I think the first time I wrote Yoda, Lucasfilm was like, “Does this guy know that Yoda doesn’t talk normally? Because I just wrote regular dialogue.
AIPT: That’s funny.
JA: Yes, I’m familiar with the way Yoda talks, but I couldn’t go down that rabbit hole just yet.
Action Comics #1061 is now available in comic stores nationwide.
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