Superman: son of Kal-El

[Vordan]

Here's a thought though, given how much of a boost Jon has gotten due to his bisexuality, and (from the art we're seeing) that he seems to quickly be rising to the forefront of queer representation for DC, do you think we'll likely see DC kind of go "Yeah, I guess he's bi...." but never actually explore that at all? Do you think there would be an outcry or loss of status if he did eventually date a woman, or if he and Jay did break up?

“Can they make Jon gay instead of bi?” is what I think you’re fishing at Sure they could but no I don’t think they will. Couple reasons why:

1. Jon is a corporate character and exists to make money not to represent people. Jon being bi was likely a decision where he could be queer but they could also have him in relationships with women in a way that wouldn’t invalidate his queerness. I don’t expect Jon’s bisexuality to play a role in S&L or the upcoming Super Sons animated movie for example. We’re he to headline a major movie I expect he would have a female LI.
2. If DC was letting Twitter backlash tell them what to do with Jon he would’ve been deaged by now. Most fanart still has him as a kid and plenty of people are screaming at PKJ and Taylor to deage him. DC hasn’t budged. Besides there’s fanart of him and Jay because Jay is his first male LI in canon. Nobody cares about Jay specifically yet, we barely even know the dude. Were Jon and Kaldur to date for example you’d get a ton of fanart of them.
3. They’ve very clearly marketed him as bi meaning he likes both. They’ve never said he’ll never date another woman (although I don’t expect him to while Taylor is on) it was in all the newspapers that he’s bi.
4. They likely don’t want to invalidate his romances with Kathy and Irma (yes I know some of you want to dismiss those but you guys are just putting your head in the sand, those were clearly being built up to be serious before editorial shifts changed things).

Twitter (and let’s be real people here) might complain but people always complain. Long as he kept selling DC wouldn’t care. Personally I hope he and Jay aren’t endgame because Jon shouldn’t even have an endgame yet. Dude is just starting to explore his sexuality, last thing I want is for him to get a ball and chain.

[Betinayen]

“Can they make Jon gay instead of bi?” is what I think you’re fishing at Sure they could but no I don’t think they will. Couple reasons why:

1. Jon is a corporate character and exists to make money not to represent people. Jon being bi was likely a decision where he could be queer but they could also have him in relationships with women in a way that wouldn’t invalidate his queerness. I don’t expect Jon’s bisexuality to play a role in S&L or the upcoming Super Sons animated movie for example. We’re he to headline a major movie I expect he would have a female LI.
2. If DC was letting Twitter backlash tell them what to do with Jon he would’ve been deaged by now. Most fanart still has him as a kid and plenty of people are screaming at PKJ and Taylor to deage him. DC hasn’t budged. Besides there’s fanart of him and Jay because Jay is his first male LI in canon. Nobody cares about Jay specifically yet, we barely even know the dude. Were Jon and Kaldur to date for example you’d get a ton of fanart of them.
3. They’ve very clearly marketed him as bi meaning he likes both. They’ve never said he’ll never date another woman (although I don’t expect him to while Taylor is on) it was in all the newspapers that he’s bi.
4. They likely don’t want to invalidate his romances with Kathy and Irma (yes I know some of you want to dismiss those but you guys are just putting your head in the sand, those were clearly being built up to be serious before editorial shifts changed things).

Twitter (and let’s be real people here) might complain but people always complain. Long as he kept selling DC wouldn’t care. Personally I hope he and Jay aren’t endgame because Jon shouldn’t even have an endgame yet. Dude is just starting to explore his sexuality, last thing I want is for him to get a ball and chain.

Kathy in the future would be something very important for Jon that's what Tomasi was building, I remember a comic that said something about it

[Journey]

Kathy ass is probably never coming back & Saturn Girl is so irrelevant just like the legion in general they never even broke up that's how irrelevant she was.

