PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Vordan]

Most likely just Strange Adventures.

Could be, but I found this on his tumblr a while back:

As you are a Superman artist par excellence, may one please ask if you have ever considered putting together a team portrait of the Supermen of the Multiverse from FINAL CRISIS?

Thank you! And no, I can’t say that I’ve considered that. I’m doing something somewhat similar coming up but these days if it’s not for work something that big just doesn’t come together. Would be fun though!

https://evandocshaner.tumblr.com/pos...excellence-may

The “doing something similar part” made me wonder if he was working on a big Superfamily cover for the event coming.

[Superlad93]

PKJ was asked about how powerful Kryptonian hybrids were compared to full Kryptonians

Question: "Are Hybrid Kryptonians(Jon) stronger than Full Kryptonians(Clark,Kara)?"

PKJ: "We don't fully know yet, but that was Batman's theory during the Tomasi run. And we WILL see Jon do something kinda nuts in Superman 31-32 that SUGGESTS the answer is yes. But we don't fully know yet."

_____________

We know that Jon's power levels coming up in issues 31-32 (and hinted at in 30) are not one-off instances. PKJ has brought up the idea that not only will he be showing his potential as not just some far off thing he'll reach someday, but rather something that'll make him a major player in the DCU going forward.

But the real question here, as I see it, is if this absurd level of power applies to ALL hybrid Kryptonians, and based off what PKJ seems to be hinting at here and over in his short story in Infinite Frontier I'd say no, it seems to be that there's something strange about Jon in particular.

For one, this clearly doesn't apply to Conner (PKJ will not be featuring him much if at all in his run). But even then he's a clone, so in order to get a more solid answer on if it's all hybrids or just Jon, you'd need other hybrids. That's where the mystery aliens with the connection to Krypton from Action Comics 1032 come in. I'm still under the impression that they're half Kryptonians or something around that, and them being weaker than Jon and Clark will likely answer the question, and also bring up the new question of what makes Jon so special.

As a bonus, we also have the Red King from Future State: House of El. He's not only a half Kryptonian, but he's also Kal's son, thus making him identical to Jon. His mom even told him that he'd be more powerful than Clark by the time they met, but she was proven wrong as Clark easily humbled him. I'm assuming she thought the Red King would be more powerful because Jon was more powerful, and all that was required was to be half Kryptonian and maybe Kal's child.

So I'm guessing the deciding factor has to be the fact that Jon's been exposed to multiple timelines and universes since he was born, and that's somehow affected what he's capable of, and Batman (having nothing else besides Jon to go on at the time) just assumed it was because Jon was a hybrid.

[NaVi]

One of these days we will see the son of an omnipotent and a human, the son will be an omnipotent +, for he is half human.

[Superlad93]

One of these days we will see the son of an omnipotent and a human, the son will be an omnipotent +, for he is half human.

But it doesn't seem like it's because he's half human. It seems like it has more to do with something more unique to him.

Like I said before, over in House of El we see the Red King (Superman's other son) humbled by Clark even though his mom assured him that he'd be more powerful. I'm assuming that's likely an incorrect assumption she made based off Jon while not understating that it's more than him just being half Kryptonian.

Given the fact that PKJ saw fit to bring back up the often forgotten fact that Jon was born outside of normal space time, and has had nothing but a strange life since then, I'm going to assume that's likely part of why he's so powerful.

[NaVi]

But it doesn't seem like it's because he's half human. It seems like it has more to do with something more unique to him.

Like I said before, over in House of El we see the Red King (Superman's other son) humbled by Clark even though his mom assured him that he'd be more powerful. I'm assuming that's likely an incorrect assumption she made based off Jon while not understating that it's more than him just being half Kryptonian.

Given the fact that PKJ saw fit to bring back up the often forgotten fact that Jon was born outside of normal space time, and has had nothing but a strange life since then, I'm going to assume that's likely part of why he's so powerful.

Superman has traveled throughout the multiverse, without forgetting that due to the last crisis the entire history of Superman is canon, that means that since he was a child, Superman has been exposed to things that Jon can only dream of.
Unless they say that Jon has become the avatar of an almighty being, Jon's childhood will be a mere excuse. There are 2 reasons that Jon will be stronger.
1: it is half human (natural form) and for DC humans >>>> omnipotent.
2: once again superman becomes a tool to enhance a character, the idea is to sell Jon for being stronger than superman.

