Jon Kent Superboy Appreciation 2021

[Journey]

That's actually a good way of putting it.

And though the Jon of Superman & Lois is a teen, he's written in a very good way.

Is he though......... He seems like an afterthought majority of the time.

[Celgress]

Oh my God...that's actually a pretty damn good comparison. I've been saying for a while now that Jon's just become a less interesting Deku. So that works XD

He's a destitute man's Deku not a poor man's Deku.

Bendis, Editorial whoever made the choice to age up Jon this is lazy writing 101: "I can't think of how to get a character from point a) to point b) or I don't want to take the time. I want the character to be fully formed so I can write all the cool stuff now! I know, I'll use a time skip the bigger the better."

[Triniking1234]

He's a destitute man's Deku not a poor man's Deku.

Bendis, Editorial whoever made the choice to age up Jon this is lazy writing 101: "I can't think of how to get a character from point a) to point b) or I don't want to take the time. I want the character to be fully formed so I can write all the cool stuff now! I know, I'll use a time skip the bigger the better."

Honestly, they could've done out of continuity stories with Jon as a grown-up instead of what Bendis did.

I don't know how you can get a book with Superman's son and the Legion and make it boring. That's impressive.

[Journey]

Honestly, they could've done out of continuity stories with Jon as a grown-up instead of what Bendis did.

I don't know how you can get a book with Superman's son and the Legion and make it boring. That's impressive.

Especially with that beautiful art!

[garazza]

He's a destitute man's Deku not a poor man's Deku.

Bendis, Editorial whoever made the choice to age up Jon this is lazy writing 101: "I can't think of how to get a character from point a) to point b) or I don't want to take the time. I want the character to be fully formed so I can write all the cool stuff now! I know, I'll use a time skip the bigger the better."

Honestly, they could've done out of continuity stories with Jon as a grown-up instead of what Bendis did.

I don't know how you can get a book with Superman's son and the Legion and make it boring. That's impressive.

Especially with that beautiful art!

Exactly. To quote my favorite Matrix character:

[Blue22]

Especially with that beautiful art!

Oh my God the fact that the art behind that book was SO fucking good is a crime. Sook deserved better.

[Celgress]

Honestly, they could've done out of continuity stories with Jon as a grown-up instead of what Bendis did.....

Exactly, or a couple of time travel stories (although, I like the out-of-continuity possible future idea you had better). There were indeed other ways and I would argue better ways to handle this.

[garazza]

Remember when an adult version of Franklin Richards showed up shortly after he was born? It's not like there isn't precedent for an adult version of a younger character showing up, sticking around for a few stories, and going away.

[rpmaluki]

Bendis, Editorial whoever made the choice to age up Jon this is lazy writing 101: "I can't think of how to get a character from point a) to point b) or I don't want to take the time. I want the character to be fully formed so I can write all the cool stuff now! I know, I'll use a time skip the bigger the better."

I agree.

I wasn't vehemently against the age up because I thought they would at least flesh him out as an individual apart from his father and Damian but that never happened. I was hoping for a solo Superboy book to do just that. I read Bendis' Legion and I found myself caring more for other characters than Jon. Looking back, I'm inclined to think Bendis wanted to write Legion and not Jon, he just used Jon as the character to introduce them to new readers such as myself. Jon has basically become a DC mandated character and not much else, as fans, we're all split into which mandated version we prefer because there's no cohesion in his story, there's no character arc to speak of. I hate to say that I now find myself on the side of the dissatisfaction after years of believing in his potential. I still love the character, young or old but I am disappointed today than I have ever been with what DC is doing.

[Celgress]

Remember when an adult version of Franklin Richards showed up shortly after he was born? It's not like there isn't precedent for an adult version of a younger character showing up, sticking around for a few stories, and going away.

Yup, the X-Men are still doing it with teenage and adult versions of several characters coexisting in the 616 books.

[Jackalope89]

Is he though......... He seems like an afterthought majority of the time.

Compared to his comic book counterpart? Night and day.

[Vathlonian]

Tv show Jon had all of his pathos and potential given to Jordan


Might as well switch the names and no one would notice

[Korath]

For me, it is more his everyday struggles that have humanized him in live-action rather than running off to the future so he can do what daddy did with the Legion or growing up instantly in space. Comic book Jon is not relatable to me. IMO, he has become a canvas for big ideas to see what sticks rather than an organically evolving character people can get behind.

Edit- What has happened to comic book Jon in recent years would be like if most of Izuku's from MHA (the insanely popular My Hero Academia) character development in the training school and big moments happened off-screen. Few would care about the guy if he just showed up after a time skip as an adult and starting kicking ass in full control of his abilities.

Yes, because what somewhat works in a manga -where often the characters sucks at progressing, I'm looking at you Naruto and your two techniques in the whole damned manga! - would totally fly for a comics of twenty pages at best out once every month.

Let's be real peoples, kid Jon's wouldn't ever had progressed and his story as a kid superman was already written and done. There was nothing of interest left to do with this boy.

[Celgress]

Yes, because what somewhat works in a manga -where often the characters sucks at progressing, I'm looking at you Naruto and your two techniques in the whole damned manga! - would totally fly for a comics of twenty pages at best out once every month.

Let's be real peoples, kid Jon's wouldn't ever had progressed and his story as a kid superman was already written and done. There was nothing of interest left to do with this boy.

This shows a lack of imagination. The world has changed a great deal since the 1940s and 1950s when the OG Super Boy stories were told most of which were little more than goofy filler anyway. With Kid Jon, I would have taken a Ben 10 approach for starters to show him growing up and coming to terms with his powers and place in the world over several "seasons". I'm not going to lie, to me as an aspiring author the ability to carefully build a new Superman from the ground up using more modern story writing conventions is tantalizing. It is sad DC threw this chance away.

[Blue22]

Yes, because what somewhat works in a manga -where often the characters sucks at progressing, I'm looking at you Naruto and your two techniques in the whole damned manga!

Ugh don't get me started on Naruto. Two years of off-screen training and he learned jack shit. I could rant about the missteps in that series more than I can about Jon. Hell I could do a whole thesis on Sakura's awful character arc.

Let's be real peoples, kid Jon's wouldn't ever had progressed and his story as a kid superman was already written and done. There was nothing of interest left to do with this boy.

Well that's just not true at all. He already had plenty stories. He already was progressing and starting to come into his own as hero. Even if he wasn't ready to stand on his own yet (which I was perfectly fine with). And if he stuck around longer and got to grow up naturally instead of rushing to finish line, I'm sure there would have been even more for him to do. He's not exactly a hard character to write for, nor is that kind of hero's journey a hard concept to grasp.

This shows a lack of imagination. The world has changed a great deal since the 1940s and 1950s when the OG Super Boy stories were told most of which were little more than goofy filler anyway. With Kid Jon, I would have taken a Ben 10 approach for starters to show him growing up and coming to terms with his powers and place in the world over several "seasons". I'm not going to lie, to me as an aspiring author the ability to carefully build a new Superman from the ground up using more modern story writing conventions is tantalizing. It is sad DC threw this chance away.

Oh my God. That's another example of a child hero that I loved seeing grow up (even if that journey wasn't exactly perfect either). Make the first time skip a little less drastic and Ben would have been a great example of what to do with Jon.