[oneveryfineday]

So the current theory around here is that Jay is going to be Jon’s Magneto, but I saw someone parallel Jay to Lelouch from Code Geass because of the mask and powers and that spurred some of my own thoughts. Superlad theorized that Jay is in fact Kaizen Gamorra’s son or grandson, and Jay would eventually lead his own version of the Brotherhood and become ruler of Gamorra. If that’s true then the parallels between Jay and Lelouch would be even greater. The similarities they share would be

- having a dictator father/grandfather
- hiding their true identities
- Wanting to liberate Japan/a Japan analogue from a Western ruler
- Initially doesn’t have powers but acquires them later on
- Wears a sinister-looking signature mask
- Exiled from own country
- Has a fallout and intense rivalry with former best friend/lover who’s an idealist
- Becomes leader of a rebel group
- Eventually becomes ruler of a nation

I really dig the idea that Jay Na-KAMURA is Jay GAMORRA (I'm certain the name is a hint) since it gives him a compelling backstory and more of a purpose than just being a random character. It doesn't hurt that Lelouch is a fantastic anime character so no harm in modeling Jay after him either, whether intentional or not lol. We also know that Jon was initially supposed to date Jenny, and if that’s going to be changed then it would make sense to still give Jon a love interest who has a strong connection to Wildstorm concepts.

[Vordan]

Kathy ass is probably never coming back & Saturn Girl is so irrelevant just like the legion in general they never even broke up that's how irrelevant she was.

If Kathy ever shows up again it will be in that Superman & Robin one shot Tomasi is writing but otherwise yeah I don’t expect to see her again in SSOKE.

[Superboy-Prime]

We’ll see what sales are like post coming out but all of his issues have gone back for reprints. It’s undeniable that Jace and Yara started off stronger, but Yara has stumbled for various reasons, and Jace is doing ok but isn’t lighting up the charts. Honestly I’m shocked at how little attention a black Batman is getting maybe because Bruce is still set to dominate everything with his movie coming? Jon being bi got way more mainstream attention.

I think it just feels that way for you because Jon being bi is extremely recent news. Jace was getting just as much attention back in November when he was revealed as Batman, it's just been an entire year.

[sifighter]

I think it just feels that way for you because Jon being bi is extremely recent news. Jace was getting just as much attention back in November when he was revealed as Batman, it's just been an entire year.

Like I said, wait for Jace to have his first big crossover with someone outside the Bat-family. Because he's just kept to his corner of Gotham doing his own Batman things, once exposed to the greater dc universe people will respond more. Personally can't wait to see certain characters meet a Batman who is more personable/talks to people more.

[Rac7d*]

If Kathy ever shows up again it will be in that Superman & Robin one shot Tomasi is writing but otherwise yeah I don’t expect to see her again in SSOKE.

Yeah she is as
Irrelevant as ever, that one girl/alien from when he was ten
They weren’t even a proper childhood friends

[oneveryfineday]

I think it just feels that way for you because Jon being bi is extremely recent news. Jace was getting just as much attention back in November when he was revealed as Batman, it's just been an entire year.

Oh wow…you missed out on a lot, huh? Jace Fox didn’t even come close to the level of global exposure Jon Kent coming out as bi did. It was a whole cultural moment. Every major media outlet covered it, and various celebrities and politicians had to throw in their opinion. Fox News spent over 15 minutes complaining about the topic, and they even made a parody skit. They weren’t the only ones either—Stephen Colbert, SNL, Amber Ruffin had their own comedy takes. That’s not even counting the various articles, podcasts, political cartoons, or memes churned out either.

This wasn’t just confined to the English-speaking sphere, as pictures of Jon Kent and Jay Nakamura in a queer romance were plastered around the globe. These are easily the most widely circulated and recognizable images of Jon to the public now.



Even homophobic countries reported on this! And politicians were calling for the book to be banned!



That wasn’t the end of it. An explosive sports story began in Brazil when an Olympic gold medalist volleyball player made homophobic comments about the Jon Kent storyline. It drew criticism from fans and his teammates and pressure from sponsors which then led to his firing from the team, triggering a ripple effect that then spiraled into a culture war where the right-wing Brazilian President came out in support of the volleyball player on a radio show, the President’s son posted pictures of SuperWonder kissing in support of traditional-only relationships, and the First Lady posted an photoshopped image of her as Wonder Woman and her husband as Superman.

Then TMZ posted an article where they claimed that the book’s artists and production staff needed LAPD protection against homophobic threats, further inflaming the Internet, but then that report turned out to be false.

In short, Jon coming out stirred up a lot of controversy, generated headlines, and caused some unintended consequences, to say the least. Some pop culture historian would have a total field day with this. The upside is that it spiked baseline public awareness of Jon Kent (even my relatives who have never picked up a comic book in their lives were talking about it), galvanized support for the character, and all the issues of SoKE went to reprints. The controversy has worn off as these things do, but now the general awareness is there. I do wonder what DC’s internal discussions about all of this is, but they got a lot of publicity and pocketed a lot of cash so I assume they must be happy and will continue to leverage it.

