Conner Kent /kon-el appreciation 2021

[kryptonian]

A lot of people say that the age up hurt Jon


But it is nothing compared to how badly it can and frankly has hurt Conner

Because now strength of concept comes into play

And outside of Luthor...I don’t think there is much of anything giving him an edge over Jon’s simplicity as the true son of Superman


And if storytelling has taught me anything...it’s that simplicity always wins


As demonstrated by Jon’s failed legion comic selling as many copies as Wonder Woman and flash at 30,000 copies per issue

Which isn’t easy for any character to do

[SuperX]

I'm just wondering of all the ppl who were writing on here recently, are any of you actually fans of conner/Kon? Cause it seems like we got some thst are pronouncing the end for him and the other people wanting to fit him in a box he has never been shown to be in.

I am a actual fan a fan doesn't want their character to fail as a character, a fan likes their character the way they are. Sure there is room for improvement, but to turn him into something he isn't is worse than him falling off the DC map.

Jon is the son of superman, that niche is never going to be kons, and really if you were a fan of him you would know he was never about trying to be that. For those who think they need to get rid of kon so jon can thrive, one doesn't need to have anything to do with the other, and if anyone actually read both of them you would know they are nothing like each other.

Speaking of different,their differences are plenty, and for Kon I would go in the opposite direction of Jon in multiple ways, so less ppl will try to pit them against each other, instead of just enjoying them on their own.

Kon differences
Hair
Street type clothes, instead of a supersuit
With a leather jacket, instead of a cape
And fingerless gloves
Green eyes, Reign made me a believer in this difference
Black and red S shield
Weak or partial kryptonian powers, with TTK, while Jon gets all the powers and more
S barcode tattoo

And that's just visual, not personality, attitude,places and ppl who they are associated with.

I also like that kon (on the Titans show and the new 52) had some of Clark and lexs memories thru DNA, it makes him unique and someone who automatically knows them well and knows how to use that knowledge.


Instead of predicting his doom or wanting him to drastically change think of ways to help him, give him ways to be his own character, that can actually prosper

[Superlad93]

Sooooo....has anyone here read the Titans Academy Year Book issue?

Matt has a section in it, and it's kind of...enlightening. First off, everyone in the issue is either making jokes about him being "Superman-kid", talking about Kryptonite, or just flat out calling him Superboy rather than his actual name. It's actually kind of nuts how the whole story is just that.

Well, we get some more on his powers, and some stuff is very familiar yet different...yet also familiar?

For one Matt has super hearing or something that mimics super hearing. We see him hear Tooby in distress upstate while he's still at Titans tower. Then we see Matt take off like a rocket flying there. Tooby asks him to use his freeze breath to take care of the situation, but Matt says he doesn't have that power.

But the really strange part was after Matt saved the Tooby's farm from the fire, Tooby's kitten scratches him...and he feels it. Tooby comments " 'ow'? They're not Kryptonite Kittens, Matt." remarking how it doesn't make sense for that kittens claws to harm Matt after he's been known to display all of that power.

Then later after the save Tooby's parents offer to let Matt stay with them...on their farm...as if he were family....

And in issue #4 of TA when some of the students are investigating Matt they remark that his powers are a mystery.

_______________

Know what I'm thinking? The dude has TK or TTK in a similar fashion to the New 52 Superboy where he can be impressively powered and mimicking Superman's powers one minute when he's focused or senses danger, but totally vulnerable the next when he's relaxed or unsuspecting. THIS might be why they've been downplaying Conner's TK powers so heavily until very recently when he made a small display attacking TA.

I honestly think he's being set up to be revealed as a clone of Conner without the memories.

