From reading the cover and introduction, the premise of this book appears to be "If Kal-El's rocket was off by a few minutes and landed in the USSR instead of the USA, how would that affect the DCU?". Reading on, however, I realize that the premise instead is "How would the DCU look in a world dominated by the USSR?" That's a whole different ballgame, and not nearly as interesting to me. The reason I say this is that Millar does not make it clear how the effects presented in RED SON are caused by Superman's existence as a communist figurehead. For example, why would Superman's not being in the USA make Jimmy Olsen decide to become a government agent instead of working for the Daily Planet? Why would a Russian boy with murdered dissident parents become Batman instead of Bruce Wayne? Why would Oliver Queen work for the Daily Planet instead of becoming Green Arrow? It seems to me that Superman's existence in the "regular" timeline had no effect on Olsen's desire to work at the Planet, the murder of Bruce Wayne's Parents, or Oliver Queen being stranded on an island; therefore, these characters should remain pretty much the same in this alternate timeline. All I can assume is that Millar wanted to give us more bang for the buck, giving us a quick thrill upon spotting familiar characters in different circumstances, but his cause-and-effect gets sloppy in the process. There are a few well-done moments, such as the creation of Bizarro and the release of the super-villains, but these were overshadowed for me by the little inconsistencies I mentioned before (and others) that just didn't add up. This is not a simple "alternate timeline" caused by a different destination for Kal-El's rocket... this is an complete reinterpretation of the DCU, and not much fun for me.


Superman Behind The Iron Curtain   February 4, 2004
 48 out of 49 found this review helpful

I have enjoyed many of the Elseworlds books ever since the precursor, Gotham By Gaslight. This is probably the best Superman title and one of the best overall.

A few hours difference in the arrival of superman's space capsule could mean landing half a world away from Kansas and that is the premise. Superman has landed in the Soviet Union and has been raised by loyal Socialists. Superman's presence in the Soviet Union drastically alters the future.

Superman rises to power despite the conflict of political ideals and the Warsaw Pact signs on new members. We see the world change and see the lives of many familiar figures form the DC universe; Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc.

This is more than just a remake of the Nazi Superman (Ubermensch) as seen on Saturday Night Live. The story is fairly believable and Superman is as true to his upbringing as in the regular DC universe. The story progresses nicely until we see the final surprise plot twist.

A wonderful story for Superman and Elseworlds fans.


An alternate history for science fiction readers   August 3, 2004
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

This graphic novel is not a parody, it's an alternate history. A most unusual alt-history: an alternate to a fictional reality, rather than an alternate version of our history. (The most popular themes for alternate history are, What if the South won the Civil War?, and What if the Germans won WWII?)

Alternate history is a concept generally more familiar to those who read SF novels rather than comics/graphic novels. Many of us SF novel readers did read a lot of comics when we were younger, though, and I think this particular graphic novel is aimed at us. We read Superman - and Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman - in the 50's, 60's and 70's. So, although we may not have read any other of this particular series of graphic novels, we have quite a bit of background in the Superman mythos - his real parents, where he grew up, girlfriends, enemies, etc.

I think that knowing that background from the original comics may make this book more enjoyable to my middle-aged generation than to people who are used only to the graphic novels. As well, my generation had the advantage of living through most of the history that was really happening from 1950 on. For those who know the history of the Cold War only from school, many of the details wouldn't make sense. It helps a great deal in reading this book if you are familiar with the course of the Cold War, and that you know not only who JFK was, but some of the celebrity gossip about him as well as the official records. (The name Norma Jean should mean something to you.) You should know what the Warsaw Pact was, and something about in what order the Soviet Union took over various countries.

I liked the way the book involved similar alternate twists on Batman, and brought in Wonder Woman and Green Lantern as well. Batman's hat is the funniest thing I've seen in a while!

