Today's topic? Mr. Mxyzptlk.
Today's confession? I've never been that big of a fan of the imp from the 5th dimension.
I don't mind reading his stories, but if he decided to stay in the 5th dimension permanently, that would suit me just fine. I'm not against having fun with Supes either, as some of my favorite Superman stories feature Bizarro. I guess I just prefer the meanings of my words reversed, as opposed to the spelling of my words.
Not to get too far off on a tangent here, but I think Greg Rucka and Matthew Clark did right by the character on their not so distant run in Adventures of Superman, specifically with issue #638. It's ironic that two creators who I don't normally associate with "funny" ended up with a memorable take on the character.
So now we get to finish off the review of Action Comics #574 that we started yesterday, as we read the second story which features...you guessed it, Mr. Mxyzptlk!
Tomorrow Is Cancelled!
- Plot: Bob Greenberger, Barbara Randall
- Dialogue: Barbara Randall
- Penciller: Howard Bender
- Inker: Dave Hunt
- Letterer: Duncan Andrews
- Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
- Editor: Julius Schwartz
Mr. Mxyzptlk is watching from the 5th dimension, originally confused by what Superman is doing, before concluding that Superman must be pulling a prank on the people of Earth.Delighted by Superman's new turn toward mischief, Mxy comes to our dimension to share some of his own good news with Superman. To make his announcement, he hijacks the front page of the next edition of the Daily Planet with the picture of his newborn baby son!
That's right, Mr. Mxyzptlk is a proud father and not only does he want the whole world to know, he wants this day to last forever. So he has put the future on hold and co-opts the Daily Planet offices to have a baby shower for little Kytszbtn.
I'm pretty sure this is a fetish for somebody and I'm guessing Jimmy might be one of 'em, what with the wide-eyed expression and jazz hands.
Jimmy tries the old "get him to read his name spelled backwards" routine by giving Mxy a homemade greeting card, but he will not be fooled that easily today.
See, even Clark has his suspicions about Jimmy!
Clark and Lana show up, and are soon given the same party favors as everyone else. But Clark's not your average Joe, and he soon has a plan hatched for how to get rid of Mxyzptlk.
Seeing as how Mxy is a new father, Clark appeals to his paternal instinct. By freezing time, he'll never be able to see his son grow up and experience more joys of fatherhood.
Mxyzptlk decides to unfreeze time and head back home to the 5th dimension, but first he must say his name backwards. Not used to willingly saying his own name in reverse, he stumbles and can't quite get it right.
Leave it to Clark to think of everything, however, as he gives Mxy a congratulatory cigar and tells him to read the label on it. The label, of course, has Mxy's name spelled out backwards, and in no time at all he is gone in a puff of smoke.Finally, we get a nice Groucho Marx joke that would've been topical about 25 years earlier. But if we've learned nothing from this issue, it's that DC thought it was still 1965.
SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...
I think the only thing I really learned from this story is the answer to another trivia question for the next time I play Kryptonian Trivial Pursuit. Mr. Mxyzptlk's pre-crisis son is named Kytszbtn!
Although I only recently have committed the correct spelling of Mxy's name to memory, so I'd probably not remember anyway. Of course, I could just cough and grunt my way through an answer and probably come pretty close.
So that brings a close to one of Mr. Mxyzptlk's last pre-crisis appearances. I can't say as it changed my opinion of him any, but it didn't do him any harm either.
All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics
Suggested links for your surfing pleasure...
Suggested links for your surfing pleasure...
- Visit Say It Backwards for a blogger with more love for the imp than I.
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