Bibbo Bibbowski

Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski is a supporting character in Superman comics. He first appeared in Adventures of Superman #428 (May 1987).^[1] He is based on Jerry Ordway's real life friend, Jo Jo Kaminski, described as a 'hard as nails softie'.^[2]

Fictional character biography

Bibbo first appears in a Suicide Slum bar called the Ace o' Clubs. When Superman comes in looking for information, Bibbo, thinking this is "some clown in a Superman suit", punches Superman, damaging his hand. He gains respect for the Man of Steel because "yer tough". He would later refer to Superman as his "fav'rit" hero.^[1]

During the Eradicator saga, Bibbo teams up with Lobo and Raof, a teleporter and a tribute to Marvel's Nightcrawler, to see Lobo kill Superman. Lobo gives Bibbo a set of special goggles that will record the battle -or anything Bibbo is looking at. All three, however, are smashed on Okarran liquor. and thus suffer loss of all memory of the battle, which Superman won by a ruse, engineered by the Eradicator artifact. Also Bibbo's had worn the goggles backwards, and thus the entire recording was of his reactions and talking. Thus the aliens who retained Lobo to kill Superman have no proof that there even was a battle.Adventures of Superman 464

Bibbo becomes a more significant part of the comic when he finds a winning lottery ticket dropped by Gangbuster and uses the money to buy the Ace o' Clubs bar and help those living in the Slum.^[1]

Bibbo as seen in the Reign of the Supermen story arc

Bibbo attempts assistance when Superman becomes involved in a drawn-out fight against the murderous Doomsday. Bibbo works with the genius Professor Hamilton in a plan to blast Doomsday with a large laser. They score a direct hit, but the monster is not affected.^[3]

When Doomsday and Superman ultimately kill each other, Bibbo is on the scene. He and Hamilton use a device to try to perform CPR on Superman. The plan fails and Bibbo is injured. Hamilton takes over the CPR but he also fails.^[4]

Shortly afterward, Bibbo encounters a young man who, his family rendered homeless by Doomsday's rampage, is blatantly selling "Death of Superman" commemorative souvenirs during a public commemoration honoring the Man of Steel. At first outraged at the man's crassness, Bibbo feels some sympathy for his losses and buys his entire souvenir stock to get him off the street, then offers him a job at the Ace O' Clubs.^[5] While Superman is gone, Bibbo takes to putting on a 'disguise' of sorts and helping out on the streets. Around this time he saves a man from suicide. This is mostly through tall tales concerning various super-villains.^[6]

Bibbo briefly takes care of a small white dog named Krypto which he had saved from drowning, not to be confused with the Kryptonian dog of the same name. The name was supposed to be "Krypton", but the engraver Bibbo hired to make a name tag made an intentional mistake, trying to extort more money from Bibbo (the price accorded was for six letters). Bibbo took the tag as it was.^[7]

A poster seen by the hero Aztek indicates that at one point, Bibbo fought the hero Wildcat during a charity boxing event.^[8] Later in the series, The Ace O' Clubs bar is the site of a battle between the life-force devouring Parasite and Aztek.^[9] Bibbo and his friends purposely ignore the fight, playing cards instead and trusting others to handle the villain.

In The Power of Shazam!, Ordway introduces Professor Bibbowski, Bibbo's pacifist scientist brother.

Bibbo makes a reappearance in Superman #679, shown as one of the champions of Metropolis that the villainous Atlas defeated. He is established by then as having, or working, in the Ace of Clubs, even bringing himself to boldly menace Atom Smasher for "Talking trash about Sooperman".^[10]

Other versions

Bibbo plays an important part in the alternate universe story Superman: The Dark Side. He watches out for Jimmy Olsen, keeps an eye on Lois Lane and fights back against invading alien forces from Apokolips.

In other media

Television

• Bibbo briefly appears as the owner of the Ace of Clubs in the Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "Double Jeopardy", played by Troy Evans.

• Bibbo is featured in Superman: The Animated Series voiced by Brad Garrett. He appears as Lois' information source on the docks. In the animated universe, Bibbo is an unemployed sea captain who frequents the Hobb's Bay section of Metropolis. He appears in the episodes "The Last Son of Krypton", "A Little Piece of Home", "Livewire", "Monkey Fun", "A Fish Story", ""World's Finest" Pt. 1, and "Heavy Metal."

• Bibbo makes a non-speaking appearance in the Justice League episode "Hereafter". He is among those attending Superman's funeral following his "supposed death."

• Bibbo's Ace of Clubs appeared thrice (as an upscale nightclub) in Smallville's seventh season and numerous times in the eighth season.

• Bibbo Bibbowski appears in Young Justice voiced by Miguel Ferrer. The episode "Schooled" features a scene set in a Metropolis diner called "Bibbo's" with Bibbo himself making a brief non-speaking cameo in the kitchen. In the episode "Happy New Year", Bibbo is shown as one of the prisoners held by the Kroloteans. In "Alienated," the Krolotean impostor is confronted by Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, and the real Bibbo. Bibbo did have a strange reaction when Blue Beetle was talking to his suit.

Film

• Bibbo Bibbowski apparently appears in an early scene in Superman Returns played by Jack Larson (who had portrayed Jimmy Olsen in the 1950s Adventures of Superman).

References

External links

• Bibbo at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe