Conner Kent/Kon-El/Superboy Appreciation 2022

[Frontier]

I love those covers !

Love this variant. Apparently Fitzmartin doesn’t know that Conner already found out that Cassie and Tim were together while he was dead since it looks like she’s digging that back up for the YJ Dark Crisis tie-in. Great, can’t wait for the CW tier drama. Ugh just gotta get through that until Conner’s solo and his participation in the Superfamily crossover I guess.

Yeah, didn't they already talk about it?

Me too. Adventure Comics #2 is one of my favorite single issues of all time, nice to have it acknowledge here.

Yeah, same here.

[Digifiend]

I feel like we need a character list for this one O-o'

Top row: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Superboy (Conner Kent). Second row: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Nightwing, Robin (Tim Drake). Third row: Spoiler, Superboy (Jon Kent), Robin (Damian Wayne), Red Hood, Signal, Cir-El, Supergirl (Linda Danvers), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Jimmy Olsen, Bluebird. Then other five kids in the background at the bottom are Signal's buddies from the We Are Robin gang.

[marhawkman]

Top row: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Superboy (Conner Kent). Second row: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Nightwing, Robin (Tim Drake). Third row: Spoiler, Superboy (Jon Kent), Robin (Damian Wayne), Red Hood, Signal, Cir-El, Supergirl (Linda Danvers), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Jimmy Olsen, Bluebird. Then other five kids in the background at the bottom are Signal's buddies from the We Are Robin gang.

Ohh.. cool.

[SuperX]

Never expected to see Cir or Linda acknowledged again (even if it is just a variant)!

it is so axing to see Linda and cir with Kon, Kara, and young kon, this is what the young super family should like (super-man and Natasha added would complete this).

Like how Kara is with dick and Babs, Jon and Damian, kon, Tim, and cir, and Linda with Jason, that's how you do their ages.PG(karen) and Steel(John) Imo should be in supermans age group so wouldn't be on this Pic.

Now thst this has been put out into the universe,it cant go back into the bottle, it's time for a super family series, with Linda and cir right where they belong, with the rest of the fam

[Kirk Brent]

My problem with the current writing of Bi and Gay is the apparent need to over romanticize it to the point it becomes an ideal fantasy to the point loosing any chemistry and intrest in the story that the only conflict comes from the cringy "homophobic straw man" or obvious "will they won't they" which yeah no they will because of course basically become a bad slice of life novella where the gays are so bland and uninteresting is that the only you can tell about them is that they're gay.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining it as best as you want me to

I didn't know about some of this. You did a good job of answering my question and I understand where you're coming from. As someone who started reading right as Tim came aboard (actually just as "Death In The Family" was releasing) and for a good fifteen years after, I've never seen any indication that Tim or Connor are anything but heterosexual. It appears that some of the later stuff you mentioned was during the period I wasn't reading as much.

a couple of you got your "codes"essed up, kon is straight,always been portrayed that way, never even the slightest but of any other way to look at it.

Now after thst is understood the fact that ppl judt can't accept reality and be OK with it is sad to me. shouldn't matter what side he falls on, he should be looked at as a cool character regardless, just so happens he is straight, and Tim is bi, shouldn't change anything,they are what they are.

Sorry, but I don't think there's any real indication that Tim or Connor are bisexual. Seems to me that "subtext" was added by later writers because, as we've discussed in this very thread, it's too risky to create a new character that might not get big headlines.

No it isn’t. It’s what a very loud minority group wants but to say the majority of Conner fans want it isn’t true. Totally disagree about Conner being “queer coded”, as seen with Tim devolving into a fanfic tier character, there’s a gulf of difference between the characters as they actually exist and shippers perception of them. It was the Teen Titans era not the YJ era, specifically when Kon died and Tim started doing all sorts of weird stuff that you wouldn’t expect a straight guy to do - even for a beloved friend - that caused the shipping to really take off.

