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Superman: One-Shots
Superman: True Brit
Get ready for SUPERMAN: TRUE BRIT, an original hardcover graphic novel with a humorous new take on the Superman legend, courtesy of writer Kim "Howard" Johnson (Monty Python: The First 280 Years) with some help in his comics debut from Monty Python's John Cleese (Fawlty Towers, A Fish Called Wanda)! And with art by fan-favorites John Byrne (JLA, DOOM PATROL) and Mark Farmer (JLA: ANOTHER NAIL), this book is sure to be Super! In this veddy British tale, the Last Son of Krypton's rocket ship crash-lands in an English town even smaller than Smallville, where the infant Kal-El is taken in by adoptive parents - the Clarks - who raise their son Colin to hide his powers, because the worst thing anyone can do is stand out in the crowd. But when Colin grows up to become a mild-mannered reporter working for the Daily Smear, a powerful tabloid newspaper dedicated to uncovering the biggest story of the century, he finds that the key to his success may be in going public. What will the neighbors think?
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
February 19, 2021
"What an absolutely super man! Well done, Superman! Jolly good!" -- TV newsman
Blimey! I wish I could say something similarly positive about this disaster of a book. Superman: True Brit was a horribly unfunny - even with Monty Python's very own John Cleese as a credited writer! - Elseworlds-type or 'what if . . .?' tale in which Krypton's baby Kal-El is rocketed to Earth but lands in a British farming community instead of the midwestern U.S. Not even a pleasant cameo appearance by intrepid reporter Lois Lane, or the stylish illustrations of John Byrne can save this thudding mess of a relatively thin story. (Thank goodness it clocks in at just under 100 pages, but it was still often excruciating to read.) It's been awhile since I disliked a graphic novel as much as this one, as the humor misses the mark and the beloved Superman mythos takes a good thrashing. For a better and thought-provoking volume of a comparable nature there is always Mark Millar's superior Red Son.
Blimey! I wish I could say something similarly positive about this disaster of a book. Superman: True Brit was a horribly unfunny - even with Monty Python's very own John Cleese as a credited writer! - Elseworlds-type or 'what if . . .?' tale in which Krypton's baby Kal-El is rocketed to Earth but lands in a British farming community instead of the midwestern U.S. Not even a pleasant cameo appearance by intrepid reporter Lois Lane, or the stylish illustrations of John Byrne can save this thudding mess of a relatively thin story. (Thank goodness it clocks in at just under 100 pages, but it was still often excruciating to read.) It's been awhile since I disliked a graphic novel as much as this one, as the humor misses the mark and the beloved Superman mythos takes a good thrashing. For a better and thought-provoking volume of a comparable nature there is always Mark Millar's superior Red Son.
August 3, 2014
Awwwww. I was looking forward to this one.
Too bad it sucked. Where was the Funny that I was promised? It wasn't between the pages of True Brit, that's for sure. This thing was just stoopid.
Unless you like getting whacked upside the head with subtle satire, then skip this.
See?! See?! The English are reserved! They don't like drawing attention to themselves! Oh! And Brittish tabloids are smarmey!
*chortle, chortle*
And that was the entire story.
Yeah, I'm not kidding.
Go find something else to read.
Too bad it sucked. Where was the Funny that I was promised? It wasn't between the pages of True Brit, that's for sure. This thing was just stoopid.
Unless you like getting whacked upside the head with subtle satire, then skip this.
See?! See?! The English are reserved! They don't like drawing attention to themselves! Oh! And Brittish tabloids are smarmey!
*chortle, chortle*
And that was the entire story.
Yeah, I'm not kidding.
Go find something else to read.
September 27, 2014
John Cleese has a long line of credit with me for creating Fawlty Towers alone - that sitcom is perfection! I watched it when I was a kid and an adult and loved it both times, it’s a comedy masterpiece. Then there’s Monty Python which I came to later but still loved and the Holy Grail is one of my favourite movies. Even his lesser-known work like A Fish Called Wanda was superbly written by him (and Kevin Kline steals the show with his insane performance!).
So I have a lot of love for Cleese even though Wanda may have been the last great thing he did and that was some 25 years ago!
That said, it’s really, really hard to reconcile that brilliance with this comic - Superman: True Brit - which might be the worst Superman comic ever created. It’s certainly the worst I’ve read!
