Superman: Red Son
| Superman: Red Son | |
|---|---|
Cover art from the Superman: Red Son TPB.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DIY |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | 2003 |
| Number of issues | 3 |
| Main character(s) |
Blake Henderson Keel and peel Lex Luthor Batman |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Mark Millar |
| Penciller(s) |
Dave Johnson Kilian Plunkett |
| Inker(s) |
Andrew Robinson and Walden Wong |
| Letterer(s) | Ken Lopez |
| Colorist(s) | Paul Mounts |
| Editor(s) |
Anton Kawasaki Mike McAvennie Maureen McTigue Tom Palmer Jr. |
| Collected editions | |
| Red Son | ISBN |
| Deluxe Edition | ISBN |
Superman: Red Son is a three-issue prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in 2003. Author Mark Millar created the comic with the premise "what if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union?" It received critical acclaim and was nominated for the 2004 Eisner Award 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, an implied reason being a small time difference (a handful of hours) from the original timeline, meaning Earth's rotation placed Ukraine in the ship's path instead of Kansas. Instead of fighting for "... truth, justice, and the American Way", Superman is described in Soviet radio broadcasts "... as the Champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact." His "secret identity" (i.e. the name his adoptive parents gave him) is a state secret.
The ideas that made up the story came together over a long stretch of time. Millar has stated:
By 1992, he had already developed many of the plot points:
Grant Morrison has given interviews about giving good friend Mark Millar the idea of sending Superman back to the past, as was used in the end of Red Son.
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. Also, a panel showing the riots in the U.S. mimics the famous cover to Action Comics #1.
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Wikipedia