Originally Posted by
Superlad93
A little bit more to back the theory up.
From his Word Balloon interview, PKJ said "I love the Jon character on his own merit, but I also love how that changes the character of Superman. I think the concept of Superman as the person who cares about everyone-- that loves all life in the universe, and cares about all life on Earth-- I think it's hard for some people to warp their head around that. But we can apply that same love to his son and it makes total sense. We see the love that he has for his family, and now it's easier to see Superman in that context."
I think that's extremely important because PKJ's story will take Clark not just away from his supporting cast and family, but also the world, so it seems like PKJ wants there to be a very, very good, personal, and most of all relatable reason for Clark to do that. And based on his words, that reason will be something that relates to his love for his son. That's why I think it almost has to be other half Kryptonians being out there and endanger.
To relate this back to Clark's article on Watters in World's of War #2, it's a lot like how Watters fought so desperately hard, even while totally impoverished and on the street, for his son's scholarship foundation he founded. It's a case where even though these aren't his kids, they are kids in a similar situation, and the love for his son inspired him to go to these extremes. So, I'm thinking the idea that they're are kids like Jon that are in need out in the universe seems like a sound idea.
I'm also thinking it very much does start with those two refugees that escape from Warworld (the young lady I still think will become Supergirl and co lead the Superman book with Jon eventually).
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When asked "how do you get people to care about characters" PKJ said a string of things that seem to relate pretty much directly to what will be happening in the Superman line. PKJ said "I feel like the things that you really tend to remember about books are when you see them in a moment of reality. A conversation with a loved one, or something you can relate to-- like when they're talking to a child that they're trying to reconnect with again. Or when you see them getting forced out of a job because of an illness-- you see them trying to care for someone else who has an illness, or they have an illness [....] or they're struggling in someway that we struggle."
So to break it down:
"like when they're talking to a child that they're trying to reconnect with again"
That seems pretty obvious. As PKJ said, Legion was Jon's "coming of age", and he's been through all this adventure and growing up since he left when he was 11, and now that he's finally back it's Clark trying to pick up with his kid from where they left off, and getting to know the person he's become. Apparently the first arc (shared between both Superman and Action) will be about setting up both Clark and Jon, and there's going to be a "movie night", so I imagine that's part of the attempt to reconnect. Interestingly enough, there's going to be very little spoken words in this arc. It'll be a lot of face and body language, apparently some text messages, and similar narration to what we saw in World's Of War #2 because it's a storytelling device PKJ really enjoyed from the first issue of Snyder's Batman.
"Or when you see them getting forced out of a job because of an illness"
This also seems fairly obvious, but also seems to put the idea into proper context: it's Clark's powers fading/being reduced. What was being read as *just* Clark's age is now also an illness, and technically that goes along with feeling your age because how many of my older posters on here know full well that they can't go out and party all now, go to work the next day, and then make it to the gym right after work, right? It seems like the events of Death Metal making him feel his age are the equivalent of that. "Roa. Back in my 20s I couldn't gone through two Crisis events back to back, and then still fought Mongul the next day." But now between that and seeing his son get so grown, it's making him feel a little up there in years.
"You see them trying to care for someone else who has an illness"
This is basically the Jon side of the equation. He's heard from the Legion that his dad's not going to be Superman forever, and may not even be around forever, and seeing Clark apparently (as the solicitation says) really struggle to fight the creatures from the PKJ's opening Golden Age arc has Jon now, in a way, taking care of his dad. And this is likely why we see Jon going along to answer deep space distress calls with his dad. Like when you see your older dad trying to fix the roof. Before you'd just put it out of your mind and go "obviously he's got this", but after you saw his struggle to stand up a few time, or lift a box, you go "hey, you need a hand now". And you're dreading when eventually you gotta be the one up there-- not because you don't wanna help out, but because it means it's something that he physically can't do safely anymore.
Side note: It's apparently Jon who saves his dad from the leviathans of the breach as Clark's powers begin to fade (while Clark learns of the origin of these creatures), so this might be when we get an almost Gohan-like glimpse at Jon's potential that PKJ's been consistently teasing. I specifically mention Gohan as a comparison because it's also been made clear that Kara will be the new most powerful being on Earth after Clark's powers start to go down.
Add in the fact that Clark's "second act" will still be him out in space going on epic adventures even with his condition, and you have some pretty relatable ideas. Again, like the Watters story, Clark's not going to be the man he started out as in terms of ability, but, dammit, that won't stop him from protecting his kid, the universe, and all the kids like his kid. If he can thread this all in well enough this'll be an all-time kind of run. Easily.