PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Sacred Knight]

Each interview I hear of this guy makes me believe more and more that he's pretty much just a yes-man. Jon this, Jon that--oh Superman calls himself Clark--more Jon this, more Jon that--Lois has a reduced role but hey, backups!--Jon can like totally be more powerful than Clark, Jon Jon Jon. This all fits towing the company line right now of pushing Jon as the guy.

[manwhohaseverything]

Well,He is only saying what superman as character is used for these days.A rolemodel figure.On the flipside,Jon has been about fun and adventure. I mean,Supersons wasn't about jon being "i have weight of the world on my shoulder and i am too responsible to have fun".It was kinda the opposite .Even with the teen drama stuff,jon was actually in the future to have fun.The first thing he did was take damian along to show cool stuff.

[Frontier]

I'm going to be the old man in the room: I just do not like Jon becoming more powerful than his dad and I think it makes Jon a less appealing character. Unlike Wally, there's nothing genetic that should hold him back or make him different. I'm fine with him exhibiting more mastery of his powers if he doesn't hit as hard with them-- that's unique and interesting.

This is just some ol' bullshit.

Other plans, including Jon's voice, sounds great. As does finally hearing that he does have plans for Lois.

I hope he doesn't have a Venom Blast.

[sifighter]

Well,He is only saying what superman as character is used for these days.A rolemodel figure.On the flipside,Jon has been about fun and adventure. I mean,Supersons wasn't about jon being "i have weight of the world on my shoulder and i am too responsible to have fun".It was kinda the opposite .Even with the teen drama stuff,jon was actually in the future to have fun.The first thing he did was take damian along to show cool stuff.

I mean I would definitely be okay with Jon as Superman as the star of the comic if he is just having fun adventures, I'm very pro fun superheroes.

[Superlad93]

I can't reconcile myself to this. They keep saying it and I just can't accept it. I'll go so far as to say, the more they keep saying it, the more I reject it because my brain is basically coming with ways of how half of something can never be as strong/concentrated as a full something. If they said he finds ways of maximising what he does have to make up for what he doesn't, I'd be me open to it and oddly enough this sounds like what they did with Clone Conner before giving him a full set of Kryptonian abilities. The only thing that interest me with this Jon development is delving into the fact that he's had an unstable upbringing, the only opportunity for character work that fascinates me because everything else hasn't won me over/repels me, and I hate that.

But I'd say you could think up just as many reasons as to why he'd be more powerful.

Like maybe the mix of Kryptonian and human is just a particularly good one and that's why it's so hard to get? Genetics don't actually work like 1+1=2, you know? It's more like 1+1=maybe 20 or maybe -7. It's far more relevant what traits are dominant vs recessive. Like Viltramites in Invincible have such overpowering genetics that Mark Grayson is basically a full blood. If 1+1=2 then that wouldn't make sense. And that's not even getting into how gens mixing remain unique in every situation.

But in my opinion, it doesn't really matter why (he could just be a really lucky kid?). What matters is how PKJ seems to be framing it alongside Jon's personality and Clark's position as a father and protector. Jon's still just around 18, and he's just loving the idea of having fun and helping people when he can. But if you add on the weight and expectation that comes with not only being the next Superman, but also the weight following after Clark Kent of all people (especially when PKJ's version is something more akin to Morrison or Waid's more aspirational takes). Jon's still just trying to figure himself out. But similar to his dad, the sheer level of power that he has means he's going to be called upon to be The Guy regardless of if he likes it or not.

And on top of that it's something that messes with Clark because, as we heard, there's still going to be times when he sees Jon as just his little boy, but he's clearly not that anymore, and his growing status and power are going to make it so Clark can't really shield him or take on the weight for him anymore.

I think it's a fascinating way to explore the idea of the powerful offspring idea. Where the power to do things that others around you just simply can't do puts a weight on you that you've maybe been dreading for years now. It's a nice change up from the off spring just being more powerful and that just being the idea for the sake of the idea. This is about growing up being hard and having to watch a person grow up being hard. I dig that a lot.

