The other day I stumbled upon a fictional genre that was entirely new to me: Bizarro Fiction. I was captivated by the name alone. Obviously, as a comics fan I knew this genre was named after Bizarro from the comics, Superman’s imperfect duplicate. But while Bizarro Fiction’s name may have been inspired by the eponymous DC Comics character, the genre’s roots are far different.
Bizarro Fiction is just plain weird. It’s basically the literary form of a David Lynch or Tim Burton film, according to Horror World. It’s usually provocative, and often offensive, and defies logic. It’s like outsider art. The fictional worlds found within can be as crazy as Wackyland or as mundane as an ordinary melodrama, but with one key element bizarrely out of place.
Having just heard of this genre, I’ve never actually read any official Bizarro Fiction just yet, but my mind is still brimming with possibilities. What would a Bizarro Fiction-inspired DC Comics fanfiction story be like? The obvious Bizarro Fiction story would be something from Tales of the Bizarro World, but I’m sure there are countless other possibilities. I remember some Silver Age Superman stories that were so absurd they could be considered potentially as Bizarro Fiction.
What do you think of Bizarro Fiction? Do you think it’s here to stay or will end up just being a passing fad? Does it interest you enough to try writing a Bizarro Fiction story?
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