[HsssH]

This is comics and someone being born in fake continuity might be as good of a reason as any other for why character X has powers. But it abandons Superman's simplicity and motivation for it is rather transparent.

Besides, wasn't the whole point of Reborn that continuities merged and Jon was actually born inside mainstream DC continuity?

[Superlad93]

Superman has traveled throughout the multiverse, without forgetting that due to the last crisis the entire history of Superman is canon, that means that since he was a child, Superman has been exposed to things that Jon can only dream of.

Well, no matter the version, Clark was never born outside of space time, and then later grown up outside of his own time, so there is that.

But the main point is that Jon being a hybrid Kryptonian doesn't seem to be what makes him so powerful.

Besides, wasn't the whole point of Reborn that continuities merged and Jon was actually born inside mainstream DC continuity?

It did. And neither Jon nor his parents know that there's a version of Jon's life where he's born outside of space time. Two godlike being who live outside of normal DCU space are the ones discussing Jon's original birth.

Maybe the fact that he was born outside of space time continually reasserts itself no matter what continuity he lives in, and that could be a recontextualization why the black hole opened up and took him.

______

It's also very possible that Jon's just simply a metahuman even by his dad's standards? Remember, Clark is functionally an average Kryptonian who is as powerful as he is due to time under the sun. As we're being told that we'll soon see with Kara, any fullblood Kryptonian, given enough time, could reach his level of power. So what would an actual metahuman Kryptonian look like? That would be a functional god relatively speaking, and create the same sort of gab in physical ability that say Barry has in comparison to Bruce.

And that could then have to do with his human half because it's well established that the special thing about humans in the DCU is their possibility of having the meta gene.

[Nelliebly]

Or maybe Jon is stronger, better and superior to any other half-Kryptonians because Lois is his mother and Lois is superior in every way to any other random that PKJ brings in here that a lot of us couldn’t give a **** about and therefore we don’t give a **** about their kids.

JK obviously.

But also....I’m fine with Jon Kent being superior to any other randos bc Lois is his mother and she is better and more important so her son is too. I don’t actually need an in story reason for why Jon is so strong. Lois being his mom is enough of a reason for why he is THE half-Kryptonian. Sorry not sorry? Yes it’s bitter but also deserved given the BS right now.

Still think it’s pretty problematic btw that Philip Kennedy Johnson wrote rape into Superman’s House of El and so many people hand waved it away like “whatever” but that’s another issue for another day. I think most of us are used to people not caring if men are sexually assaulted and this kind of stuff doesn’t help that stigma. Knowing Clark, one would imagine he probably had some trauma from that given someone tricking you into sex and fathering a kid is actually an enormously traumatic violation of your rights and body but the writer doesn’t care about it so I guess no one else should either! #awesome

Someone let me know if Philip Kennedy Johnson actually has anything of value to say in this run about the impact of sexual assault but I’m not holding my breath.

[Superlad93]

Still thinking it'll ultimately have to do with the fact that Jon was (originally) born outside of time/space and has grown more unmoored since then.

In PKJ's Infinite Frontier story there seemed to be deliberate and clear parallels made between Jon and the space and time warping creature he fights, the empyreal maw.

And like the empyreal maw, Jon is a being unmoored from his time, and in possession of crazy amounts of power that everyone else is just going to have to deal with. And along with Jon just being a nice person, I think that's why he's shown empathizing with the maw where others saw nothing but its potential for destruction. It's why Specter is shown assuming Jon will bring destruction to the world because, like the maw, "he's still lost".

I was mostly just spit balling when I brought up the possibility before, but Jon really does seem to be the DCU's version of Franklin Richards down to the fact that it's the circumstances of his unique birth that make him godlike (as Kirby and Lee originally had it).

_____

Once again, that's fascinating to me because so rarely does DC ever allow a Superman character to function at a level like this, and they certainly never give them a book to be explored in.

[Superlad93]

Lois being his mom is enough of a reason for why he is THE half-Kryptonian.

