Superman: Red Son

Superman: Red Son
Cover art from the Superman: Red Son trade paperback.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	2003
No. of issues	3
Main character(s)	ISBN 1-4012-2425-3

Superman: Red Son is a three-issue

for best limited series.

The story mixes alternate versions of DC super-heroes with alternate-reality versions of real political figures such as Joseph Stalin and John F. Kennedy. The series spans approximately 1953–2001, save for a futuristic epilogue.

In Red Son, Superman's rocket ship lands on a Ukrainian collective farm rather than in Kansas. As an adult he becomes a state-sponsored superhero whose civilian identity is kept a state secret, and who in Soviet radio broadcasts, is described not as fighting for "truth, justice, and the American Way", but as "the Champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact".

Publication history

The ideas that made up the story came together over a long stretch of time. Millar said:

Red Son is based on a thought that flitted through my head when I read Superman #300 as a six-year-old. It was an imaginary story where Superman's rocket landed in neutral waters between the USA and the USSR and both sides were rushing to claim the baby. As a kid growing up in the shadow of the Cold War, the notion of what might have happened if the Soviets had reached him first just seemed fascinating to me.^[2]

As I got older, I started putting everything together and I first pitched something to DC when I was thirteen, I think — although it was in a much cruder form, of course, and my drawings weren't quite up to scratch.^[2]

By 1992, he had already developed many of the plot points:

Instead of landing in Kansas as a child, I've decided to explore what could have happened if his rocket would have landed on a collective farm in the Soviet Union. Instead of working for the Daily Planet, he'll be a reporter for Pravda. There's a reversal of the current situation, this time it's the U.S.A. that's splitting up with Georgia and Louisiana demanding independence — tanks rolling through the streets of New Orleans. I'll be including a whole bunch of DC characters, like Batman and Green Lantern — who you'll see in a new light.^[3]

Grant Morrison has given interviews about giving Mark Millar the idea of sending Superman back to the past, as was used in the end of Red Son.^[4]

Certain images from the series are taken from famous comic book covers or panels. A splash panel from the first issue references Superman's pose on the cover of Superman #1. Another panel showing riots in the U.S. mimics the cover to Action Comics #1, which was the first appearance of Superman.

Plot

The

of Superman, whom Lex Luthor names Superman Two.

Meanwhile, Superman meets Wonder Woman at a diplomatic party, and she becomes smitten with him. Pyotr Roslov, the head of the NKVD and Joseph Stalin's illegitimate son, is angry that Superman has turned his father's attention away from him and ended his chances of advancement within the Soviet regime. Pyotr shoots a dissident couple in front of their son for printing anti-Superman propaganda. Stalin dies from cyanide poisoning, and Superman initially refuses command of the Communist Party. However, a chance meeting with Lana Lazarenko, his childhood sweetheart, changes his mind. Superman chooses to use his powers for the greater good and turn his country into a utopia.

The

, dedicating his life to destroying Superman.

By 1978, the United States is on the verge of social collapse whereas the prosperous Soviet Union has peacefully expanded its influence to nearly every corner of the globe. The cost of this progress is an increased infringement on individual liberties, with Superman fast becoming a

". Superman now works with Wonder Woman to save lives as well as govern the Soviet state. Wonder Woman has become increasingly enamored of Superman, but he considers her simply as a comrade, and is oblivious to her love for him.

Luthor plans to shrink

instead. Superman intervenes and retrieves both Brainiac's central processing unit and the tiny city, putting an end to the Brainiac-Luthor cooperation. He is unable to restore Stalingrad and its inhabitants to their proper size. This becomes his one failure and a source of great guilt.

Luthor's third plan involves the vigilante Batman, who was the boy orphaned by Pyotr. Batman joins forces with LuthorCorp and Pyotr, now head of the KGB. They capture Wonder Woman and use her as bait for Superman, hoping to sap his powers with rays that imitate sunlight from Superman's home planet. The plan works, but Superman convinces Wonder Woman to break free of the lasso that she is tied up with and destroy the generators running the lamps emitting the solar energy. She does, severely injuring herself in the process, but the lamps stop running and Superman's powers return. Scared that Superman was going to lobotomize him and turn him into a robot, Batman kills himself as a martyr to his cause. Pyotr is turned into a Superman robot, and Wonder Woman no longer has feelings for Superman, as he shows little to no regard for her injured condition.

