They Still Don’t Get The Jon Kent Problem

This crap is why I have a Death Of DC category.

Remember when I heard about young Jon Kent being brought back aside old Jon Kent? Remember how excited I was? Sasha at Casually Comics made me so happy. Of course it was a bait and switch. Of course they weren’t going to stick with it. It’s the way they did it that makes it worse for me.

Look, I haven’t had a chance to read a lot of young Jon, but unlike certain parties who insist on something and don’t read the end product I have no money coming in and no place to put a lot of new comics. I WANT to read young Jon Kent, but I can’t. I can’t afford them digitally, either, and the only time I use…those sites is for research. Sadly my top choice just went down and it appears to be permanent. I know most people used them to pirate, not research articles, so I understand going after it. It still means I lost a valuable tool.

So I didn’t get to follow the “Reign Of The Superboys” story arc in Superman Unlimited, and nobody was really talking about it. Or maybe I don’t have the right news sources in my feed (when I have a chance to read or watch). However, we still have them aging up Jon Kent, then making him “bisexually gay” (they’ll never let him date a girl to avoid the wrath of those people who don’t support changes by spending money to read the comic because they don’t actually care) to protect themselves from having to de-age because Dan DiDio and Brian Michael Bendis didn’t want to write a kid. (Explain how he pulled off the only good Ultimate universe title with teen Spider-Man then.) That was a mistake. There is so much story potential with the young son of Superman learning from his father versus the traumatized adult we have now.

And it appears just as Sasha made me happy, she had to break my heart. It’s not her fault. Discussing comics is her job and she just reports on events. However, and spoilers for the “Reign Of The Superboys” arc, the following video shows us that once again hope has gone to die. What could have become a happy moment for Jon Kent fans who wanted young Jon back and those who like older Jon to both get what they want could have been a good story. I’m not going to go so far as to say what they sucks on concept. This plot had potential and might have lived up to it. On the other hand, desire again gets tossed in the trash as a result. The video is titled “Is It Time To Forget About Young Jon Kent Superboy?” and the answer in these here parts is “no”. Watch the video and I’ll explain.

Let me start by saying that on its own merits the story doesn’t sound terrible. For one thing I haven’t read it, as I’m sure someone will point that out and insist I’m not allowed to have an opinion on the summary. I’m going by the summary and that I trust Sasha to be unbiased (or as unbiased as a reviewer can be). She’s just opening discussion about the events, and as a story it’s totally acceptable. Being a good story doesn’t mean it’s a story I want to read, however. There is so much about this I don’t like that I don’t think reading it myself will suddenly make me happy. If you want me to read these, I’m not against a subscription to GlobalComics or DC Unlimited or whatever you want to give me. Otherwise I’m not going to forgo my rights to have an opinion until I have money to spend on comics. This sadly isn’t my job. At best it’s practice and getting things off my mind while trying to make myself a better storyteller, bringing others along for the ride.

On the surface it sounds like an interesting mystery to unravel and someone from Mxyzptlk’s dimension pulling a stunt like that to save his own hide and still mess with his supposed nemesis is totally in character. Could the son of Ultraman and Superwoman decide he likes being a good person in defiance of Batman’s belief that Earth-3 is a straight up mirror universe? That’s an interesting story to go into because Earth-3 isn’t a mirror universe, anymore than the various versions of Squadron Supreme are mirror versions. There’s an episode of Superfriends that shows what a true mirror universe is. Even the Justice Lords of the DCAU or the fallen heroes of the Injustice universe aren’t a true mirror like the “Superenemies” were. Those are just alternate paths. Ultraman is more of an evil Superman analog, as he isn’t a version of Kal-El at all, while Superwoman is a stand-in for Wonder Woman, not evil Diana.

I guess older Jon needed a GPS to his home dimension.

One thing I’ve set up for a few years now in Jake & Leon is the idea of having both Jons present, though mine has young Jon “reforming” AU Jor-El rather than trying to escape and ending up on Earth-3 to be tortured by Ultraman. By now older Jon does have his fans, or at least has strong potential that’s been set up when stories aren’t about chasing social clout over good storytelling. That doesn’t mean that young Jon doesn’t have stories to be told about him. There’s also potential for stories and character moments of the two of them together, the younger and older brother. The CW’s Superman & Lois gave us two brothers, though I wasn’t drawn to watching that series because Superman’s emo son and powerless jock son don’t interest me. I’m here for the superhero action as much as Clark Kent being heroic and showing us what it means to be a good man even if you aren’t a super man.

That’s what young Jon brings to the table and why I want to go and read the stories he was a part of and why I liked the sadly few I have. It’s why I’m interested in him over his traumatized older self. I want to see Clark being a dad to his son, raising him with the same values his dad gave him, the reason he’s named after his grandpa Jon. I want to see him live those lessons and show what being a superHERO really means. It’s not just the powers. Villains have those, too. Note the last panel from the summary teased a return of General Zod, clearly a supervillain. Superman’s powers are just the normal powerset for superpowered heroes, even if they don’t have all of them. Using those two kids from Warworld nobody talks about (which should tell you what little impact they’ve made with writers and thus the readers) isn’t the same because they’re not his kids, growing up with his parents’ compassion and view of humanity learning to be a better hero and use his powers like the rest of his family, powered or not. They can learn from their adoptive parents, and I’m pro adoption. It still isn’t the same when we have his biological son raised from a baby by his birth parents.

And don’t think I missed the lack of capes in these new costumes. Can you really not think of anything better than a jacket?

Having “Ultraboy” there isn’t the same, either. You could tell the same story with the refugee kids because the sister already had the attitude needed to survive Warworld and protect her less violent brother. Having Ultraboy is just having another Damian Robin, and we have Damian Robin at home. People who got to read and enjoyed Super-Sons wanted more of Jon and Damian team-up stories because they have a similar but not exact difference of views to those of their dads. Damian Wayne helps Jon toughen up and Jon Kent helps Damian lighten up, a good thing to have between a naive but hopeful kid and a kid raised to be an assassin who wants to be better. Those stories were lost and those fans were pissed because of it.

I didn’t have reference for Damian’s current costume, but I like the traditional Robin look anyway.

So no, it’s not time to give up, it’s time to smarten up. Older Jon getting to become his own hero with his own identity, graduating beyond Superboy/man also-ran into his own persona as Tomorrow Man (nice to see they fixed the costume) shows him coming out of his father’s shadow and forging his own path. Miles Morales and Sam Wilson, take notes. Now you need to find something to do with him beyond being gay and going to rallies. Given him some decent villains, set him up with his own supporting cast, and let him find his own path beyond a name change to being a good superhero. Do the same with younger Jon. Do the same with any new character that gets created. That’s how it’s supposed to be done.

Still pushing my plan to bring young Jon back.

If anything, restoring young Jon and keeping new Jon opens MORE story ideas, not less. Let’s see the time displaced brothers saving people and fighting bad guys together. Make a villain NOW AND THEN RATHER THAN EVERY @#$%#$%^ ISSUE that all of the Superman family can team up against, each doing something different in the battle or rescuing people from the battle depending on their skill set. If I can come up with them in my silly parody comic, imagine what people being paid money (maybe if they could afford better writers or paid enough for the existing writers to care about their work instead of keeping the rent paid) to write the real thing should be coming up with. Get your act together, DC Comics! Or hire me. I care because I actually love these characters and want to write about heroic superheroes. I can’t be the only one.