The ending of Red Son (contains spoilers)

[NotSuper]

I recently read the TPB of Superman: Red Son and loved it. But I do have a question about the ending.

We know that Superman was in his early thirties when Stalin died in 1953, based on that his ship most likely landed in Russia about 1923. Yet when we see Superman's ship crashing in the Ukraine in the final pages of the book, the year listed is 1938 (the year Superman was created, incidentally). How could this be the same Superman that was featured in the comic? If this were true, he would be fifteen in 1953, when Stalin died.

So, did Kal-L's ship somehow come later in time than the "other" Superman's ship or was this just an error? The story is still very enjoyable either way, but I was just curious about this.

[Bill 9000]

I'm willing to bet it's most likely an error or an oversight. I can't see them doing something like that on purpose ... unless it's meant as a tip of the hat to the year of Supes' debut.

[NotSuper]

I'm willing to bet it's most likely an error or an oversight. I can't see them doing something like that on purpose ... unless it's meant as a tip of the hat to the year of Supes' debut.

Maybe you're right. Has this question ever been addressed before?

[NotSuper]

It seems that I was mistaken in my theory. Mark Millar himself answered this question for me at Millarworld.

Superman is in his early TWENTIES in the first book (he says so in captions in his opening scene) and Stalin dies here in the late fifties (after Sputnik went up as we see in the opening scene). My theory was that, since Superman is his bodyguard, he saved him from the first attempt on his life by poisoning.

Superman is in his 20s in book one, 40s in book two and 60s in book three, infant Kal being around 2 when rocketed to 1938.

I'm actually glad that I WAS mistaken this one time.  

[RedSunOfKrypton]

But as was stated by someone on another board (you know who you are ), it means he was attracted to his great great to the 50th power grandmother, Lois Luthor. I rebutted with the fact that it'd be like us being attracted to Mitochondrial Eve, so far removed that it didn't matter, but still, it's kinda weird.

[NotSuper]

If anyone is interested, there is a thread I started over at Millarworld about this subject. You can check it out here. Feel free to comment on the ending or the story in general there. Although it should be noted that the thread does contain profanity, so be warned if that type of thing offends you.