[kryptonian]

My way of helping Kon is by doubling down on the characterization bendis and the DCAMU was going for

A 90s bad boy with Luthor’s narcissism and Superman’s powers, think Tony stark with Superman’s powers with extreme wittiness

To contrast with the angsty, nerdy, and wholesome Jon whose basically just Spider-Man with Superman’s powers

This will make Jon and Kon endlessly entertaining to watch


If I have any illustration for these two

I would have Jon be the angel on your shoulder whose burdened with responsibility and sacrifice

And I would have Conner be the devil on your shoulder

[SuperX]

My way of helping Kon is by doubling down on the characterization bendis and the DCAMU was going for

A 90s bad boy with Luthor’s narcissism and Superman’s powers, think Tony stark with Superman’s powers with extreme wittiness

To contrast with the angsty, nerdy, and wholesome Jon whose basically just Spider-Man with Superman’s powers

This will make Jon and Kon endlessly entertaining to watch


If I have any illustration for these two

I would have Jon be the angel on your shoulder whose burdened with responsibility and sacrifice

And I would have Conner be the devil on your shoulder

But what about Conner being around for years, wouldn't that tone down him?

Plus how would you do their powers, as in the same, 1 way more powerful, or make them diffenrt?

[SuperX]

Sooooo....has anyone here read the Titans Academy Year Book issue?

Matt has a section in it, and it's kind of...enlightening. First off, everyone in the issue is either making jokes about him being "Superman-kid", talking about Kryptonite, or just flat out calling him Superboy rather than his actual name. It's actually kind of nuts how the whole story is just that.

Well, we get some more on his powers, and some stuff is very familiar yet different...yet also familiar?

For one Matt has super hearing or something that mimics super hearing. We see him hear Tooby in distress upstate while he's still at Titans tower. Then we see Matt take off like a rocket flying there. Tooby asks him to use his freeze breath to take care of the situation, but Matt says he doesn't have that power.

But the really strange part was after Matt saved the Tooby's farm from the fire, Tooby's kitten scratches him...and he feels it. Tooby comments " 'ow'? They're not Kryptonite Kittens, Matt." remarking how it doesn't make sense for that kittens claws to harm Matt after he's been known to display all of that power.

Then later after the save Tooby's parents offer to let Matt stay with them...on their farm...as if he were family....

And in issue #4 of TA when some of the students are investigating Matt they remark that his powers are a mystery.

_______________

Know what I'm thinking? The dude has TK or TTK in a similar fashion to the New 52 Superboy where he can be impressively powered and mimicking Superman's powers one minute when he's focused or senses danger, but totally vulnerable the next when he's relaxed or unsuspecting. THIS might be why they've been downplaying Conner's TK powers so heavily until very recently when he made a small display attacking TA.

I honestly think he's being set up to be revealed as a clone of Conner without the memories.

I thought about Matt also, but the more I thought about it the more I was disappointed that having Matt around is just another thing, besodes Jon who already does it, squeezes kon out. Plus I think it's pretty shitty another character has his TTK(or something to that effect) and not kon, who deserves it and we fans have been waiting for him to have it now for forever.

[Superlad93]

I've got a doozy of a theory brewing...

I just keep thinking back to what Cyborg said to Dick, "he may not be a Superboy clone, but what if he's another...'experiment'?" It's that "another experiment" part that really gets me. And they're not laying off the Superboy/Conner comparisons at all, and the reveal would be so very odd if they just turned out to go "okay dear readers, stop comparing him to Superboy now that we've revealed what he really is...even though we've done nothing but exclusively ram that thought into your head at every chance. Okay? Thanks." That's insanity.

But if we do rule out the idea of an actual clone, what about...and android? I mean, why not, right? We have a non gender conforming animated cloth person and a teenage gorilla (with the hands down greatest name of the last decade), so why not a teenage android?

This can still link back to Conner because suppose Waller or whomever created Matt felt that his clone DNA was ultimately "limiting"? We set up in Bendis' final arc of Action that as a clone Conner's powers have an eventual expiration date. If you're creating the ideal bio weapon, you don't want it to eventually crap out on you at random. That may actually be why we see all of those Conner clones? All ready to pick up where the last leaves off after their powers go out.

