It not being new doesn't mean that its not stupid.
It not being new doesn't mean that its not stupid.
He panders to Twitter, like that review of his first arc I posted in the Nightwing thread said, Taylor is all about the memes. It’s a huge turn off for me personally but it’s key to his success. Now he’s going against the grain here with Jon, so he’s gotta paddle upriver against ideas he helped implant such as the whole “slippery slope” concept found in Injustice about Superman being proactive. He is at least aware of this considering he described SSOKE as an “anti-Injustice”, so I’ll give him credit for foreseeing how some would react.
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
The idea of Superman "doing more" isn't new. There are already quite a few stories about that issue like the twitter replies mention and they aren't necessarily stories that involve Superman devolving into being evil because he wanted to end world hunger or whatever. The stance most writers take on this issue is that if Superman forces people to change then it isn't a meaningful or lasting change and so he tries to "inspire" humanity to change. Justified by his belief in the fundamental good in humanity.
There's room to argue against this idea but DC isn't in a rush to do so because DC still wants its world to resemble our own with its similar underlying societal problems and to allow continuous Superman stories to be told. So Superman can't "do more" because the way the world is set up does not allow it. It's an issue that Taylor is going to have to grapple with in his own story. Jon is not going to succeed in solving climate change or stopping the rise of fascism. He isn't allowed to.
I don’t seem to recall Taylor saying that Jon was going to overthrow a dictatorship, but this seems to be close to what you’re saying:
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/tom-ta...l-el-dc-comicsAnd yes, just because he's angry about the climate crisis, or he's angry about guns, or he's angry about dictatorships, or is angry about or upset about all empathizing with refugees, it doesn't mean he can act on all of that without destabilizing the world. You know, he has to tread lightly, but he is younger.
And Taylor has also mentioned that Jon will overstep a bit and powers will come to stomp him down. https://youtu.be/cREg3AmFAXU (around the 9:10 mark)
So we don’t know how far Jon will go, but he’s definitely going to be making some people mad.
On a separate topic:
The possibility of Jay going bad makes me wonder if Jon will eventually end up discarding the identity Jay creates for him, the same way Jon ended up discarding (or blowing) the Finn Connors identity created by Batman and Oracle. Either way, Jay’s ominous words about being “smaller” and “lesser” makes me think the new ID is not meant to last nor be a representation of who Jon is. What I’d really like to see is Jon ending up using multiple identities a la Superman 2020.
Unlike the Clark Kent persona which is as primary as Superman, Jon doesn’t need a new permanent civilian identity to be understood as a character. There’s also little point to DC outing Jon’s identity only to put him back into the traditional status quo. However we see that the secret ID stuff is still in play, just at a different angle. I think “Jon Kent as Superman” is the main deal, and he’ll take up various other identities (whether created by other people or himself) which are more secondary and fleeting and meant to mostly be functional, just as in SoKE #2.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be mined for drama. It will be all sorts of painful for Jon if he has to let go of the identity created by—given by—Jay because of possible betrayal, and Jon will have to create another new persona afterwards. I think this kind of shuffling through secret IDs fits in what PKJ said about Jon “always searching” for his place in the world.
Likely, but similar to Morrison’s reboot of Clark, it’s that making it a core characteristic that he’s willing to occasionally try as opposed to how most versions of Clark since Byrne become Superman “knowing” they can’t interfere that makes a big difference. That means going “back to basics” with Jon has a very different core than with Clark, which I assume is a big part of what they want.
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
Nah! new52 superman is a superman of the old.Jon just seems different.He doesn't have the id.He seems more content and at ease.Jon is laidback on the outside,which might be different on the inside gauging from him seeking out damian and the truth.Clark was a ball of fire inside and out.There was no duality in emotional space for clark(disclaimer superman is his real identity.not clark.Superman wore his heart on his sleeve).as superman inspiring people to change, I don't see it and i don't care for it.
"People’s Dreams... Have No Ends"
When it comes to comics,one person's "fan-service" is another persons personal cannon. So by definition it's ALL fan service. Aren't we ALL fans?
SUPERMAN is the greatest fictional character ever created.
Rules are for lesser men, Charlie - Grand Pa Joe ~ Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory
I’ll always lament that the stars didn’t align for Jon to become Superman in 2020. It was only just one year off! (and a whole generation, but we can ignore that)
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I find that upon re-reading Kalel Kent’s stories he and Jon Kent share a lot of similarities: Kalel Kent publicly debuted as a teenage Superman in the 2020s, he went to college, his inexperience sometimes gets the better of him, he uses multiple secret IDs for utilitarian purposes, and he’s concerned with global social issues like pollution and overpopulation. He’s even got that reckless Golden Age/New 52 personality that’s specifically contrasted against Clark’s.
Additionally, New Metropolis (an experimental floating city designed to alleviate problems with overpopulation) also opens at the same time Kalel debuts as the new Superman, and I have a theory that Jon will also be getting a “new” Metropolis if/when Metropolis becomes an eco city that’s designed to alleviate problems with climate change, like in Future State. Both ideas place a brand new Superman in a re-imagined, environmentally conscious Metropolis.
For all the Superman successor prototypes out there, I wonder if it’s a coincidence that the vision of Superman 2020 from a handful of backups in the 80s is fairly close to the actual 2020s Superman successor.
Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 09-07-2021 at 06:45 AM.
"People’s Dreams... Have No Ends"
I always liked the idea that Superman puts out the big fires while Clark Kent uses his journalism to highlight underlying issues. I was pleased to see there was actually a Red and Blue issue recently that touched on this dynamic. Superman would save the day and Clark Kent would write an story about the cause of the problem but Superman's heroics would overshadow Clark Kent's journalism until Clark decided to write about Superman himself. It's an idea that I think has merit but I don't recall being explored much.
And of course they can't do it now because the Clark Kent identity is effectively gone.