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Superman: Red Son

Superman: Red Son #1

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The ELSEWORLDS miniseries arrives! When Krypton explodes, the infant Kal-El is rocketed to Earth, where he lands on a Ukrainian farm during the 1950s! How will the Cold War affect the Man of Steel?

48 pages, DC Elseworld Series

First published March 23, 2011

31 people are currently reading
5834 people want to read

About the author

Mark Millar

1,514 books2,562 followers
Mark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.

His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.

Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.


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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
Profile Image for Nicolo.
3,487 reviews205 followers
August 23, 2014
This is Mark Millar's most acclaimed Superman story and it is easy to see why. The writer gets Superman and the point of this first issue of the miniseries is that as long as he is raised right, as he is here by Ukrainian farmers with similar values to the Kents of Smallville, he will be a man who just happens to super.

I really like how artist Dave Johnson recreates iconic images with this Superman. He recreated the cover of Superman #1 here quite beautifully.
Profile Image for Sandee is Reading.
696 reviews1,253 followers
April 23, 2016
I wanted to read more DC stuff, so I asked my friend to recommend me some, and this was what he recommended to me.

I have read some of Mark Millar's work and ended up liking them, so I have very little doubt that I would like this as well. After finishing this issue, I found out I was right.

Superman: Red Son is part of DC's Elseworld comics, where the story of the Superheroes we know and love are given a different spin. With Superman: Red Son, it dealt with the story of Superman being raised in Soviet Russia, instead of the United States.

I only read the first issue, so far, so I have only yet to give me thought for this specific issue. And I would have to say that this was a bit trippy. Haha. It felt weird, but good. I just didn't think I'd see the day where Clark Kent would have a different name and would be raised in a place that wasn't Kansas.

But overall, I liked it, so far that is. The pace was okay. The other known character in Superman's story, like Lois Lane and Lex Luthor was still present, but their lives were almost as weird to me as Superman's. Imagine, Lex and Lois ending up together... I never thought I'd see the day. But hey, I'm not saying it ain't good okay, it's just weird. I like weird.

The thing that I liked the most was show us if Superman would be a different person if he grew up in a different country. Would he still have the same principles? Would he still be an advocate of peace or would he wager with war to gain more power? Would this Superman be really that different? I'm not going to say, but I would say this, I loved how his character is developing. It's pretty interesting.

Profile Image for Myke Cole.
Author 26 books1,739 followers
December 18, 2014
I'm reviewing all three volumes of the mini series here. I really enjoyed it. Millar has captured the tone of the original Superman in this cool riff on the basic concept. I do want to caveat for younger readers: The biggest appeal of this series is the sense of rooted ownership in the story that readers get from seeing old familiar touchstones turned on their head. If you aren't already steeped in the original DC universe (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and villains like Lex Luthor and Brainiac), then Metropolis may seem like something of an alien landscape. If you don't understand the Cold War zeitgeist, if you don't know about JFK and Norma Jean, if you don't remember the constant tension between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, you might miss a huge part of the appeal.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wonder if these books will work for twenty-somethings in the way they did for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go chase some kids off my lawn.
Profile Image for Juan.
88 reviews6 followers
August 28, 2020
Se trata, sin exagerar, de uno de los mejores trabajos con que se puede uno encontrar en el mundo del cómic. El arte es magnífico. La edición de lujo es sensacional. Es una historia que disfrutaran mucho más quienes son seguidores asiduos del mundo DC. ¿La razón? Es simple. La mayoría conoce la historia de la nave espacial que trae al pequeño kriptoniano Kar-El y cae en un zona rural de los Estados Unidos. Pero, ¿Qué pasaría si la nave, en lugar de Estados Unidos, cayera en la URSS? ¿Sería Superman aliado de Stalin? ¿De cuantas maneras afectaría este cambio la dinámica del mundo, la historia de los demás super héroes y villanos? Más interesante aún, ¿sería Superman un buen comunista, un buen gobernante de la Unión Soviética? Un historia imperdible para los amantes del 9no arte.
Profile Image for Christine.
7,233 reviews571 followers
June 30, 2020
I am not a huge Superman fan, even though I think DC tends to be better than Marvel. (and I say this as someone who went though a big Marvel phrase and whose favorite superhero, Firestar, is, in fact, Marvel).

