Superman Red Son Elseworlds
This CD Contains a Collection of Superman Radio Shows.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Needs to made into a movie/ *spoiler alert*
Being a girl and not so much into comic books, I loved this “what if” version of Super Man. Thinking back on it I think it would be a great movie. I like the fact that Lois and Clark aren’t together, I love that they had Bat Man and Wonder Woman. All in all a great read and one that can be done again.
5 Stars Superman through another culture
Every culture has its icons. Characters or figures that are recognizable by anybody who lives there, figures that are almost impossible not to know. And America is very good at producing those icons and spreading them worldwide. I remember reading somewhere - I don’t remember where at the moment - that the United States’ chief export is dreams, and I think there’s definitely something to that.
Of all the dreams to emerge from the American subconscious over the last century, Superman is one of the most enduring. Show that “S” shield to almost anyone on the planet and they’ll probably know what it is. For most of his lifetime, he has stood for Truth, Justice and the American Way, with the third element to that tag line slowly vanishing as writers with a more global perspective take over the character.
Regardless of his jingoistic past, Superman still remains a popular American figure. He represents what we would like to be, as a country. Powerful and just, upright and honest, but at the same time kind and generous and, at heart, good. Superman has the power to control the world, but he doesn’t - he chooses not to - and we like to believe that it was his small-town, American upbringing that instilled such humility in him.
This book examines how things might have gone.
In the late ’80s, DC Comics introduced their “Elseworlds” imprint, with a pretty simple mandate: take canon DC characters and place them in new situations or environments. This way you could see how Batman might have turned out in an America that had never gained its independence, or what would have happened to the JLA without Superman, or if The Flash had taken the bullet meant for JFK. It opened creative doors, allowing writers to tell new stories about familiar characters without disrupting the regular continuity of the DC Comics line.
Of these, Superman: Red Son is one of the best. Mark Millar poses a simple question with a very complex answer: What if young Kal-L’s rocket had landed in Soviet Ukraine instead of Kansas?
What emerges is a fascinating tale of a Superman brought up under Stalinist philosophy. Still the good man that we know him to be, Superman nonetheless chooses a very different means of interacting with the world. We see from the first few pages that the man cannot stand still - he is constantly in motion trying to save people, not just in the Soviet Union, but anywhere in the world. It is his responsibility, he believes, to keep people safe, much in the manner of Soviet philosophy where the government controls nearly every aspect of its citizens’ lives.
Taken in by Stalin, Superman eventually rises to lead the Soviet Union to nearly world-wide dominance. Under his rule there are no accidents, no wars and no conflicts. Crime is nearly non-existent, and those who do not mesh well in this well ordered world are mentally reprogrammed until they do. There are dissidents, of course, like the mysterious Batman, a singular force of chaos in Superman’s perfectly ordered world, but in the end, even he falls. The only true challenge to Superman’s worldwide reign is the brilliant American scientist Lex Luthor, who has devoted his life to freeing mankind from alien tyranny.
It’s a brilliant take on the myth, with a lot of very familiar characters worked in. The art is gorgeous, with a style and a color palette that evokes thoughts of Soviet-era propaganda posters, yet never fails to be dynamic and fascinating.
More important, however, is the message of the story. The idea that comics can have a message is something that a lot of people seem to ignore, fueling the idea that comics are just for kids. The message in Red Son is very important and very, very timely.
The story was published in 2003, a time when America was in great pain. We had been badly hurt and wanted to set things right. By doing so, however, we caused far more damage to the world than we had ourselves endured. By trying to fix other people’s problems, we created even more, and the harder we pushed, the more the world pushed back. And this was not a new trend - one of the negative labels often affixed to the United States is that of “world policeman.” We have a long, long habit of trying to help everyone, whether that is the right thing to do or not.
In that vein, the Superman of Red Son, despite being a Soviet, is a reflection of ourselves. He is a man of immense power, who decides to help everybody. His intentions are good, but good intentions are not always rewarded with good results. His world is orderly, yes - crime and violence are nearly unheard-of - but it comes at the price of individual freedom. People are no longer in control of their own destinies with Superman in charge, and while that may be a safe life, it is not one that I would like to live.
The political message of this book is subtle, but it’s there. More interestingly, it’s a message that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of political views. If you’re a liberal, then it’s taking a stance against imperialism, against the imposition of one country’s values and politics over others’, all in the name of making the world a better place. If you’re a conservative, it’s a call for individual liberty. A government that provides everything for its people is just another form of oppression - without the freedom to make their own choices, for good or for ill, people are not truly free.
