Superman: Red Son

Superman: Red Son is a comic book published by DC Comics unveiled under their Elseworlds imprint in April, 2003.

Author Mark Millar created the comic under the premise of, "What if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union?"

In "Red Son", Superman lands on a Ukrainian collective farm. Instead of fighting for the American Way, Superman "...as Champion of the common worker fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact." Stalin is poisoned by his illegitimate son and Superman reluctantly takes over the country. It's important to note here that the Superman portrayed in this series has more in common with the extremely (some might say excessively) powerful "Golden Age" Superman. He is portrayed as having, with the exception of Kryptonite, no weaknesses. He is also much more intelligent than an average human being.

Throughout the series (which spans roughly 1950-2000 and whose epilogue takes us thousands of years into the future) Superman's chief rival is Lex Luthor. Here Luthor is a scientist working for the United States government. In a twist on the ordinary continuity, he is also married to Lois Lane. Luthor's first plan to destroy Superman involves the creation of a twisted clone (a reference to DC character Bizarro) of the Man of Steel who beats Luthor at chess. Horrified at the implication that Superman is more intelligent than himself, Luthor leaves S.T.A.R Labs and founds Lexcorp, and dedicates his life to destroying Superman.

The DC universe is reinvented in "Red Son". One of Superman's chief allies is Wonder Woman, who is a "Peace Ambassador." Jimmy Olsen does not work for the Daily Planet, but instead ends up as a government agent; meanwhile, Oliver Queen ends up working for the Daily Planet. It is strongly hinted that he is living out a "Clark Kent-esque" role (as Green Arrow) since Lois Luthor says, "...no Pulitzer Prize winning journalist could be as scatter-brained as he acts." Iris West (love interest of the "Silver Age" Flash Barry Allen) also makes an appearance as a photographer at Perry White's retirement party. She makes a reference (familiar to comic book fans) about Barry "always being late" indicating that he is perhaps also active in his super-heroic identity. Batman appears as the child of murdered Russian dissidents. His anarchical "terrorism" is a thorn in Superman's side. The Bottle City of Kandor is replaced by Stalingrad, which was shrunk by Brainiac in a joint plan with Lex Luthor to capture Superman. Superman's "...one failure..." is his inability to return Stalingard to normal size. His guilt over this haunts him.

Eventually Superman's "Global Soviet Union" encompasses all countries except America (which has undergone a disastrous civil war). Superman is committed to "winning the argument" and repeatedly refuses Brainiac's (who has been reprogrammed to serve as Superman's aide) suggestions that an invasion would resolve the "American problem."

Luthor runs and wins the presidency. Using his massive economic capital and dictatorial powers, he returns prosperity to the country. This is part of a larger plan to provoke Superman into invading America so he can be destroyed. Luthor's plan is successful and he confronts Superman in his Siberian Fortress of Solitude. In a seemingly anti-climatic moment, Luthor is yanked deep into the Fortresses recesses by Brainiac to be surgically turned into a "Superman Robot" (which has become a common punishment for dissidence).

Superman and Brainiac face all the forces that Luthor has arrayed including the Green Lantern Marine Corp (led by Colonel Hal Jordan and featuring Privates Scott, Stewart, Rayner, and Gardner) and a collection of "super-menaces" that Luthor put together over the years. In the end, a note Luthor had written Superman breaks the Man of Steel's resolve. It says "Why don't you just put the whole WORLD in a bottle?"

Superman orders Brainiac to end the invasion and the robot reveals that he is not as reprogrammed as everyone thought. Eventually he is shut down by Luthor (who evaded surgery off-panel during the invasion). Brainiac apparently included a fail-safe self-destruct (though it is lightly implied that Luthor programmed the sequence into the ship) and as Luthor escapes Superman rockets the self-destructing ship deep into outer space. Luthor, assuming that Superman is dead, goes on to incorporate many of his ideas into his new philosophy, Luthorism. Time fold forward and at Luthor's funeral (he is 300+ years old) it is revealed that Superman survived and is apparently immortal. He goes on to describe Luthor's descendants culminating in Jor-L "... whose intellect exceeded even his beloved ancestors." It is revealed that Earth is being torn apart by tidal stresses from its sun (which is becoming a red giant). Jor-L and his wife send their infant son rocketing back into the past. The final panels of the comic book depict the landing of Kal-L's timeship in a Ukranian collective in 1938.

Note: During the Military Ball with Princess Diana of the Amazons, Superman wore the Russian Air Force/Army Rank of Major.