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A review by dullshimmer
Superman: Red Son (New Edition) by Mark Millar
4.0
What would have happened if Superman had landed in the Soviet Union instead of the United States? That's the question that Superman: Red Son explores. It's an interesting thought experiment, but I'm a little mixed on the results. This is largely because Superman is still somewhat virtuous, but at the same time also winds up being a tyrannical leader.
Superman doesn't want to take over other nations by force, but why not? He was an underling of Stalin at one point, so why doesn't Superman become more violent himself here? It doesn't fully make sense to me. I think it would have been a bit more powerful to have Superman follow in those shoes rather than trying to keep him wholesome, but also a tyrannical leader of sorts.
Plus in the end you are really only presented with two choices the rule of Superman or the rule of Lex Luthor and its kind of hard to say which one was better. I also felt like the assorted cameos in the book were kind of overshadowed by the main conflict between Superman and Lex. Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, classic Superman villains (with the exception of Brainiac), and even Lois were all kind of passed over significantly here.
I know there is only so much you can do with a three comic series, but this just feel slightly short for me in the end. It also ends with what is probably my least favorite kind of ending so there is also that. It was a fun ride and interesting to read, but did have some shortcomings in my mind.
Superman doesn't want to take over other nations by force, but why not? He was an underling of Stalin at one point, so why doesn't Superman become more violent himself here? It doesn't fully make sense to me. I think it would have been a bit more powerful to have Superman follow in those shoes rather than trying to keep him wholesome, but also a tyrannical leader of sorts.
Plus in the end you are really only presented with two choices the rule of Superman or the rule of Lex Luthor and its kind of hard to say which one was better. I also felt like the assorted cameos in the book were kind of overshadowed by the main conflict between Superman and Lex. Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, classic Superman villains (with the exception of Brainiac), and even Lois were all kind of passed over significantly here.
I know there is only so much you can do with a three comic series, but this just feel slightly short for me in the end. It also ends with what is probably my least favorite kind of ending so there is also that. It was a fun ride and interesting to read, but did have some shortcomings in my mind.