But an android made from all of the data collected from Conner? There's potentially no expiration date on that. And that's likely why his powers seem to likely be TK or TTK based. He doesn't have Kryptonian DNA (or any DNA for that matter), so it's back to the 90s origin with an inorganic twist.

This may also be in service of what the potential new Earth-based Superfamily seems to be shaping up to be: all different beings. Jon is the nearest thing to a full Kryptonian by being only half human, (I assume) Thao-La is a long lost Kryptonian off-shoot, but still not technically a Kryptonian, and now Matt would be an android made in the mold of a Kryptonian. There would be no repeats.

It's almost like the early post-crisis rule where there weren't allowed to be any other Kryptonians but Clark. So you had the protoplasmic shape shifter, Matrix, as Supergirl, and the altered human clone, Kon-El, as Superboy.

Matt being an android may even be why the writer is having Cyborg specifically be his mentor, and the one reaching out (not that Cyborg knows this yet) rather than Donna or any of the other headmasters.
___________

And this also works as an updated callback to Conner's frozen age. Theoretically, Matt wouldn't age because he's artificial. This is a big plot point for Conner in Young Justice (TV). And I really dig the "I wanna be a real boy" potential here. Plus, you'd never have to worry about him aging out of the Superboy name in the same way Young Justice (TV) is fine still calling Conner that because of his condition.

[SuperX]

I've got a doozy of a theory brewing...

I just keep thinking back to what Cyborg said to Dick, "he may not be a Superboy clone, but what if he's another...'experiment'?" It's that "another experiment" part that really gets me. And they're not laying off the Superboy/Conner comparisons at all, and the reveal would be so very odd if they just turned out to go "okay dear readers, stop comparing him to Superboy now that we've revealed what he really is...even though we've done nothing but exclusively ram that thought into your head at every chance. Okay? Thanks." That's insanity.

But if we do rule out the idea of an actual clone, what about...and android? I mean, why not, right? We have a non gender conforming animated cloth person and a teenage gorilla (with the hands down greatest name of the last decade), so why not a teenage android?

This can still link back to Conner because suppose Waller or whomever created Matt felt that his clone DNA was ultimately "limiting"? We set up in Bendis' final arc of Action that as a clone Conner's powers have an eventual expiration date. If you're creating the ideal bio weapon, you don't want it to eventually crap out on you at random. That may actually be why we see all of those Conner clones? All ready to pick up where the last leaves off after their powers go out.

But an android made from all of the data collected from Conner? There's potentially no expiration date on that. And that's likely why his powers seem to likely be TK or TTK based. He doesn't have Kryptonian DNA (or any DNA for that matter), so it's back to the 90s origin with an inorganic twist.

This may also be in service of what the potential new Earth-based Superfamily seems to be shaping up to be: all different beings. Jon is the nearest thing to a full Kryptonian by being only half human, (I assume) Thao-La is a long lost Kryptonian off-shoot, but still not technically a Kryptonian, and now Matt would be an android made in the mold of a Kryptonian. There would be no repeats.

It's almost like the early post-crisis rule where there weren't allowed to be any other Kryptonians but Clark. So you had the protoplasmic shape shifter, Matrix, as Supergirl, and the altered human clone, Kon-El, as Superboy.

Matt being an android may even be why the writer is having Cyborg specifically be his mentor, and the one reaching out (not that Cyborg knows this yet) rather than Donna or any of the other headmasters.
___________

And this also works as an updated callback to Conner's frozen age. Theoretically, Matt wouldn't age because he's artificial. This is a big plot point for Conner in Young Justice (TV). And I really dig the "I wanna be a real boy" potential here. Plus, you'd never have to worry about him aging out of the Superboy name in the same way Young Justice (TV) is fine still calling Conner that because of his condition.

So where is Conner during all this warm and fuzzy extended family building?

