Toward a Red Planet (Superman goes Communist)

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

[strela]

"Little Tommy Taylor, from Ft. Wayne Indiana, writes in to ask: "what if Napoleon had a fully loaded B-52 at the Battle of Waterloo?"

ROFL! My father continually wondered aloud what would have happened if he could have sent a gross of Claymore mines and a couple dozen Thompson .50s with ammo back to the Texans besieged at the Alamo.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

I love the smell of Kryptonite in the morning. . . it's the smell of Victory!!

[weegee]

"Little Tommy Taylor, from Ft. Wayne Indiana, writes in to ask: "what if Napoleon had a fully loaded B-52 at the Battle of Waterloo?"

Not much. Who was trained at flying back in those days?

"Okay, start her up..."

BlamRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"What's that noise?"

"I don't know but it sounds like it's ready to blow!"

DC did some stories like this back in the as recently as the 1980s. There was Weird War with dinosaurs and army men, centaurs vs. tanks:

And then there was the WWII hippy soldier:

[Melas]

Marvel always had a slightly soap opera type thing going that always turned me off somewhat. I've always preferred DC, but read Marvel on the side.

[Nowhere Man]

These 'Elseworlds' graphic novels have been going on since at least the 80's. I have several, one where he was raised by the Wayne family until they were killed before his eyes, one where he was involved in the American Civil War, or landed in the jungle and grew up as a tarzan-like savage.

In each case, the story shows how the CHARACTER of Superman overcomes his upbringing and circumstances to become a TRUE hero. Save your outrage until the story is over.

I'd like to pick up a few of those comics myself, I'm an "alternate history" buff, I like the "what-if" stories. I remember this was discussed in the Usenet group soc.history.what-if several times. If you want a real trip, read "Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove where it features time travelling South African Neo-Nazis giving the Confederates AK-47's so they can win the Civil War. The Neo-Nazis wanted to establish their own country and use Robert E. Lee as a figurehead but it doesn't turn out that way as he figures out what it really going on. Good book.

[sasportas]

"We really are overdue for some coverage of Communism's attrocities. We get non-stop coverage of the Nazi's attrocities, but with communism, the subtle message is that communism was fine, but was hijacked by evil individuals like Stalin and Pol Pot.

People need to be reminded that communism was inherently evil-- that is impossible to give communism a go without taking away individual freedom and turning a nation into a prison. The absolute authority of the State necessarily invites tyrants, either individual tyrants like Stalin, or tyrannical oligarchies."

Right on, Montfort. Nazism is always the whipping boy. Not that the Nazis don't deserve it, but can somebody tell me why red Communism is given a pass?

[weegee]

...can somebody tell me why red Communism is given a pass?

Because damned intellectuals dug it?

[weegee]

Harlan Ellison doesn't even like the term Science Fiction (for future stories). He prefers speculative fiction since it is an theory as to how things could turn out under certain circumstances.

[Paul Ross]

People need to be reminded that communism was inherently evil-- that it is impossible to give communism a go without taking away individual freedom and turning a nation into a prison. The absolute authority of the State necessarily invites tyrants, either individual tyrants like Stalin, or tyrannical oligarchies.

[Tailgunner Joe]

[Fedora]

ROFL! Excellent :) Those wartime comics were great.