Skip to main content

comics - In Sandman: A Game of You: Why were Weirdzos used instead of Bizarros?


In Sandman Vol 5: "A Game of You", Wanda dreams of Weirdzos which are the same as Bizarros from Superman lore.


Indeed this site notes a misprint:



The word “Bizarro” that had accidentally appeared in Sandman #32, has been changed back to “Weirdzo”. (DC had nixed the use of the word “Bizarro” and “Weirdzo” was used instead. When #32 was printed, one of the “Weirdzo”s had fallen off revealing the “Bizarro” underneath.)




and a comment on this site says:



As an old Superman fan, I quickly figured out who Weirdzo and Lila were; obviously, Bizarro and Lois Lane. But this is a DC imprint; why couldn’t the real ones be used? Well…, I guess DC didn’t like the idea, somehow.



This question and answer, seems to note that it was Gaiman's choice to stop using heroes, but that doesn't quite gel with the misprint noted above in this case.


I haven't been able to find why DC apparently didn't want Bizarro being used. I am assuming that it was down to a Vertigo / Mature Readers imprint vs normal DCU issue, but can't find for sure.


Does anyone know the full story here?



Answer



In "The Annotated Sandman" Gaiman is quoted on the subject (I found a reference including the text here) as saying




"The production error on that was the funniest thing about it. I wrote it as the Bizarros, because I thought nobody would mind, what with them being out of continuity; they vanished off in CRISIS, so I thought nobody would mind my having them as comic characters. And some people at DC did. And so, after it was already lettered, somebody went in and stuck 'Weirdzo' over all the places where it said 'Bizarro'...except one fell off and confused everybody. I've heard wonderful conspiracy theories about that, but one simply fell off. By the time Shawn McManus drew the second issue, he knew it had to be different, so the character has a big 'H' for 'Hyperman' on his chest, instead of a big 'S'."



(bold highlights by me).


Also from The Sandman Companion, written by Hy Bender:



HB: Now that you mention it, I was wondering why the characters in the dream are called "Weirdzos", when they are clearly meant to be the Bizzaros from old Action and Superman comics.


NG: They were Bizzaros in my script, but some of DC's Superman people caught sight of the story and wouldn't green-lit it. Therefore, I simply changed a few names around: Superman became Hyperman, Lois Lane became Lila Lake, and Bizzaros became Weirdzos.



And in an interview with Chip Kidd for the 20th anniversary of The Sandman (starts at 1:00:01):






So it was DC after all who didn't like it.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more