Supergirl: What Are Some Great Mr. Mxyzptlk Stories?

It’s just about an hour here on the East Coast before fans get their first look at Mr. Mxyzptlk on Supergirl — and given how hard it is to even spell (let alone pronounce) his name, it’s not surprising to learn that there are a significant number of readers who have never taken him all that seriously.

That means, of course, that in the run-up to something like the character joining The CW’s expansive and popular TV version of the DC Universe, there are a lot of people furiously searching to find out everything they can about the fifth dimensional imp who, this week, will be trying to win Supergirl’s heart.

While we don’t have access to every Mxyzptlk story ever told, we’ve got a pretty good memory and have read a lot of fun ones.

Here’s some of our favorites. Hit us up @comicbook to let us know if we missed one of yours!

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Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. “Mr. and Mrs. Mxyzptlk” premieres tonight.

“Twas the Night Before Mxymas”

This one’s kind of an honorable mention since, as in Smallville, the Mxyzptlk of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman is not entirely the Mxy fans know from the comics.

Much like Supergirl’s version, he’s well-dressed and extremely powerful, though.

Played by Howie Mandel, Mr. Mxyzptlk is here the troublesome imp of the comics, but he’s a bit less anarchic. Scared to be sent back home to the Fifth Dimension, he decides to destroy hope in order to take away Superman’s “power” by taking away what he symbolizes. His performance is charming as hell, and his idea — to trap Superman in Christmas Eve forever, a la Groundhog Day — is a fun little bit of business.

This one takes the best advantage of the tropes of superhero storytelling, and without falling too much into absurdity — mostly becuase Mxy is an inherently silly idea, so the writers can indulge their desire for comedy without it hurting the episode at all.

One of the best episodes of the series, this capably juggles the needs of being a Christmas episode (Orphans! The Kents! Lois’s mom!) with the superhero action and the relationship drama; it explores the meaning of Superman and gives Lois a shining moment as a reporter.

This episode is available to buy on streaming services like iTunes, Vudu, and Amazon.

New Year’s Evil: Mr. Mxyzptlk

One of the only stand-alone stories to feature Mxyzptlk as the main character, this tale features a narration by Mxy during the “Electric Blue” Superman era of the late ’90s. He’s telling a story to Lois and Superman, about how he managed to overcome an all-consuming force from the 10th Dimension and save his own universe by recruiting the help of a thinly-veiled analog to Morpheus, the Sandman from the Neil Gaiman series, who bored everyone to death with is overly-verbose storytelling style.

By way of getting rid of Mxy, Superman and Lois [Spoiler]pretend that he has bored THEM to sleep, which outrages him so much that he leaves, and the two high five.[/Spoiler]

Yes, really.

Its not a great story, honestly, but it’s fun, the ending is a hoot (even though we just spoiled it above), and it’s one of those rare times when Mxy gets to be the hero of his own story — literally, as his name is on the cover.

Also, it features what at the time seemed like a hilarious mock-up of the cover to Superman #123, in which Mxyzptlk wear a Mxy version of the electric blue Superman suit. Given the fact that Mxyzptlk will be wearing a Superman suit tonight, that seemed like something to at least mention here.

“The Death of Mr. Mxyzptlk!”

Great parody covers were apparently a thing for Mxy stories around this time, so here we get Superman: The Man of Steel #75 with what is likely the first (at least by a big two publisher) parody of the cover of Superman #75 (“The Death of Superman”), which at that point was only about four years old.

Here’s the solicitation text for the issue, which is the first time we can remember Mxy revealing that he absolutely and for-sure knew Superman’s secret identity in the post-Crisis era:

With all the seriousness that befits the occasion, we regret to inform you that Superman’s greatest foe, Mxyzptlk, has died. That’s right, he’s dead, dead, dead. Join us as some of Metropolis mourns, raising their voices in unison for a chorus of “Mxy, we hardly knew ye; in fact, we could hardly pronounce ye name.” There won’t be a dry eye in the house…Mxy has a squirting flower in his casket.

You can pick this one up on ComiXology. You won’t regret it.

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Generally considered to be one of the greatest Superman stories ever told, this two-issue story from the Watchmen creative team of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is the final appearance of the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths versions of these characters…

…and as a parting shot, Mxyzptlk revealed his “true nature” for the first time, and showed exactly how dangerous he can be when he’s not playing around anymore.

Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite!

Much like “Emperor Joker,” this story features somebody else as the central antagonist of the story (in this case, it’s Lex Luthor).

The reason this one makes the cut and “Emperor Joker” (an excellent story in its own right) doesn’t is simple: Mxy is a recurring menace that runs through the tale, as opposed to just appearing briefly at the end.

In the story, the first time any color of Kryptonite except green appeared in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe, Mxyzptlk brings red Kryptonite to Lex Luthor, explaining that it will take away Superman’s powers — and that the powers will stay gone, so long as Lex honors their deal and doesn’t reveal that Mxy is behind the mayhem.

The Man of Steel tries to function for a while without his powers, but feels compelled to continue doing good. The story moves around the DC Universe, with Superman seeking the aid of Emil Hamilton, Kitty Faulkner, and even Starman (Will Payton at the time) to try and get his powers back…before a comical misunderstanding leads to Lex breaking his deal with Mxyzptlk and Superman’s powers rushing back.

This story is also notable because in its finale, besides getting his powers back, Clark Kent proposes to Lois Lane, and she accepts.

Bonus points on this one, too, because it was a sequel of sorts to a story that happened during Superman’s self-imposed exile in space, during which Mxyzptlk came to Earth to face off against Superman, only to discover he wasn’t there and be outsmarted and sent packing…by Luthor!

World’s Funnest

Probably our favorite-ever Mxy story is in the Evan Dorkin one-shot Mr. Mxyzptlk/Bat-Mite: World’s Funnest, in which the silly-but-powerful imps squared off against one another while bouncing through the multiverse (even at a time when DC didn’t technically acknowledge the multiverse existed).

With guest art by everyone from Alex Ross to Frank Miller (and lots and lots more), this was a wildly underrated “event” book that was mostly overlooked because of its humorous bent.