Superman: True Brit

Superman: True Brit by Kim Howard Johnson and John Cleese
Illustrator: John Byrne
Format: Original Graphic Novel TPB
Published: 2004
Publisher: DC Comics

What if Superman had landed in southern England and not Kansas? Well, John Cleese and Kim Howard Johnson figure he’d grow up a bit embarrassed, never quite get anything right, and gradually become a mark of shame for his parents.

The entire comic is essentially a rant against the English media and tabloid journalism, which I can get behind. We follow our hero, re-imagined as Colin Clark, through childhood and university until he eventually begins to work for the English tabloids, pressured into writing false pieces about his alter ego to manipulate the audience’s interest and sell more papers.

This was a fun one, although not something I’d run out immediately to read. If you can mooch it from friends (like I did – mwahahaha!), you should. I mean, it’s John Cleese. That should be enough to have a peek. There’s also a Union Jack uniform! And tasks from the Queen! And horrible cricket accidents! This also had one of the best evil cackle panels I’ve seen in a long time.