And it's not something that actually works unless he's more powerful, because otherwise how could you justify giving him the title outside of nepotism or some pretty serious irresponsibly? In this case it's just the idea that he's too powerful not to be The Guy.

[Vordan]

Each interview I hear of this guy makes me believe more and more that he's pretty much just a yes-man. Jon this, Jon that--oh Superman calls himself Clark--more Jon this, more Jon that--Lois has a reduced role but hey, backups!--Jon can like totally be more powerful than Clark, Jon Jon Jon. This all fits towing the company line right now of pushing Jon as the guy.

Have you seen the questions that get asked of PKJ in these streams? It’s all whining about Jon, he’s just answering the questions asked of him. I wish someone would ask him if he’s planning to use any classic Rogues beyond the ones that have been sorta soft-confirmed (Brainiac).

Of course he’s on board with DC’s plans for Jon, he wouldn’t be writing the books if he wasn’t. That said, given he’s giving one of the books up, he might actually be the guy focused on writing Clark in a more solo perspective if the other book stars Jon.

[Quinlan58]

Yeah. Dude's talking a lot about Jon because everyone else (the fans, his interviewers, probably his bosses too) has overfocused on Jon. And it's almost always in the context of what Jon means to Clark, rather than Jon individually.

At the end of the day, he may say whatever, but his actual writing up to now has been almost 100% focused on Clark (the sole exception being the Infinite Frontier scene), and it's the book centered on Clark the one he's keeping after his September event. Yeah, he seems 100% on board with DC's plans for Jon, but everything he's said and written so far indicates he's interested in writing Clark, not Jon.

[Sacred Knight]

Fair enough. But the vast majority of interviews have focused more on Jon well before this anyway. If anything this was the wrong interview to focus the point on, but for me the point still remains. I don't know, he's the face of things now so perhaps I'm getting on him more than he deserves. But god I hate this character so goddamn much. Although, to the point that he talks a lot about what Jon means to Clark, I gotta say even that is cringeworthy. He acts like Jon is the first time we've been able to get this focus from Superman before on one person who encapsulates his love of Earth and humans. As if Lois Lane hasn't served that exact role for over 80 years too or anything. The lore has always had that singular example of the whole.

But I'll try to ease up on him in the future. He has no control here regardless. Just every time I think about the future of this line and where its going I feel like Frank Grimes in the Simpsons when he has that freak-out over Homer right before he electrocutes himself.

[Superlad93]

Although, to the point that he talks a lot about what Jon means to Clark, I gotta say even that is cringeworthy.

I mean, obviously DC has a vested interest in Jon, and they'd get a writer cool with pushing him, but it's not as if he lacks *that* much autonomy. He's said himself that he's really about legacy ever since he had his son, and his work has now become largely about seeing his son through his eyes, and his son experiencing the world first hand. His biggest book so far, Last God, is almost exclusively about that idea to the point where the half blood son of the past hero gains new found strength and is urged "be better than your father". It's a book that actually has three children who are all tasked with being greater where their parents could not.

When he was announced for Future State he even did the interview with his son by his side. DC likely came to him and pitched him on their plans and the meshed well with his sensibilities. But ultimately he will be taking the Clark book solo after a while, and the event will be about Clark, but I very much doubt he's writing anything regarding Jon begrudgingly.

He acts like Jon is the first time we've been able to get this focus from Superman before on one person who encapsulates his love of Earth and humans.

But it kind of is. Granted Lois has been the perfect example for him of how people are strong and equal to him in their own right, and how they can be complex and compelling individuals. Jon still represents that paternal idea of Superman caring for and looking after all of us like a father would his child. That protective "Superdad" nature is something that has really resonated with the fan base since Tomasi's run, and it was a lot of peoples entry into understanding how Clark can be so loving and protective of us all.