Like Mark Millar’s Red Son, which wonders what would have happened if Superman’s Kryptonian vessel had landed in Soviet Russia than American Kansas, True Brit wonders what would have happened if Superman had been raised in England. The difference is that Millar’s story was told totally straight, and superbly, while Cleese and co-writer Howard Johnson’s is told comedically. The only reason I can fathom that it’s meant to be comedy is the inclusion of Cleese because there is no humour in this book.
Where do I even begin with this tripe? Let’s start with Superman’s appearance which should be fairly easy to establish but Cleese and co. totally botch.
Apparently Cleese thinks Superman is Cyclops because his heat vision is only contained when he wears specially designed glasses - and that’s why he wears glasses! Oh and his farmer dad is also a whiz at creating heat-resistant lenses in his shed, apparently!
Then there are the other aspects of his uniform - the S on his chest is the family’s coat of arms, because everyone in Britain has a bloody coat of arms! That’s the only bit of origin that Cleese bothers with because the rest of his outfit materialises out of nowhere. After being told by his parents repeatedly not to use his powers (because what would the neighbours think? AHAHAHA THAT’S SO BRITISH ISN’T IT!!) he suddenly decides to help some Beatles-lookalike musicians (even though this is the ‘00s!) and voila! he appears fully costumed.
Cleese also writes Superman as both retarded and without values. When he’s not smashing his head around indoors because he doesn’t know how to control his flying, he’s lobbing tree stumps through houses (duh, how do I use my super-strength again?), or killing cattle accidentally. But that’s probably the comedy right? Look, Superman destroyed some property AND he’s got a dumbass grin on his face - FUNNY.
He kowtows to his Rupert Murdoch/J Jonah Jameson-type newspaper boss and comes up with trashy stuff for his tabloid newspaper, because he’s a total buffoon who can’t think for himself. Duh, should I become an investigative reporter or should I just take nudie shots of celebs? Well, of course the latter because my boss told me to and I’m a tool! He also doesn’t understand basic economics because he’s a clod through and through, for no reason besides, I guess, Cleese thought it would be a riot to write him that way.
His parents seem to hate him - they’re constantly moving without telling him, trying to escape this powerful alien who’s embarrassing them by doing good - and are always, always telling him to fit in and not stand out. Along with Kevin Costner’s Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel, these were the worst versions of Superman’s parents ever.
Oh and then there’s the guy he manages to impale with a cricket bat because isn’t that hysterical? The guy doesn’t die (because Cleese needs this pun so badly) but grows up to be his enemy - Bat-Man. Oh, my fucking sides! They’ve fucking split from laughing so much - Bat-Man, and he’s a man got a cricket bat sticking out of his chest! AHAH…
I’ve gotta stop there because the litany of crap that makes up this book could fill a book of the same length. Every page is a disaster. I kept reading because I couldn’t believe how every single page got worse and worse. I wondered how this got published, then realised it was DC, but still couldn’t believe a comedy legend like John Cleese could produce something so unfunny. Moreover, as a Brit, like Cleese, I’m stunned he could write something so full of bad stereotypes and clownish pandering to foreigners’ views of British culture - is he honestly this out of touch or does he just hate Britain now?
This book is bad on every level. I hated it so much.
It’s such a shocking mess it makes me wonder if Cleese really was as funny as I thought or whether it was his co-writers - like Connie Booth on Fawlty Towers, or Graham Chapman in Monty Python - who propped up his writing, and he’s just a great comedic actor. Either way, avoid, avoid, AVOID, Superman: True Brit.
Superman fans will hate it for mangling Superman, British readers will hate it for how the British are portrayed, and comics readers will hate it because it’s so dumb. If you see a copy on the shelf, punch it in the cover for me.
So I have a lot of love for Cleese even though Wanda may have been the last great thing he did and that was some 25 years ago!
That said, it’s really, really hard to reconcile that brilliance with this comic - Superman: True Brit - which might be the worst Superman comic ever created. It’s certainly the worst I’ve read!
Like Mark Millar’s Red Son, which wonders what would have happened if Superman’s Kryptonian vessel had landed in Soviet Russia than American Kansas, True Brit wonders what would have happened if Superman had been raised in England. The difference is that Millar’s story was told totally straight, and superbly, while Cleese and co-writer Howard Johnson’s is told comedically. The only reason I can fathom that it’s meant to be comedy is the inclusion of Cleese because there is no humour in this book.
