Superman #10 Missing Scar?

[Jared S]

I told myself I wasn't going to involve myself in this arc. So much for that.

Here's a comment from Bleeding Cool discussing several plot-holes in Superman #10. I've seen no discussion of them thus far, so I'm not sure if everyone missed them or if I missed out on the conversation.

Quote from "Hollywood Kayvee":

Ugh, where do I even being with this issue? There are so many inconsistencies in this arc and so far it’s only been 3 issues I think? I mean, I know it’s Bendis and it’s to be expected but come on the story Bendis/Jon is telling does not coincide with what his return appearance issue said.
A couple thoughts / upcoming rant.

1) Just a couple issues back, Jon returned proclaiming “Grandpa has gone insane and we need to stop him.” But at no point in Jon’s story did he even imply that.

1a) Pre-E3, they were fighting wars for peace, which he seemingly did not have a problem with. Then he asked to go home and when Jor said he would take him, Jon declined and said he would stay.

1b) Then Jor didn’t speak to him for a “whole summer” even though the entirety of their time together was only three weeks, which I’m assuming is post Lois. People tell me time moves differently in space but between all the time in their ship and the planets they've been on, it should be WAY longer than 3 weeks, especially if it was a whole summer (and there have been MANY arcs in comics where time in space moves at the same pace as earth time).

1c) Upon his rescue, they clearly only spent minutes, or hours together, before Rogol attacked, and again, at no point was it implied Jon thought Jor-El was crazy.

2) Not once did they show or explain how Jon got that scar. Which is very visible when he’s talking to Clark and Lois but up until he lands on Earth, still no scar.

This whole thing is suspicious, something isn’t adding up. I don’t think this is Jon. If it is, Bendis really fell off the wagon of telling a cohesive story within THREE ISSUES.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/04...n-10-spoilers/


Thoughts? I think the "No-scar" is very telling. I think it means Jon left out something substantial in his story -- either because he's not who he says he is, or because he has something to hide. What does everyone else think?

[Superlad93]

1) Just a couple issues back, Jon returned proclaiming “Grandpa has gone insane and we need to stop him.” But at no point in Jon’s story did he even imply that.

* This is misquoted. Jon says they need to "do something about it" Not that they need to "stop him." The implications are different. The latter implies that Jon is aware of Jor-El doing something really awful because of his illness, and they need to make him stop, but the former implies that they need to address the matter of Clark's father being sick. And it is implied several times that Jor-El--while being a good person at heart--has grown more and more unwell, and when Jon meets up with him again it's obvious that whatever was wrong has gotten worse due to him driving himself more mad looking through time and space.

1a) Pre-E3, they were fighting wars for peace, which he seemingly did not have a problem with. Then he asked to go home and when Jor said he would take him, Jon declined and said he would stay.

This isn't a plot hole, but rather this is a child in an uncomfortable situation. Before Jon asks the GLs to leave he tells his parents that the very moment that Jor-El started dumping his existential crisis on an 11 year old while simultaneously being responsible for that child was the moment he felt unsure about things. However, as Jon notes, because Jor-El proved to act much the same way Clark would (ie helping wherever he could in as peaceful a manner as possible when able) and they kept very occupied with missions of peace, Jon put being unsure about his trip to the side. However, once an opportunity to leave without having to ask his obviously delicate grandfather presented itself in the form of the GLs, he tried to take it. But once Jor-El overheard, Jon didn't want to upset or offend his grandfather who saw him as the only kindred soul in all of the galaxy, thus Jon said he'd stay. He even latter tried to apologize and thank Jor-El for the opportunity (Jon being too nice a kid basically), likely thinking he was overstating the crazy stuff (this is later proven to be wrong once Jor-El has gotten worst post-Earth 3)

1b) Then Jor didn’t speak to him for a “whole summer” even though the entirety of their time together was only three weeks, which I’m assuming is post Lois. People tell me time moves differently in space but between all the time in their ship and the planets they've been on, it should be WAY longer than 3 weeks, especially if it was a whole summer (and there have been MANY arcs in comics where time in space moves at the same pace as earth time).

The one thing Jon never ever makes a definitive statement on is time. From Jon's POV due to having no reliable sunrise or sunset to measure time, and day cycles working differently between planets and solar systems, Jon had no way of knowing what day was let alone a week. "Summer" is likely an exaggeration/memorable title he used given Jon says he simply doesn't know the whole time.