A couple quibbles: having the artwork done by more than one artist is distracting; a couple times it was hard to recognize Lois Lane as herself. And I do wish that illustrators would STOP trying to use the Cyrillic alphabet incorrectly. If you can't use the letters for what they really are, don't use them, please. The thing that looks like a backwards R is NOT an R. The letter that looks like a backwards N is NOT an N. So stop it already! Just go for English in the signs and titles, or for accurate Russian. (One illustrator did this correctly, but on many pages, and the cover art, these letters are used incorrectly.) OK, that's one of my pet peeves, since I happen to be able to read Russian a little; it may not bother other people as much as it bugs me.

Summary? A graphics novel that may be of more interest to an older generation that doesn't usually read them, in a vein more familiar to SF readers than comics readers.


A Pinnacle of Superman writing   March 30, 2004
 14 out of 15 found this review helpful

Red Son, for those not in the know, is the Elseworlds tale showcasing how the world would have been different should Kal El have landed in Russia during the beginning of the Cold War. What occurs during the three issues is the rise of the Superman, and the fall of the world under his boot. Oh, it's not a tyrannical rule; Superman has made the world a Socialist community, with only a dilapidated America under President Luthor standing up against the alien's involvement.

It's a heady case that Mark Millar brings, but the work stands as one of the best and definite works for Superman. You may ask, `definitive for Superman? How? It's not a real story!" (...)! Millar defines his world using the very paradigm of who and what the Superman character stands for. Oh, our guy is most certainly there. It's just that we get to see how Superman would react given a different lot in life. He is still the highly noble, self-sacrificing hero that we all know and love. There isn't a person on this planet that doesn't know that familiar `S'-shield, and each one can pick up on the familiarity with the character as he and his cast are presented here. After all, it's the classic story of invulnerable alien versus his greatest nemesis-a brilliant mortal flesh and blood human. Ah....but Lex gets it done. In a brilliant way, Lex gets it done.

Art wise, Dave Johnson and Kilian Plunkett share the art chores throughout the telling. Johnson begins the story for the first part, and is joined and later finished by Plunkett. Johnson's work heralds the Superman Fleischer cartoons from the 1940's, where our hero is a broad shouldered man of action, simple in wants and benign in deeds. His work directly expresses the innocence of the years, and it's slow decay as time marches on. Plunkett finishes the tale up, and his style shows a harsher, aged time for the world and Superman. The decay of freedom is complete, and our hero bears that weight in full force. You can clearly perceive the gloom that hangs over all, which is...until....

You read it for yourself. What, you think I was going to tell you? Ha! And ruin it? You're out of your gourd!

Superman: Red Son more than stands out this year as the story that none should miss. It succeeds on all levels as a defining work that grabs your attention and leaves you overwhelmed come story's end. There is nothing more that I can say that the book doesn't say for itself.


Some nice concepts, but vastly overrated   February 19, 2006
 12 out of 26 found this review helpful

In the preface, the hyperbolic Tom DeSanto wildly trumpets "Red Son" as a devastating critique of American foreign policy, not the cookie-cutter "feel-good propaganda" that might have been expected. Instead, he hints darkly at surrendering freedom in favor of security.
Oh please. The Soviet Union that Superman serves here is the sort of cookie-cutter comic book autocracy one might have expected in a 1950s comic and bears no resemblance to the murderous regime that truly was an "evil empire." At one point, Stalin understands why Superman must rush off to save thousands in Vladivostok. This is the dictator who killed, yes slaughtered, tens of millions of his own people.
It's this sort of superficial investigation that dooms "Red Son" to superficial stabs at political comment, and third-rate reimaginings of history that are, frankly, tiresome.
Though the story is redeemed in the end by a circular ending which seems to say we are always doomed to repeat the same mistakes, this "devastating critique" is not really all that original, exciting, or particularly entertaining. Nor does it comment on anything except the overexcited imaginations of a bunch of leftists who obviously learned their politics from comic books. Grow up, guys.