Red Son

Posted on November 30, 2003 in Crosstalk Culture Scoundrels

Teresa of In Sequence told her readers about a new series in which Superman lands in the Soviet Union and becomes their hero instead of ours.

I feared that this would turn into another anti-communist tract, but this essay by Red Son creator Mark Miller convinced me that his work transcends banality:

The trick, of course, was avoiding the cliches of Superman being raised as a Stalinesque tyrant or an overtly evil character. What I decided upon very early in this project was to have an idealistic young farm-boy being raised in the Ukraine and believing, with all his heart, in the goodness of communism. Just as our own Superman isn’t tarnished by the Americans dropping bombs in Vietnam or Iraq, this Soviet Superman isn’t responsible for the Gulags or the mass-killings. This Superman represents The Dream as much as the traditional Superman does, but watching him reluctantly take control of the USSR when the people beg him to and make communism an international success is quite fascinating.

What we have, as the story progresses, is a world where this super-communism has been embraced by most of the planet and capitalism has completely fragmented. Again, a reversal of what happened in the real world. The moral implications of one man or one country policing the entire world then becomes the big question. Like Bush, Cheney and Ashcroft, Superman finds himself wondering if total control is the best thing for the safety of the people he really wants to protect.

Miller’s last remark smacks of that kind of political correctness which does not allow us to critique the motives of Rambo or the later versions of The Terminator. (He may feel the need to speak obliquely to his sometimes jingoistic audience.) I doubt that the tragic trio that he mentions think about these things as they hack their way through Iraq and Afghanistan, struggling to establish a new empire of oil for their personal enrichment while restricting civil liberties here at home. Behind this point, however, lies an issue worthy of thought: is it Pax Americana or Pox Americana? Are we really standing for Truth, Justice, and Freedom or just Control?

Deeper still is the big question: has our obsession with heroes led us into insanity? I confess to being a critic of the Cult of the Hero which we Americans have come to depend upon, partly as a result of the culture of comic books. Superheroes lead us to the false impression that problems can be solved with grand sweeps of violence. Too often, the motives of the hero go unquestioned. And when they are subjected to the test of conscience, they arrive at hopelessness. “It’s Okay, Superman. It’s not your fault,” says Lana, the Russian reflection of Lois Lane. “It’s the way the system works, you know. You can’t take care of everybody’s problem.”

Nevertheless, Superman tries. And I must ask, does he really let himself off the hook for the Gulags and the mass killings? I think that’s a major pitfall of the Cult of the Hero: the Hero seeks to be perfect. If he makes a stand based on power, however, his perfection can only be a myth, a product of public relations.

A Superman or a politician or any citizen who does not question her/his role in the abominations committed the sake of ideology and idolatry is nothing but a bag of muscles. Whether he fights for America or Russia, he still uses the same means. And the means lead to very similar ends. So why rely on heroes for our change? Why not be the agents of change in our everyday dealings with one another and the way we vote?

It’s a new place that the genre of the superhero has never brought us before. Not like this, at least. You can get here by thinking about Miller’s piece, but not directly. You must think for yourself in the country beyond the dreams of heroes.

Despite my quibbles, Red Son deserves to be read soon as an antidote to the Cult of the Hero which corrupts American society in this age. Before our worship leads us to a faith-void apocalypse.