Poll: Do you want Jon to survive the post-Bendis era?

[Jackalope89]

Aging Clark and even Lois up a few years won't hurt them. Having Jon, naturally, go from 10 or 11 to 17-18 isn't THAT big of an age up for "30 something" people. Hell, they could STILL be "30 something" at the end of it too.

What Jon (and other fans of young heroes) want, is to simply see these characters grow like Dick and his generation did. But that's something that really hasn't happened SINCE their generation. We either get artificial age ups (like with Jon), age that keeps jumping around (Raven and Beast Boy), or stuck with Ash Ketchum syndrome (forever one age, like Tim). Jason Todd was probably the last one (with Kid Devil I presume, both are in that weird in-between era) to actually grow up, if off-screen.

[Blue22]

Aging Clark and even Lois up a few years won't hurt them. Having Jon, naturally, go from 10 or 11 to 17-18 isn't THAT big of an age up for "30 something" people. Hell, they could STILL be "30 something" at the end of it too.

Seriously. Again, just look at the Fantastic Four. Franklin's a teenager now and the only notable change on his parents' part is that Reed has a goatee.

Or a DC example: Bruce hasn't changed at all since he adopted Dick at, what, nine years old? And I doubt he'll look much different by the time Damian is Dick's age.

Comic book characters age like fine wine lol

[PCN24454]

Seriously. Again, just look at the Fantastic Four. Franklin's a teenager now and the only notable change on his parents' part is that Reed has a goatee.

Or a DC example: Bruce hasn't changed at all since he adopted Dick at, what, nine years old? And I doubt he'll look much different by the time Damian is Dick's age.

Comic book characters age like fine wine lol

I think you mean "nostalgia".

Why is a penny worth more just because it's over a hundred years old?

[PCN24454]

Evolve into what though? The logical progression in this scenario is Clark aging up, retiring, dying, etc and being replaced by a less interesting son. None of that paints an interesting picture for the people who are primarily invested in Supes. If we keep following this progression, we would eventually get so far removed from the original versions and concepts that there is no point to even connect it to the original anymore. Like the people who want Batman to age up. We'd have a great replacement with Dick and maybe Damian after that. From there, if we ever get to Batman X or Batman XI, what the hell do they have to do with the Waynes being murdered and the motivations that spring from that? Who even cares?

There can be a place for a Super Sons book in a side continuity. They pretty much had one in the Silver/Bronze age. There's an audience for that, but we don't have to shove it on all audiences.

It's nice to know that the main audience doesn't like consequences or continuity. It's proof that DC was right to go with its "everything is canon" mentality.

[SiegePerilous02]

It's nice to know that the main audience doesn't like consequences or continuity. It's proof that DC was right to go with its "everything is canon" mentality.

Since when has DC had one single coherent continuity that progressed naturally?

I think most people like consequences and continuity in the version of the story they are witnessing (like the natural arc wrap ups to the MCU, or Superman's "final days" in All-Star or WEHTMT?), but I think the continuity of an ongoing serialized narrative meant to continue indefinitely is on its way out. Superman's way bigger than a single continuity. We can have tales of him as a father, while we have other tales of him in his prime and single or an Elseworld where Jon is Superman II, and the takes don't have to be rigidly connected. Embrace the Multiverse, less "everything is canon." Because going with the latter is never really going to work, none of the various canons we've had are very compatible with each other. It's a headache we'd be better off without and mainly suits an increasingly shrinking audience who visit comic shops, a setting and medium that isn't as accessible to the much needed younger audiences.

[9th.]

Seriously. Again, just look at the Fantastic Four. Franklin's a teenager now and the only notable change on his parents' part is that Reed has a goatee.

Or a DC example: Bruce hasn't changed at all since he adopted Dick at, what, nine years old? And I doubt he'll look much different by the time Damian is Dick's age.

Comic book characters age like fine wine lol

I think people tend to forget that comic book characters don't age like normal people. Clark could be 60 and still wouldn't move like an old man. If anime has taught us anything is that old people in fiction are not to be messed with.

[Vakanai]

Why does he need to grow and change when none of his actions matter?

They matter in the story they take place in. Does something have to have an ultimate end to matter? Why judge a story just in the fact that there's another one right after it every month or so?

[Aramis]

Of course I do want that, I love Jon... as long as they deage him and he's a child/teen again.
I want characters to evolve naturally, with time, not like this!

[Stanlos]

Hmmmmm. This reminds me of what happened to Cassie, Tim, and Connor. They just suddenly were young adults. Batman can stay 39 for seven decades but all the Young Justice kids could stay kids for barely one decade. Why is that? What's problematic about kids in the hero biz?

[Tzigone]

Hmmmmm. This reminds me of what happened to Cassie, Tim, and Connor. They just suddenly were young adults. Batman can stay 39 for seven decades but all the Young Justice kids could stay kids for barely one decade. Why is that? What's problematic about kids in the hero biz?