In the metatextual sense this is for sure the long and short of it. He's the culmination of an 80 year mega myth, and something told to us that was supposed to be impossible. If this were in like a Final Crisis type story or something, he'd have the metatextual/story power and weight behind him to punch out super gods. But I'm sure there's going to be a more "in-story" reason for his level of power.

Personally speaking, it's why I've always been kind of perplexed by how downplayed (in the greater DCU) the son of Superman and Lois Lane has been till recently. Once you ring that bell it hits waaaaay different from any other sidekick or successor in the DCU. That character is a walking event, and acting like that's not the case, and he's just some Leave It To Beaver style powered kid among a sea of other powered kids is bonkers to me.

[NaVi]

Superman's future is supposed to be far from earth, a chance to see Superman with all his supposed power, but the first thing they do is weaken him. If DC likes a weakened Superman so much (they weaken him 2-3 times a year) that they permanently weaken him, it is boring to always read the same story.

[Vordan]

In the metatextual sense this is for sure the long and short of it. He's the culmination of an 80 year mega myth, and something told to us that was supposed to be impossible. If this were in like a Final Crisis type story or something, he'd have the metatextual/story power and weight behind him to punch out super gods. But I'm sure there's going to be a more "in-story" reason for his level of power.

Personally speaking, it's why I've always been kind of perplexed by how downplayed (in the greater DCU) the son of Superman and Lois Lane has been till recently. Once you ring that bell it hits waaaaay different from any other sidekick or successor in the DCU. That character is a walking event, and acting like that's not the case, and he's just some Leave It To Beaver style powered kid among a sea of other powered kids is bonkers to me.

I’m curious: In your ideal world how would Jon be used/treated?

[Nelliebly]

In the metatextual sense this is for sure the long and short of it. He's the culmination of an 80 year mega myth, and something told to us that was supposed to be impossible. If this were in like a Final Crisis type story or something, he'd have the metatextual/story power and weight behind him to punch out super gods. But I'm sure there's going to be a more "in-story" reason for his level of power.

Personally speaking, it's why I've always been kind of perplexed by how downplayed (in the greater DCU) the son of Superman and Lois Lane has been till recently. Once you ring that bell it hits waaaaay different from any other sidekick or successor in the DCU. That character is a walking event, and acting like that's not the case, and he's just some Leave It To Beaver style powered kid among a sea of other powered kids is bonkers to me.

You are obviously absolutely and completely correct on every point.

But it’s not perplexing when you understand just how misogynist the Superman office is and, historically, how badly they treat Lois Lane despite her mythic status, iconic stature and position in pop culture.

See: the Superman office putting a man on both books who cares so little about her that he’s taken aback and surprised when people wonder what the hell he’s doing with her.

You are 100% right. But the answer to why it’s so perplexing probably isn’t the answer you want. It’s because they are so misogynist and have a repeated history of being this way towards her. Which is why some of us refuse to shut up about it over here. Bc we are tired of it.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

You are obviously absolutely and completely correct on every point.

But it’s not perplexing when you understand just how misogynist the Superman office is and, historically, how badly they treat Lois Lane despite her mythic status, iconic stature and position in pop culture.

See: the Superman office putting a man on both books who cares so little about her that he’s taken aback and surprised when people wonder what the hell he’s doing with her.

You are 100% right. But the answer to why it’s so perplexing probably isn’t the answer you want. It’s because they are so misogynist and have a repeated history of being this way towards her. Which is why some of us refuse to shut up about it over here. Bc we are tired of it.

I was under the impression that all those editors were gone, aren't they?

Berganza, Didio, Harras, hell, even Carlin has been banished from the comics.

Didn't Bendis chose his own editorial team for the Superman books? Why would he chose a bunch of misogynists to edit his books?

Or has Superman editorial changed again and I just didn't notice? And, if so, why would new EiC Marie Javins want a bunch of misogynists in her editorial team?

[HsssH]

I don't think that it is about misogyny. It sure does play a part, but I think that most of the people involved genuinely don't know what to do with Lois. Thats why we don't see her much and get things like Superwoman or latest "Lois series" by Rucka.