The Red Son: Hail Comrade Superman!

Selain motor, aku jugak minat baca dan kumpul komik tapi sekarang dah kurang sikit sebab duit aku banyak habis ke motor dan girlfriend he he he. Dah lama aku tulis post kat bawah ni, saja kongsi kat sini. Mana tau ada jugak peminat komik yang baca blog aku ni. Maaf my England not so good.

Imagine… take a moment and use your imagination. Imagine that the Superman you know wasn’t the pride of Uncle Sam, the champion of freedom and democracy but as“…the champion of the common worker, fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, Socialism and the international expansion of The Warsaw Pact. Superman: Pride of the Soviet State…”

An excerpt taken from the comic “Superman: Red Son” that wraps everything that Superman we know as, turn completely the opposite. That is what “Superman: Red Son” does. To tease your imagination; to delve into the “What If…” scenario. The teasing game of imagination brought to you by the famous Mark Millar, where he reimagines the great American icon as a Soviet hero.

For those who didn’t follow Superman comic can still pick this up and enjoy it as much as those who follows due to the way Mark Millar cleverly wrote the story to blossom into something intriguing, away from your typical “what if” scenario. The story is written with the depth of alternate story that brought forth by the stark difference between the real Superman and his Red Son’s counterpart. From the difference in his uniform; the way he thinks; his ideals that reset what we know about Superman to the characters that inhabited the Superman’s world like Lex Luthor, Lois Lane (her family name changed in Red Son. Won’t want to spoilt further surprise), Jimmy Olsen, even Batman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. All of these characters are different but at the same time inherit the things that made them who they are that we came to know. Even with all these differences, there is one thing still the same – Superman believe he is doing the right thing, to make the world a safer place only this time using force to uphold his belief.

The story in “Superman: Red Son” began with a twist that change the how the whole story unravel – baby Kal-El fell somewhere in Ukraine instead of Smallville, Kansas. Small change that alter the whole course of the story. The story didn’t touch how life for Kal-El when he was a kid, instead it jump straight to the most interesting period of Kal-El’s life, being a Superman. The story basically follows through Superman’s character development from the era of the Cold War where Joseph Stalin is helming Mother Russia and he’s just their answer to US’s nuclear threat to his usurpation the mantle of supreme leader of Earth, but, not without resistance from his famous nemesis, Lex Luthor. 

“Superman to the rescue! : Comrade Superman decide to change the system, Superman-Style”

After going through all 3 series of the “Superman: Red Son”, it is apparent that it is not just your run of the mill comic. By reading the writer’s name, you can expect it to be more than just a comic. Mark Millar infuse the story with the idea of Morality, confrontation between ideals, Capitalism vs Communism, and the question of Totalitarian Utopia vs Freedom and Free-will. Superman with his steadfast belief that what he is doing is the right thing and the confrontation between people who oppose him are the manifestation of Mark Millar’s infusion of the confrontation of ideals and morality.

Overall, “Superman: Red Son” is a great read especially for those who love with the idea of tinkering with alternate universe (with your imagination of course) and for anyone who love a good story that isn’t empty and bland. And for those who worry that the idea of alternate version of Superman as tasteless and you hate the idea because you’re an ardent fan of the original Superman, fear not, because deep down he is still the same Superman who believe in doing the right thing even though doing it Big Brother style. To sum it all up, “Superman: Red Son”: Great Story, Surprise Ending and Imaginative.