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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Red Son, Watchmen, and Dark Knight are why I’ll always give DC a chance. Marvel might be consistently better overall at pacing and DC tends to take itself way too seriously, but Red Son is just damn good speculation.
A terrific thought experiment played 100% through in a concise, compelling fashion. Amazing. It’s one of those few graphic novels I can re-read and find new nuance. Somebody said they made or were making a movie. I’m not that interested, although they didn’t completely mangle Watchmen.
I’ve purchased about half a dozen copies of Red Son, too; I keep giving it away. It makes a terrific gateway drug to those unfamiliar with graphic novels or superhero crap in general. I can’t rave enough. Read it!
A terrific thought experiment played 100% through in a concise, compelling fashion. Amazing. It’s one of those few graphic novels I can re-read and find new nuance. Somebody said they made or were making a movie. I’m not that interested, although they didn’t completely mangle Watchmen.
I’ve purchased about half a dozen copies of Red Son, too; I keep giving it away. It makes a terrific gateway drug to those unfamiliar with graphic novels or superhero crap in general. I can’t rave enough. Read it!
Difficult one for me to review, in part because it took me two days shy of an entire year to get through it, which is a reflection of how much I enjoyed it. It's not bad, but it's said to be great and much of it surprised me with how merely average it felt. I think this might be the first comic book I've read on a friend's suggestion, and it also came with a reputation as one of the great Superman stories, so I had high hopes that I pretty quickly realized weren't being fulfilled.
Nice art, fascinating premise, an incredible amount of work put into it, interesting history focused largely on a period I have a particular interest in, and I think it picked up (actually, more like it slowed down) in the last quarter. It's an interesting and impressive work, even if I was surprised to find it a slog to read.
It's hard to break down exactly what made me not care for this, but a few things that come to mind (going on memory over the past year):
1) The first half or two thirds struck me as episodic, surprisingly meaningless, excessively rushed and breezed over, and often senseless. So much time was spent on cleverly recycling Superman's lore into new forms, but the threats thrown at him weren't threats, and instead felt more like giving the fans the visuals they expect to see in an Elseworlds even if it felt forced. Spoiler example:
2) It feels like making Superman evil, or at least cold and threatening, has become something of a trope in recent decades? Maybe longer. I wasn't sure if we'd see the essential goodness of Superman shining through despite a Stalinist upbringing, or if we'd see him obediently shaped into the enforcing hammer of the USSR and as dedicated to those teachings as we're used to him being to "truth, justice, and the American way," but I wasn't prepared for the sheer unlikability of Superman throughout this. From beginning to end, he feels like a god above his surroundings, separate from everyone, influenced by his upbringing, but all-powerful and cold, neither connected firmly to humanity through Clark nor the same recognizable personality turned to a blind adherent of radically different teachings. I think to some degree it made it difficult for me to care about the story because I didn't feel enough of THE Superman in THIS Superman to create that feeling that I find runs through the best Elseworlds stories: "a familiar old friend, just the same, except for one thing..."
3) I never really got used to the pacing. We get a bunch of detailed groundwork, buildup to events that end up passing by pretty quickly, then narration informs us we've jumped a decade or two or three. With not a single truly likable character (I guess Batman was fun at first) and a plot that mechanically galloped along, I got bored. When we finally get to the home stretch in the last quarter of the story, it feels like we finally get to proceed at a less hectic pace, and it emphasized to me how much the majority of this story felt crammed in as it tried to do too much, set up too much, in preparation for an ending that felt to me like maybe it really didn't need a lot of what came before. I feel like this could have been tightened into a ~48 page story without losing too much, not because there weren't interesting ideas throughout, but because so much of it felt like anecdotes along the way: cool story bro, but it's taking a lot of time. Was it necessary to drag Marilyn Monroe in for a moment (in an unflattering way) just because this is a 20th century alternate history story? Did the relationship with Diana really add to the story? It could have, but the way it played out never made me care about the relationship, so I didn't feel much tragic weight of history when they came into conflict.
4) I come away thinking, how much was Superman even in this story? He appears throughout it constantly, certainly, but so much of this is just him talking to government officials, him checking on how his plans are going, him narrating how he manages things, him being aloof while working on a sculpture. There are some usually brief battles scattered throughout, but for the most part Superman exists in this story not so much as a character we love and came to see a different take on, but instead as merely the circumstance that the entire world, and Luthor in particular, must react to. I suppose there's an interesting message in that about how the familiar Superman of America appears similarly to much of the rest of the world (Dark Knight Returns kind of shows that, and come to think of it the endings of these stories have an undeniable parallel to them), and there's something to be said for a Lex Luthor story that gives us a glimpse of how he might be regarded by some as the hero in this conflict (despite how disgustingly unlikable he is here), but I do feel like I came for a particularly interesting Superman Elseworlds story and got instead an Elseworlds about "what if Luthor had more favorable circumstances in his crusade against Superman?" Interesting story, but I feel like I didn't get the story I wanted, whatever that was.