But this Elseworlds is pretty interesting, and I think that it is what makes Elseworlds a bit better than What If, which always seemed little more than a reason to kill everyone. Millar looks at, not only the nature vs nurture debate. When Superman decides to act, he does so in a way that makes sense. This is a very good start, and I plan on reading more in the series.

One star off, however, because I am getting completely tired of alternate Wonder Womans being dewy eyed over Superman.
Profile Image for Mohammed Algarawi.
495 reviews208 followers
January 8, 2017
A brilliant reimagining of the Superman origins story. A communist Superman fighting alongside Stalin. SOLD.
Profile Image for Kay ☾.
1,281 reviews21 followers
April 21, 2020
Loved it! Superman with Russian origins? Lex Luthor with hair? Here for it! I love this take.
Profile Image for Cybernex007.
2,039 reviews9 followers
July 20, 2025
I've read this series before, but now I am revisiting it alongside the DC official discord monthly book club by answering these questions:

1. Red Son reimagines Superman’s origin in a completely different political and cultural context. What were your initial reactions to seeing Superman raised in the Soviet Union? How does this change affect your perception of the character?

Looking at the first issue by itself, my perception of superman himself doesn’t change much. At this point he still adamantly believes in the sanctity of all life and will fight tooth and nail across the world to try and save anyone. He doesn’t care about taking on more power and hates sitting through the parades put on in his name. But of course this issue focuses a lot on perspective and the first half of this issue is told through the lenses of Superman's usual gallery of friends (and Lex) who now fear him in the midst of the cold war above all else. And that fear is quite contagious, especially as we reach the end of this issue and Superman’s mindset shifts and accepts the idea of taking power if he can make his home country a better place. But with the world itself one hairy trigger away from annihilation, it is quite a scary thought to have all of that newfound weight put on him. There is one specific moment that really stands out to me. Some of the horrific practices of the soviet union have already been displayed and told to superman through the eyes of the remorseful chief of police, someone who wants to stop because of superman’s example, but when it was brought up superman he didn’t take a moment to acknowledge the words and even shifted the blame to the chief of police’s drinking when the official attempted to take his own life and superman stopped him. I get this slight sense of natural defense for the society he was raised in, an idea that they can do no wrong and he must defend that above all else. So when he finally does take power, how much will the sanctity of human life continue to prevail over the model of society he was raised to represent?


2. The story quickly introduces several familiar DC characters in unfamiliar roles. Without giving too much away, how did these early appearances challenge or reinforce your understanding of those characters?

If we were telling a solely superman specific story then there are a few characters that pop up that usually wouldn’t be included. For instance, Wonder Woman appears following her mother acting as a diplomatic representative. With the pure existence of superman the shift in global power has led Themyscira towards the Warsaw pact, the thing holding them back are the soviet union’s human rights practices. But Wonder Woman herself has shifted to being in a very similar situation to Superman, not enjoying the politics of everything and just happy to be meeting someone as powerful as herself. In a way this quite diminishes Diana’s role in the world, as previously mentioned, similar to superman she almost seems to take a blind eye to the human rights aspects of things…focusing solely on the superhuman side and being lost in the excitement of it all.

This issue also introduces us to what will become Batman. As mentioned in the first question, the chief of police tells Superman of their anti-superman purge where he ended up killing two “dissidents” in front of their young son. Actually shooting the boy himself in the shoulder to get him to leave after the child’s cold stare bore into him. This moment, and superman himself, made the official realize how horrible his job really is. At this time these moments only serve to reinforce the idea of Batman, the crusader born in the darkness on the cusp of the death of his parents to fight injustice. Except now he has a direction to point his vengeance: superman.


3. Ideology plays a central role in Red Son. In the first issue, how is the concept of “truth and justice” redefined? What are the early signs that this Superman’s beliefs and actions will differ from the traditional version?

