Jon Kent Superboy Appreciation 2021

[Jackalope89]

The government will not allow it

You assume the Mouse won't conquer the Government with their hoards of woodland Elite Force critters.

[Blue22]

I love this. Even if he seems to be wearing the lame ass New 52 getup that they got him in now

[GhostCryptid13]

Do any of y’all think that the artists want young Jon back? Most of the variant covers feature kid!Jon instead of teen!Jon

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I would've given Teen Jon Jordan's anxiety issues. It would've served mental health awareness and given Jon a more unique form of kryptonite. But y'all would've hated me even more than Bendis XD.

I just felt Teen Jon was missing something special and this was my take on how to fill it. I'm curious what Taylor decides to do there.

[oneveryfineday]

Do any of y’all think that the artists want young Jon back? Most of the variant covers feature kid!Jon instead of teen!Jon

Only 2 of the 6 covers so far only feature kid Jon actually, and the theme for the first four covers was Jon at different stages in his life. I don’t think there’s an “artist rebellion” against older Jon. Freelance artists work on commission and don’t usually have free reign to draw whatever they like, and while they can pitch a few ideas themselves, an art director will usually have an idea of what they want and they’ll approve a sketch before it goes into full illustration.

I’m pretty sure kid Jon is deliberately being used as promo. Since Tom Taylor is writing the series, I expect him to lean heavily on nostalgia and use kid Jon and wholesome family moments to get fans on board with his run. The series is supposed to be new reader friendly as well, so there’ll probably be a recap of Jon’s life in the first issue.

Actually, it would be pretty cute to do a callback of Jon in Rebirth posing with his cape and declaring “I’m Superman!”

[oneveryfineday]

I would've given Teen Jon Jordan's anxiety issues. It would've served mental health awareness and given Jon a more unique form of kryptonite. But y'all would've hated me even more than Bendis XD.

I just felt Teen Jon was missing something special and this was my take on how to fill it. I'm curious what Taylor decides to do there.

To be honest, I like that idea (as long as they don’t go the HIC route). An honest exploration of mental health among teens is an extremely relevant topic, and you can show that even Superman needs help too and that’s okay. But how much do I trust DC to do it consistently right and not rely on shock value? Lol

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

To be honest, I like that idea (as long as they don’t go the HIC route). An honest exploration of mental health among teens is an extremely relevant topic, and you can show that even Superman needs help too and that’s okay. But how much do I trust DC to do it consistently right and not rely on shock value? Lol

Honestly I thought Sanctuary could've been a cool anthology showcasing lesser characters. Therapy sessions would work as a framing device for the issue etc. But nope...they had to ruin it by making it a murder mystery.

[Jackalope89]

Honestly I thought Sanctuary could've been a cool anthology showcasing lesser characters. Therapy sessions would work as a framing device for the issue etc. But nope...they had to ruin it by making it a murder mystery.

Agreed. Sanctuary's initial advertisements made it sound interesting and different. And being able to dive into what the problems facing the characters. And King could have consulted with actual psychologists and psychiatrists for it. And bringing in characters that specialize in empathy and psychology (Lilith from the Titans comes to mind) would have made it better. But nope. They took one wrong turn, decided it was too far, and kept making wrong turns with it. Nothing good really came out of that "event" either. Wally's mini would have worked well enough without it.

As for teen Jon getting anxiety issues; at least THAT would make sense, considering what he went through. But, nope. Still Ultraman's prisoner. Even though he's dead and in Amanda Waller's morgue with the rest of the Crime Syndicate.

[Superlad93]

I would've given Teen Jon Jordan's anxiety issues. It would've served mental health awareness and given Jon a more unique form of kryptonite. But y'all would've hated me even more than Bendis XD.

I just felt Teen Jon was missing something special and this was my take on how to fill it. I'm curious what Taylor decides to do there.

I agree insofar as I think he should've came away with something aside from *just* the realization that he could make it on his own and wouldn't break under pressure. That's not enough. If I had to work within the apparent confines (as in still use Earth-3) I'd use the very unique opportunity that Earth-3 presents an Earth-0 native who lives there for 7 years: the concept of "good guy" and "bad guy" becomes purely circumstantial.

