Kon-El: Superboy Appreciation 2020

[Vordan]

Conner can fly in Future State SS so I don’t think we need to worry about him losing his powers any time soon. There’s potential in this, as much as my initial gut reaction was “f*** off DC”. If Kon is at Golden Age power levels like his YJ counterpart, that means you can do street level stories with him that you can’t with any other member of the Superfamily. And I agree with Superlad, Kon being on the SS is probably a nod to how YJ in the cartoon is a black ops squad for the League.

If they ever want to restore Kon’s powers, just lean into the Luthor side of Kon. Have him use the Luthor/El intellect to “fix” himself and get back to full powers. That could be a fun story. I bet that’s how Waller gets him to join, saying she’ll work on a way to “fix” him.

[Frontier]

Conner can fly in Future State SS so I don’t think we need to worry about him losing his powers any time soon. There’s potential in this, as much as my initial gut reaction was “f*** off DC”. If Kon is at Golden Age power levels like his YJ counterpart, that means you can do street level stories with him that you can’t with any other member of the Superfamily. And I agree with Superlad, Kon being on the SS is probably a nod to how YJ in the cartoon is a black ops squad for the League.

I'm hoping characterization-wise he's still comic Kon, though.

If they ever want to restore Kon’s powers, just Lena into the Luthor side of Kon. Have him use the Luthor/El intellect to “fix” himself and get back to full powers. That could be a fun story.

With help from Lena Luthor ?

[Vordan]

I'm hoping characterization-wise he's still comic Kon, though.

With help from Lena Luthor ?

Supposed to be “lean” stuck on my phone at the moment lol. Although that does make me realize that Kon and Lena have never interacted. Someone should have the two meet, they’d have a lot to talk about both being treated by Lex as his property.

[Frontier]

Supposed to be “lean” stuck on my phone at the moment lol. Although that does make me realize that Kon and Lena have never interacted. Someone should have the two meet, they’d have a lot to talk about both being treated by Lex as his property.

Didn't he interact with Lena's daughter in the Adventure Comics run? And he tried to get Lex to save Lena only for it to turn out horribly.

[Superlad93]

Conner can fly in Future State SS so I don’t think we need to worry about him losing his powers any time soon.

I imagine in Conner's case, the door is still wide open for him to be at Golden Age level or having to use his powers sparingly for fear of them shutting off. Otherwise, why even bring it up, right? Bendis even made a point to underscore how he's setting up Conner's new status quo on Twitter, so I think this is going to have real ramifications going forward.

Plus, I'm guessing Bendis made a point to leave Krypto with him as both a nod to Johns/Titans, but maybe also as a way to pick up any slack his declining powers may present. He also made a similar big deal of Krypto being with Conner in his new status quo going forward, so there's that.

[Frontier]

If they're taking influence from YJ, maybe they bring in those patches he used to unlock the full Superman powerset.

[Sacred Knight]

A power state where he develops a means to turn them on and off completely to conserve energy would be kinda cool. When he's in his off state he's legit human levels and completely vulnerable, turns them on and he's good to go. Its a ramification for the idea of the drain, but done in a way where he'll never realistically get to a point of the flame going completely out in the present day due to the conservation technique.

[Superlad93]

If they're taking influence from YJ, maybe they bring in those patches he used to unlock the full Superman powerset.

THAT would be really fun actually. I'd love to see that. It would also fit in with the vibe of Suicide Squad.

Hell, the patches may even be how he's flying in Future State. Waller may even be the only one who has access to them.

[Digifiend]

Once again, shame we missed out on seeing more of 90's Superboy in the animated movies...although I guess if YJ is the influence (I'm not sure myself) it would explain why he's wearing his Johns look again.

He has the same look in live action Titans too.

I imagine in Conner's case, the door is still wide open for him to be at Golden Age level or having to use his powers sparingly for fear of them shutting off. Otherwise, why even bring it up, right? Bendis even made a point to underscore how he's setting up Conner's new status quo on Twitter, so I think this is going to have real ramifications going forward.

Plus, I'm guessing Bendis made a point to leave Krypto with him as both a nod to Johns/Titans, but maybe also as a way to pick up any slack his declining powers may present. He also made a similar big deal of Krypto being with Conner in his new status quo going forward, so there's that.

