Superman: True Brit
Reading time: 2 minutes
In honor of my new friends across the pond, my first contribution to Comic Book News will review Superman: True Brit.
True Brit is a satirical "what if" take on the Man of Steel. As anyone who hasn't read True Brit may have guessed, the story suggests, in nowhere near serious terms, what would have happened if the ship that brought Kal-El to Earth from Krypton had missed Kansas by a couple of miles and landed on a small farm in England.
I'm a huge fan of wit and sarcasm (I delusionally think that I employ both well myself), so I wasn't surprised that I was entertained hugely by a story written by Kim Johnson and master of horror and suspense John Cleese. Their story is drawn by legend John Byrne (The Man of Steel miniseries) using a slightly more cartoony yet perfectly appropriate style than his usual work.
Just as there is nothing serious about True Brit, there is also little that is actually "super," other than Superman. Other incarnations of characters residing in the DC universe make appearances, such as Batman or Brainiac, but these twisted versions are absolutely mundane save for a couple of non-super power related oddities, i.e. cricket equipment lodged in various body parts, caused by Colin Clark's (this story's version of Clark Kent) super strength and terrible athletic ability.
What jumps out the most from True Brit is the satirical portrayal of British life. People spend all of their time shunning the spotlight, too worried about what others may think of them while at the same time incessantly prying into the lives of other people; which would explain why there is no such thing as a real newspaper in Johnson and Cleese's England, only tabloids. I've never been far out of the US, so someone will have to tell whether that is an accurate if a little exaggerated view of society over there. I know it fits with the way a lot of folks act over here.
There is nothing groundbreaking or game changing about Superman: True Brit. It does what the medium of comics were created to do: entertain through story telling. True Brit does that well.
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