Superman (Volume 2) #181 is an issue of the series Superman (Volume 2) with a cover date of June, 2002. It was published on April 3, 2002.
Synopsis for "The Mirror Crack'd"
In his home on 1938 Sullivan Place, Clark Kent is woken up by his alarm clock. Meanwhile, in the Graveyard of Solitude, Bizarro gets up out of bed as well. Clark walks over to the mirror, and makes a startling discovery. He wonders why he is so ugly, surprised by his face in the mirror, while Bizarro gets up, and hopes Lois will tell him that he's still asleep. Somehow, the minds of Superman and Bizarro have been switched, and each's mind is in the other's body. Bizarro, horrified by his face, is startled when he hears Lois telling him to get a move on or they'll be late from the shower. When Clark starts rambling, Lois gets confused, and Bizarro grabs Clark's clothes and leaves. Lois gets out of the shower, and sees Bizarro run outside to the balcony, breaking their sliding glass door, and flies off.
Meanwhile, Superman, in Bizarro's body, busts out of the Graveyard of Solitude, and thinks that since this disaster happened after he went to sleep next to Lois in bed, she might be in trouble. He begins flying, but, not being used to Bizarro's body, he propels himself too fast, and flies past the Daily Planet, and into space, where he crashes into the Watchtower. Superman lands at the feet of his fellow Justice Leaguers, Green Lantern, Flash, Plastic Man, and Martian Manhunter. Since they see him as Bizarro however, they immediately attack, and Superman reluctantly fends them off, trying to explain his situation. Martian Manhunter stops the fighting after physically probing his mind, and he agrees that Superman is telling the truth. Martian Manhunter enters Superman's mind, and together, the two try to come up with who could have perpetrated the mind-swapping. They come across a memory of Mister, Mxyzptlk, Bizarro, and Scorch, and also find Zod in the memory. The memory is of the villains leaving before all the havoc that the Joker caused is erased. Zod assures Mxy that the Joker had nothing to do with his creation, and that he's fine. Suddenly, J'onn and Superman are both zapped with electricity from the physics backlash, and he says that whoever did this stopped them from seeing the rest of the memory. With that, Superman leaves to find Bizarro on earth.
Meanwhile, Bizarro, in Clark's body, is causing mayhem at the Daily Planet, by drinking all the water from the water fountain, throwing Jimmy Olsen through Perry White's office window, and trying to pull Lois' hair off. Clark arrives in Bizarro's body, and Bizarro-as-Clark flies through the window of the building and outside, where he begins fighting Superman in the air. Bizarro punches Superman in the face, but Clark shrugs it off and wallops Bizarro though the street, realizing that since Bizarro has his body, he's actually stronger than Clark, but his diminished intellect bars him from accessing the true potential of Clark's body. Bizarro flies back up through the hole in the street, and the two continue trading blows, as a lightning storm begins brewing. They use their respective super-visions on each other, but it becomes increasingly harder for Clark to think in Bizarro's body, and Bizarro begins pummeling him. While fighting, Clark suddenly triggers a memory in Bizarro's body, in which he sees Bizarro fighting Zod. Bizarro knocks Zod's helmet off, but before Zod's true identity can be revealed, a lightning bolt zaps both of them, pulling him out of the memory.
The lightning seems to have returned each's mind back to its rightful body, and Superman grabs Bizarro and demands to know who Zod is. Bizarro, bored, flies away, and his costume rips in Superman's hand. Back in the Daily Planet, the other staff members begin cleaning up, and Superman walks in, having changed back into Clark Kent. Superman also shows up, though it's Martian Manhunter in disguise, so as to throw off everyone from Clark's identity. Elsewhere, Manchester Black hopes that Superman liked today's game, because there will be plenty more coming.
Appearing in "The Mirror Crack'd"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- JLA
- Martian Manhunter
- Green Lantern
- Plastic Man
- Flash
- Wonder Woman (Mentioned only)
- Lois Lane
Antagonists:
- Bizarro (Flashback and main story)
- Manchester Black
- Zod (Flashback only)
- Ignition (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Jimmy Olsen
- Perry White
- Mister Mxyzptlk (Flashback only)
- Scorch (Flashback only)
- President Luthor (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- Daily Planet
- 1938 Sullivan Place
- Graveyard of Solitude
- Earth's Moon
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This version of Bizarro first appeared in Superman (Vol 2) #160, where he was one of the many creations of Joker, when the latter had Mister Mxyzptlk's 5th dimensional powers.
- Bizarro appeared last in Action Comics #785. He appears next in Superman (Vol 2) #187.
See Also