Bruno Mannheim

Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim is a villain and mob boss who appears in DC Comics as one of Superman's enemies.[1]

Bruno Mannheim
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSuperman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #139, (July 1971)
Created byJack Kirby
In-story information
Alter egoBruno "Ugly" Mannheim

Publication history

The character first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #139 (July 1971) and was created by Jack Kirby.[2]

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.[3]

Since his return in the miniseries 52, he claims now to have been "reborn" thanks to the New God 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 is 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 like he did with Mirage. Bruno Mannheim later abducted Kite Man, Lamelle, Rawson, Sewer King, and Squid in order to get them to join Intergang. Some of them turned him down and were killed as a result.[4]

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.[5]

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 Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Bruce Weitz. In the episode "Tools of the Trade", he and Intergang received high-tech weapons from Kanto. After Superman defeated him, Mannheim fled with Kanto and met the latter's boss Darkseid, who Bruno agreed to work for in exchange for power. In "Father's Day", Mannheim, Desaad, and Kalibak watch Superman fight a robot that Desaad sent to Earth. Mannheim suggests Darkseid send the former back to Earth so he can reunite Intergang, however, Darkseid declines and teleports Mannheim to the Apokoliptian fire pits, where he was put to work shoveling coal into the furnaces. In "Apokolips...Now" Pt. 1, Darkseid sends Mannheim back to Earth to cause a nuclear meltdown on a small island in preparation for an Apokoliptian invasion with the promise of political power. While Mannheim succeeded in overloading the reactor, Darkseid reneges and leaves Mannheim for dead on the island. Bruno managed to get on a motorboat, but it was caught in the explosion and capsized. Following this, Darkseid had Granny Goodness take over Intergang.
  • Bruno Mannheim appeared in the Smallville live-action series episode "Stiletto", portrayed by Dominic Zamprogna.
  • Bruno Mannheim appears in the Young Justice animated series, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. In the episode "Disordered", Superboy and the Forever People stumble upon Mannheim and Intergang robbing an underground gold vault using Apokoliptian technology and weapons. Mannheim escapes the initial encounter, though he is later stripped of his weaponry and captured when Superboy takes command of a corrupted Infinity-Man and turns it against Mannheim. In the episode "Salvage", Mannheim and Whisper A'Daire use special technology to merge four Appellaxian host bodies into one Appellaxian Golem so the former could make it his personal enforcer. However, Superboy and Blue Beetle destroy the golem and the latter restrains Mannheim and A'Daire against two trees, where Sportsmaster puts them in catatonic states as a warning to anyone who goes against the Light. As of the episode "First Impression", Mannheim recovered and continued to further Intergang's goals, such as attempting to steal Reach technology.

Film

Bruno Mannheim appears in the animated film The Death of Superman, voiced by Trevor Devall.

Video games
  • Bruno Mannheim appeared in Superman: Countdown to Apokolips.
  • Bruno Mannheim appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Bruce Carey. In both the hero and villain campaign, the players are sent by the Question and Deathstroke respectively to infiltrate Intergang and steal the Crime Bible from Mannheim. They arrive just as he sacrifices Batwoman to gain infinite power, though the players are able to defeat him with assistance from their respective benefactors. Following this, the hero players use the Crime Bible to revive Batwoman.

Miscellaneous

Bruno Manneheim appeared in an issue of The Batman Strikes!, which is based on the animated series The Batman. He works with Rupert Thorne to create an army of super-villains based on Bane, Man-Bat, Firefly, Gearhead, and Temblor so he can defeat the Justice League and take over Metropolis. To further this goal, Mannheim also turned himself a version of Metallo. However, his plans ultimately fail when Batman and Superman defeat him and his enhanced thugs.

References
  1. Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 234–235. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  2. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  3. Infinite Crisis #7 (2005)
  4. "52" Week Twenty-Five
  5. Superman" #654"
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