Bruno Mannheim

Bruno Mannheim
Art by Paris Cullins
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #139, (July 1971)
Created by	Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim

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

Publication history

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

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.

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.

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.

In Gotham Underground, Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim and Intergang were involved in a gang war with Tobias Whale.

In other media

Television

Live Action

• Bruno Mannheim made an appearance in the Smallville episode "Stiletto" played by Dominic Zamprogna.
• Bruno Mannheim is referenced in the TV shows set in the Arrowverse:
  • Bruno Mannheim is mentioned in the Arrow episode "Docket No. 11-19-41-73". Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak do a background check on the prosecutor Alexa Van Owen and find out that she is responsible for taking down Intergang and Bruno in court. It was not clarified if Bruno has any relation with the criminal Hugo Mannheim nicknamed Mugshot from the "Birds of Prey" episode of the second season.
  • Bruno Mannheim is mentioned in the Supergirl episode "American Alien". He is stated to have been a business partner of Lex Luthor's, laundering money through his company, LutherCorp. Lex's mother, Lillian blames Mannheim for setting Lex on the path of villainy. Lena Luthor then delivers the info on Mannheim to the DA's office, in exchange for dropping James Olsen's indictment.

Animation

• Bruno Mannheim appeared in five episodes of Superman: The Animated Series voiced by Bruce Weitz. Mannheim runs Intergang, as in the comic books. One of his enemies is the Toyman, whose father was a patsy for one Mannheim's embezzling schemes. In "Tools of the Trade", he and Intergang received high-tech weapons from Kanto. After Superman defeated him, Bruno fled with Kanto and ended up meeting Kanto's boss Darkseid. Mannheim agreed to work for Darkseid in exchange for power. In "Father's Day", he alongside Desaad and Kalibak watch Superman fight a robot that Desaad sent to Earth. After Darkseid declined Kalibak's offer to fight Superman, Bruno suggested Darkseid to send him back to Earth so that he can get Intergang back together. Darkseid denied the offer and teleported Bruno to the fire pits where he was put to work shoveling coal into the furnaces. In "Apokolips...Now" Pt. 1, Mannheim is back on Earth, using advanced technology to commit crimes and agree to Darkseid's plan to instigate a planned invasion of Earth by starting a nuclear meltdown in exchange for political power. When Mannheim successfully began the reactor overload, Darkseid went back on his word. Bruno accosted Darkseid by pointing out that he promised to "make him a king" to which Darkseid replied: "And so you are, the king of fools". Bruno was then left stranded on a small island where the nuclear reactor was situated. Despite managing to get on a motorboat, it was caught in the explosion when it was a little way from the island and capsized. Mannheim apparently perished in the blast as he was not seen again. After that, Darkseid had Granny Goodness take over Intergang.
• Bruno Mannheim appears in the Young Justice episode "Disordered" voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. He is seen as a member of Intergang. Superboy and the Forever People stumble upon him and the rest of Intergang robbing an underground gold vault using weapons and technology from Apokolips. He escapes the initial encounter and later is stripped of his weaponry and captured when Superboy takes command of a corrupted Infinity-Man and turns it against Mannheim. In "Salvage", Mannheim and Whisper A'Daire use a special technology to merge the four Appellaxian host bodies into one Appellaxian Golem. Mannheim planned to use the Appellaxian Golem into making it an enforcer for Intergang. Blue Beetle manages to restrain Mannheim and Whisper with special locks. Mannheim and Whisper are later put into a catatonic-like state by Sportsmaster as a warning to anyone who goes against The Light, suggesting the two were operating independently. Mannheim returns in third season, fully recovered and continuing to further push Intergang's goals, such as attempting to steal Reach technology.

Film

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

Video games

• Bruno Mannheim appeared as his animated counterpart in Superman: Countdown to Apokolips.
• Bruno Mannheim appears in the DC Universe Online video game voiced by Bruce Carey. In the hero campaign, Question sends the players to infiltrate Intergang. They discover that Mannheim plans to kill Batwoman as part of a ritual to gain infinite power as the Crime Bible stated that this can be obtained once the twice-named daughter of Cain is sacrificed. When the players arrive, Mannheim sacrifices Batwoman and gains enough power to fight them. The players end up fighting Bruno Mannheim until Question arrives to help fight Mannheim. Once Mannheim is defeated, the players claim the Crime Bible and revive Batwoman. In the villain campaign, Deathstroke and Calculator send the players to infiltrate Intergang in order to steal the Crime Bible from Bruno Mannheim. They discover that Bruno plans to kill Batwoman as part of a ritual to gain infinite power as the Crime Bible stated that this can be obtained once the twice-named daughter of Cain is sacrificed. When the players arrive, Mannheim sacrifices Batwoman and gains enough power to fight them. The players end up fighting Mannheim until Deathstroke arrives to help fight Bruno Mannheim.

Miscellaneous

Bruno Manneheim appeared in an issue of The Batman Strikes! (based on the animated series The Batman). He is seen working with Rupert Thorne and created an army of super-villains based on Bane, Man-Bat, Firefly, Gearhead and Temblor. He plans to use these villains to take down the Justice League and take over Metropolis. Manneheim turned himself into a version of Metallo. His plans ultimately fail when Batman and Superman defeat him and his super thugs.