I'm all out of Fremont-related material. Sure, I'm overlooking the biggest and baddest landmark in the area, the Fremont troll, but goat-eating bridge dwellers don't really fit into the Marxist category*.

Now does this mean Commie Week has come to an end already? Of course not. Next on the list is Red Son, a graphic novel released earlier this year that asks the question: What would have happened if Kal El's spaceship landed in the Ukraine instead of Kansas?

The answer? Nothing but trouble.

Superman quickly becomes Stalin's secret weapon in the Cold War and together the two whip the country into shape. America can't keep up in the Superhero Race and quickly succumbs to a second Great Depression. With capitalism on the verge of collapse, the Man of Steel takes the reigns and turns the USSR into a communist utopia.

Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern and Batman all receive East European makeovers. The later becomes a resistance vigilante and, along with President Lex Luthor, attempts to topple Superman. Red Son follows Commie Kal El's rise to power and subsequent 50 year reign over most of the world.

Red Son is compilation of five comics and, while all the geeks took issues with the historical liberties (real and otherwise), it's the best one of these things I've read since the Dark Knight Returns. It's as bombastic and over-the-top as the DNR or the Watchmen and just as entertaining. Of course, I'm speaking as someone that purchases graphic novels on the average of once a year. Red Son brings the grand total up to five. I guess this makes me a nerd.

* Or am I wrong?