Luthor enacts his fourth plan when he finds a mysterious

.

In 2001, the U.S. elects Luthor and Olsen as President and Vice President, respectively. Using his scientific expertise, massive economic capital and dictatorial powers, Luthor returns prosperity to his country. This is only a part of a more general plan to provoke Superman into invading the United States. Luthor shows Olsen two of his greatest discoveries: the Phantom Zone, a place that super-hearing cannot reach; and the Green Lantern Corps.

Luthor confronts Superman in the Winter Palace. Brainiac yanks Luthor deep into the recesses of the Fortress to be converted surgically into a Superman Robot, claiming that Lex would convince Superman to commit suicide in less than 14 minutes. Superman agrees that his hand has been forced, and prepares to attack.

First Lady

Realizing he has meddled in affairs that he had no place in, Superman orders Brainiac to end the invasion. Brainiac, however, reveals it has never been under Superman's control, and instead attacks Superman with green radiation. Brainiac is shut down from inside by Luthor, who evaded the surgery. As the singularities powering Brainiac's ship threaten to collapse, Superman rockets it into space, where it explodes. The Earth is saved, but Superman is apparently dead.

The Soviet Union falls into chaos, but is soon brought back under control thanks to the Batmen (resistance members who began wearing the costume after Batman's death). Luthor integrates many of Superman's and Brainiac's ideas into the new philosophy of "Luthorism" and forms a "Global United States". This becomes the defining moment for mankind's future as it enters an unprecedented age of peace and stability. A benevolent world government is formed and maintained. Luthor presides over a string of scientific achievements, including the curing of all known disease, and colonization of the solar system. Luthor lives for over 1,000 years.

At Luthor's funeral, it is revealed that Superman survived the explosion of Brainiac's ship and is apparently immortal. Superman attends the funeral wearing a business suit and thick glasses essentially identical to the appearance of

, suspects nothing. Superman walks quietly away from the ceremony, planning to live among humans rather than ruling over them.

Billions of years in the future, Earth is being torn apart by tidal stresses from the sun, which has become a

(and, thus, making Superman a descendant of Luthor and Lois).

Collected editions

In 2004 the story was collected into a 160-page

)

In 2009, it was collected into a 168-page hardcover Deluxe Edition.

)

In other DC Comics

In

.

In the alternate 1940 setting of DC Comics Bombshells, Stargirl and Supergirl are both Soviet aviators in the Night Witches, which was seen as a nod to Superman: Red Son.^[8]

In March 2018, the Batman featured in this story made a cameo appearance in the sixth issue of the Dark Nights: Metal comic book series.

Merchandise

Figures based on characters from the series include Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, President Superman and Green Lantern. A boxset was released in 2008 featuring Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and a remolded Bizarro.^[9]

In other media

Live action

Television

• The
  Argo City in order to kill Superman
  . During a confrontation between Lex and Kara, Red Daughter sacrifices herself to save the latter after learning of the former's true nature.
• A different version of Pyotr Roslov appears in season seven episode "Due Process" of Arrow, portrayed by Bruce Blain. He is a former KGB agent, who works as a criminal and is Anatoly Knyazev's colleague. Pyotr has a connection with Ricardo Diaz and ARGUS sends Anatoly to get a data from his computer in the stockroom storage to discover Diaz's plan. When retrieving data, Pyotr discovers his intentions and intends to kill him, but ARGUS kills all criminals and him. ARGUS discovers that Diaz wanted to buy two aerial explosives from him to destroy Star City.

Animation

Film

• In 2013, James Tucker expressed interest in making an animated movie adaptation of Red Son for
  4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on March 17.^[13]
• In 2017, Jordan Vogt-Roberts had pitched a live-action adaptation for Superman: Red Son to Warner Bros. Pictures but the studio had passed it on.^[14] In 2024, Matthew Vaughn expressed interest to direct a film adaptation of the comic book starring Henry Cavill.^[15]

Television

• In the
  Mr. Mxyzptlk
  sends Superman to Kasnia, where he becomes a variation of Red Son Superman.