Where do I even begin with this tripe? Let’s start with Superman’s appearance which should be fairly easy to establish but Cleese and co. totally botch.
Apparently Cleese thinks Superman is Cyclops because his heat vision is only contained when he wears specially designed glasses - and that’s why he wears glasses! Oh and his farmer dad is also a whiz at creating heat-resistant lenses in his shed, apparently!
Then there are the other aspects of his uniform - the S on his chest is the family’s coat of arms, because everyone in Britain has a bloody coat of arms! That’s the only bit of origin that Cleese bothers with because the rest of his outfit materialises out of nowhere. After being told by his parents repeatedly not to use his powers (because what would the neighbours think? AHAHAHA THAT’S SO BRITISH ISN’T IT!!) he suddenly decides to help some Beatles-lookalike musicians (even though this is the ‘00s!) and voila! he appears fully costumed.
Cleese also writes Superman as both retarded and without values. When he’s not smashing his head around indoors because he doesn’t know how to control his flying, he’s lobbing tree stumps through houses (duh, how do I use my super-strength again?), or killing cattle accidentally. But that’s probably the comedy right? Look, Superman destroyed some property AND he’s got a dumbass grin on his face - FUNNY.
He kowtows to his Rupert Murdoch/J Jonah Jameson-type newspaper boss and comes up with trashy stuff for his tabloid newspaper, because he’s a total buffoon who can’t think for himself. Duh, should I become an investigative reporter or should I just take nudie shots of celebs? Well, of course the latter because my boss told me to and I’m a tool! He also doesn’t understand basic economics because he’s a clod through and through, for no reason besides, I guess, Cleese thought it would be a riot to write him that way.
His parents seem to hate him - they’re constantly moving without telling him, trying to escape this powerful alien who’s embarrassing them by doing good - and are always, always telling him to fit in and not stand out. Along with Kevin Costner’s Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel, these were the worst versions of Superman’s parents ever.
Oh and then there’s the guy he manages to impale with a cricket bat because isn’t that hysterical? The guy doesn’t die (because Cleese needs this pun so badly) but grows up to be his enemy - Bat-Man. Oh, my fucking sides! They’ve fucking split from laughing so much - Bat-Man, and he’s a man got a cricket bat sticking out of his chest! AHAH…
I’ve gotta stop there because the litany of crap that makes up this book could fill a book of the same length. Every page is a disaster. I kept reading because I couldn’t believe how every single page got worse and worse. I wondered how this got published, then realised it was DC, but still couldn’t believe a comedy legend like John Cleese could produce something so unfunny. Moreover, as a Brit, like Cleese, I’m stunned he could write something so full of bad stereotypes and clownish pandering to foreigners’ views of British culture - is he honestly this out of touch or does he just hate Britain now?
This book is bad on every level. I hated it so much.
It’s such a shocking mess it makes me wonder if Cleese really was as funny as I thought or whether it was his co-writers - like Connie Booth on Fawlty Towers, or Graham Chapman in Monty Python - who propped up his writing, and he’s just a great comedic actor. Either way, avoid, avoid, AVOID, Superman: True Brit.
Superman fans will hate it for mangling Superman, British readers will hate it for how the British are portrayed, and comics readers will hate it because it’s so dumb. If you see a copy on the shelf, punch it in the cover for me.
May 14, 2019
Oof, this was a disappointment. I expected a lot better from John Cleese and John Byrne. Maybe if I grew up in England it would be funnier. The whole thing is written as a satire about British tabloids. It's awful. It's such an easy premise to get right. An Elseworlds where Superman's spaceship crashes in England instead of Kansas.
July 14, 2024
"Superman: True Brit" by Kim Johnson and John Cheese is without a doubt the worst Superman story I have ever read.
It was clearly meant to be humourous, but the jokes are clearly lost in translation.
If you want to read a proper Elseworlds Superman story set in Great Britain, read "Superman: Kal."
1-Star, for missing the mark on the Superman mythos.
It was clearly meant to be humourous, but the jokes are clearly lost in translation.
If you want to read a proper Elseworlds Superman story set in Great Britain, read "Superman: Kal."
1-Star, for missing the mark on the Superman mythos.
