What is A. BIZZARO? It's a 4 issue mini-series, and it is the Steve Gerber comic I've waited 20 years to read. NEVADA was fine, but this is the sort of whacked out style of writing that I've always loved from Gerber. It's the story of a...a bizarro, that backwards guy from those 1950's SUPERMAN comics. It's really well done. The cover to the first issue even has those 1970's questions posed on it: "Who is he?" "What does he want?" The issue starts out with that classic Gerber long-winded narrative that everyone else aspires to write but can't quite capture.

This is a hilarious, irreverent romp through the DC Universe proper in an age where hilarious, irreverent romps through comic book milieus aren't appealing to readers, I suppose. Steve Gerber has left nothing as sacred, even permitting a meeting between Superman and A. Bizarro. No, not "the" Bizarro...a Bizarro. Al Beezer was an employee at Lexcorp (yup, Luthor's in here too -- one of the best Lex Luthors since Gene Hackman) who mistakenly let himself be copied for some mad scientist's experiment. The "copy" turns out to be a silicon skinned (and brained) Bizarro version of himself.

What advice would you give a clone of yourself? Even a mixed up, messed up, sideways version? Al Beezer tells Bizarro to make different choices, and so Bizarro begins trying to do what Al first wanted to do: become a rock star. On the way, he gets shot in the head (ouch!), becomes a panhandler and takes a trip to Granny Goodness' orphanage on Apokolips.

Every issue has been highly inventive and very much a sample of what makes Steve Gerber one of the best writers in the medium. So then, why aren't you reading it? Because it lacks a known title character? Improper promotion? The fact that it is too different to pigeon-hole or categorize? I dunno. I just know that this is a damn fine read and it ought to be getting more attention.