All that said, if I could separate the story into two parts and rate separately, I'd probably give about the first 3/4ths 2.5 stars and the final 1/4th four stars for an interesting denouement that really took me by surprise.
Oh well. Glad to have read it, glad to be done with it, won't miss anyone in these pages.
Nice art, fascinating premise, an incredible amount of work put into it, interesting history focused largely on a period I have a particular interest in, and I think it picked up (actually, more like it slowed down) in the last quarter. It's an interesting and impressive work, even if I was surprised to find it a slog to read.
It's hard to break down exactly what made me not care for this, but a few things that come to mind (going on memory over the past year):
1) The first half or two thirds struck me as episodic, surprisingly meaningless, excessively rushed and breezed over, and often senseless. So much time was spent on cleverly recycling Superman's lore into new forms, but the threats thrown at him weren't threats, and instead felt more like giving the fans the visuals they expect to see in an Elseworlds even if it felt forced. Spoiler example:
Spoiler
Turning Bizarro into the monstrously deformed American Superman, created by Luthor, feels simultaneously cleverly perfect and eye-rollingly obvious, but what starts as a big visual of the West fighting fire with fire ends up being a quick speedbump of little significance, and that feeling stayed with me throughout most of Luthor's attempts prior to the final confrontation. Just going through the motions, for decades. Also, an early Luthor plan involves crashing a Soviet satellite on Metropolis, forcing Superman to come to America and catch it But the reader is immediately struck by the absurdity of Superman catching his own country's satellite and then depositing it nearby and leaving it there, rather than taking it back with him. It makes no reasonable sense, so why did he do it? Because Luthor's entire plan rested on getting Superman to touch it and then being able to go sample his DNA off the satellite, so realistic behavior would have spoiled the machinations. Even if it's only once, that kind of "so the plot can happen" writing damages everything that follows from it.2) It feels like making Superman evil, or at least cold and threatening, has become something of a trope in recent decades? Maybe longer. I wasn't sure if we'd see the essential goodness of Superman shining through despite a Stalinist upbringing, or if we'd see him obediently shaped into the enforcing hammer of the USSR and as dedicated to those teachings as we're used to him being to "truth, justice, and the American way," but I wasn't prepared for the sheer unlikability of Superman throughout this. From beginning to end, he feels like a god above his surroundings, separate from everyone, influenced by his upbringing, but all-powerful and cold, neither connected firmly to humanity through Clark nor the same recognizable personality turned to a blind adherent of radically different teachings. I think to some degree it made it difficult for me to care about the story because I didn't feel enough of THE Superman in THIS Superman to create that feeling that I find runs through the best Elseworlds stories: "a familiar old friend, just the same, except for one thing..."
3) I never really got used to the pacing. We get a bunch of detailed groundwork, buildup to events that end up passing by pretty quickly, then narration informs us we've jumped a decade or two or three. With not a single truly likable character (I guess Batman was fun at first) and a plot that mechanically galloped along, I got bored. When we finally get to the home stretch in the last quarter of the story, it feels like we finally get to proceed at a less hectic pace, and it emphasized to me how much the majority of this story felt crammed in as it tried to do too much, set up too much, in preparation for an ending that felt to me like maybe it really didn't need a lot of what came before. I feel like this could have been tightened into a ~48 page story without losing too much, not because there weren't interesting ideas throughout, but because so much of it felt like anecdotes along the way: cool story bro, but it's taking a lot of time. Was it necessary to drag Marilyn Monroe in for a moment (in an unflattering way) just because this is a 20th century alternate history story? Did the relationship with Diana really add to the story? It could have, but the way it played out never made me care about the relationship, so I didn't feel much tragic weight of history when they came into conflict.
4) I come away thinking, how much was Superman even in this story? He appears throughout it constantly, certainly, but so much of this is just him talking to government officials, him checking on how his plans are going, him narrating how he manages things, him being aloof while working on a sculpture. There are some usually brief battles scattered throughout, but for the most part Superman exists in this story not so much as a character we love and came to see a different take on, but instead as merely the circumstance that the entire world, and Luthor in particular, must react to. I suppose there's an interesting message in that about how the familiar Superman of America appears similarly to much of the rest of the world (Dark Knight Returns kind of shows that, and come to think of it the endings of these stories have an undeniable parallel to them), and there's something to be said for a Lex Luthor story that gives us a glimpse of how he might be regarded by some as the hero in this conflict (despite how disgustingly unlikable he is here), but I do feel like I came for a particularly interesting Superman Elseworlds story and got instead an Elseworlds about "what if Luthor had more favorable circumstances in his crusade against Superman?" Interesting story, but I feel like I didn't get the story I wanted, whatever that was.
All that said, if I could separate the story into two parts and rate separately, I'd probably give about the first 3/4ths 2.5 stars and the final 1/4th four stars for an interesting denouement that really took me by surprise.
Oh well. Glad to have read it, glad to be done with it, won't miss anyone in these pages.
Read this review and more on my blog.
Superman: Red Son collects issues #1 - #3 of Red Son.
