Bruno Mannheim
Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim is a fictional character who appears in DC Comics as one of Superman's enemies. He first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #139, (July 1971), and was created by Jack Kirby.
Fictional character biography
Mannheim is one of Metropolis' most powerful gangsters, the leader of the Intergang. He is also the son of Moxie "Boss" Mannheim.[1]
52
Since his return in the miniseries 52, he claims now to have been "reborn" thanks to the extraterrestrial villain Darkseid, and to have become a psychopath.
During Week 25, now a devoted worshipper of crime itself, he has Intergang follow "The Crime Bible," of which the original copy is bound by the stone with which Cain killed Abel. He's also been shown to now be a cannibal, killing and then eating those whom do not submit to (or simply do not immediately join) Intergang. His victims were Kite Man, Lamelle, Mirage (as seen in the picture above), Rawson, Sewer King, and Squid.[2]
Over the course of the series, he comes into conflict with Renee Montoya, Nightwing and the new Batwoman, whom he wishes to sacrifice. As of Week 48, Mannheim has captured Batwoman and has her bound and gagged to a sacrificial altar, stabbing her through the heart shortly thereafter. When Montoya arrives and rescues her lover, Batwoman rips Mannheim's knife out of her own chest and impales him in the back, seemingly fatally. This is during Mannheim's attempt to turn Gotham into a miniature replica of Apokolips. Batwoman survives her injuries.
Superman encounters him several weeks later, mutated to be several stories tall. Before teleporting away, he states that Darkseid is not his master anymore. Based on that comment, someone else is behind Intergang's recent activity.[3]
Gotham Underground
In Gotham Underground, Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim and Intergang were involved in a gang war with Tobias Whale.
In other media
Television
- Bruno Mannheim appeared in five episodes of Superman: The Animated Series portrayed by voice-actor Bruce Weitz. Much like (until recently) his comics counterpart, he runs Intergang, but is highly obnoxious. One of his enemies is the Toyman, whose father was a patsy for one Mannheim's embezzling schemes. In "Tools of the Trade," he and Intergang received high-tech weapons from Kanto. After Superman defeated him, Bruno fled with Kanto and ended up meeting Kanto's boss Darkseid. Mannheim agreed to work for Darkseid in exchange for power. In "Father's Day," he alongside Desaad and Kalibak watch Superman fight a robot that Desaad sent to Earth. After Darkseid declined Kalibak's offer to fight Superman, Bruno suggested Darkseid to send him back to Earth so that he can get Intergang back together. Darkseid denied the offer and teleported Bruno to the fire pits where he was put to work shoveling coal into the furnaces. When it came time for Darkseid to deliver his end of the bargain to Bruno Mannheim in "Apokolips...Now" Pt. 1, Darkseid went back on his word. Bruno accosted Darkseid by pointing out that he promised to "make him a king" to which Darkseid replied "And so you are, the king of fools." Bruno was then left stranded on a desert island where a nuclear bomb was set to go off. Despite managing to get on a motorboat, it was caught in the explosion when it was a little way from the island and capsized. Mannheim apparently perished in the blast as he wasn't seen again. After that, Darkseid had Granny Goodness take over Intergang.
- Bruno Mannheim made an appearance in the Smallville episode "Stiletto" played by Dominic Zamprogna. In the Smallville universe, Bruno Mannheim was a thug for the mob and Ace of Clubs owner Ron Milano. He made counterfeit money and mugged Chloe along with another, AJ, stealing her bag and getting a whack from Lois before leaving in his car. He returned to the Ace of Clubs and got a drink from new bartender Jimmy Olsen, who asked to get an advance on his pay from owner Ron. Ricky then came to get Bruno because Ron wanted to see him, but when Ron began to mock Bruno for the mugging, Bruno turned on him shooting him dead with a silenced gun in the back room of the Ace of Clubs when Ron said that they were going legit. He then took over Milano's businesses and announced that the they were first going to get rid of the heroes starting with Stiletto. When Jimmy came back into work late holding his camera, Bruno took it off him and recognized the photos of Chloe and Lois as Stiletto and beat him for information before knocking him out. He was then in the back room seeing through the counterfeit money when Clark rushed in at super speed. Kryptonite used on the money, however, weakened Clark enough that Bruno could punch him to the floor and beat him. Lois as Stiletto jumped down and knocked Clark away in time. As Bruno went to shoot her, Clark jumped in front of Lois, blocking her from danger. Jimmy came in and was able to take Bruno down. In season 10 of Smallville, Bruno didn't make an appearance, but he was mentioned in "Beacon." Lois mentioned Mannheim to Martha Kent as a possible conspirator to her assassination attempt.
- Bruno Mannheim appears in the Young Justice episode "Disordered" voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. He is seen as a member of Intergang. Superboy and the Forever People stumble upon him and the rest of Intergang robbing an underground gold vault using weapons and technology from Apokolips. He escapes the initial encounter and later is stripped of his weaponry and captured when Superboy takes command of a corrupted Infinity-Man and turns it against Mannheim.
Film
- A man with traits similar to Bruno Mannheim appeared in the live action Superman Returns. In the film, his name is Brutus and he is a henchman of Lex Luthor. Midway through the film, he attacks Lois Lane (protrayed by Kate Bosworth) when she tried to send a message to her fiance, Richard White (protrayed by James Marsden). He is killed when Lois' son, Jason, hurls a piano at him when he tried to use a meteorite-like weapon to kill Lois.
Video games
- Bruno Mannheim appeared as his animated counterpart in Superman: Countdown to Apokolips.
- Bruno Mannheim appears in the DC Universe Online video game voiced by Bruce Carey. In the hero campaign, Question sends the players to infiltrate Intergang. They discover that Bruno plans to kill Batwoman as part of a ritual to gain infinite power as the Crime Bible stated that this can be obtained one the twice-named daughter of Cain is sacrificed. When the players arrive, Bruno Mannheim sacrifices Batwoman and gains enough power to fight them. The players end up fighting Bruno Mannheim until Question arrives to help fight Bruno Mannheim. Once Bruno Mannheim is defeated, the players claim the Crime Bible and revive Batwoman. In the villain campaign, Deathstroke and Calculator send the players to infiltrate Intergang in order to steal the Crime Bible from Bruno Mannheim. They discover that Bruno plans to kill Batwoman as part of a ritual to gain infinite power as the Crime Bible stated that this can be obtained one the twice-named daughter of Cain is sacrificed. When the players arrive, Bruno Mannheim sacrifices Batwoman and gains enough power to fight them. The players end up fighting Bruno Mannheim until Deathstroke arrives to help fight Bruno Mannheim.
Miscellaneous
- Bruno Manneheim appeared in an issue of The Batman Strikes! (based on the animated series The Batman). He is seen working with Rupert Thorne and created an army of super-villains based on Bane, Man-Bat, and Firefly. He plans to use these villains to take down the Justice League and take over Metropolis. Bruno Manneheim turned himself into a version of Metallo. His plans ultimately fail when Batman and Superman defeat him and his super thugs.
References