As the world is introduced to superman his motto is changed from concepts of truth and justice to more tangible concepts specific to the Soviet Union’s goals: “a never-ending battle for Stalin, Socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw pact.” Superman himself may have been raised on these ideals and continues to hold them in high regard, this especially shown as he fights back against others' ideas to make him the party leader as it would go against these ideals, but his actions still exemplify higher concepts of life above all else. This is especially shown when Lex causes a soviet satellite to start plummeting towards Metropolis, and Superman still steps in to save the day even though it does not benefit any of the concepts he is meant to represent in the public eye. But this does a turn by the end of the issue, with the death of Stalin the monumental void he left in his wake has left the country scrambling for someone to fill the space. The only person many believe can do that is superman, his powers acting as the epic equalizer to Stalin’s legacy but his beliefs still tell him that taking on that role goes against everything he stands for. But as time passes and Superman flies around to clear his mind, he suddenly comes across his old friend, Lana, and her children waiting and starving in a food line. In a way superman seeing the hungry and wanting to help them is very superman, but he also comments on how different history could have been if he flew around the city a different path. As this is the moment he sees the people’s hunger under the current system and hears their pleas and their worries about things only getting worse due to shipments not getting in…and he realizes that with his power and in a position of power he could change all of this. So why shouldn’t he lead the country? And with that very thought and entire can of worms bust open of every other problem superman didn’t even think he would now bear responsibility for.


4. The setting in Cold War-era Soviet Union shapes the tone, dialogue, and stakes of the story. Do you feel the world-building effectively sets up an alternate version of the DC Universe?

I absolutely feel like this issue effectively sets up an alternate version of the dc universe, it doesn’t take long seeing all of the familiar characters and how different their lives have gone (Lex and Lois being married and Lex having hair, Jimmy becoming a secret agent, Batman’s history being directly tied to the country superman is apart of, etc.) to realize how the timelines have shifted and how inherently tied everyone stories are to superman and how this one monumental change can ripple across to affect everyone's lives.


5. What stands out to you about the art style and visual tone in Issue #1? Are there any specific panels or character designs that left a strong impression?
It feels like every moment that included superman (10 fold while in costume) stood out to me, making him feel like the chiseled larger than life being that is there to stand before you, and by the end of the issue be there to fill the void as the leader of the soviet union. In this universe they even decided to make him physically taller than everyone else, even Wonder Woman, just further adding to the detachment everyone else feels when they see him, which further helps to add to the fear driving the US and Luthor to try and take him down. There are not many people who can say they have a close relationship with Superman in this issue, the only people he is ever truly close to are government officials. Even his old friend, Lena, who he still holds very dear, is someone who stays outside of his proximity. Overall the art style in this issue is phenomenal and left me going back and referencing certain pages over and over again just because of how much I enjoyed the expressions of the characters and their action shots.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sodo.
1 review
July 6, 2025
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Profile Image for Ian.
1,334 reviews6 followers
May 3, 2023
Book one of three.
An Elseworlds story wherein Superman emerges in the 1950s as a loyal son of the USSR, acting as a beacon of socialism under the guiding hand of Comrade Stalin.

I was actually a bit surprised by this book, both positively and negatively.
The positive surprise was that it doesn't contain any of Mark Millar's trademark mean-spiritedness towards beloved superheroes. Sure, with two books to come I expect we'll see it come up, but here Superman is Superman, albeit a Communist one. I'm pretty sure it took less time for Millar to turn Captain America into a jackbooted fascist in 'The Ultimates', so kudos for the restraint here.

The negative flip side of all that is that this first book feels oddly toothless.
Not only does Millar not use the excuse to tear down Superman, but he also doesn't really have much to say about the Commie-phobic state of the US in the 1950s nor the terror-gripped police state that Stalin ruled. Again, there's time to develop those ideas in books two and three, but here there's very little that stands out as particularly sharp or insightful.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
Profile Image for Max Solis.
1,130 reviews2 followers
December 2, 2025
En la década de 1950, la Unión Soviética presenta a su nuevo aliado, Superman, lo que trastoca la Guerra Fría y convierte la carrera armamentística nuclear en una carrera de superseres. Para entonces, Superman era un recién llegado al círculo íntimo de Stalin. Criado en Ucrania, es bondadoso y justo, pero también está dedicado a la causa del comunismo. Siempre que puede, dedica su tiempo a detectar y prevenir accidentes y desastres en la URSS.