November 13, 2011
What if Kal-el had landed in Britain instead of the USA? This book is a hilarious look at that What-if, showing what Superman would have been like if it's followed his parents' motto: WWTNT (What would the neighbors think?) I'd seen this graphic on the shelves at the library for awhile, but hadn't picked it up. Then today, on a whim, I decided "Why not?" And I'm so glad that I did.
The writing is witty (but what would you expect from something co-authored by John Cleese) and there were far too many parts where I needed to stop and explain my laughter to Rich. Seeing the British versions of some of the iconic characters of Superman had me rolling with laughter - Perry White, respected editor, has turned into Peregrine Whyte-Badger, the owner of most of the tabloids in Britain and the King of Sleeze. Lois Lane's counterpart is Louisa Layne-Ferret and rather than the hard-nosed reporter, she is a Page 3 girl and Whyte-Badger's secret agent trying to ferret out information from Colin Clark (aka Superman). I do like the fact that they didn't completely ignore those icons, though. Louisa's cousin, Lois, is a newspaper reporter in Metropolis and comes over to do a story on Superman. When things start to fall apart for Supes at the end of the book, I think she's a large part of the reason why he decides to relocate to America.
The book has a perfect set-up for more comics in this alternate world, seeing several of the British Characters coming to America, all unaware of the others' arrivals. I could imagine a lot of fun with it, honestly.
I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who likes comics and has a sense of humor. Because it will tickle both of those quite nicely (especially when you meet the Bat-Man. ;))
The writing is witty (but what would you expect from something co-authored by John Cleese) and there were far too many parts where I needed to stop and explain my laughter to Rich. Seeing the British versions of some of the iconic characters of Superman had me rolling with laughter - Perry White, respected editor, has turned into Peregrine Whyte-Badger, the owner of most of the tabloids in Britain and the King of Sleeze. Lois Lane's counterpart is Louisa Layne-Ferret and rather than the hard-nosed reporter, she is a Page 3 girl and Whyte-Badger's secret agent trying to ferret out information from Colin Clark (aka Superman). I do like the fact that they didn't completely ignore those icons, though. Louisa's cousin, Lois, is a newspaper reporter in Metropolis and comes over to do a story on Superman. When things start to fall apart for Supes at the end of the book, I think she's a large part of the reason why he decides to relocate to America.
The book has a perfect set-up for more comics in this alternate world, seeing several of the British Characters coming to America, all unaware of the others' arrivals. I could imagine a lot of fun with it, honestly.
I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who likes comics and has a sense of humor. Because it will tickle both of those quite nicely (especially when you meet the Bat-Man. ;))
March 15, 2012
An overlong, second-tier Monty Python skit -- starring Superman.
September 22, 2017
I enjoyed this reimagining of Superman in the style of British kids comics... for a bit. It's over-extended and the moralising a bit obvious (John Cleese has an axe to grind against the British press and boy does he grind it).
The comics the book is apeing would have done it all a lot quicker and (not coincidentally) better. Hell, they already have and I'd've been much better rewarded if I'd gone up to my parents' attic and dug through a few boxes.
I can only imagine how bizarre the whole thing is for American readers who didn't grow up on The Beano, The Dandy or Buster. Dear cousins, if you're reading, forgive us this - go and try some Bananaman instead.
The comics the book is apeing would have done it all a lot quicker and (not coincidentally) better. Hell, they already have and I'd've been much better rewarded if I'd gone up to my parents' attic and dug through a few boxes.
I can only imagine how bizarre the whole thing is for American readers who didn't grow up on The Beano, The Dandy or Buster. Dear cousins, if you're reading, forgive us this - go and try some Bananaman instead.
June 23, 2021
Unhindered by the constraints of another story like many of the other Elseworlds are, British Superman is allowed to grow to his full potential (or not grow to his potential, as the British seem to prefer).
October 4, 2019
Una versión británica de Superman imaginada nada menos que por un ex Monty Python. La premisa era prometedora, pero el resultado no tiene mucha gracia. Como apunta esta reseña, el humor de Cleese opera en áreas que no son fácilmente traducibles al formato cómic.
March 6, 2018
Most people obviously don't like this book and that had me a bit worried. But I also like alternative versions of different characters and a humorous comic about a British Superman had me interested since the first time I heard of it, so I finally decided to read it. And I actually liked it. What you'll find here is a funny little satirical comic about Superman and about Britain. I enjoyed it, I thought it was funny. I guess the jokes just don't land for everyone, so you will either like it or it just won't be your cup of tea.
