Synopsis: Chapter eleven picks up right after the events of the last issue and Bizarro killing Heatwave and Weather Wizard. Bizarro has taken the Trickster with him as a new friend. They first arrive at the Atlas Mountains to get away from people but the temperature proves too cold for Trickster. Upon hearing the complaints of the cold, Bizarro takes them to Death Valley in California to a slightly “warmer” climate. The pair begins to talk and Trickster tells Bizarro all about how powerful the real Superman is and that the real Superman must be a fake that needs to be confronted.
Back at Regime Headquarters, Cyborg and Wonder Woman are trying to figure out what killed the Rogues when Superman interrupts and announces that it was an imposter that is mimicking his powers. He alerts all Regime members to be on the lookout. Superman next confronts Lex and asks him if he had anything to do with the creation of this clone. Despite Superman being a Kryptonian polygraph, Lex is able to lie to him about his involvement.
On a California highway, Hawkgirl is overseeing an inspection checkpoint when she stops a truck that contains Solomon Grundy. The chapter ends with both Bizarro and Superman arriving on the scene to help Hawkgirl.
After their initial shock over seeing each other, Bizarro and Superman begin to “argue” about who is the real Superman. Superman quickly learns that Bizarro truly believes he is the original but that he does not have the mental capacity to discuss the situation so Superman decides to put him down. The two trade blows with each other but Grundy still is wreaking havoc. Bizarro tries to throw a car of people at Grundy but Superman stops him from hurting civilians.
Just when it seems like Superman is losing control over the situation, Hal shows up and creates a cage around the brawl to contain the damage and allow civilians to evacuate the area. Superman fills Hal in on his “bizarre” clone but Bizarro does not like Hal’s jokes about him and knocks them all down with a yell. He then flies up and breaks out of the energy dome. Fed up with Grundy, Superman rips the zombie’s head off. The issue ends with Superman dropping the body of Grundy off with Lex at Cadmus labs and telling him to brainwash Grundy to turn him into an asset for the Regime just as he has been doing with Doomsday.
Thoughts: These two issues did a good job at focusing more on Bizarro which has been one aspect of Year 5 that has been most intriguing to me. Regarding the artwork, Miller and Coello deliver some great action sequences in both chapters.
With the interesting twist of Bizarro killing of a few Rogues, I was curious to see how the Trickster was going to fit in to his story. Despite some funny dialogue between the two, it’s still a little difficult to figure out if Trickster is playing Bizarro or if he knows that he is not the real Superman. He seemed surprised last issue but now it appears as if he is just toying with the clone. It certainly would make more sense for him to know that this is clearly not the real Superman but wanting to pit the two against each other.
Overall, the story still has me interested but I’m hoping for Bizarro to now get folded into the bigger story with the Insurgency. It would be cool to see Batman attempt to join forces with Superman’s clone. Of course, this would drive a wedge between him and his team but that would fit with the multiple times he has done something against the team’s wishes.
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