He has Krypto on TV too - Titans and not YJ seems to be the inspiration here.

[13th Superman]

Read the issue and I have to admit it was decent. Still majorly bummed about the power issue but loved the heartwarming reunion. So it's offical. He is Clark's brother. Even though we already knew that was the nature of the relationship it was good to have it explicitly stated. If they were trying to create synergy based off his different media versions, you'd think they would have him on a covert team comprised of heroes from either YJ or Titans. Why the squad? If the book fails, where does he go from there? It feels like they're trying to slowly phase him out. Maybe just my paranoia but this has happened before when editorial tries to "stealth" cancel a character and they disappear into background.

I hope he finds a way to keep his powers, but if it means getting dynamic imagery like Rags Morales Tee Shirt Clark then I might be able to live with it for a bit. He's limited in YJ but his Titans counterpart has almost all the powers except flight. Is he going to just have GA power levels or will he have all the powers but at a lower level? They keep stressing that he's unique, they may bring back his telekinesis and use that as a way to give him a boost. His future state self seems to have the powers. Maybe he does stumble on a way to fix his situation. Please put that brain to use.

[Superlad93]

His future state self seems to have the powers. Maybe he does stumble on a way to fix his situation. Please put that brain to use.

Frontier suggested they introduce Young Justice shields into the main DCU, and I think that'd be amazing and extremely unique.

Like, maybe normally he's either Golden Age powered or even flat out human, but then he busts out the shields and he's boosted for about an hour. And maybe Waller is the one supplying him? That may be what she has on him. She'd be giving him the means to still be a hero. I mean, you saw how hard he took the idea of no longer having his powers. They're something that's defined him his whole life. It would be life getting a limb cut off.

That lets him function as their ace in the hole without being a fix-it-all given the Squad's missions are usually relatively smaller scale than Justice League or even Young Justice.

[Vordan]

Read the issue and I have to admit it was decent. Still majorly bummed about the power issue but loved the heartwarming reunion. So it's offical. He is Clark's brother. Even though we already knew that was the nature of the relationship it was good to have it explicitly stated. If they were trying to create synergy based off his different media versions, you'd think they would have him on a covert team comprised of heroes from either YJ or Titans. Why the squad? If the book fails, where does he go from there? It feels like they're trying to slowly phase him out. Maybe just my paranoia but this has happened before when editorial tries to "stealth" cancel a character and they disappear into background.

I hope he finds a way to keep his powers, but if it means getting dynamic imagery like Rags Morales Tee Shirt Clark then I might be able to live with it for a bit. He's limited in YJ but his Titans counterpart has almost all the powers except flight. Is he going to just have GA power levels or will he have all the powers but at a lower level? They keep stressing that he's unique, they may bring back his telekinesis and use that as a way to give him a boost. His future state self seems to have the powers. Maybe he does stumble on a way to fix his situation. Please put that brain to use.

If they were planning to phase him out they’d just drop him like they are the rest of the YJ gen. DC doesn’t have enough books going around to worry about slowly phasing people out. As hard as it may be to believe, putting him in SS may actually be a step up. WB/DC is really pushing SS. They’re getting a movie sequel and a video game. The spotlight is going to be on them.

[Superlad93]

They’re getting a movie sequel and a video game.

Ah! I bet this is actually why he's on the team. The game is SS vs JL, and in the Future State book she's made a personal cracked mirror JL, and apparently Task Force X will go up against them (meaning Waller's gone on her own on this one).

[Frontier]

Ah! I bet this is actually why he's on the team. The game is SS vs JL, and in the Future State book she's made a personal cracked mirror JL, and apparently Task Force X will go up against them (meaning Waller's gone on her own on this one).

Now we're getting video game synergy too ?

[Vordan]

Now we're getting video game synergy too ?

It’s amazing that the Nolan movies and Arkham games came and went while at the same time Morrison and Dini were doing whatever they wanted without giving a damn. Ahhhh the good ol’ days. That seriously may have been the GOAT era for Batman, literally everything he was in was great.

It’s not total synergy though, otherwise Kon wouldn’t be there, but the upcoming SS comic is pretty blatantly following the Gunn reboot. I hope the game does likewise and adds Bloodsport, pisses me off that a game set in Metropolis is starring Harley Quinn and her Wacky Pals.