Superman Red Son
Superman is an icon. Everyone instantly knows the emblem when they see it. Every boy has tied on a cape and pretended to fly around. Superman is a recognizable brand pretty much. What happens when art becomes a brand is that inevitably the soul of the piece gets lost in the process. The movies do not convey who Superman is and what he means in the context of his world. Superman has never been portrayed on film or television as the inspirational symbol that he is in the comics.
Superman is an incorruptible being who stands for truth, justice, and the American Way. It’s a good thing he does too, or we’d be fucked. A being of limitless strength, super hearing, x ray telescopic and heat vision, super breath, freezing breath, and invulnerability is probably the biggest deterrent towards enemy attack since the atomic bomb. But what happens if as Lex Luthor puts it, “he decides to stop playing nice?” What if instead of fighting for the American way, he fought for Soviet Russia? How would the world react to something like that? How would the Cold War have been waged? Would America have become the dominant superpower? That is the premise behind Superman: Red Son. The graphic novel from Mark Millar re-imagines the American icon as a symbol of the hammer and sickle.
Superman: Red Son(SRS) opens with a television broadcast. It appears that the Soviets have a new weapon that will undoubtably tip the balance of power in their favor. That weapon is, you guessed it, Superman. In this alternate world, instead of landing in a Smallvlle, Kansas field, young Kal-El’s Kryptonian spacecraft landed 12 hours earlier……in Russia. That’s right people, Superman is a communist. And with his unstoppable might at the right hand of Joseph Stalin, there is no one that will be able to stop the spread of Communism. Luckily, Superman is not a puppet. Although devoted to the ideals of the party, he is guided by a higher sense of morality and an altruistic appreciation for the value of human life. Superman often saves lives even in the US. It is there that he meets his arch nemesis Luthor.
Alexander Luthor is portrayed in this book not as a whimsical bitch(I’m talking to you Kevin Spacey), but as an absolute genius. He is seen playing 20 games of chess at once while reading a book. Luthor is hired by the president to create a weapon that can kill Superman. Luthor agrees for the challenge, but when a clone of Superman he creates beats him at chess, Luthor’s challenge becomes an obsession. You see, Lex Luthor hates Superman for a basic reason: Superman is not a man at all. He’s an alien, the last remnant of a civilation long extinct. Luthor agrees that Superman does good deeds, but he opposes the fact that humans look towards an alien demigod as a source of hope and inspiration, when we could look to ourselves. Luthor suggests that with Superman always around to save humanity, they will never rise to the challenge and improve themselves. Luthor’s argument is essentially racism, but the argument is compelling in this case. Think about it. If you knew Superman would save you from any train crash, why would anyone invent safer trains? At one point in the novel, it is brought to our attention that no one even bothers wearing seatbelts anymore in Russia. This deep concern for humanity, mixed with a slightly egomaniacal nature(naturally, he wants humanity to be inspired by him), is what has made Lex Luthor a consistently interesting character in comics. What makes his story in this book even more interesting is the fact that because he’s American, Lex is pretty much the hero of this book. I won’t spoil any specific plot points, but I’ll explain a few themes.
When Joseph Stalin dies, Superman reluctantly steps up and assumes power. He only does this after realizing that he alone has the power to truly create a Communist utopia. After a while, the U.S., still clinging to its ways, is the only country in the world not part of the Communist empire. There is world peace, but in the U.S., poverty and civil war. It’s all done very tastefully, I assure you. This comic isn’t “anti-American” in any way. It is just portraying an alternate reality. The questions posed in this comic are very deep. What is the cost of absolute power? Even if you wield it in a way that keeps everyone safe and in line, aren’t you still really just oppressing them? Is Humanity a race of people that will give up on themselves and let someone else do all the work, or will they soar higher every generation through their own ingenuity? These questions haunt Lex Luthor and Superman. In the end, both characters have an important decision to make for the sake of mankind. The ending will resonate with you and make you think long after you’ve closed the book.
What makes this book stand out from the rest is that it is written so believably. There are subtle touches in the dialogue that will make you forget you are reading a graphic novel. The story flows well. It is split into three chapters, each one being a different era of Superman’s reign. The characters age through the years. You’ll see Lois Luthor(There is no Clark Kent in this timeline), go from plucky reporter to wise old woman. You’ll see her marriage degenerate as Luthor’s obsession to beat the Man of Steel grows. Even Superman sports some graying temples. One of the other things that I thought was neat is the fact that so much attention is paid to detail. In this reality, we’re used to the Justice League. Here, they have never met and thus never formed. All the heroes we know and love have different origins and brief cameos. My favorite is Batman re-imagined as a Russian anti-Superman terrorist. It’s cold out there in Russia, so he sports fur on the forehead part of the cowl. Oh, and he hands Superman a vicious beating that you have to see to believe.
