Superman : Red Son (Part II)

Supporting Cast

• Lex Luthor is a genius American scientist and married to Lois Lane.
• Jimmy Olsen is not a photographer for the Daily Planet, but is first a government agent, before becoming head of the Central Intelligence Agency and then Vice President of the United States.
• Pete Ross, here named Pyotr Roslov, is one of the illegitimate sons of Stalin and one of Superman's political rivals.
• Lana Lang is replaced by Lana Lazarenko, who grew up in the Ukraine (used here as the closest Soviet equivalent to Kansas) along with a young Superman. She becomes a tour guide in a Superman museum.
• Bizarro is - along with other villains in Superman's rogues gallery - a being created by Luthor to rival the Soviet Superman. The concept of a Superman-clone being used in a superhuman arms race bears similarities to Nuclear Man from Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.
• Captain Marvel villain Dr. Sivana makes a brief appearance as a scientist working for Superman and the Soviets. It is mentioned that he used to work for Lex Luthor before defecting to Russia. However, Captain Marvel does not appear.
• The bottled city of Kandor is replaced by Stalingrad, which was shrunk by Brainiac in a joint plan with Lex Luthor to capture Superman. Superman's "one failure" is his inability to return Stalingrad to normal size. His guilt over this haunts him. Brainiac, meanwhile, is apparently reprogrammed into Superman's service.
• Superman retains his Fortress of Solitude which is still opened through the use of a giant key. However, it is now located in Siberia and is referred to as "the Winter Palace", a reference to the Russian Winter Palace, vacation home of the Tsars. Located within is a statue of Darkseid, the Titanic, and a Soviet Krypto.
• At the beginning of the series, a widowed Martha Kent is seen running a hardware store in Smallville, Kansas. Jonathan Kent is dead. Neither have had any direct contact with Superman.
• Superman briefly appears in a disguise similar to Clark Kent. However, this identity is not given a name. Also, Superman's 'real name' (the equivalent of Clark Kent) is never given within the series.
• A statue that appears to be the Red Son Universe counterpart of Krypto appears in the (Moscow) Superman Museum and the Fortress of Solitude. Other characters that appear in the form of statues include the villains Parasite, Atomic Skull, Chemo and Satanus. The museum also has a replica of the key to the Golden Age Fortress of Solitude and a statue of Superman's parents holding a Hammer and Sickle, mimicking a statue seen in the mainstream comics' Fortress of Solitude.
• Humans who have been forcibly lobotomized and given cybernetic implants as a punishment for certain crimes are known as Superman robots in reference to the genuine robots of DC continuity.
• In Red Son Setting, several villains of Superman's rogue's gallery are created and released by Luthor. These include Parasite, Atomic Skull, Livewire, and Doomsday.

DC Heroes

• One of Superman's chief allies is Wonder Woman, who is a Soviet "Peace Ambassador" from Themyscira. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, also makes appearances in the first two installments of the trilogy. Her support for Superman is however based in more than pure idealism; merged completely in camaraderie, Superman is oblivious to her love for him.
• Batman appears as the child of parents murdered by Roslov. His anarchical terrorism is a thorn in Superman's side. Batman later inspires an entire team of Batmen. He is smart and resourceful enough to avoid being caught by an all-seing, all hearing regime, and uses his wit to momentarily seize Wonder Woman and Superman. He hides in an abandoned underwater Batcave, and Alfred is still his servant/butler. He is described by Superman as "anarchy in black".
• Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) appears as a pilot and vengeful ex-prisoner of war chosen by Luthor for his extraordinary powers of visualisation (developed by fantasizing in captivity) and for having the moral purity (which Luthor lacks) to operate the power ring. He comes to lead a super-powered army of Luthor's devising, the Green Lantern Marine Corps, some members being named after other Green Lanterns (Scott, Rayner, Gardner and Stewart). Jordan's predecessor as Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Abin Sur, also makes a brief appearance as a deceased unnamed alien, whose crashed spacecraft provides Luthor with a power ring and battery.
• Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) works as a reporter for the Daily Planet. It is hinted that he is living out a "Clark Kent" double-life (as Queen/Green Arrow) since Lois Luthor says, "...no Pulitzer Prize winning journalist could be as scatter-brained as he acts" much as the original Lois Lane would have said about Clark Kent.
• Iris West (wife of the "Silver Age" Flash, Barry Allen) also appears as a photographer at Perry White's retirement party. She makes a reference (familiar to comic book fans) about Barry "always being late" indicating that he is perhaps also active in his super-hero identity.
• Two American scientists are named "Palmer" and "Tyler", presumably in reference to scientists/superheroes Ray Palmer (The Atom) and Rex Tyler (Hourman). In Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Red Son, The Atom is revealed to be one of the few active American superheroes not created by Luthor, most often used to spy on the Soviets.

Historical figures

• Joseph Stalin is a major character, with a close relationship with the young Superman. He is poisoned by his illegitimate son, Captain Roslov.
• President Dwight Eisenhower delivers a radio/television broadcast at the start of the story.
• John F. Kennedy is President in 1978.
• Wonder Woman also mentions that Nixon was assassinated in 1963.
• The British socialist politician Tony Benn appears at Superman's Birthday celebration, smoking his trademark pipe.

from Wikipedia