Hi Alan
or should I say "Howdy" coz I'm Amurikan?
Forewarned is forearmed. Just so you know who we're dealing with, here's the REAL all-consonant moniker meaning:
Mister Mxyzptlk is the name used on Earth by a devilish being from another plane of reality, different from our own, which he calls the "Fifth Dimension." Through means known only to him,, Mxyzptlk entered into our reality, assuming the appearance of a distinctly handsome Earthman. Calling himself Ben DeRoy, he used his powers first to entrance Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, and then to sporadically terrorize the people of Metropolis, all in an effort to lure Superman out into the open. When Superman appeared to deal with his devilry, DeRoy confronted the Man of Steel, transforming himself into a bizarre little gnome-like being. In this form, he introduced himself as a gamester and gambler, a superior being who had come to Earth specifically to match himself against Metropolis's champion. Taking the name "Mxyzptlk" (pronounced miks-ye-pit'I-ik), he issued a challenge to Superman: Mxyzptlk would use his powers to throw Metropolis into a state of utter chaos, and would leave only if Superman could some-how induce him to speak, spell, or write his chosen name backwards.
Unable to stop Mxyzptlk by physical means, Superman finally presented him with a gigantic typewriter and dared him to type his name again. When Mxyzptlk did so, the letters K-L-TP Z-Y X-M appeared on the machine, which had been rigged to work in reverse. Infuriated, Mxyzptlk left forhis native dimension.
Ninety days later, when the dimensional interfaces were next in alignment, Mxyzptlk retumed to Earth, appearing this time in southern California. When Superman again confronted Mr. "Mxy," the gnome announced that he was changing the rules of his "game:' Under the new rules, he would leave only if he could be induced to paint his own face blue. Once again, Superman managed to tum the tables on Mxyzptlk and send him on his way.
Mxyzptlk returned for a third time during Superman's period of self-exile in space. Unable to find his old opponent, Mxyzptlk confronted Lex Luthor, who flatly refused to play by the demon's rules. Instead, Luthor embarked on a plan of lies and deception which so offended Mxyzptlk that he left Earth, vowing never to retum.
Eventually, Mxyzptlk changed his mind, retuming to engineer an around-the-world foot race between Superman and the Flash. In an attempt to emulate Luthor, Mxyzptlk told the runners that he would leave if Superman won the race, while promising himself that he would leave only if the Flash won. To his astonishment, the Flash did win. Caught up in his own twisted logic, Mxyzptlk departed in a cloud of smoke.
Ninety days later, Mxyzptlk chose to invade a different plane of reality. Not wishing to miss a chance to torture Superman, though, he created his own crimson-hued version of Kryptonite and transported it to Lex Luthor. This Red Kryptonite fell into Luthor's possession with the message that the rock would make the businessman and Superman physical equals. There was one catch ? Lex could not reveal Mxyzptlk's involvement to the Man of Steel. Luthor accepted the terms, and was delighted to discover that Mxyzptlk's gift had trans-formed Superman into an ordinary man. In a confrontation with Clark Kent, however, Luthor gloated that Mr. Mxyzptlk had created the Red K, unaware that the reporter was the de-powered Superman. With that revelation, the process was automatically reversed, and Kent regained his powers.
The unpredictable Mxyzptlk continues to plot and scheme in his home dimension, awaiting future opportunities to bring terror and confusion to an unsuspecting world.
POWERS & WEAPONS
The power wielded by Mr. Mxyzptlk is derived from a fifth-dimensional science so far beyond anything known on Earth that it appears to be magic. Mxyzptlk "magic" is unrelated to any kind of sorcery, and it is uncertain to what extent ? if any --Mxyzptlk himself possesses superhuman powers. But however he does it, Mxyzptlk can do virtually anything ? from animating inanimate objects to spontaneously creating matter from nothingness ? and Superman is as vulnerable to his power as is any human being.
Mxyzptlk's gnome-like appearance is the closest we can come to perceiving his actual fifth-dimensional form.
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