DCU Book Club Week 46: SUPERMAN RED SON Issues 1-3

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1.) Is this your first time reading Superman: Red Son?

Yes, it is. I heard a lot of great things about it.

2.) How would you rank this title with other “Evil Superman” stories?

I’m not sure how many “Evil Superman” stories I have read. The only one that really comes to mind is the Superman from Justice League: Gods and Monsters. This ranks way below that story for me.

3.)Which character was your favorite?

Superman was my favorite. Aside from Lex, Pyotr, and possibly Batman, there just wasn’t enough for me to really judge any other character.

4.)What was your favorite moment?

I loved seeing Wonder Woman and Superman dancing. The moments that I enjoyed the most were seeing characters that we know in this new setting. Seeing Lana and her story with being the only one to know Superman’s secret identity was another favorite. The moment where Superman gets to hide in plain sight as a human with his trench coat and fedora is a highlight as well. The revelation of Jor-L being a descendant of the Luthor line, thus tying Superman to Lex biologically and genealogically, was trippy and what I love about Elseworlds stories.

I thought the first issue was extremely strong. The strongest of the three. It incorporated so much of what we know into this new universe and subverted some ideas we had, while keeping others pretty much in line with who they normally are. I really appreciated the inclusion of the three women that are most often tied romantically to Superman. Lana, Lois, and Diana all have important roles in the first issue. Pyotr is interesting. I like how his story plays out.

The second issue was by far the weakest of the three for me. Where issue 1 seemed to meet the praise I had heard about this miniseries, the second completely trashed all of that. It’s yet another Superman story in which Batman is the hero. Batman is capable of taking down gods just because. He was completely shoe-horned in. It just felt like one long Batman issue with Superman and Wonder Woman as his backup dancers. They couldn’t even show how he beat Diana because that just doesn’t make any sense. Also, what exactly did the lasso breaking do to her? Why? When she breaks the lasso, she quickly dispatches Batman with a backhand which, again, adds to the perplexing scenario in which Batman could have taken her down. You also see the men in these three issues completely prideful and doing things to satiate their egos, but Wonder Woman is the only one in the narrative that is outright shamed for her pride and they make a show about breaking her. It was bizarre and put me off to this issue.

The third issue wasn’t as sophisticated as the first. It felt more like a typical Superman story. It was much more straight forward. Had they made Brainiac the main plot point to issue #2, I feel they could have had more time to develop the ideas presented in issue #3. It felt a bit rushed. They crammed too much into this one. Brainiac as a 12th level intellect not realizing what he did when putting a 9th level intellect into a vulnerable spot of his read false to me. You could argue it was arrogance on Brainiac’s part, but her humbled himself and pretended to be under Superman for years and years, but he couldn’t do that in the last moment against Lex? Then Superman breaking down over that little note? Wasn’t buying it even though it had been referenced that the bottle city was his biggest failure multiple time. I just didn’t feel it. I did like getting to hear about Luthor’s line throughout time. Although that implies Lois and Superman are related. Suddenly those scenes of Lois thinking Supes is attractive and vice-versa seem really awkward at the least. The Lanterns were a cool nod, but ultimately served no purpose and just took up panel space. Wonder Woman going against Supes, but siding with Lex (the person behind the Bat fiasco in issue #2 that led to her breaking the lasso) made no sense. Also, if you’re going to have Superman vs Wonder Woman, give me Superman vs Wonder Woman. Instead he just swats her away and it’s more wasted panel space that leads to nothing fulfilling for me personally. I do like that this miniseries proves that Lex is capable of solving so much of the world’s problems and instead chooses to focus on Superman because he doesn’t really care about the human race like he claims.

Good read. Issue #1 really elevates Superman material. The art is great. Issue #2 is a huge misstep, in my opinion. Issue #3 tries to jam too much in too little time, yet remains solid somehow.

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@Jay_Kay I forgot about Injustice, but I’ve never read it. I’ve only played the games.

@whymannywhy I agree with you that he’s not evil, but then again we do experience this story through his eyes and his narration. Is he really a reliable narrator? We see people in his “utopia” still rebelling against his regime. We see him lobotomizing people that dissent in any way. His “peaceful” approach is negated when he subjugates people through his brain surgeries and tech implants. When he “dies” the world cheers. Clearly he’s seen as evil in this world and his utopia is referred to as such by Brainiac. Is it really trustworthy to call it a utopia based on what Brainiac and his puppet say?

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@nu52

With what happened with Wonder Woman, I took it that since they say her lasso “dominates” those under it, that when she broke it, it affected her mind and essentially gave her a brain injury, which is why Superman feels guilty about it, because he basically ordered her to do it at great cost to herself. However in the last issue she seems recovered, so I don’t know if it was a temporary injury or if Paradise Island cured her.