[oneveryfineday]

And I suppose since we’re on the subject, here are just a informative few political cartoons I came across too.

These two used the same joke ha





On the Brazilian volleyball player controversy

[oneveryfineday]

Captioned “The Kiss x The Scream”, and if you know a bit of art history it’s pretty brilliant.



And I like this one for how uplifting it is. Spidey showing his support is very wholesome too.

[Vordan]

I think it just feels that way for you because Jon being bi is extremely recent news. Jace was getting just as much attention back in November when he was revealed as Batman, it's just been an entire year.

I don’t remember it being on quite the same level. Jace got some attention, some news articles were written of course, but the reception was much more subdued imo. I was expecting there to be huge attention or controversy to a black man taking over the cowl but the overall reaction seemed to just be “oh that’s cool”. Maybe things would’ve been different had 5G occurred as planned with Jace completely replacing Bruce.

I’m still hoping to see that Future State JL team happen, if it does maybe we’ll see more talk about Jace. He’s doing fine but he’s not exploding in popularity the way I (and presumably DC) thought he would.

Oh wow…you missed out on a lot, huh? Jace Fox didn’t even come close to the level of global exposure Jon Kent coming out as bi did. It was a whole cultural moment. Every major media outlet covered it, and various celebrities and politicians had to throw in their opinion. Fox News spent over 15 minutes complaining about the topic, and they even made a parody skit. They weren’t the only ones either—Stephen Colbert, SNL, Amber Ruffin had their own comedy takes. That’s not even counting the various articles, podcasts, political cartoons, or memes churned out either.

This wasn’t just confined to the English-speaking sphere, as pictures of Jon Kent and Jay Nakamura in a queer romance were plastered around the globe. These are easily the most widely circulated and recognizable images of Jon to the public now.



Even homophobic countries reported on this! And politicians were calling for the book to be banned!



That wasn’t the end of it. An explosive sports story began in Brazil when an Olympic gold medalist volleyball player made homophobic comments about the Jon Kent storyline. It drew criticism from fans and his teammates and pressure from sponsors which then led to his firing from the team, triggering a ripple effect that then spiraled into a culture war where the right-wing Brazilian President came out in support of the volleyball player on a radio show, the President’s son posted pictures of SuperWonder kissing in support of traditional-only relationships, and the First Lady posted an photoshopped image of her as Wonder Woman and her husband as Superman.

Then TMZ posted an article where they claimed that the book’s artists and production staff needed LAPD protection against homophobic threats, further inflaming the Internet, but then that report turned out to be false.

In short, Jon coming out stirred up a lot of controversy, generated headlines, and caused some unintended consequences, to say the least. Some pop culture historian would have a total field day with this. The upside is that it spiked baseline public awareness of Jon Kent (even my relatives who have never picked up a comic book in their lives were talking about it), galvanized support for the character, and all the issues of SoKE went to reprints. The controversy has worn off as these things do, but now the general awareness is there. I do wonder what DC’s internal discussions about all of this is, but they got a lot of publicity and pocketed a lot of cash so I assume they must be happy and will continue to leverage it.

Yeah Jon being bi kicked a hornet’s nest. My guess is that given they seem to be viewing Taylor’s stories as prime material for adaption (the DCEU Supergirl looks like the Supergirl he created in Injustice, they’re making a Val-Zod MAX show), next time we see a white Superman on the big screen I feel pretty confident that it will be Jon. Assuming Cavill is done of course, but Jon is such a clear cut break with Clark in terms of “this isn’t your daddy’s Superman” which I think will make him appealing to adapt.

[Betinayen]

“Can they make Jon gay instead of bi?” is what I think you’re fishing at Sure they could but no I don’t think they will. Couple reasons why:

1. Jon is a corporate character and exists to make money not to represent people. Jon being bi was likely a decision where he could be queer but they could also have him in relationships with women in a way that wouldn’t invalidate his queerness. I don’t expect Jon’s bisexuality to play a role in S&L or the upcoming Super Sons animated movie for example. We’re he to headline a major movie I expect he would have a female LI.
2. If DC was letting Twitter backlash tell them what to do with Jon he would’ve been deaged by now. Most fanart still has him as a kid and plenty of people are screaming at PKJ and Taylor to deage him. DC hasn’t budged. Besides there’s fanart of him and Jay because Jay is his first male LI in canon. Nobody cares about Jay specifically yet, we barely even know the dude. Were Jon and Kaldur to date for example you’d get a ton of fanart of them.
3. They’ve very clearly marketed him as bi meaning he likes both. They’ve never said he’ll never date another woman (although I don’t expect him to while Taylor is on) it was in all the newspapers that he’s bi.
4. They likely don’t want to invalidate his romances with Kathy and Irma (yes I know some of you want to dismiss those but you guys are just putting your head in the sand, those were clearly being built up to be serious before editorial shifts changed things).