1c) Upon his rescue, they clearly only spent minutes, or hours together, before Rogol attacked, and again, at no point was it implied Jon thought Jor-El was crazy.

I'd say their were a few to let you know that Jor-El wasn't well. For one, the art showed that he now had a lazy eye he didn't have before. He laments on how all-consuming the calculations to find Jon were. I mean, he's not--nor do I think he's supposed to be-- the freakin' Joker, but he's also clearly not okay once you put things in context. It's a guy (issue 8) who LITERALLY equates the very idea of science to "madness" (that's the specific word used FYI), and says "if all the universe has offered is chaos, then what do you call those of us who have dedicated our lives to cataloging it.......organizing it....trying to make sense of it." You take that guy, and then you make him LITERALLY try and organize it to find the only person he views as a kindred soul. Jor-El's not in a good place right now.

2) Not once did they show or explain how Jon got that scar. Which is very visible when he’s talking to Clark and Lois but up until he lands on Earth, still no scar.

Got me on this one. No idea where the scar came from. Artist mistake possibly?

I will say though that Bendis, in an interview with ATP, does confirm that this is 100% Lois and Clark's Jon Kent, and he's not evil.

[Konja7]

Thoughts? I think the "No-scar" is very telling. I think it means Jon left out something substantial in his story -- either because he's not who he says he is, or because he has something to hide. What does everyone else think?

Maybe the "No-scar" is that Bendis changed his idea in this aspect.

The thing is the scar isn't an story Jon left out. If it was an story Jon left out, Jon's scar would still appear at some point in the flashback, but without explanation.

However, Jon literally doesn't have the scar when he lands on Earth. This scar just suddenly appear.

[Jared S]

2) Not once did they show or explain how Jon got that scar. Which is very visible when heÂ’s talking to Clark and Lois but up until he lands on Earth, still no scar.

Got me on this one. No idea where the scar came from. Artist mistake possibly?

I will say though that Bendis, in an interview with ATP, does confirm that this is 100% Lois and Clark's Jon Kent, and he's not evil.

Really, did he? How unfortunate. (I'm not aware of the abbreviation ATP. What site does it refer to? Can you link it?)

In retrospect, I should perhaps have left out the first 3/4ths of that comment, as I really only see three things as very odd: 1) the scar, 2) Jor El's confusing claim that Jon tried to "run away" from him, contradicting Jon's version of events, and 3) the fact that Jon is acting surprisingly cheery for a kid who has been tortured for 7 years (though that could just be weird characterization).

Hmmm, maybe I should have just written up my own comment instead of lazily linking to someone else's.



I do think we have some reason to believe this is some sort of intentional clue. It seems unlikely this is an artist's error, particularly when we have closeups on that part of his face multiple times in the same comic, but every time we see Jon with Superman, the scar is shown prominently. Also, Bendis has called attention to it in comments on artwork, so its not like its meant to be a minor feature; its meant to be a "reminder of his human side." So we reasonable could expect an explanation of it, or at the very least something to indicate it showed up during his adventures. The kid literally survived a volcano without at scratch. There's no way he got a scar like that without facing something powerful. I do think, unless there's something online from Bendis or the artist that confirms it was an error, the idea that it is not is more plausible.

Assuming this is true, I came up with four possible explanations:

1) "Jon" is lying and this is someone else/an alternate version of him (I'll eliminate this one since I was unaware of the interview).

2) Jon "came back wrong" and he maliciously left something out. (Also eliminated, unless Jon is still good but has somehow lost his mind).

3) Jon is intentionally leaving something out (for good or at least explainable reasons, like not wanting his parents to worry or not being comfortable talking about it just now).

4) Jon was not done with his story and something happened between arriving back on planet and meeting up with Superman, resulting in the scar.

[Konja7]

Really, did he? How unfortunate. (I'm not aware of the abbreviation ATP. What site does it refer to? Can you link it?)

In retrospect, I should perhaps have left out the first 3/4ths of that comment, as I really only see three things as very odd: 1) the scar, 2) Jor El's confusing claim that Jon tried to "run away" from him, contradicting Jon's version of events, and 3) the fact that Jon is acting surprisingly cheery for a kid who has been tortured for 7 years (though that could just be weird characterization).

Hmmm, maybe I should have just written up my own comment instead of lazily linking to someone else's.