[Superlad93]

So where is Conner during all this warm and fuzzy extended family building?

Either dead (since, you know, Suicide Squad) or-- and this is less likely given DC's history with Conner in relation to Jon taking up a title-- permanently on Earth-3 as its Superman.

[SuperX]

Either dead (since, you know, Suicide Squad) or-- and this is less likely given DC's history with Conner in relation to Jon taking up a title-- permanently on Earth-3 as its Superman.

So you personally see no chance for Kon to be alive and in the main earth? Not being a hero in his own way?

[13th Superman]

So you personally see no chance for Kon to be alive and in the main earth? Not being a hero in his own way?

I'm getting the feeling he secretly wants him to disappear

[Superlad93]

Honestly, it just hit me: what if the thing Conner finds out in the annual is that he's not a clone of Earth-0's Lex and Clark, but rather a clone of Earth-3's Lex and Clark?

Maybe he takes up the Ultraman title, and he has it stand for something better as he becomes the protector (and basically Superman) of Earth-3?

I say this because the writer for Suicide Squad was apparently mandated to use Conner, and Conner has been seemingly mandated to be divorced from the Superfamily, and Earth-3 seems to be something DC still wants to push between its mini and Suicide Squad role, so maybe that's what it's leading to?

This would be similar to Clark leaving for space and Kara graduating to Superwoman. It leaves the Superboy IP up for grabs, and Matt as a potentially ageless android who looks up to Cyborg, and has powers that are based off Conner's seems like a viable candidate for the name.

[Superlad93]

So you personally see no chance for Kon to be alive and in the main earth? Not being a hero in his own way?

Not quite at this juncture, no, I don't see it. That could change as events unfold, and his story in SS becomes more clear (issue 6 and the annual seem to be where that starts), but, yes, that's how I see it right now.

The sweeping feeling of change seems to be in the air at DC, and while it's not the quick change 5G was supposed to be, it's more of a gradual shift.

I'm getting the feeling he secretly wants him to disappear

Not really, no. Once upon a time, he used to be my favorite character, but time and mismanagement have mangled him. And whenever he comes back as unironically his early 2000s or 90s self, it would feel more and more like the old guy with the backwards hat and skateboard going "hello fellow youths". I'm sorry to say, but Johns made both the smartest and worst move when updated Conner. For one he didn't solidify a relationship dynamic with Superman, but rather just this strange out of reach brother/cousin/not-son thing. Back then it was all we thought possible in Clark's world, but just like how Tim as the "dutiful son" gets conceptually beaten to a pulp by Damian, so too does Conner as we know him by Jon. It shows a bunch of conceptual weakness that were easy to look over.

I'd like something truly special for his concept, and I see the potential of Matt Price as maybe this mysterious ageless android boy with a genius IQ, and I see all the aspects I like about the YJ Conner. While I don't like everything that show has done with his character, his concept is rock solid in a way that finally updates his 90s stuff. This idea that he doesn't truly function as human as we know it or even Clark knows it is great. His physical agelessness and romantic relationship with a character that only sees the body as "clothes for the mind" is inspired and truly his own.

[SuperX]

I'm getting the feeling he secretly wants him to disappear

That is apparent,he isn't a concept, he is a character, just like wally west is, you knkw the guy erased,but now the main flash again.

There is simple ways to make kon awesome and keep him thst way, me and kryptonian put ideas out there, and thst doesn't mean there isn't room for a Matt or a jon, just not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Kon has been around since 93,longer than a lot of posters here, and I know he will be here way after we are all worm food too

[SuperX]

I hate the hair, but this might be the only time in contuity that kon had green eyes like on the Reign of the Supermen movie. I think he should get a soft retcon, and change the eyes to green, the powerset to mix of both, the attitude to over confident, but good hearted, a leather jacket and fingerless gloves over the YJ body and clothing, having the DNA memory and S barcode tattoo like on Titans and new 52.

That would be a good start