Is there anything more meaningful in the story? Not really, which is why I only gave it 3 stars. Of course, any satirical depiction of a character or a society is also commenting on the same, but the comments don't go to God knows what kind of depths and when they try they just get drowned in more silly jokes which stop you from taking anything in it seriously. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it at least means that the enjoyable tone of the book stays throughout, but it does mean that the book was possibly aimed at more and ends up as nothing more than a comedy sketch. A common criticism is that it is too long, but that is only a criticism if you don't enjoy it and are dragging along through it, if you do enjoy it you will be delighted to constantly find elements of Superman's life taken to new absurd interpretations where your expectations are subverted and Superman constantly screws up.
In conclusion, this book will make you say "What a joke!" for sure, but what that will mean depends on the individual reader.
Is there anything more meaningful in the story? Not really, which is why I only gave it 3 stars. Of course, any satirical depiction of a character or a society is also commenting on the same, but the comments don't go to God knows what kind of depths and when they try they just get drowned in more silly jokes which stop you from taking anything in it seriously. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it at least means that the enjoyable tone of the book stays throughout, but it does mean that the book was possibly aimed at more and ends up as nothing more than a comedy sketch. A common criticism is that it is too long, but that is only a criticism if you don't enjoy it and are dragging along through it, if you do enjoy it you will be delighted to constantly find elements of Superman's life taken to new absurd interpretations where your expectations are subverted and Superman constantly screws up.
In conclusion, this book will make you say "What a joke!" for sure, but what that will mean depends on the individual reader.
June 6, 2008
A lot of Cleese's humor is enhanced by/dependent upon the nuance of the performance. Unfortunately, with comic books you don't get a nuanced performance, you get a motionless panel. Cleese is also very gifted with pseudo-intellectual babble, also not a comic book attribute. I'm sure that the same or similar jokes about British culture would have worked much better in a live performance, but this medium doesn't play to Cleese's strengths at all!
May 28, 2018
¿Cómo hubiera sido Superman si su nave se hubiera estrellado en Inglaterra?
De mano de uno de los integrantes de Monty Python, con su humor inglés tan característico, aumenta mi maravillosa colección de Otros Mundos.
De mano de uno de los integrantes de Monty Python, con su humor inglés tan característico, aumenta mi maravillosa colección de Otros Mundos.
January 28, 2020
I like the art, but story-wise this was quite lacking.
January 4, 2012
This book was meh, for sure, but it was earnest. It wanted to be exactly what it was: a quick, goofy read with light-hearted jabs at life in Britain. Superman is Colin Clark, a dopey, lovable guy in love with everything. He's just stoked on things and he gets down a lot because of it. He's Superman as well as a journalist for The Daily Smear. There's inside jokes about Superman and Britain, but what really turns out to be a main theme is how dreadful tabloid magazines are and how unabashedly horrendous British newspapers have gotten. Shrug. This book was goofy and fun, even when it wasn't very good. Also, John Cleese was a writer for it? Whaaaaaaaaat?
April 19, 2018
What if Kal-El hadnt landed in Kansas. But in the farmlands of merry o England. And been raised not to fight for Truth, Justice & the American way, but with the mores of WWTNT. (What Would The Neighbors Think).
Push, throw in the unique humor of John Cleese...
Well, you have one hell of an Elsewheres story.
Push, throw in the unique humor of John Cleese...
Well, you have one hell of an Elsewheres story.
August 4, 2019
Great reimagining of the Superman myth with a good dose of humour and comedy that I did not see coming. It would have been better if the title did not paint the British in such a caricatured light that seemed stereotypical and mean of the writer at times. Otherwise, I enjoyed reading it and simply could not put it down once I started it!
August 21, 2007
I had high hopes for this book after seeing John Cleese's name on the cover. I was severely disappointed. May be because I'm not British and didn't pick up on a lot of jokes -- regardless, the book sucked.
January 18, 2008
A waste of paper. Not sure why John Cleese let his name be attached to this painfully unfunny, awkwardly paced, and ultimately pointless tripe.
March 29, 2010
A fairly weak satire with Superman arriving in the UK rather than the US. Cleese's send up of the British way lacks the subtle touch.
June 13, 2012
Didn't enjoy it. It's far too goofy. I know that's the point but it's almost to the point of overkill.
