Superman #160

Sep 2000 · DC · 2.25 USD; 3.50 CAD

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“Superman Arkham, Part One: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World!”

★ 1st appearance — Scorch

About this Issue

Superman (Vol. 2) #160 opens the 'Superman: Arkham' arc — a four-part prelude to the nine-part 'Emperor Joker' crossover that ran across all four Superman titles in late 2000 — making it the narrative ground zero for one of the most formally inventive Superman events of the modern era. The issue delivers two significant first appearances in a single chapter: Bizarro III, a new iteration of the imperfect Superman duplicate conjured by the Joker's stolen power, and Scorch (Aubrey Sparks), a pyrokinetic villain who would go on to play a pivotal role in later JLA stories involving the Martian Manhunter. By casting Superman as an escaped lunatic hunted by a heroic Bizarro in a reality the Joker has literally rewritten, the story exploits DC's rich history of inverted-world conceits in a way that places character psychology — not spectacle — at the center, and it does so with a cover design deliberately styled after a playing card, signaling the Joker's total control of the story's visual grammar.

writer Jeph Loeb · artist Ed McGuinness · inker Cam Smith · colorist Richard Horie · colorist Tanya Horie · letterer Richard Starkings · cover Ed McGuinness, Cam Smith

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (NM) $3

CGC 9.8 · 39 in census $105*

CGC 9.6 · 16 in census $49*

CGC 9.4 · 8 in census $43*

CGC 9.2 · 6 in census $36*

CGC 9.0 · 3 in census $35*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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CGC 9.6 $54 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $9.95–$89.99 3 listings

Raw / ungraded $9.95 Raw / ungraded $19.99 Signed $89.99

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FINE $5.77 VF/NM $7.95 VERY FINE $7.99 NM- $19 Newsstand $19.96 NM $24 NM $25.99 CGC $40

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History

Jeph Loeb had taken over writing duties on Superman with issue #151 in December 1999, pairing him with artist Ed McGuinness in what became one of the defining creative partnerships on the title during that era. Issue #160 arrived midway through that run as triangle issue #34/2000, the DC production-tracking designation that placed it precisely within the line's weekly continuity schedule. The 'Superman: Arkham' story it launched was conceived as a direct lead-in to the larger 'Emperor Joker' event, which spread across Superman, Adventures of Superman, Superman: The Man of Steel, Action Comics, and a standalone one-shot, with additional writing contributions from Joe Kelly, J.M. DeMatteis, and Mark Schultz. Editors Eddie Berganza and Maureen McTigue shepherded the issue, with colorists Tanya and Richard Horie and letterer Richard Starkings completing the production team.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover date: September 2000 (Superman, Vol. 2, #160); triangle issue #34/2000 in DC's internal continuity tracking system.
Written by Jeph Loeb; pencils and cover by Ed McGuinness; inks by Cam Smith; colors by Tanya Horie and Richard Horie; letters by Richard Starkings; edited by Eddie Berganza and Maureen McTigue.
Story title: 'Superman: Arkham (Part I of IV) — It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World!' — the first chapter of a four-part arc that directly precedes the five-part 'Emperor Joker' story.
First appearance of Bizarro III: a new Bizarro distinct from Bizarro I and Bizarro II, created within the Joker's rewritten reality where Bizarro serves as 'Earth's Greatest Hero' and Superman is the wanted criminal.
First appearance of Scorch (Aubrey Sparks), a fire-wielding villain who is a member of the Joker's 'Joker League of Anarchy'; she is preserved by Mr. Mxyzptlk after the Joker's defeat and becomes a recurring DC character with later ties to the Martian Manhunter.
The cover design is deliberately styled after a playing card, visually reinforcing the Joker's dominance over the story's reality.
A cameo Easter egg: Jeph Loeb's surname appears on a tombstone in the 'Graveyard of Solitude,' a background visual gag by McGuinness.
This issue was collected and reprinted in the Superman: Emperor Joker trade paperback, which saw a second printing edition released in April 2016.