Jon fans, do you dread him being characterized like his old man?

[Sam]

Kara going into journalism and Kon going to Smallville High was so dumb for both characters, and I say that as someone who liked Lemire’s Superboy.

Actually, I think Conner at Smallville High actually helped distinguish him from Superman in some cool ways. Clark grew up in Smallville, but left it behind for a faster paced life in Metropolis. Conner started his life obsessed with the attention and action of the rest of the world, but came to love the slow pace of Smallville and view it as a home for himself. He discovered a zen and a piece of mind there that he couldn't of imagined perviously, and it seemed like that discovery was how he'd forge path independent of Clark and Lex, as both of them left Smallville behind. I'm not sure Lemire's Conner would ever want to.

[Restingvoice]

I think Kon the celebrity did the differentiation to Superman better.

[Blue22]

I'm a little biased since Geoff Johns' Conner was my introduction to the character and is still my favorite version of him. But even when he was living on the farm and going to Smallville High, he never really felt like a copy of Clark to me. There were things about him that were similar to Clark. But, personality-wise, the two were still like night and day. So I didn't really mind those similarities. Were they necessary for him as a character? Absolutely not. But I didn't mind them.

[Vordan]

Actually, I think Conner at Smallville High actually helped distinguish him from Superman in some cool ways. Clark grew up in Smallville, but left it behind for a faster paced life in Metropolis. Conner started his life obsessed with the attention and action of the rest of the world, but came to love the slow pace of Smallville and view it as a home for himself. He discovered a zen and a piece of mind there that he couldn't of imagined perviously, and it seemed like that discovery was how he'd forge path independent of Clark and Lex, as both of them left Smallville behind. I'm not sure Lemire's Conner would ever want to.

If the writers actually had Clark leave Smallville behind maybe I would agree, but Clark is frequently shown to pine over his farming roots. Now I like that Clark is a son of farmers, I love that poor working class origin for him. But it never felt right for Kon. He was envisioned as a way to explore the celebrity of being a superhero, and moving him so far away from that felt like a misstep. Kon should be the one who is in the spotlight 24/7 imo, and how he lives with that is what differentiates him from Clark who keeps his personal and hero lives separate.

But that’s just my take.

[manwhohaseverything]

The wild thing to me is I remember a time when Superman was a devil may care guy with a love of robotics who made shrines to his friends in his spare time. Who built completely functional robots of people he knew for fun. I remember a time when Superman actually did stuff for fun, not to get his daily amount of good boy points. When he was more than willing to set just about anyone straight.

People use to go on and on about Post-Crisis being "light hearted" and "fun". But he's not "fun" not close to it and he never was. Nobody who has the backstory transformed into "I was a very normal person who did normal stuff" is going to be a fun person. For all the posturing about how Superman needed to be more grounded following COIE, the fact that they ran as far possible from all that with Jon's backstory speaks volumes. They know Superman's Post-Crisis backstory is crap, even if they won't own up to it.

The thing is, jon started out like postcrisis clark. especially, with jurgen interpretation .i do believe that's where too much like clark complaint comes from. The difference was once jon came too terms with himself as beyond nornal kid in tomasi's run. Their was a shift in characterisation . The character never seemed to care for being mundane.But then, Supersons just put extra milage on change in the character.Supersons as a concept is pretty precrisis as its between the silent rivalry/relationship between fathers and sons(and with each others) with bonkers wierd scifi, action and adventures.It's not antagonistic(relationships) and over the top thankfully. But, supersons just doesn't work without a background of fathers, mothers and guardians.The kid had took many silverage aspects like Superdickery. With jorge jimenez putting in the anime touch to it with the whole rivalry. It worked. The kids want to be able live upto and surpass their fathers.There is that aspirational touch to it. For jon, this was fun and games. But, for Damian it ain't with all his baggage. Jon's entire arc was him coming to realise that it isn't just fun and games.Ofcourse, Bendis himself made jon more like precrisis superboy by giving him the legion, having him as the space prince of el family and making him the creator of united plants. But, he just doesn't get the voice or personality right. The kid feels like standard postcrisis superman which to be fair he was under jurgens with whole "i am superhero. I do good and nice things". But, the character had evolved. Jon's personality had sort of take on aspects like shonen-esque characters akin to hinata, deku, naruto, natsu, gohan.. Etc filtered through superman lens.