It's established that he seemed to have spent the lion's share of his time on Earth-3 outside of the volcano helping people as he looked for a way home. Seems likely that he met or even teamed up with Alex Luthor and the Earth-3 heroes. At first I'm sure it would've been a shock and hard to get used working with what is basically Lex, Joker, and the like, but after his trained reaction wares off and he learns a bit more about them he gets that-- like his life as the son of Kal-El and the next Superman-- it's all just a confluence of circumstances, and in the end there's a version of all of us that is the opposite polarity to who we are, and it can genuinely be a choice to pick one over the other.

So when Jon does get back to Earth and he becomes Superman he's a Superman who isn't quite as hung up on the binary of good and evil in the hearts of men. He's a kid that had his life saved by Alex Luthor as he they crossed Midwest heading after a tip on rumors regarding a Multiversal slingshot. He's going to be more willing to downright work with villains or even just asked them what they're after and maybe reach a middle ground with them. And just think of how vindicating it must've been for Jon to come back to his Earth and see the Zod family standing side by side with his. It's proof positive of his theory. And that sort of "unifying theory" could've been the final bit of the puzzle that lets him think up the United Planets-- because if we're all just choices on a Multiversal level, then surly the same applies on a relatively much smaller galactic community.

On a functional level this makes Jon a Superman who's willing to work with people and organizations that Clark wouldn't. You wrap the whole thing in Jon's upbeat matter-of-fact "gee whiz" attitude and it's almost comical when he does things like call up Damian to pay off Kryptonite Man 2 days before a scheduled bank job, so he doesn't have to deal with him when he fights the other guys, and maybe they grab a bite later. Or if he convinces a villain who doesn't want to go to jail for their crimes to just pay off the damages and change their identity because, as it turns out, they've never killed or hurt anyone. That's not to say he wouldn't just punch people when it called for it, but it gives him tools that Clark doesn't really have within him on the regular. Jon would be unassumingly sly and almost underhanded in a way Clark isn't, but, again, it would be punctuated with that "aw shucks" disposition that makes the whole thing extremely disarming and borderline terrifying to those on the receiving end.

He'd be "Chill Superman", and him trying to deal with normal life (with an exposed identity), his own hang ups regarding taking over, school, and the more messy issues that don't have a face to punch (like climate change) would be where he scratches his head. But I'd write it so Jon, on some level, effectively "solved" Guy In Mask Who Wants A Thing That's Not His crime, and we'd play that bit for gags sometimes. Really dipping into the All Star pool on that one. But it's guys like Solaris, Brainiac, the Promethean Golem, and the base self destructiveness of the human collective in turmoil that scare the **** out him.

[manwhohaseverything]

His time in earth-3 needs to be expanded on..regardless.Also,not really a fan of "aw!shucks" farmboy thing.Jon never felt like that before.Kid was goofy, energetic, mischievous...etc.The reason i didn't like bendis's run was precisely this.They shoved Clark's "aw! Shucks" thing to jon.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I agree insofar as I think he should've came away with something aside from *just* the realization that he could make it on his own and wouldn't break under pressure. That's not enough. If I had to work within the apparent confines (as in still use Earth-3) I'd use the very unique opportunity that Earth-3 presents an Earth-0 native who lives there for 7 years: the concept of "good guy" and "bad guy" becomes purely circumstantial.

It's established that he seemed to have spent the lion's share of his time on Earth-3 outside of the volcano helping people as he looked for a way home. Seems likely that he met or even teamed up with Alex Luthor and the Earth-3 heroes. At first I'm sure it would've been a shock and hard to get used working with what is basically Lex, Joker, and the like, but after his trained reaction wares off and he learns a bit more about them he gets that-- like his life as the son of Kal-El and the next Superman-- it's all just a confluence of circumstances, and in the end there's a version of all of us that is the opposite polarity to who we are, and it can genuinely be a choice to pick one over the other.

So when Jon does get back to Earth and he becomes Superman he's a Superman who isn't quite as hung up on the binary of good and evil in the hearts of men. He's a kid that had his life saved by Alex Luthor as he they crossed Midwest heading after a tip on rumors regarding a Multiversal slingshot. He's going to be more willing to downright work with villains or even just asked them what they're after and maybe reach a middle ground with them. And just think of how vindicating it must've been for Jon to come back to his Earth and see the Zod family standing side by side with his. It's proof positive of his theory. And that sort of "unifying theory" could've been the final bit of the puzzle that lets him think up the United Planets-- because if we're all just choices on a Multiversal level, then surly the same applies on a relatively much smaller galactic community.

