Product Description

This CD Contains a Collection of Superman Radio Shows.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26331 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-01
• Released on: 2004-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781401201913
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Mark Millar is one of comics' most commercially successful writers, whose work includes Wanted, Judge Dredd, Superman Adventures, JLA, Ultimate X-Men, Superman: Red Son, The Authority and the bestselling Civil War and The Ultimates. Dave Johnson has drawn WildC.A.T.S., SuperPatriot a award-winning covers on 100 Bullets.

Customer Reviews

Superman Behind The Iron Curtain
I have enjoyed many of the Elseworlds books ever since the precursor, Gotham By Gaslight. This is probably the best Superman title and one of the best overall.

A few hours difference in the arrival of superman's space capsule could mean landing half a world away from Kansas and that is the premise. Superman has landed in the Soviet Union and has been raised by loyal Socialists. Superman's presence in the Soviet Union drastically alters the future.

Superman rises to power despite the conflict of political ideals and the Warsaw Pact signs on new members. We see the world change and see the lives of many familiar figures form the DC universe; Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc.

This is more than just a remake of the Nazi Superman (Ubermensch) as seen on Saturday Night Live. The story is fairly believable and Superman is as true to his upbringing as in the regular DC universe. The story progresses nicely until we see the final surprise plot twist.

A wonderful story for Superman and Elseworlds fans.

An alternate history for science fiction readers
This graphic novel is not a parody, it's an alternate history. A most unusual alt-history: an alternate to a fictional reality, rather than an alternate version of our history. (The most popular themes for alternate history are, What if the South won the Civil War?, and What if the Germans won WWII?)

Alternate history is a concept generally more familiar to those who read SF novels rather than comics/graphic novels. Many of us SF novel readers did read a lot of comics when we were younger, though, and I think this particular graphic novel is aimed at us. We read Superman - and Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman - in the 50's, 60's and 70's. So, although we may not have read any other of this particular series of graphic novels, we have quite a bit of background in the Superman mythos - his real parents, where he grew up, girlfriends, enemies, etc.

I think that knowing that background from the original comics may make this book more enjoyable to my middle-aged generation than to people who are used only to the graphic novels. As well, my generation had the advantage of living through most of the history that was really happening from 1950 on. For those who know the history of the Cold War only from school, many of the details wouldn't make sense. It helps a great deal in reading this book if you are familiar with the course of the Cold War, and that you know not only who JFK was, but some of the celebrity gossip about him as well as the official records. (The name Norma Jean should mean something to you.) You should know what the Warsaw Pact was, and something about in what order the Soviet Union took over various countries.

I liked the way the book involved similar alternate twists on Batman, and brought in Wonder Woman and Green Lantern as well. Batman's hat is the funniest thing I've seen in a while!

A couple quibbles: having the artwork done by more than one artist is distracting; a couple times it was hard to recognize Lois Lane as herself. And I do wish that illustrators would STOP trying to use the Cyrillic alphabet incorrectly. If you can't use the letters for what they really are, don't use them, please. The thing that looks like a backwards R is NOT an R. The letter that looks like a backwards N is NOT an N. So stop it already! Just go for English in the signs and titles, or for accurate Russian. (One illustrator did this correctly, but on many pages, and the cover art, these letters are used incorrectly.) OK, that's one of my pet peeves, since I happen to be able to read Russian a little; it may not bother other people as much as it bugs me.

Summary? A graphics novel that may be of more interest to an older generation that doesn't usually read them, in a vein more familiar to SF readers than comics readers.

Superman with a communist twist
In this Elseworlds take on the Superman, the "what if?" proposed is if Kal-El's ship had crash landed on a ranch in the Soviet Union. I expected Superman's personality would have been altered considerably, but he is pretty much the same character, just with everything around his being radically different.

Not to say that history is completely re-written here. There's still a Metropolis and a Daily Planet where Lois works, however she is now married to Luthor. A major portion of this story concentrates on Luthor and his battle against Superman to keep the US communist free. Luthor has the most interesting character development out of the cast of characters here. You could ever argue that he is the story's protagonist.

Other familiar faces pop up in guest roles from the DC universe. Wonder Woman is pretty much unchanged. There is a new take on Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, and my favorite, Batmankoff. For an Elseworld's title, Mark Millar does a pretty decent job of deciding what to keep from the Superman mythology and what can be played with. Not everything makes sense exactly, but being that its a stand alone story, it grants itself creative license.

The artwork is pretty great. It suits the style of the story and is never ugly or boring. The colors are always eye pleasing as well. I enjoyed the sketches in the back showing the other possible redesigns for some of the characters. That's all in the way of features though.

If you're a fan, you'll probably get something out of it. It's a creative re-imagining of Superman and there's plenty of action and historical fiction weaved in as well.