For Thursday: Millar, Superman: Red Son (Books 1 and 2)


NOTE: Comics are tricky to read if you’re not used to them, mostly because they seem so busy with all the images surrounding the dialogue. The trick is to read slowly and re-read whenever possible. If you’re having trouble, look at all the images on a page first, then go back and read the words. Make sure to appreciate how the words and images work together, since each of them tell a slightly different story that comes together in the frames.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why does Superman decide to become the Supreme Leader when he earlier refused it? What makes him change his mind? Would the “real” Superman make the same decision? Why or why not?

Q2: Science fiction loves to ask “what if” and Superman: Red Son asks the ultimate what if question: would ‘Red Superman’ be a universal hero and icon for humanity? Is heroism beyond politics, or does being a hero depend on which side he’s on? How does the book explore this question?

Q3: At one point in the comic, Pyotr tells Superman, “that’s easy to say when you’re streaking through the skies, Superman. Not so much fun when you’re down here working in the gutters like the rest of us” (33). In some ways, is this an anti-superhero comic? Is this partly why the Soviet Batman wages war against Superman and what he represents?

Q4: How does the book reinterpret the Cold War and US/Soviet rivalry through the war between Luthor and Superman? Why might changing history in this light help us appreciate what really happened, or help us see the invisible forces behind politics itself?


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