• Cover Mr. Mxyzptlk

    Here you’ll find some information about Mr. Mxysptlk, and the fourth comic book we are going to read. Although this story created by comics artist-writer John Byrne appeared more than a year after his miniseries The Man of Steel, the cover seems to follow the same pattern as the miniseries covers (we saw two of them in the two previous modules).  In fact, just as the comics stories of the miniseries are introductions of Superman’s supporting cast, this graphic narrative introduces the well-known mischievous master villain from the Fifth Dimension, Mr. Mxyzptlk, to this new continuity.  

    This gnome-like trickster enjoys playing pranks on Superman with his fifth-dimensional magic, which can be used to animate inanimate material or create matter from nothingness. The title of this story "The Name Game" refers to the only way in which Superman can get rid of this adversary, albeit only for 90 days: by outwitting the prankster into speaking or writing the name Mxyzptlk backwards.  In the story, he introduces himself to Superman as “a gamester . . . a gambler” (Byrne & Kesel 14/2), and he challenges the superhero “to the name game” explaining its rules: “All you have to do is get me to write, spell or say my name backwards” (Byrne & Kesel 15/1).