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ogreart's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! That is my initial reaction to this graphic novel. The idea is that in 1938, instead of landing in Kansas, the ship carrying baby Superman lands in Soviet Ukraine. Raised on a collective and thoroughly indoctrinated in the Communist system, this alternate view of how the Superman story could have played out was intriguing and a lot of fun. Not only for Superman fans, but a darn good story for anyone.
wrader2001's review against another edition
5.0
Some telling quotes from the book:
"A steady hand and some pioneering neurosurgery and even the most persistent troublemakers can become productive workers, comrade Superman." - Brainiac
"We aren't toys or pets you can train to do whatever you please! We're people! Human beings!" - Soviet Batman
"Tell your friends they don't have to be scared or hungry anymore, comrades. Superman is here to rescue them." - Soviet Superman
"A steady hand and some pioneering neurosurgery and even the most persistent troublemakers can become productive workers, comrade Superman." - Brainiac
"We aren't toys or pets you can train to do whatever you please! We're people! Human beings!" - Soviet Batman
"Tell your friends they don't have to be scared or hungry anymore, comrades. Superman is here to rescue them." - Soviet Superman
riotsquirrrl's review against another edition
1.0
That was the dumbest thing I have ever read
ETA: I don't just hate this comic, I hate everything about it. If there was a comic more diametrically opposed to everything I like in comics, this would be it.
The main thing is that this is the story of two supposedly extremely intelligent men fighting over the future of the world and it's supposed to be some big capitalism vs communism thing when it's just totalitarian leader vs totalitarian leader. There's no difference between Lex Luthor and Superman.
God knows the books pends enough time trying to convince us that Luthor is brilliant such as having him simultaneously play chess with ten other people while doing other things. It's more like cosplaying intelligence rather than actually being intelligent. And there's a complete obliviousness to the possibility that either LL or SM could possibly have any cognitive biases despite being so smart. They just know things without having to read other people's works or engage in debate with other people in real time. The main flaw that either of them have is that LL seems to have absolutely no social skills and no emotions whatsoever outside of getting revenge on Superman. He's a flat character. Lois Lane is a flat character, there to handwring because her husband sucks and her job shut down. Even Wonder Woman is used more as a foil than a character in her own right. There could have been something interesting with Superman and Lana, his girl from the farm town in Ukraine, but nothing happens with it and then Supes is off, creating the Command Economy and running the KGB simultaneously.
Which brings me to my other major pet peeve: it's incredibly obvious that neither the writer nor the artist had done more than a perfunctory reading of what life is like in the Soviet Union. A couple of Kremlin buildings in the background. A terrible cyrillic-ified Latin alphabet for Superman as a vague gesture towards Russian-ness. It's also weird to have Superman be the reason for the escalation of the Cold War when he's on the Soviet side but the same sort of brinksmanship is absent when Superman is a resident of Metropolis, USA. The entire thing reads more like "what if two people with vague ideas about the Soviet Union wrote a comic book about the Soviet Union?"
This entire endeavor seems more helpful for showing Superman in new, different super suits than it is about actually examining the effects of what growing up on a collective farm and being part of the Soviet political machine would do to Superman.
"But wait, aren't these a lot of the flaws of much of the modern comic industry?" you might ask. And you would be correct. The lack of deep characterization, the sidelining of women, the lack of quality research, the trite plots are all reasons why I don't really read superhero comics. As this was so highly reated by many people I had assumed that it would be different but instead it was more of the same.
ETA: I don't just hate this comic, I hate everything about it. If there was a comic more diametrically opposed to everything I like in comics, this would be it.
The main thing is that this is the story of two supposedly extremely intelligent men fighting over the future of the world and it's supposed to be some big capitalism vs communism thing when it's just totalitarian leader vs totalitarian leader. There's no difference between Lex Luthor and Superman.
God knows the books pends enough time trying to convince us that Luthor is brilliant such as having him simultaneously play chess with ten other people while doing other things. It's more like cosplaying intelligence rather than actually being intelligent. And there's a complete obliviousness to the possibility that either LL or SM could possibly have any cognitive biases despite being so smart. They just know things without having to read other people's works or engage in debate with other people in real time. The main flaw that either of them have is that LL seems to have absolutely no social skills and no emotions whatsoever outside of getting revenge on Superman. He's a flat character. Lois Lane is a flat character, there to handwring because her husband sucks and her job shut down. Even Wonder Woman is used more as a foil than a character in her own right. There could have been something interesting with Superman and Lana, his girl from the farm town in Ukraine, but nothing happens with it and then Supes is off, creating the Command Economy and running the KGB simultaneously.
Which brings me to my other major pet peeve: it's incredibly obvious that neither the writer nor the artist had done more than a perfunctory reading of what life is like in the Soviet Union. A couple of Kremlin buildings in the background. A terrible cyrillic-ified Latin alphabet for Superman as a vague gesture towards Russian-ness. It's also weird to have Superman be the reason for the escalation of the Cold War when he's on the Soviet side but the same sort of brinksmanship is absent when Superman is a resident of Metropolis, USA. The entire thing reads more like "what if two people with vague ideas about the Soviet Union wrote a comic book about the Soviet Union?"
This entire endeavor seems more helpful for showing Superman in new, different super suits than it is about actually examining the effects of what growing up on a collective farm and being part of the Soviet political machine would do to Superman.
"But wait, aren't these a lot of the flaws of much of the modern comic industry?" you might ask. And you would be correct. The lack of deep characterization, the sidelining of women, the lack of quality research, the trite plots are all reasons why I don't really read superhero comics. As this was so highly reated by many people I had assumed that it would be different but instead it was more of the same.
mehitabels's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic. I am a sucker for Russian/Commie stories (see [b:Back Channel|20342517|Back Channel|Stephen L. Carter|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398906312s/20342517.jpg|28322755]), but this had such great twists to it. Plus, my favorite Batman evah!! If all the Superman stories were set in this world I would like him a lot more.
tmwebb3's review against another edition
5.0
Thought provoking. Great story about what could have happened, but the morals of Superman still come through.
revellee's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not super into Superman as a character... this is probably the most interesting I’ve seen him. However, a lot of this subverted Superman felt pretty forced and cheesy. Maybe that’s intentional?
Don’t want to give away the ending, but I think it could have been a much better twist...
Don’t want to give away the ending, but I think it could have been a much better twist...
red_lemon_diary's review against another edition
5.0
This took me by surprise. In short - epic! Superman had always seemed such a boring, perfect hero but this was a great take - Soviet Superman during the cold war should be the cannon origin story for the character. Couldn't put it down and the art is brilliant. And that ending... 5 stars.