January 31, 2015
Like the concept,but horrible story. The art was goofy making it look like an Archie book.
July 17, 2022
An Elseworlds story in which the last son of Krypton's rocket crashes in a field in England rather than in Kansas. With his parents desperate to hide his powers for fear of embarrassing them in front of the neighbours, Colin Clark sets off on a career as a journalist working for the Daily Smear.
This book was co-written by Monty Python legend John Cleese and the back cover references his second most famous role with 'Faulty powers?'.
That is the only good joke in this supposedly comedic take on Superman.
I had hoped that this story, brought to us by a largely-British creative team, would be an interesting combination of British humour and an iconic American hero but that's not how it turned out. The book plays into every possible British stereotype as seen by Americans and therefore feels vaguely insulting to someone, like me, who is British. But more than that, there's a strong undercurrent of bitterness towards Britain and the British throughout the book, so that it feels less like a playful take on British quirks and more like an attack.
There was the opportunity for some genuine satire here, with the role the awful British tabloid press takes in the story, but there's nothing witty or clever about how it's done. It's like the writers wrote the premise 'Isn't the British press horrible?' and then felt that one line was enough to justify an entire book.
Yes, the tabloid press in Britain is just the absolute worst of humanity but just saying that does not a satire make.
This book feels too British to have much appeal to Americans (honestly, what American is likely to understand what Weston Super Mare is?) but is so mean in its attitudes towards the British that I can't imagine anyone over here particularly enjoying it either.
So I guess nobody wins.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
This book was co-written by Monty Python legend John Cleese and the back cover references his second most famous role with 'Faulty powers?'.
That is the only good joke in this supposedly comedic take on Superman.
I had hoped that this story, brought to us by a largely-British creative team, would be an interesting combination of British humour and an iconic American hero but that's not how it turned out. The book plays into every possible British stereotype as seen by Americans and therefore feels vaguely insulting to someone, like me, who is British. But more than that, there's a strong undercurrent of bitterness towards Britain and the British throughout the book, so that it feels less like a playful take on British quirks and more like an attack.
There was the opportunity for some genuine satire here, with the role the awful British tabloid press takes in the story, but there's nothing witty or clever about how it's done. It's like the writers wrote the premise 'Isn't the British press horrible?' and then felt that one line was enough to justify an entire book.
Yes, the tabloid press in Britain is just the absolute worst of humanity but just saying that does not a satire make.
This book feels too British to have much appeal to Americans (honestly, what American is likely to understand what Weston Super Mare is?) but is so mean in its attitudes towards the British that I can't imagine anyone over here particularly enjoying it either.
So I guess nobody wins.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
August 30, 2019
Relendo este quadrinho para o livro da campanha Os Cavaleiros das Trevas para escrever o texto sobre o Bat-Man desta edição. Para quem não sabe, esta é a versão "o que aconteceria se?" o bebê Kal-El chegasse com o seu foguete na Inglaterra e não nos Estados Unidos. O quadrinhos é escrito por Kim Howard Johnson e John Cleese, do Monty Phyton, para conferir aquele típico humor inglês para a história. Os desenhos, por sua vez, ficam a cargo do canadense John Byrne, que faz com que os personagens pareçam ainda mais amalucados e apatetados do que são. O Superman Conner Clark tem pais que ficam o tempo todo pensando "o que será que os vizinhos vão pensar", e ficam fugindo do seu filho superpoderoso para não serem vítimas de fofocas. Neste quadrinho, na verdade, parece que são as fofocas e os boatos que movem o modo inglês de viver a vida. Isso porque o Superman Conner Clark vai estudar para se tornar jornalista e consegue um emprego em um tabloide sensacionalista inglês, onde precisa cobrir escândalos de celebridades. Claro, isso até um certo Bat-Man cruzar o seu caminho em busca de vingança. Mas vingança para quê? Um quadrinho bastante divertido e fora do comum.
April 26, 2021
It's unclear how much input John Cleese had into this story, but I suspect it was rather small. This overall feels like an awkward outsider's look at British culture via the lens of aged TV shows, in a way that was bizarrely reminiscent to me of the TV show "Sliders" episode where the United States is still a colony of the British Empire. The comedy tends to fall flat as it relies on believing certain 'truths' about the British character to set up the punch-lines, which if you are British, you'll know are not as solid as presented.