Speaking of seeing, the artwork here is AMAZING. The pages all have a kind of red sheen to them. Some comic artists can get a little too “squiggly” with their pencil lines and the page is hard to read. This is not the case here. The art is crisp, well colored, and defined so that the pictures just pop off the page. I love the artwork in this book.
Superman: Red Son is a classic. No doubt about it. I know there are those of you who are out there going “But it’s a comic book”. You guys will enjoy this as much as me. Ok well maybe not as much as me cuz I’m a nerd, but you get the point. It contains great social commentary, and it will give you something to think about. It’s an interesting read especially in today’s times. The book is very accessible. This is a great stepping-stone for anyone who’s never read a graphic novel.
9/10 .
2 comments:
Let me first start by saying that I had never read a comic book up until a couple weeks ago, and this was a great place to start! It didn’t require any previous knowledge of the Superman story. It was a complete and compelling story in its own right. I agree with Master Luke completely; this was a great stepping stone into the world of graphic novels. On that note, there is no better name for this particular genre of literature. These are novels, indeed, and their stories, and themes, assertions rival some of the best. This one in particular brings to mind Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.”
With that I will be begin my review. As Master Luke points out, as the story unfolds, questions of absolute power, oppression, and the quest for Utopia are raised, as well as the resilience & ingenuity of the human race and how they are fostered and/or stifled by the latter. Millar’s description of the growing communist empire, which under superman’s reign, has successfully eliminated “poverty, disease, and ignorance,” is juxtaposed to a dismal portrait of United States stubbornly clinging to capitalism on the brink of economic and social collapse. At first glance, one might mistake the story as anti-American or anti-capitalism, but read on and you will discover that it is quite the opposite. In fact, Millar makes a very poignant argument for the “American” ideology (I use the term “American” loosely)of “civil liberties,” he paints a portrait of overly idealistic deviants, forced into submission via brain surgery, turning them into literal Superman robots. So again, we must ask “What is the cost of absolute power?” Is oppression a justifiable means to the end, if the goal is to have a safe, prosperous, disease-free country? Further, has a “Utopia” really been achieved if it requires the elimination of the very thing that separates us, and makes us superior to other mammals --- the ability to reason, and act on impulses beyond brute necessity and survival? If “Utopia” is defined as a “visionary system of political or social perfection,” then I’d say the answer is NO! This does not sound like a “Utopia” at all, because its very existence is dependent upon suppression of the human mind. The presumed perfection is not organic; it is simply the result of unwilling submission, and in this case an alien superpower. Superman, and the ideas for which he stands are not innately evil or inhumane in principle, however, the means by which they are achieved may be. In essence, this version of a “Utopia” exists in a proverbial “bottle” (a little bit of foreshadowing for you). It is this very idea of oppression and human dependency that is so repulsive to superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor, who believes in the power of human ingenuity, albeit that his motives are also driven by his own question for power, dependant primarily on his own natural genius. Luthor refuses to accept that the socioeconomic challenges plaguing the US cannot be solved with good old fashioned perseverance in innovation. He dedicates his life to defeating Superman and restoring America (although, it is not clear which of these two goals was most important). Luthor is a genius, indeed, but in true human fashion, even the spawn of his superior intellect are not free of error and casualty. So does he defeat Superman? Does he restore America? Does human resolve and innovation rise to the occasion? Well, I don’t want to spoil it for you! But this begs a new question; what is the cost of intellectual freedom? Are we willing to sacrifice health and prosperity for it? How many mistakes, and how much loss are we willing to endure in search of a resolution to the many challenges facing our nation? Is it possible that when left our own devices, we will continue to make the same mistakes over and over again? These are all the questions one is left to ponder after reading this graphic novel --questions that are relevant not only in Millar’s imaginary America, but in our own America.
Very good insights. Glad you enjoyed it. Red Son is a fun read w/lots of subtext beneath the surface. I see you clearly caught all of it. I hope I've piqued your curiosity about the genre. There's a LOT of great stuff out there. Awesome comment. Thanks.
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