Batman didn't start anywhere near 39. Indeed, many won't cop to him being that old now. They keep trying to de-age him. And Tim was a teen for at least 20 years, wasn't he? From 1989 until the reboot?

As for suddenly young adults - eh, happened with Dick's generation, too. Drawn as way-too-short-and-young-looking-for-specified-age one day and grown up looking the next. Partly teens drawn too young and partly creative shift in Batman comic sending Dick to college, I think.

I wouldn't have minded Cassie, Tim and Kon staying teens longer, but the time has passed and the next new generation of young ones have aged, so they have to age (I value consistent relative ages).

I really don't mind characters staying the same for decades.* I don't mind suuuuper slow aging. But I hate de-aging and different characters aging at different rates.

* I will admit seeing the growth and change and marriage and children in the early 1980s Titans comics was great. But it's not sustainable if you want to keep relative ages and keep your first-gen heroes under 45.

[Vordan]

Hmmmmm. This reminds me of what happened to Cassie, Tim, and Connor. They just suddenly were young adults. Batman can stay 39 for seven decades but all the Young Justice kids could stay kids for barely one decade. Why is that? What's problematic about kids in the hero biz?

People want the heroes they read as kids to grow up with them. Kid heroes are no different in that regard. Also you get younger heroes coming in and pushing the previously “young gun” gen out.

[Blue22]

What's problematic about kids in the hero biz?

I mean...if you wanna get technical about it, there are several things wrong with that from an ethical standpoint. If I'm not mistaken, a bunch of young Marvel heroes are currently going through some **** right now because of it.

But screw ethics! Being a superhero in general is unethical. And young heroes are often more fun to read about. So I'm mostly with you.

That said though, the YJ kids had been around for years before Teen Titans came around and slowly grew them up (with the exception of Bart but...he was a special case. And he got fixed later). This wasn't a damn near overnight thing like with Jon. And that's the big difference. Readers got to watch these kids grow into the young adults they became, over a long enough period of time. So it was nowhere near as jarring and a much more welcome change.

Of course there was some resistance to their characterization in those books. But it had less to do with the fact that they grew up and more to do with who they grew up into. I never really had an issue with their portrayal in Johns' Teen Titans. But I get why other people did. They all really were...different. But I think some of them (most notably Cassie) changed for the better.

[Stanlos]

I mean...if you wanna get technical about it, there are several things wrong with that from an ethical standpoint. If I'm not mistaken, a bunch of young Marvel heroes are currently going through some **** right now because of it.

But screw ethics! Being a superhero in general is unethical. And young heroes are often more fun to read about. So I'm mostly with you.

That said though, the YJ kids had been around for years before Teen Titans came around and slowly grew them up (with the exception of Bart but...he was a special case. And he got fixed later). This wasn't a damn near overnight thing like with Jon. And that's the big difference. Readers got to watch these kids grow into the young adults they became, over a long enough period of time. So it was nowhere near as jarring and a much more welcome change.

Of course there was some resistance to their characterization in those books. But it had less to do with the fact that they grew up and more to do with who they grew up into. I never really had an issue with their portrayal in Johns' Teen Titans. But I get why other people did. They all really were...different. But I think some of them (most notably Cassie) changed for the better.

That is an interesting point about the ethics of having minors as sidekicks. I wonder what those in the DCU verse think from a story/lore perspective. For example, would Superman be okay with that given his comparatively traditional upbringing? People have often his-written WW outside her book as being judgmental and possessing hang-ups that don't mesh with her deal. Given what we know of her upbringing and her induction into training at what looked like 6 or 8 years old, do we think she would share the same stance on kids being in the fray? What about Wally "Mr. Midwest " West? Or Jonn?

[Vordan]

Clark was Superboy as a kid in the current timeline so no reason to think he’d have a problem with it. He’s never objected to Bruce having Robins so that ship has sailed for him to be anti-sidekick/minor. Wally was Kid Flash, he has no problems with it.

Really none of the main heroes have a problem with minors being superheroes. Clark let Jon and Kathy go explore the Multiverse unsupervised in Tomasi’s run. Once a kid manifests superpowers no one really objects to training them.

[Stanlos]

Clark was Superboy as a kid in the current timeline so no reason to think he’d have a problem with it. He’s never objected to Bruce having Robins so that ship has sailed for him to be anti-sidekick/minor. Wally was Kid Flash, he has no problems with it.

Really none of the main heroes have a problem with minors being superheroes. Clark let Jon and Kathy go explore the Multiverse unsupervised in Tomasi’s run. Once a kid manifests superpowers no one really objects to training them.

Ah, and THAT I think would be an interesting point to explore: Bats sidekicks tend to NOT have superpowers.