On a functional level this makes Jon a Superman who's willing to work with people and organizations that Clark wouldn't. You wrap the whole thing in Jon's upbeat matter-of-fact "gee whiz" attitude and it's almost comical when he does things like call up Damian to pay off Kryptonite Man 2 days before a scheduled bank job, so he doesn't have to deal with him when he fights the other guys, and maybe they grab a bite later. Or if he convinces a villain who doesn't want to go to jail for their crimes to just pay off the damages and change their identity because, as it turns out, they've never killed or hurt anyone. That's not to say he wouldn't just punch people when it called for it, but it gives him tools that Clark doesn't really have within him on the regular. Jon would be unassumingly sly and almost underhanded in a way Clark isn't, but, again, it would be punctuated with that "aw shucks" disposition that makes the whole thing extremely disarming and borderline terrifying to those on the receiving end.

He'd be "Chill Superman", and him trying to deal with normal life (with an exposed identity), his own hang ups regarding taking over, school, and the more messy issues that don't have a face to punch (like climate change) would be where he scratches his head. But I'd write it so Jon, on some level, effectively "solved" Guy In Mask Who Wants A Thing That's Not His crime, and we'd play that bit for gags sometimes. Really dipping into the All Star pool on that one. But it's guys like Solaris, Brainiac, the Promethean Golem, and the base self destructiveness of the human collective in turmoil that scare the **** out him.

You should be DC's spokesperson. You pitch their stuff better than they do.

[Blue22]

And that's why I appreciate Lad and his optimism. He makes everything going on with Jon sound WAY more interesting than it actually is. Like the perfect used car salesman. If I can't actually appreciate any of what's going on, I can at least appreciate his takes on it lol

But yeah. DC, hire this man XD

[Superlad93]

Aww I really appreciate you guys saying that!

I just figured something potentially integral to Jon's character could've come from Earth-3. And it really could've been something that could then be easily explained in like a sentence. "I spent years on a world where-- for one reason or another-- everyone and everything I knew was the opposite, so it made me realize that we're always just choices and circumstances away from our opposites."

____________

Seems all but confirmed that Jon is joining the Justice League in his dad's place this fall. Plus, I think there's a strong chance Yara, Jace, and Jackson are coming along too.

Not just that, but with Batman/Superman on its final issue this September, chances seems good that we'll get a Superman/Wonder Woman (Girl?) book. Future State seems to be the blueprint (in the general sense) for the DCU going forward, so it seems glaring that a Superman/Wonder Woman book staring Jon and Yara isn't around especially when both now have their own books. But a friend does think that it may be a Batman/Superman book with a new #1 staring Jon and Jace. I'd honestly be very okay with either, but a Jon and Yara book is something new in concept.

PKJ wasn't even remotely kidding when he said Jon couldn't be aged down again because he was tied to so many other books outside of just Superman.

[Quinlan58]

I hope it's not Watters. He did a good job with a take that is absolutely not what Jon needs right now (that is, the Benevolent Overworked God-man take).

Other than that, I think your "Superman/Wonder Woman book" speculation might be correct. I was originally wondering if they'd do a Batman/Superman book with Jace and Jon, but you're correct that Future State really did emphasize the closeness between Jon and Yara much more than any relationship with Jace (and obviously, they had a book too).

[Jackalope89]

Aww I really appreciate you guys saying that!

I just figured something potentially integral to Jon's character could've come from Earth-3. And it really could've been something that could then be easily explained in like a sentence. "I spent years on a world where-- for one reason or another-- everyone and everything I knew was the opposite, so it made me realize that we're always just choices and circumstances away from our opposites."

____________

Seems all but confirmed that Jon is joining the Justice League in his dad's place this fall. Plus, I think there's a strong chance Yara, Jace, and Jackson are coming along too.

Not just that, but with Batman/Superman on its final issue this September, chances seems good that we'll get a Superman/Wonder Woman (Girl?) book. Future State seems to be the blueprint (in the general sense) for the DCU going forward, so it seems glaring that a Superman/Wonder Woman book staring Jon and Yara isn't around especially when both now have their own books. But a friend does think that it may be a Batman/Superman book with a new #1 staring Jon and Jace. I'd honestly be very okay with either, but a Jon and Yara book is something new in concept.

PKJ wasn't even remotely kidding when he said Jon couldn't be aged down again because he was tied to so many other books outside of just Superman.

*rage scream reaching global scale*

Ahem. So, when is the next reset? You know, burn it all down, start over again? Its soon, right?