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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ah, Mark Millar...one of those comic book writers who, along with Brian Michael Bendis, Alan Moore, Dave Sim, and Donny Cates, used to be really good, but then...I don't know...maybe started believing their own press? But somehow, some way, they just started pumping out less than stellar product.
I cannot and will not read anything Millar puts out now, but I thought going back a couple of decades might be a safe bet. Turns out I was wrong. Maybe this is where the problems started.
I know most people absolutely love this graphic novel and, to be fair, there's a lot to love. It's Millar's What If...? take and there's some cool stuff here, including the actual underlying idea. The art is fantastic.
But my biggest problem with Millar is that he writes like a hyperactive child with no attention span, and this book reads like a horribly hacked up abridged version of a much longer and much better story.
Millar, it seems, has given up on stories with any sort of build up, or nuance, and instead writes a series of set pieces that look cool. He introduces and throws away characters in the span of a couple of pages. Instead of a narrative, there's just a few familiar faces that go through their motions to get to the big build up and pay off at the end.
And Lex Luthor? While Millar takes liberties (as he should, in this what if scenario he's sketching—and it's all sketch, not painting) with all the pre-existing characters, it's Lex that's so stupidly over the top. Millar's basically mashed Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, and Tony Stark from Iron Man into this frenetic, stupidly obsessed anti-hero.
If only Millar had a fraction of his obsessiveness to detail, this graphic novel would have been longer, paced better, and would have been far more satisfying.
As it is, it feels like it was a quickly babbled out joke just to get to his three-or-four page punchline at the very end.
I cannot and will not read anything Millar puts out now, but I thought going back a couple of decades might be a safe bet. Turns out I was wrong. Maybe this is where the problems started.
I know most people absolutely love this graphic novel and, to be fair, there's a lot to love. It's Millar's What If...? take and there's some cool stuff here, including the actual underlying idea. The art is fantastic.
But my biggest problem with Millar is that he writes like a hyperactive child with no attention span, and this book reads like a horribly hacked up abridged version of a much longer and much better story.
Millar, it seems, has given up on stories with any sort of build up, or nuance, and instead writes a series of set pieces that look cool. He introduces and throws away characters in the span of a couple of pages. Instead of a narrative, there's just a few familiar faces that go through their motions to get to the big build up and pay off at the end.
And Lex Luthor? While Millar takes liberties (as he should, in this what if scenario he's sketching—and it's all sketch, not painting) with all the pre-existing characters, it's Lex that's so stupidly over the top. Millar's basically mashed Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, and Tony Stark from Iron Man into this frenetic, stupidly obsessed anti-hero.
If only Millar had a fraction of his obsessiveness to detail, this graphic novel would have been longer, paced better, and would have been far more satisfying.
As it is, it feels like it was a quickly babbled out joke just to get to his three-or-four page punchline at the very end.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This would have been a fun "what if?" story if Mark Millar had explored the actual possible consequences of Superman growing up in the Soviet Union. Instead, the Man of Steel's ascendancy to the head of a global communist state is indistinguishable from pretty much every other comic book dystopia. It's difficult to tell if Millar actually knows anything about communism and the Soviet Union beyond collective farms and big parades.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I rate this graphic novel on par with "Watchmen" as one of the best that I have ever read. A fascinating work of alternate history, "Red Son" tells the narrative of Superman arriving on Earth in Russia twelve hours earlier, growing up to become Stalin's right-hand man.
I didn't know this story existed and just by looking at the cover I bought it. The premise is very good and the "what if" may not be the most original thing in the world, but the possibilities with Superman falling into the Soviet Union are significantly more interesting than his traditional story.
And it is a shame that they have wasted the most attractive part of the concept to turn it into crude anti-communist propaganda, the message is so obvious that communism is bad as such and nothing can change that fact, not even Superman himself with his good intentions that the comic since That moment seemed monotonous and totally predictable.
And it is a shame that they have wasted the most attractive part of the concept to turn it into crude anti-communist propaganda, the message is so obvious that communism is bad as such and nothing can change that fact, not even Superman himself with his good intentions that the comic since That moment seemed monotonous and totally predictable.
What if Superman's S shield became a hammer and sickle ? asks Mark Millar.
Well, Soviet comrade Superman is pretty damn boring and unpleasant, if you ask me.
Red Son was not as enjoyable as I thought it would be. The very odd (in a bad way) setting and lousy alternate versions of a few DC characters (specifically Superman, Lois Lane, Batman and Hal Jordan/ Green Lantern) totally killed my buzz. I rather enjoy reading "what-if" scenarios; I loved 1602, JLA: The Nail and even Gotham by Gaslight; the clever writing and fascinating reimagining of the Marvel and DC Universes made these books a success. While I understand what Mark Millar was trying to achieve here, some of his ideas and plot developments just don't fly with me; Superman's naivete was exaggerated, Batman's fate just laughable, Lois Lane shockingly submissive... the list goes on (I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free). The great characterization of Lex Luthor is the saving grace of Red Son; the perseverance, intelligence and obsessive nature of the character is apparently extra-universal.
Mark Millar's attempt to reinvent the Man of Steel was courageous but the result is unfortunately nothing to boast about.
Well, Soviet comrade Superman is pretty damn boring and unpleasant, if you ask me.
Red Son was not as enjoyable as I thought it would be. The very odd (in a bad way) setting and lousy alternate versions of a few DC characters (specifically Superman, Lois Lane, Batman and Hal Jordan/ Green Lantern) totally killed my buzz. I rather enjoy reading "what-if" scenarios; I loved 1602, JLA: The Nail and even Gotham by Gaslight; the clever writing and fascinating reimagining of the Marvel and DC Universes made these books a success. While I understand what Mark Millar was trying to achieve here, some of his ideas and plot developments just don't fly with me; Superman's naivete was exaggerated, Batman's fate just laughable, Lois Lane shockingly submissive... the list goes on (I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free). The great characterization of Lex Luthor is the saving grace of Red Son; the perseverance, intelligence and obsessive nature of the character is apparently extra-universal.
Mark Millar's attempt to reinvent the Man of Steel was courageous but the result is unfortunately nothing to boast about.
I really liked this. The setting may have helped a little bit.