Video games

• The video game Injustice: Gods Among Us features DLC costumes for Superman, Wonder Woman, Solomon Grundy, Green Lantern, Batman, and Deathstroke as well as missions that are based on the Red Son storyline.^[16][17]
  • Said costumes are unlockable in the iOS variation of Injustice: Gods Among Us, again for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Deathstroke and Solomon Grundy.^{[citation needed]}
  • The Red Son SteelBook special edition of Injustice: Gods Among Us, released in the United Kingdom, includes the three character skins for Superman, Wonder Woman and Solomon Grundy and 20 missions set in the Red Son timeline.
• The game Batman: Arkham Origins has the Red Son Batman skin in the game's DLC and is a skin in the iOS version of the game.^{[citation needed]}
• Superman's Red Son outfit appears as a costume variant in Injustice 2. In Green Arrow's ending, the Red Son version of Batman is part of a Multiverse Justice League with Earth-23 Superman, Flashpoint Wonder Woman, and the game's version of Green Arrow.^{[citation needed]}

Miscellaneous

• As part of its
  motion comics series, DC/Warner released a 12-part adaptation of the story on iTunes, with a new episode being released every week beginning in late July 2009. The Superman: Red Son motion comic was animated by New Zealand-based Karactaz Animation^[18] and featured a select voice cast based in the Los Angeles region. It had received positive reviews from the motion comics community^[19] and has since been released in made-to-order DVD form by WBShop.com.^[20]

See also

• List of Elseworlds publications
• Superman: True Brit

References

1. ^ "SquabbleBox.co.uk – Entertainment Under Attack THE COMIC COMPENDIUM #3: Superman: Red Son (2003) – SquabbleBox.co.uk – Entertainment Under Attack". www.squabblebox.co.uk.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Essay by Mark Millar on Red Son
3. ^ Interview with Millar and Morrison Archived 2009-03-01 at the Wayback Machine, Xstatic #1 (May 1992)
4. ^ Grant Morrison: Talking All-Star Superman^{[permanent dead link]}, Newsarama, December 22, 2004.
5. OCLC 54076703
   .
6. ^ Superman: Red Son trade paperback at DC Comics.com
7. ^ Superman: Red Son Deluxe Edition at DC Comics.com
8. ^ Lake, Jeff (12 August 2015). "DC Comics: Bombshells #1 Review".
9. ^ "Action Figures". DC Direct. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
10. ^ Liu, Ed (October 21, 2013). "NYCC 2013: "Justice League: War" Roundtable Interviews – Jay Oliva, James Tucker, & Andrea Romano". Toonzone.net. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
11. ^ "RTF EXCLUSIVE: 'A SUPERMAN: RED SON Movie Is Happening, Casting Details'". Revenge of The Fans. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
12. ^ "Superman: Red Son Movie Announced". DC. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
13. ^ "Warner Bros. Announces Superman: Red Son Release Details". Comic Book. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
14. ^ Goldberg, Matt (June 27, 2017). "'Kong: Skull Island' Director Pitched WB on a Live-Action 'Superman: Red Son' Movie". Collider. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
15. ^ Henry Cavill Returns As Superman For X-Men Director's Ideal DC Movie Pitch
16. ^ "trendygamers.com". trendygamers.com.
17. ^ Injustice2 (16 May 2013). "Next Tuesday, the Red Son DLC pack will be available to buy. Who else would you want to see in the Red Son universe?pic.twitter.com/rhy8WM8sSO".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
18. ^ "Official Announcement: New DC Comics Motion Comics for iTunes". Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
19. ^ "DMC user reviews of Superman Red Son Motion Comic". Archived from the original on 2011-02-03.
20. ^ "WBShop.com entry for the series on DVD".

Further reading

• Zenker, Gary (2013), Ultimate DC Comics Action Figures and Collectibles Checklist, White Lightning Publishing (
  ISBN 978-0989334471
  )

External links

• Superman: Red Son at the Grand Comics Database
• Superman: Red Son at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Superman: Red Son at
  IMDb
  (motion comics adaptation)