Well this was so interesting. Superman: Red Son explores what may have happened if Superman's crash landed in soviet controlled Ukraine instead of Kansas. How the rest of the world develops knowing that one of the most powerful people is the USSR's poster boy. How Superman's relationships with other superhero's and villains have changed with his different allegiance.
The art style was very different to what you would expect, and it works for the setting of the story. The colour palate was well chosen and well represented the mood of the story.
The storyline was so interesting. It was not as fast paced as I thought it may have been, or would have liked it to have been, but that was not the purpose of this story (at least in my opinion). Honestly I could go on in detail about the story, but this one is defiantly better the less you know.
Red Son is another one of the comic books that everyone should read, just so that they can have an opinion on it.
Superman: Red Son collects issues #1 - #3 of Red Son.
Well this was so interesting. Superman: Red Son explores what may have happened if Superman's crash landed in soviet controlled Ukraine instead of Kansas. How the rest of the world develops knowing that one of the most powerful people is the USSR's poster boy. How Superman's relationships with other superhero's and villains have changed with his different allegiance.
The art style was very different to what you would expect, and it works for the setting of the story. The colour palate was well chosen and well represented the mood of the story.
The storyline was so interesting. It was not as fast paced as I thought it may have been, or would have liked it to have been, but that was not the purpose of this story (at least in my opinion). Honestly I could go on in detail about the story, but this one is defiantly better the less you know.
Red Son is another one of the comic books that everyone should read, just so that they can have an opinion on it.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love iiiiiiit. So many fun little cameos, really lovely art, a super intriguing alt world premise, I love it. Also it has plenty of my good boy Lex Luthor.
Spoiler
Why don't you just put the whole world in a bottle, Superman?
Ehhhh...yes, yes, this is very clever. I couldn't get attached to it, though - too much like driving along a busy highway. There were no entrance ramps to the story.
I’ve been meaning to get to this comic for a while, and it recently came up in conversation about comics to read in the Trump-era. I like the general premise of the idea, as well as most of the experimenting that goes on with DC’s Elseworlds comics. I can see why this run is listed among the top Superman stories, though I wasn’t as blown away as I thought I would be. Overall, though, it’s a very thought-provoking read.
Things I Liked
1. Premise: An alternate world where Superman is raised in Communist Russia? What a ripe opportunity for exploring politics and social systems! I loved the dynamic between Lex and Superman in the context of Capitalism vs Socialism, and the story really asks readers to think about demagoguery and the value of utopia.
2. Superman’s Conflict: Although Superman is meant to uphold Russian ideals in this story, I liked that he felt conflict between loyalty to his country and the desire to simply do what’s right. He wants to take care of everyone and save people more than he wants to be the head of state, and that conflict illustrated some key insights into Superman’s character.
3. Ending: WHAT.
4. Art: I loved the design of the costumes in this book, from Superman’s uniform, to Diana’s darker look, to Batman’s fuzzy hat (hee!).
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Women: To me, it felt like the women had nothing to do. Lois is still doing investigative journalism, but she seems to be sidelined by both her husband (Lex) and the narrative. Additionally, Wonder Woman also gets the short end of the stick, being captured by Batman and eventually being weakened to the point where she’s no longer useful.
2. Narrative Fluidity: There are places where the narrative seemed to jump dramatically. I understand that this comic is a limited run, but I also like my storytelling to be more fluid.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in Superman comics,
DC’s Elseworlds, alternate universes, Russian history, and communism.
Things I Liked
1. Premise: An alternate world where Superman is raised in Communist Russia? What a ripe opportunity for exploring politics and social systems! I loved the dynamic between Lex and Superman in the context of Capitalism vs Socialism, and the story really asks readers to think about demagoguery and the value of utopia.
2. Superman’s Conflict: Although Superman is meant to uphold Russian ideals in this story, I liked that he felt conflict between loyalty to his country and the desire to simply do what’s right. He wants to take care of everyone and save people more than he wants to be the head of state, and that conflict illustrated some key insights into Superman’s character.
3. Ending: WHAT.
4. Art: I loved the design of the costumes in this book, from Superman’s uniform, to Diana’s darker look, to Batman’s fuzzy hat (hee!).
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Women: To me, it felt like the women had nothing to do. Lois is still doing investigative journalism, but she seems to be sidelined by both her husband (Lex) and the narrative. Additionally, Wonder Woman also gets the short end of the stick, being captured by Batman and eventually being weakened to the point where she’s no longer useful.
2. Narrative Fluidity: There are places where the narrative seemed to jump dramatically. I understand that this comic is a limited run, but I also like my storytelling to be more fluid.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in Superman comics,
DC’s Elseworlds, alternate universes, Russian history, and communism.
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow this book is a mind f***, from the premise it is enticing. it challenges everything you know about right and wrong, everything you think about global politics and the good and bad guys, is led Luther a jelous evil maniac or the true hero?? Is superman inherently flawed and evil or trying to do what’s best for the world and going a step too far, the cyclical ending, the betrayal, the heartbreak, and the questioning of morality. Batman was a stand out character, as always, sticking up for humanity and going to any lengths to protect it. Incredible art, amazing book, my first 4.75 stars