Tuesday, December 06, 2005

A Haiku for Mxyzptlk

Some people just can't help being heroic, Superman chief among them.

Even in his Clark Kent identity, the Big S can't stop helping people and changing their lives for the better...

with haiku.


Sir? Let's see if we
can't get you out of the rain.
Mxyzptlk?



Now, to make this work Clark has to use the lower-class five-syllable pronunciation of Mxyzptlk rather than the classier four-syllable version, but, hey, that's just the kind of sacrifice a hero makes.

Very impressive, even for a superman. It's not fer nothing that Clark Kent is a writer.

It's raining, you're headed into work without an umbrella, and suddenly you spy your extra-dimensional nemesis, addled and begging for quarters while propped up against a dumpster. Do you manage to compose a haiku?

Give it a try.

17 comments:

  1. Dark stormy shower
    Not fit for man, beast or imp
    Today we are friends

    ReplyDelete
  2. Omnipotent imp
    from the fifth dimension, or
    wet old homeless dude?

    ReplyDelete
  3. This never happens
    To Bat-Mite, his mom makes him
    take an umbrella.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh! Hello, it's...you.
    I would help you out but I
    can't pronounce your name.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That pesky old imp
    Looks like he's down on his luck.
    Buy a vowel, dude!

    ReplyDelete
  6. And Batman says Clark doesn't inspire people. As if he doesn't have enough responsibility on his shoulders, here he is, helping someone who's down on his luck. Not tossing him cash and walking on, but stopping and treating with respect. Like a human being. Clark makes me feel like a jerk.

    Anyway here's my haiku:

    Always one to help
    Ma and Pa Kent must be proud
    That Clark's a nice boy

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is what I was
    Trying to warn you about.
    This... ...This... ...How's your wife?


    [A little Foreshadowing Haiku from the same book...]

    ReplyDelete
  8. Poor imp. You need help?
    I could, but nothing's free, chump.
    Gimme some wishes!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mxy misses the
    Herring-filled skies of his home
    Jakeem pickled them

    ReplyDelete
  10. oh my chuffing God
    that chap Ruin really is
    like [SPOILER WARNING]

    lois sees sasha
    encased in a robot shell
    revels in suff'ring

    mxy was there too
    but I quite liked all of the
    other bits of plot

    come with me, sometime
    villain mostly confounding
    Hopper homage here

    this should make up for
    totally making an ass
    of myself that time

    ReplyDelete
  11. There is not a four-
    syllable way to pronounce
    Mix-yez-pit-el-ick

    ReplyDelete
  12. Of course there is.

    Mix
    yiz
    pit
    lick.

    Mxyzptlk himself pronounces it out using a rebus on Superman the Animated Series.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Scipio (and animated Mxy) are correct. The four-syllable version is both confirmed and classy. And the three-syllable "Mix-ul-plick" from the mid-80s "Super Powers" cartoon is right out.

    ReplyDelete
  14. But this panel is
    Not "Animated Series",
    It is the comic.

    Not "Mix-yiz-pit-lick" -
    That's from Animated Earth,
    Not our DCU.

    Bob the Answer Man
    Said it's "Mix-yez-PIT-el-ick",
    Good enough for me!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I realize that making sense of the pronunciation of a name that consists entirely of consonants is dodgy, but even within that dicey realm I'm loathe to make the single letter "l" an entire syllable unto itself.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mxyzptlk?
    Is that Mxyzptlk?
    Mxyzptlk!

    ReplyDelete
  17. zMy first featured Haiku!

    I'm so proud...

    ReplyDelete