Toward a Red Planet (Superman goes Communist)

National Post ^ | Monday, May 12, 2003 | Jeet Heer

[adam_az]

No kidding...

"Supercomrade... Defeater of the bourgoise Kulak, Hero of the People!"

[pabianice]

Astonishing.

[aristeides]

Graced by strong, muscular art by Dave Johnson, the first issue of Superman: Red Son also demonstrates that there is a deep affinity between the aesthetics of superheroes and traditional socialist realism; both styles favour strong, manly physiques flexing their muscles.

Well, Nazi and fascist art is also similar. I think of all those bulging, muscular torsos in sculptures by the likes of Thorak or Breker. There's also a lot of similarity in the architecture of the three systems. I call it all "mid-20th century totalitarian". The New Deal may have been a totalitarianism manqué, but many of its adherents would have liked it to be totalitarian.

[Orangedog]

I suppose that we would have shifted some resources for production of Plutonium to Kryptonite. Could have been more effective to make bullits out of that than depleated uranium ;)

[aristeides]

Well, this seems appropriate when the American press is more and more palpably red.

[pabianice]

In one of the best serious SciFi short stories of the past ten years -- "Ubermench!" -- Superman lands in Germany in the 1930s and is raised as a good Nazi. After the end of WW II he realizes his mistake and allows himself to be improsoned by the Allies. In the end, he commits suicide.

Not only is the story great, but the author -- not having DC Comics' permission to use any copyrighted material -- writes the entire story without a single key word, such as Kryptonite. Wish I could remember the author's name...

[HELLRAISER II]

I don't really care for that type of artwork.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Just as President George W. Bush is willing to bomb any country that could challenge American hegemony...

Ummm...the only place that scenario would have any validity would have to be a comic book.

[dark_lord]

I didn't draw it.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I thought the "S" symbol was Jo'Rel's family crest.

Why would it be different just because Ka'Lel landed in the USSR?

[Katana16j]

Not that uncommon, yo should read what iis considered the best comic ever, The Dark Knight returns Saga, it takes good old Captalistic batman and puts him in an 80's spoof world.

Of course its hard to bend Batman that Far, so he ends up being more libertarian.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[HELLRAISER II]

I didn't say you did, I just meant that the artwork looked kind of funky.

[Melas]

It's nothing new. DC has always had Elsworlds and Marvel has had the What If? series. Both were designed from the begining to explore existing characters under different circumstances.

There has been an Elseworlds where Superman's ship was recovered by the U.S. Navy instead of the Kents. One where it was picked up by the Wayne family in Gotham instead of the Kents. One where Superman was raised on Apokolyps (Planet of a major DC villian) and raised by Darkseid. The list is a long one of the books just involving Superamn. These are just a few of the goodies.

Attempts to make this comic as anything more than another Elsewords story line involving Superamn is more than just a reach or a stretch, it's an untruth born of either ignorance of the comic book heritage or a deliberate attempt to rouse the rabble.

[dfwgator]

"I am Jor-El, your father. I have been dead for many years, but I will return as Charlie Rich."

[Melas]

I thought the "S" symbol was Jo'Rel's family crest.

That's the movie version. The comic book version (which is called canon, ie the rules that DC writers obey when writing about existing characters) is that the S was Pa Kent's letter from Smallville HS.

[genefromjersey]

AMEN !!!

[billbears]

Really!! Every Elseworlds novel is a what if. What if he had landed in Russia instead of the US? It's no big deal. But some are portraying it the story as if it's treasonous.

[weegee]

"Months ago we know mine is unsafe," Kober says. "But when we tell boss's foreman they say: 'No like job, Stanislaw? Quit!' "

I'll be that the Socialist Superman character doesn't speak in cliched Yakov Smirnoff broken English.

And why would he assume the name "Clark Kent" if he were living in the Soviet Union? Why not Mikalov Ratinski (~Mickey Rat)?

[weegee]

Reprinted by DC Comics in a series called the Superman Archives, these early stories show Superman as a crime fighter with a distinct political conscience. He is seen fighting against a wife-beater, a lynch mob, two munitions manufacturers, some war-crazed military dictators, a drunk driver and a gangster who tries to take over a labour union.

Liberal Politics?

A wife-beater, I guess that conservatives are still beating their wives.

A lynch mob, I guess they never heard of the lynching the unions did in the 1930s. Don't cross that picket line.

Some munititons manufacturers, there must be more to the story about why Supes took them on.

Some war-crazed military dictators, yeah and after WWII we took on Stalin who killed more of his nation's people than Hitler killed in his death camps. Meanwhile the socialists in America saw no evil empire in Stalin's rule.

A drunk driver, too early to be Teddy Kennedy.

A gangster who tries to take over a labo(u)r union, now that strains the limits of credibility. How about we make it DNC thugs instead.