Strangley though, i always felt a superman character to be more an intelligent version of luffy than any of those characters. It's good that jon isn't like luffy. If he was there would be big trouble and clark would have a big head ache with the kid running around. Sure, enough there would be hell of a consequences. I don't think superman fans would like that very much.

No not really, it makes sense to me that he is like his father. His father is literally one of the most inspiring superheroes in the dc universe, who raised him as a father and trained him as a hero, so it makes sense that Jon is going to pick up on some of his characteristics and mannerisms. How do you think a person would turn out if they were raised by Superman for 10 to 11 years, they would be a smaller Superman. Besides it’s not as if it’s just Bendis’ writing, other writers write him the same way even in an elseworld like DCeased.

But to me personality isn’t the same as character, yes Jon acts like his dad but he’s different because of his own history, friends, and the era he grew up.

No , snyder doesn't write him like his father at all. Heck! Even morrison went meta and ott with the tension between clark and jon.So father like son thing can be a bit of a stretch.


I would admit taylor doesn't write a spectacular jon. But, he does compensate for it with heroic moments and goofy once.

[Jackalope89]

I honestly get a better Jon from a fanfic of him about the same age as he is in the comics. The difference? Everyone else is also older, and Lyta Trevor has been added.

[Robanker]

Yes. Even before Bendis I was unsatisfied with how Jon was being characterized. There wasn’t enough of Lois’ traits in him and he acted far too much like a Clark Jr.

This right here. I want more Lane in that kid. I want him to be both their son, not just Clark's.

[Laufeyson]

Yes. Even before Bendis I was unsatisfied with how Jon was being characterized. There wasn’t enough of Lois’ traits in him and he acted far too much like a Clark Jr.

Thank you! Finally, someone said it.

[rpmaluki]

This right here. I want more Lane in that kid. I want him to be both their son, not just Clark's.

A thousand times this. While the kid was adorbs all throughout Tomasi, this is one of my biggest disappointments about that run, that and how little we got Lois as a whole. Bendis still hasn't done anything with Jon that stands out but that's because of the whole Legion setting. There's not enough room to flesh him out as his own "man" so to speak.

[manwhohaseverything]

Okay, i have seen multiple posts on more lois being injected. What particular trait?

[Blue22]

Yeeeah. Maybe in his small appearances in Action comics and Superman, he may have come off that way. But I always thought Super Sons gave him more than enough of a personality to differentiate himself from Clark and show that there's a bit of Lois in him too.

[Agent Z]

The wild thing to me is I remember a time when Superman was a devil may care guy with a love of robotics who made shrines to his friends in his spare time. Who built completely functional robots of people he knew for fun. I remember a time when Superman actually did stuff for fun, not to get his daily amount of good boy points. When he was more than willing to set just about anyone straight.

People use to go on and on about Post-Crisis being "light hearted" and "fun". But he's not "fun" not close to it and he never was. Nobody who has the backstory transformed into "I was a very normal person who did normal stuff" is going to be a fun person. For all the posturing about how Superman needed to be more grounded following COIE, the fact that they ran as far possible from all that with Jon's backstory speaks volumes. They know Superman's Post-Crisis backstory is crap, even if they won't own up to it.

No offense but most of your posts on this site seem to be about how much post crisis Clark sucks compared to pre crisis and after a while it gets really old.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Yeah because i want him to feel like his own person, distinct from his parents.

Thats true of all new characters from any franchise. You want them to feel fresh and exciting, distinct from what came before.

[Project#13]

I believe there is a way to differentiate Jon from his dad:

In Myers Briggs terms:


Superman/Kal-El- ISFJ

Jon Samuel Kent- ESFP



In terms of personality, Jon is like Superman only a bit goofy, energetic and more witty.

[king81992]

If Clark is a symbol of heroism and Kon is(or was) the celebrity, Jon should be somewhere in the middle.

Maybe Jon = redeemer?