Mr. Mxyzptlk (roughly pronounced Mix-yez-pit-lick, also nicknamed Mxy) is a supervillain who appears in DC Comics' Superman comics.
Introduced in Superman #30 (September 1944) as "Mr. Mxyztplk", he was an imp from the fifth dimension. Not being bound by our physical laws, he could do things that seemed to be magical. In this first appearance, Mxyztplk wreaked havoc across Metropolis by using his powers to pull all manner of pranks. He soon told Superman that he was a jester in his home dimension, explaining why he used his powers to play practical jokes. Superman soon discovered he was able to send Mxy back to the fifth dimension by making him say his name backwards.
Originally, Mxy had designs on conquering the planet for himself, but soon settled for tormenting Superman whenever he got the opportunity. His only weaknesses were that he could not stand being ridiculed and if he said or spelled his name backwards, Kltpzyxm (pronounced kil-tip-zee-zim), he was involuntarily sent back to his home dimension for a minimum of 90 days. Mxy would often look for ways to counter the latter weakness, but he always proved gullible enough for Superman to trick him time and time again.
Mxy appeared originally as a small bald man in a purple suit, green bow tie and purple derby hat. This was changed to a futuristic looking orange outfit with purple trim in the mid-1950s, although the hat remained. At around this time the spelling of Mxy's name changed (by mistake) to "Mxyzptlk".
After the establishment of DC Comics' multiverse in the 1960s, it was later explained that the purple-suited Mxyztplk lived in the fifth dimension connected to Earth-Two and the orange-costumed Mxyzptlk in the fifth dimension connected to Earth-One. The Earth-One version was also retconned into Superboy stories as "Master Mxyzptlk".
A 30th-century descendant of Mxyzptlk appeared in Adventure Comics #310 (July 1963) with similar abilities. Much crueler than his ancestor, this version killed most of the Legion of Super-Heroes until Superboy tricked him into falling victim to the same "Kltpzyxm" weakness, reversing the effects of his magic.
Mr. Mxyzptlk continued to be a thorn in Superman's side for many years. Despite Alan Moore offering a radically different interpretation of the character in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, he made it through the Crisis on Infinite Earths relatively unchanged, although the unpleasant nature of his pranks and the psychological effects they had on others was played up more, at least initially. In early post-Crisis stories the "condition" that would send him back to the fifth dimension was anything he wanted it to be, but since Lex Luthor taught him how to lie, making this meaningless, the stories have reverted to Mxyzptlk saying his name backwards. Many of Mxy's later stories have a post-modern feel to them, similar to Ambush Bug, as he comments on editorial decisions, cliches of the genre, etc. This was most obvious in Superman: The Man of Steel #75, a pastiche of Superman's death in Superman (series 2) #75, which culminates with Mxyzptlk meeting the Supreme Being... who turns out to be Mike Carlin, the then-editor of the Superman titles, who promptly brings him back to life.
Although Mxy does not appear in Grant Morrison's JLA, Morrison took advantage of certain similarities to tie Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt and Aquaman character Qwsp to the fifth dimension, implying the dimension may be the origin for legends of djinn. This story also saw the first (and so far only) post-Crisis appearance of Mxy's Earth-One girlfriend, Ms. Gsptlsnz (described as his "quinto-partner").
More recently, Peter David showed us Mxy's origins as a serious-minded researcher (who developed his wacky sense of humor after being forced to view Three Stooges films) in Young Justice and, in a multipart story throughout the Superman titles, he had his powers temporarily stolen by the Joker. It has also been implied that he sees himself as serving an important purpose, in teaching Superman not to take everything seriously.
As noted from a 1961 adventure, Mxy releases sneezing powder all over the city of Metropolis as a prank. The Man of Steel tries to hold it in, but eventually lets out a devastating "super-sneeze" that entirely destroys a distant solar system.
He has also encountered Batman's imp-like tormentor Bat-Mite twice. The first was in Karl Kesel's World's Finest book, in which they forced the heroes to compete against each other. The second was in the World's Funnest one shot, in which they travel to various parallel Earths, including the worlds of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew and Alex Ross's Kingdom Come.
In Adventures of Superman #617 (2003), Mxyzptlk was reinvented as different-sex twins with a serious hatred of Superman. A year later, in Superman Secret Files and Origins 2004 (2004), he returned to his usual self. The reasons for this remain obscure.
After the fallout of the events of Day of Vengeance, the removal of magic from the Earth left Mxyzptlk nearly powerless, wandering the streets of Metropolis and unable to remember how to pronounce the inverse of his name to return him home. Superman attempted to help him, but the two were then attacked by the villain Ruin. Ruin attempted to assassinate Superman with Kryptonite-based weaponry, but Mxyzptlk pushed Superman out of the way, taking a Kryptonite spear to the heart. Mxyzptlk then vanished, and it is unrevealed whether or not he is dead.
Other media
- Mr. Mxyzptlk appeared in the Superfriends animated series, voiced by Frank Welker. In that series, Mxyzptlk's name was mispronounced as Mix-ill-plick and he took to tormenting all the members of the team, even when Superman was absent.
- In the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series, Mr. Mxyzptlk was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried and his design was closer to the Golden Age version. His name is pronounced Mix-yeez-spit-lick. This series also featured Sandra Bernhard as Ms. Gsptlsnz. He only appeared in episodes "Mxyzpixilated" and "Little Big Head Man".
- Michael J. Pollard played Mxyzptlk in late late 1980s and early 1990s live-action series Superboy.
- Howie Mandel played Mxyzptlk in the 1990s live-action series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "Twas the Night Before Mxymas", where Mxy was said to be a leprechaun.
- In the 2000s television series Smallville, a character named "Mikail Mxyzptlk" was seen in the episode "Jinx." Mxyzptlk, played by Trent Ford, was a young foreign exchange student sponsored by LuthorCorp who started an underground gambling ring at Smallville High School. In this series, Mxyzptlk was from a line of people that lived near the Balkans and possessed mind control powers, which allowed him to control all the gamblers involved in his ring; additionally, his name was pronounced Mixilpitilik (the "I"'s are pronounced, but only lightly).
Cultural references
- In the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, an entity inspired by Mr. Mxyzptlk appears in episode 60, Mr. Ogg Goes to Town. Called by the much simpler name of Mr. Ogg, he is (supposedly) an inhabitant of Dimension Z. Like Mr. Mxyzptlk, he is capable of transforming things around him, with his pranks including shrinking Bebop and Rocksteady to the height of two inches, turning the Technodrome into a giant pumpkin on tracks and turning the Statue of Liberty into a cheap souvenir. Mr. Ogg's one weakness is a craving for porcelain, considering ancient antiques the best tasting. Mr. Ogg makes a weird trilling sound whenever he uses his power. After he eats Shredder's collection of 1000-year-old Hu-Yoo dynasty vases, Krang tricks him into giving them a chemical that transforms crude oil into liquid hydrogen (which turns out to be a fake) and sets him upon the surface with tales of how the surface-dwellers---especially the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles---persecuted them and drove them underground.
- A possible inspiration for The Great Gazoo of the Flintstones.
- A joke reference on sending Mxyzptlk home by saying his name backwards is made in the Marvel Comics Nightcrawler mini-series, in which the hero is whipped from one weird dimension to another.
- The Mask animated series featured a parody named Skillit, who was much more malevolent in nature.
External links
- Mxyzptlk.com Original comic art featuring dozens of images of Mr. Mxyzptlk
- Supermanica: Mr. Mxyzptlk Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Mr. Mxyzptlk