[Sacred Knight]

I disagree. The difference between Jon and Lois in this regard ends up being a superficial difference. He's had a protective nature with Lois all these decades as well. I mean yes obviously there is differences in the base ideas of a lover and a son/daughter. Just the general idea of him as a father, yes that was something different and new in a main canon. But if we're talking about a laser focused love and protectiveness that oftentimes represents how he feels for the Earth, in that regard there's nothing new here. Just the character of focus is all that's different in that regard. So its not the first time what he's describing has been done. And I don't think its any easier for fans to attach to this, than it was to that. Both are easily relatable in its specific nature, and the former has been just as successful--more so in fact because its lasted for so long as a concept--than the latter at using it as a focus that helps encapsulate the larger idea. If he was just saying playing up on the bond between father and son as a unique relationship its in own right that's certainly true. But what he's talking about, I still say he's trying to give undue uniqueness here in this specific regard.

[Superlad93]

I disagree. The difference between Jon and Lois in this instance is a superficial difference. He's had a protective nature with Lois all these decades as well. I mean yes obviously there is differences in the base ideas of a lover and a son/daughter. Him as a father, yes that was something different in a main canon. But if we're talking about a laser focused love and protectiveness that oftentimes represents how he feels for the Earth, in that regard there's nothing new as that's been Lois all this time. So its not the first time what he's describing has been done. And I don't think its any easier for fans to attach to this, than it was to that. Both are easily relatable in its specific nature, and the former has been just as successful--more so in fact because its lasted for so long as a concept--than the latter at using it as a focus that helps encapsulate the larger idea. So I still say he's trying to give undue uniqueness here in this specific regard.

He's protective of Lois, yeah, that's not new, but he's never viewing her as someone that needs to be nurtured, guided, or in need of an example to be set. But that's clearly how he's most often positioned in relation to Earth. So that's extremely new. In a similar way that he wishes he could do everything for Jon, he wishes he could do the same for the people of Earth, but in both case he knows he can only set the example as best as he can and hope they land on their feet.

It would be creepy if the same sort of feelings most usually attribute to him in relation to Earth were applied to Lois. I think it's a fairly non controversial statement to say that Superman is most popularly thought of as paternalistic in relation to humanity, so the comparison to his actual child (who is a mix of both Human and Kryptonian) is both new and probably more apt.

[Sacred Knight]

Okay okay, I see where you (and he) are coming from now. I guess it comes down to how you view Superman. I never viewed him as the "father figure" of Earth. I grew up on the movies, so I always took from that. A friend. That's how I viewed him, basically everyone's best friend who was always there for you. To lead by example and to show the way but as almost a peer as opposed to a nearly living god. I guess I never bought into the big dad metaphor.

[Superlad93]

That's understandable, and a valid take, but, like PKJ said, can sometimes be a bit nebulous of a take to wrap one's head around. Especially when it's maybe a bit easier to see him as a father figure when he's someone usually shown be wildly more powerful and wise than others around him. It's hard to square that as *just* a friend or a peer. And the fact that he's been around for so very long as an idea. Pretty soon there's not going to be a person alive born in a pre-Superman world. And again, unlike other characters his age, it's his power and aspirational nature that make it such an easy metaphor to make.

[manwhohaseverything]

Okay okay, I see where you (and he) are coming from now. I guess it comes down to how you view Superman. I never viewed him as the "father figure" of Earth. I grew up on the movies, so I always took from that. A friend. That's how I viewed him, basically everyone's best friend who was always there for you. To lead by example and to show the way but as almost a peer as opposed to a nearly living god. I guess I never bought into the big dad metaphor.

You and I must have reading different books then.Superman is drenched in the father figure .Donner's superman has that in spade .Heck!Donner might have even started it.At best he comes of like class monitor, sometimes.

* Clark has a deep existential love for all life

Superman fans are wierd.They have no problems with a writer saying this about the character.Yet,they are focusing on Jon.Hate to break it to people if Classic Jesus Superman felt like something tangible to general readers.Jon wouldn't exist.

[Robanker]

I hope he doesn't have a Venom Blast.

Make him weaker than Clark, but give him Bizarro's powers too (flame breath, cold vision) and overall greater control of them so that he can even use his heat vision to only target local areas and contain its spread.