I suppose one positive-ish way of seeing it is if you imagine this was the Beano take on an elseworld's Superman story ... but I suspect the fine people behind the Bash Street Kids could make a better go of this.
I suppose one positive-ish way of seeing it is if you imagine this was the Beano take on an elseworld's Superman story ... but I suspect the fine people behind the Bash Street Kids could make a better go of this.
August 6, 2025
Books that undermine their own premises this thoroughly confuse me.
The entire joke is that British Superman is a stupid idea that wouldn't work because of how thoroughly different British and American cultures are.
That is the ENTIRE joke.
And that is funny in small doses, maybe a skit in a comedy show, but almost 100 pages is a bit tiring after a while.
Because no one made anyone write this book, so highlighting the premise is stupid feels somewhat self defeating.
Also, the fact that this is also a commentary on tabloid journalism feels random? Maybe this was more of a trendy topic when this was published but at this point in time it feels pulled out of a hat.
The entire joke is that British Superman is a stupid idea that wouldn't work because of how thoroughly different British and American cultures are.
That is the ENTIRE joke.
And that is funny in small doses, maybe a skit in a comedy show, but almost 100 pages is a bit tiring after a while.
Because no one made anyone write this book, so highlighting the premise is stupid feels somewhat self defeating.
Also, the fact that this is also a commentary on tabloid journalism feels random? Maybe this was more of a trendy topic when this was published but at this point in time it feels pulled out of a hat.
August 19, 2025
Books that undermine their own premises this thoroughly confuse me.
The entire joke is that British Superman is a stupid idea that wouldn't work because of how thoroughly different British and American cultures are.
That is the ENTIRE joke.
And that is funny in small doses, maybe a skit in a comedy show, but almost 100 pages is a bit tiring after a while.
Because no one made anyone write this book, so highlighting the premise is stupid feels somewhat self defeating.
Also, the fact that this is also a commentary on tabloid journalism feels random? Maybe this was more of a trendy topic when this was published but at this point in time it feels pulled out of a hat.
The entire joke is that British Superman is a stupid idea that wouldn't work because of how thoroughly different British and American cultures are.
That is the ENTIRE joke.
And that is funny in small doses, maybe a skit in a comedy show, but almost 100 pages is a bit tiring after a while.
Because no one made anyone write this book, so highlighting the premise is stupid feels somewhat self defeating.
Also, the fact that this is also a commentary on tabloid journalism feels random? Maybe this was more of a trendy topic when this was published but at this point in time it feels pulled out of a hat.
October 20, 2019
Eh, this was alright. After the complex and deep interpretation of 'Red Son', I thought 'True Brit' would hold a similarly exciting mind experiment. Sadly, I feel as though their main objective here was to crack jokes (which I'm not surprised at seeing as two of the credited authors are members of Monty Python). And not all jokes were terrible, I did enjoy how Clark's parents kept moving and forgetting to tell him, and I loved the nod towards the MP's skit of 'Bicycle Repairman'.
In the end, the best I can call this book was lame but enjoyable. (Bat-Man??? REALLY???)
In the end, the best I can call this book was lame but enjoyable. (Bat-Man??? REALLY???)
November 13, 2020
Como broma del personaje está bien, tienen gracia las 30 primeras páginas. Incluso hay un par de chistes bastante buenos, supongo que estos serían los escritos por John Clesse, uno de los Monty Python. Pero el resto del cómic acaba siendo una tontería demasiado larga incluso para las 96 páginas que ocupa. Lo mejor son los guiños a otras obras (como Las 12 pruebas de Asterix) y al propio universo de DC. Atentos a la génesis de Batman, es tan idiota que no te queda otra cosa que aplaudirla. Y poco más.
May 7, 2024
Solid 2.5. A quick read with some over the top silly parts (his parents constantly moving and trying to make him be normal; the weird names being close to the originals and then for some reason all involving various animals too - Badger, Stoat, Ferret, etc) but I liked how it ended.
I read this while at the tail end of watching Monty Python and have realized I don’t always get British humour so some of it might’ve gone over my head. I think it could’ve been a smidge better than it was, but I appreciate the effort… It’s no Red Son, that’s for sure. 😂
I read this while at the tail end of watching Monty Python and have realized I don’t always get British humour so some of it might’ve gone over my head. I think it could’ve been a smidge better than it was, but I appreciate the effort… It’s no Red Son, that’s for sure. 😂
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