La repentina revelación de un extraterrestre con superpoderes comprometido con la Unión Soviética causa pánico en Estados Unidos. El presidente Dwight D. Eisenhower se ve obligado a contratar a Lex Luthor, un brillante científico empleado por Laboratorios STAR y un supergenio muy consciente de su intelecto y con muy poca consideración por las mentes inferiores. Luthor está casado con Lois Lane. A instancias de su contacto en la CIA, el agente Olsen, emprende su primer intento por destruir a Superman.
Profile Image for A Wanderer.
94 reviews27 followers
November 24, 2021
DNF. I've never DNF'd a comic or graphic novel before but I really just couldn't bring myself to get through this one. With something like this, every sentence you put into the story should matter. They should have purpose whether it is giving you important information or developing characters or a plot more. And most of the dialogue in this was unsophisticated and purposeless in my opinion. There were some cool aspects such as how the world and familiar characters would be different if Superman was born in Soviet Russia. I think the concept of the story and all the pieces were great. However, I did not like how they put all of it together. There are no transitions between scenes happening around the world and it is confusing to keep track of. That, combined with the poor writing, led me to put this down.
Profile Image for John Shaw.
1,211 reviews13 followers
August 30, 2023
We all know the story.
The Last Son of Krypton was rocketed away
from his worlds destruction by a desperate father.
Crashes in a Kansas farmers field , to be raised by his
newly adoptive parents to believe in "Truth, Justice and the American Way"
Becoming a hero and inspiration to the entire world.

Now imagine the kind of Asshat he would have grown into had he landed in Soviet Russia?
It's as bad as you're thinking.
Superman goes on to conquer the world on behalf of the Soviets
and things quickly turn to shit.

Clever notion, good execution.
I love most everything Millar puts out.
Profile Image for Mikayla.
39 reviews1 follower
April 21, 2025
I'm glad Stalin died - he sucks but also love that Mark Millar puts an emphasis on the battle between capitalism and communism without sucking Stalin's dick too much. This seems to be an allegory of the space race as the capitalism with the market economy technologically fall behind the planned economy of socialism. The vast color palette differs between the bright energetic good old Superman of Metropolis and the intense gray Superman of the Soviet Union.
Profile Image for Mikey Baker.
615 reviews1 follower
July 25, 2025
the last son of Kypton lands in Ukraine rather than the USA 30 years ago. he is raised a communist and becomes the second man to Stalin. when Stalin dies his son Pyotr and Superman debate who should lead. after seeing what the bread lines are like Superman understands it’s his duty to lead the USSR. meanwhile in America Lex Luthor develops his own superman, but is defeated very quick. this angers him..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kiarra.
171 reviews4 followers
March 14, 2020
I'm enjoying the world more than in necessarily enjoying the story. Lex Luthor's "I'm so smart" routine is extremely annoying. To the cheesey point that that alone is making me consider not continuing, but I do love an AU and there the promise of Batman and Superman/Wonder Woman something-something... Yeah I'll keep reading.
Profile Image for James Biser.
3,795 reviews20 followers
January 6, 2026
This is a well-written graphic novel, unfortunately, it is a bad idea for a story. The Cold War ended. The idea of Superman was created by American veterans of the first World Wars. He is defined by American values. Although it is obvious that good people may live in communist countries, Superman does not represent authoritarinism well.
Profile Image for Sayu.
1 review
December 11, 2025
Muito protagonismo pro estados unidos, pqp. Mas, vale a pena ler e é bem legal. Comecei a ler com a intenção de gostar do superman mas ainda nao gosto dele kkkkkkkkk o final é bem UAU, fiquei em choque
Profile Image for Mandy.
1,186 reviews
November 15, 2019
This is a comic book for people who already know and like Superman comics deeply. Not for some who only kind of knows and sort of likes it
97 reviews1 follower
December 30, 2019
Interesting tale of a communist superman.
Definitely worth a read if you're a fan of the man of steel...and superman
Profile Image for Steven Shinder.
Author 5 books20 followers
February 26, 2020
Elseworlds stories can be pretty iffy for me, and this is a case where I feel underwhelmed would far.
8 reviews
Want to read
October 21, 2021
I like the idea of a communist superman these books make me want to live longer
Profile Image for Kc!!!.
26 reviews
July 8, 2024
Interesting take on Superman, doubt I’ll buy the rest of the series.
Author 14 books3 followers
January 20, 2021
Mark Millar at his best here, taking an alternate-universe idea ("what if baby Superman crashed in Russia?") and playing it out in utterly believable detail, while tying it in to all the classic story elements and characters of the Superman mythos. What makes it work is that Superman as a Commie is still Superman, a good man serving a bad cause, and in the end Lex Luthor saves the world. Great stuff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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