Forget about Superman Returns, if you are looking to experience a great story involving the Man of Steel, I urge you to pick up the trade paperback of a comic mini-series called Superman: Red Son right now! I just recently got around to reading it and I loved it. It puts Bryan Singer’s dull soap opera to shame.

Now I’m not a huge fan of the traditional superhero comic books, and especially not a big fan of Superman himself since he is just the quintessential superhero. These stories can be fun in terms of escapism and action but the complexity that modern comic writers try to put into a lot of these characters is just too much. With Superman: Red Son, Mark Millar proves that you can do some remarkably intelligent and creative things within the confines of silly archetypal characters wearing capes and tights.

The basic idea is this: what if Superman had crash landed on a farm in the Ukraine in the 1950’s instead of Smallville? What would he become, and how would the world change as a result? Brought up under the ideals of Stalin and communism, he shows himself to be the epitome of hard work and dedication and is welcomed into his own country’s political system. Meanwhile, rumours of his existence send shockwaves around the world and he becomes a feared symbol of Soviet power over in the United States. “Truth, justice and the American way” have been replaced with equality, responsibility and a belief in the common good. Driven by his desire to deliver his people to a utopian world, Superman eventually takes political control, believing that he can run a better country. Through his omnipotence, no matter how benevolent, he slowly creates a Big Brother scenario.

The comic also re-imagines other DC characters in clever ways. Lex Luthor is a scientist in America, developing technology and weapons to combat Mother Russia’s Man of Steel. Batman is himself a terrorist, fighting against Superman’s oppressive regime. And the Green Lantern Corps are the equivalent of super-powered U.S. marines.

This is an Elseworlds series that was first published back in 2003, which means that all the comic nerds have known about this thing for years and have probably moved on. But for those of us who missed out when it was originally published, this is still something remarkable and worth discovering. The artwork by Dave Johnson and Kilian Plunkett is also beautiful, making striking use of colour and incorporating hints of Russian propaganda style throughout. It’s an interesting mix of dark themes within classic comic book imagery.

Can you imagine how great a movie based on this story might have been? I only hope that once the movie studios have exhausted all of the B-list and C-list comic book characters that they will finally dig up some of these cool “what-if” scenarios.

You can read more about Superman: Red Son over on Wikipedia.