I do think we have some reason to believe this is some sort of intentional clue. It seems unlikely this is an artist's error, particularly when we have closeups on that part of his face multiple times in the same comic, but every time we see Jon with Superman, the scar is shown prominently. Also, Bendis has called attention to it in comments on artwork, so its not like its meant to be a minor feature; its meant to be a "reminder of his human side." So we reasonable could expect an explanation of it, or at the very least something to indicate it showed up during his adventures. The kid literally survived a volcano without at scratch. There's no way he got a scar like that without facing something powerful. I do think, unless there's something online from Bendis or the artist that confirms it was an error, the idea that it is not is more plausible.

Assuming this is true, I came up with four possible explanations:

1) "Jon" is lying and this is someone else/an alternate version of him (I'll eliminate this one since I was unaware of the interview).

2) Jon "came back wrong" and he maliciously left something out. (Also eliminated, unless Jon is still good but has somehow lost his mind).

3) Jon is intentionally leaving something out (for good or at least explainable reasons, like not wanting his parents to worry or not being comfortable talking about it just now).

4) Jon was not done with his story and something happened between arriving back on planet and meeting up with Superman, resulting in the scar.

As I said, the problem with this theory is this:

If the origin of the scar was a story Jon omitted, we would still see the scar in flashbacks (although we don't see how it happened).

Instead, the scar doesn't appear in the flashback at all. It just suddenly appear in the present.

[Jared S]

As I said, the problem with this theory is this:

If the origin of the scar was a story Jon omitted, we would still see the scar in flashbacks (although we don't see how it happened).

Instead, the scar doesn't appear in the flashback at all. It just suddenly appear in the present.

Then where do you think it came from? As I said, I think an art mistake is unlikely.

Possibly, it might not appear because the story he is telling is, in fact, misleading, either intentionally or unintentionally, and this is a subtle hint. The narrator could be untrustworthy and thus what we are seeing is NOT what actually happened.

Alternatively, it could have happened after he got back to earth and Jon omitted that story.

[Superlad93]

Really, did he? How unfortunate. (I'm not aware of the abbreviation ATP. What site does it refer to? Can you link it?)

I honestly have no idea what site I had in mind when I wrote "ATP" lol That's my bad, friend. The actual site is "den of geek." Here's the link to the exact interview https://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/d...on-of-superboy


Den of geek: I think a lot of people are wondering, is this the real Jon Kent? We all expect Superboy-Prime.

Bendis: "My instinct as a storyteller is to not tell you if it's real or not real because I want you all to discover it in the story. But on the same notion, I know that a lot of these characters come with a little bit of that baggage of, “Could it be a reboot or evil from another dimension?” It's not, it's him. It's real. It's really happening. I'm breaking my rule of telling people that because I want them to actually enjoy it for what it is and not worry about the other stuff."

the fact that Jon is acting surprisingly cheery for a kid who has been tortured for 7 years (though that could just be weird characterization).

I believe the intention is that Jon is that Jon is just so happy to be home and with his parents again, and that he's proud of making it out of there without losing hope.

I do think we have some reason to believe this is some sort of intentional clue. It seems unlikely this is an artist's error, particularly when we have closeups on that part of his face multiple times in the same comic, but every time we see Jon with Superman, the scar is shown prominently. Also, Bendis has called attention to it in comments on artwork, so its not like its meant to be a minor feature; its meant to be a "reminder of his human side." So we reasonable could expect an explanation of it, or at the very least something to indicate it showed up during his adventures. The kid literally survived a volcano without at scratch. There's no way he got a scar like that without facing something powerful. I do think, unless there's something online from Bendis or the artist that confirms it was an error, the idea that it is not is more plausible.

Oh yeah, 100%. I'm not ruling out the possibility of it being intentional at all.

My personal theory is that the scar is like some sort of genetic tracker made by Jor-El that was branded on his when teleported, and it showed up while Jon was flying to meet up with his parents. Like maybe this is Jor-El is so paranoid that he's marked Jon on a genetic level so that he'll always know where his unique half kryptonian signal is?

I also won't totally rule out the idea that Jon intentionally left stuff out of his story for his parents' sake given that they were clearly very uncomfortable and had a hard time getting through what he told them. If that's the case then I think it'd be something he'd tell Damian when they have a chance to catch up. It's yet another reason why my biggest issue with issues 7 through 10 is that Jon's 6 years away from home are far too important and full of story to leave to just 4 issues of a comic that isn't his. I think that time need a 12 issue maxi like Lois and Jimmy.