In the end it’s a complex tale, with no real good guys and no real bad guys. Except for Brainiac, who will probably never be anything but a bad guy. It’s a story about the choices we make, both as citizens and as societies, and the understanding that we must have the freedom to make those choices. They may sometimes be the wrong ones, but making mistakes is part of the package. In the end, there can be no Superman to save us. We must save ourselves.
5 Stars Great Story, One of my favorite Batman takes
I thought that The Red Son would be this sort of cool elseworld take on Superman and I will get around to it when I feel like it. Then I read it and I wished I had picked it up sooner. It has taken a place on my self reserved for my favorites.
I really liked the use of Batman, Green Lantern, Bizarro, and Brainiac in this story as well as the lack of kryptonite. I have always considered it pretty gay that some douche always is taking Superman out with a little green rock. Not here though. I liked how differently every enemy was formed and took on Superman. Batman was my favorite enemy of the state of all time and I think a story line like with Batman like this should be written.
The ending for me is what really made this story stand alone. It was clever and something that made me shout, “AWESOME!!!” then my girlfriend elbowed me for waking her up. Just a well told story. Enjoy.
4 Stars Super Commissar
What if the Krypton starship landed in Soviet territory instead of the US heartland? Superman being brought up with Marxist/communist ideals? The world would certainly be a different place. For the better or the worse?
Superman: Red Son attempts to answer these questions in such an adaptation. And a heck of an adaptation it is. Superman is still the virtuous Boy Scout he’s always been, but this time he’s on Stalin’s side. But with such an upbringing, there are plenty of people trying to bring him down. The first people from his own country, then later his confrontation with the West, instigated by none other than Lex Luthor.
This graphic nov was quite a treat to read, with grand morals to ponder as the plot thickened. The beginning of the story illustrated the constant power struggles between Party officials in the USSR that Superman eventually had to quell in the name of stability. The tale also encompasses aspects of the Cold War, but instead of a nuclear arms race, a superhero race erupts as Luthor develops an Americanized clone of Superman. Though he is American, the clone is also as moral as Superman and sacrifices himself when a nuclear warhead threatens innocent civilians.
The story progresses with an array of familiar characters that live in an unfamiliar world. Lois Lane is married to Lex Luthor, despite brief tensions with Superman. Batman leads an anarchist’s campaign against Superman, but fails to destroy the man of steel. Eventually Luthor and Brainiac join forces to shrink the Soviet capital, but actually minimize Stalingrad instead. Superman captures both Brainiac and Stalingrad, but is unable to restore the city to its former size. Thus it is kept in a glass jar until he can figure out a way to save the miniature city. This becomes Superman’s greatest failure as a man who strives for perfection.
Still, the world seems to fall under his command quite quickly. Instead of an American economic victory over the Soviet Union that led to communist collapse, it is the US that can no longer hold states in the Union. The world prospers under a communist rule that only Superman can lead properly. But Luthor, with his mass of capital and pure genius, takes over the US presidency and raises the American economy out of poverty. Eventually he provokes Superman into a third world war of which Superman is humbled by a few simple words, “Why don’t you just put the whole WORLD in a BOTTLE, Superman?” This leads the Super Commissar to call off the invasion of the United States, which triggers a nuclear fail safe in Brainiac’s ship. Superman sacrifices himself to destroy this ship and the world is left in the hands of Luthor. Eventually the entirety of mankind is transformed into beings just like Superman when the sun inflates red billions of years into the future. In fact, it turns out that Superman is the descendant of Lex Luthor. His family sends Superman not only through space but also through time to escape the dying world.
Recapping on the story, it portrays a great deal of perfectionist attitudes that never live up to the standards, much instigated by communist nations. These strives for perfection on a national scale brought only oppression to the world. It shows that chaos is not something to be perfected. Greed and envy will always exist, and no Soviet deity could stop such things. If he wanted end suffering, Superman would need to imprison the entire world into a glass jar, like that of Stalingrad. And even though war and defeat have littered the comrade of steel, Superman is still a descent being, willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. Sort of shows that no matter how wrong one may be there is always room for amending and healing a world gone mad. But oppression and violent persuasion is never the answer.
5 Stars Hes watching you
I got this book because its a good “What If” (remember the old marvel series?). This really is a good book and I like the alternative takes on some of the other JLA characters. The art has an old and new style appeal and the writings good too. The ending is appropriate and well done.
Im not really the spoiler type. You can take my word for it, or some guy that has to write an essay on his thoughts. If you like Superman or JLA at all and want a good story, this is it. This is the good stuff. C’mon Superman a communist? How could you need any convincing?
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