Twitter (and let’s be real people here) might complain but people always complain. Long as he kept selling DC wouldn’t care. Personally I hope he and Jay aren’t endgame because Jon shouldn’t even have an endgame yet. Dude is just starting to explore his sexuality, last thing I want is for him to get a ball and chain.

Oh wow…you missed out on a lot, huh? Jace Fox didn’t even come close to the level of global exposure Jon Kent coming out as bi did. It was a whole cultural moment. Every major media outlet covered it, and various celebrities and politicians had to throw in their opinion. Fox News spent over 15 minutes complaining about the topic, and they even made a parody skit. They weren’t the only ones either—Stephen Colbert, SNL, Amber Ruffin had their own comedy takes. That’s not even counting the various articles, podcasts, political cartoons, or memes churned out either.

This wasn’t just confined to the English-speaking sphere, as pictures of Jon Kent and Jay Nakamura in a queer romance were plastered around the globe. These are easily the most widely circulated and recognizable images of Jon to the public now.



Even homophobic countries reported on this! And politicians were calling for the book to be banned!



That wasn’t the end of it. An explosive sports story began in Brazil when an Olympic gold medalist volleyball player made homophobic comments about the Jon Kent storyline. It drew criticism from fans and his teammates and pressure from sponsors which then led to his firing from the team, triggering a ripple effect that then spiraled into a culture war where the right-wing Brazilian President came out in support of the volleyball player on a radio show, the President’s son posted pictures of SuperWonder kissing in support of traditional-only relationships, and the First Lady posted an photoshopped image of her as Wonder Woman and her husband as Superman.

Then TMZ posted an article where they claimed that the book’s artists and production staff needed LAPD protection against homophobic threats, further inflaming the Internet, but then that report turned out to be false.

In short, Jon coming out stirred up a lot of controversy, generated headlines, and caused some unintended consequences, to say the least. Some pop culture historian would have a total field day with this. The upside is that it spiked baseline public awareness of Jon Kent (even my relatives who have never picked up a comic book in their lives were talking about it), galvanized support for the character, and all the issues of SoKE went to reprints. The controversy has worn off as these things do, but now the general awareness is there. I do wonder what DC’s internal discussions about all of this is, but they got a lot of publicity and pocketed a lot of cash so I assume they must be happy and will continue to leverage it.

I'm Brazilian , my country is extremely homophobic and very traditionalist too, all this fight about jon being bisexual in Brazil was more about politics and religion than actually supporting or not character bisexuality this sparked a fight that lasted for weeks it was not healthy because no one wanted to get into a healthy discussion everyone wanted to fight and fight , most are not even sure who is Jay

[Betinayen]

Captioned “The Kiss x The Scream”, and if you know a bit of art history it’s pretty brilliant.



And I like this one for how uplifting it is. Spidey showing his support is very wholesome too.

The first art, "minha infancia ahh " or ""my childhood is over" was exactly what they said for 2 weeks in Brazil

[The Invincible Beawulf]

Yeah Jon being bi kicked a hornet’s nest. My guess is that given they seem to be viewing Taylor’s stories as prime material for adaption (the DCEU Supergirl looks like the Supergirl he created in Injustice, they’re making a Val-Zod MAX show), next time we see a white Superman on the big screen I feel pretty confident that it will be Jon. Assuming Cavill is done of course, but Jon is such a clear cut break with Clark in terms of “this isn’t your daddy’s Superman” which I think will make him appealing to adapt.

Clark should be promoted as a dilf Superman Actually, looking at how he is drawn in Morrison's S&tA, in some panels of PKJ's Warworld Rising, & in Federici's AC #1039 cover, we can say Clark is/will be depicted as a sexy daddy.

I think it's a nice contrast to Jon's young adult attractiveness.