And yeah, the fact that he’s lobotomizing people who create dissent in his socialist “utopia” alone pretty much makes him evil, IMO. He may have noble intentions, but it doesn’t make his actions any less monstrous.

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Hmm, it’s about time to reread this. It’ll be my second time. First time was almost a decade ago, so should be fresh again. Feel like I’ve pitched it to dozens of people, however. It’s an enduringly popular story that hooks people. Looking forward to seeing it through a different lens now. I’m a Millar fan, have read most of his stuff, so I want to see if I can’t see his tendencies poke through. Millar puts a lot of himself into his stories. His characters speak with his voice a good chunk of the time, so I’m curious to reread his take on Superman and see if the characters sound like Superman or Lex Luthor, etc., or if they sound like Mark Millar.

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Awesome will start on this today!

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@nu52

That’s a great point about the narration, and something I never thought about. Really makes you re think the story. Thanks so much!

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@deadman

Let us know what you think post reread!

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Alright, so second time reading Red Sun, and I gotta say I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. Millar really did justice to Superman by defining the opposite. That puts it at the top of “evil Superman” stories for me since it gives more than simply the opposite for shock value. It is arguably the same Kal that we know and love, with his revalation at the end (not our Kal in that he lobotomizes people), just with a different mixture of nature vs nurture. But the classic ideals are upheld (trying to not spoil), and Luthor’s motivation definitely makes more sense in this context. The “defending humanity from an alien” angle really shines through here. While Lex came off a tad Millar-y at the beginning (playing multiple chess games while reading and listening to language classes, kinda reminds me of Prodigy, one of his newer books), he eventually became one of the more intriguing characters, and still close to original Lex. You can see a lot of this version of Lex in sebsequent stories, even in Young Justice.
What struck me the most was the sense of melancholia that pervaded the whole piece. Again, subverting my expections for something Millar-y. The large time scale, the reflective narration, it really succeeds in telling a large story efficiently without sacrificing the emotional punch. On the other hand, I felt that some of the references were a little shoe-horned, especially in the beginning. We’re still setting up our world and we see Martha Kent remarking on how Jonathan has passed. While it is at times necessary to show how the whole DC Universe exists in this alternate reality, they seem to get in the way of efficient storytelling. Interesting easter eggs nevertheless.
I’m still ambivalent about the end end. I enjoy how the main drama wraps, but the little after ending thing has always struck me as unnecessary, and remains so.
Anyways, crackin’ read. Definitely worth pulling off the shelf and dusting off. Thanks for getting me to do that! Curious what others have to say.

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@deadmanbrand

Wow fantastic write up! Thanks for sharing! Off topic but how is prodigy?

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This in my opinion was the best Superman story ever.

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@warrenhill

That’s high praise! What was your favorite moment?

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@JLWWSM

That Wonder Woman short really was incredible.

I loved loved loved seeing her and supes dancing. Of course they would float off the ground!

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My faced looked like this when were floating :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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@Matt Prodigy is good, but feels a little routine. Definitely elevated by Rafael Albequerque’s art, however. Think of the recent batch if Millar books, Reborn and The Magic Order are my favorites.

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@deadman

Thanks for sharing!

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Discussion ends tomorrow so make sure you let us know what you think of this week’s book! :heart:

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I haven’t read this book in awhile but I will always remember my favorite line from it: “Why don’t you just put the whole world in a bottle, Superman?”

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Done-zo!

DQ’s:

  1. I’ve read Red Son before. The first time was years and years ago when the original trade release of it came out.

  2. Placement amongst “evil” Supermen stories…hmmm…I suppose at the top. I don’t know if I’d say this Superman is evil though, as he clearly knows the true, right thing to do at times. To me, he’s misguided more than anything, not truly evil.

  3. Favorite character: You might think I’d say Superman, but I actually found Lex quite intriguing, so I’ll go with him.

  4. Favorite moment: does “the whole thing” count? I love this story from start to finish.

Mark Millar’s other highly enjoyable Superman work can be found in the Superman Adventures series. Some might say “That’s for kids.” but while it is on one hand, it’s really so much more on the other.

Millar’s run on Superman Adventures was neck and neck with the regular Superman line of the time (late 90’s and early 00’s) as one of the best Superman books being published then.

Great pick Matt!

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@Vroom
Superman Adventures #27 by Millar is the single greatest Lex Luthor story of all time. Anyone who disagrees needs to read or re-read that.

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“Next year’s budget will be TWENTY MILLION! SIXTEEN HOURS A DAY must be devoted to his absolute NONEXISTENCE!” -Lex

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