I don’t care about Tim, and his fanbase had more or less disappeared thanks to DC’s continuously messing with him, making Tim bi has reignited interest in him. Now he’s the gay male rep in the Batfamily which is fine. That’s not the case for Conner, he’s already plenty popular thanks to his usage in stuff like the Titans and YJ shows. Most people know about Conner through those shows, and in those shows he’s paired with women. His most popular romantic relationship amongst general Conner fans is probably M’gann of all characters because of YJ. Amongst general Conner comic book fans it’s Cassie. Finally there’s Jon as the queer rep in the Superfamily (and if I had my way Apollo too).


Uh… no? I’m one of five children and one of three sons. One of my brothers is flamboyantly gay, but myself and the other brother are straight. So Jon being queer doesn’t really mean anything for Conner’s status.


Because straight dudes don’t want to have sex with their male friends lmao, does every gay man who has a friendship with a woman secretly want to **** her? Look stuff like this is exactly the kind of thing that makes me just want to dissolve the Conner/Tim friendship entirely. If every interaction between the two is going to be Tim writers throwing shippers bait, and shippers demanding the two get together, then put an end to it and have Conner move on. That will force Tim’s new fanbase to find someone else to pair him with, preferably someone who is actually gay.

As a fan of Tim, I disagree that it's "fine" that he's now consider bisexual. That said, the current Tim is no more the original Tim I followed from 1988 to 2011 anyway. Still, it's a shame that characters with established fanbases have to be "repurposed" for nothing more than headline-grabbing stunts. I agree with as well about male/female friendships. The idea that people of any sex can't have platonic relationships is ludicrous.

Well. I stand corrected, I suppose. However, in all fairness, you can't deny that Connor was queer-coded from his inception as a character - he was born from two men. So, i'd argue, that a form of queerness has already been fundamentally hardwired into his origins. I do agree that a lot of the coding came after the YJ run, however even before that run you saw Connor always working to overcompensate with the ladies, in the same way that Bobby Drake did. The idea of a gay man coping with his homosexuality by overcompensating with women is all too common, and again, Connor is still just a teenager. If Alan Scott is only able to come to terms with his repressed queerness after decades of marriage then it's not out of the question that Connor isn't fully settled in his identity. In fact, i'd argue that 99% of all people aren't, if they're being truly honest with themselves. Connor's profile wasn't any better than Jon's, he was gone from comics for years and even with the YJ appearances, I think he could have used the boost to his popularity more than Jon could have tbh. But that's another argument. All that to be said, I don't really see how it would harm his character if he were revealed to have some queer feelings for Tim. It would just add depth imo.

Connor was not "queer coded" from his inception. I was there to witness his creation. One of his first acts after escaping Cadmus was to hit on Lois Lane and any other beautiful woman he found. Even after Johns' awful retcon of his origin, he was portrayed as heterosexual. I know that might offend you, but it's nevertheless true. Not everything is "coded" to match your view of reality. The same is true for everyone, so I don't meant to single you out with that statement. I just feel that many people these days have to take new developments of old characters as something "that's always been there." The truth is, endless reboots and adjustments means these aren't the same characters any longer. If you're happy that post-Metal Tim is bisexual or that Jon Kent is gay, that's great. Just know the previous versions of both weren't and aren't suddenly retconned as a result of later developments.

Wow! Is that a popular reading in fandom? That's problematic since that is an argument often used in real life by those against same sex couples having kids/adopting.
two men parenting a child doesn't automatically mean that the kid is going to be LGBTQ. That's not a narrative that comics should be enforcing.

There are other ways to add depth to Kon that doesn't require making more like the other Young male character in the Super franchise.

If DC wants to have an sought of meaningful depth that can be mined for quality stories then they should lean into aspects of the character that are unique to him. Aspects that aren't present in various other males from his generation. Like his link to Luthor for example.

I agree with you except for the link to Luthor. I always hated that retcon. I'm not sure what Johns was thinking when he wrote that.

Never expected to see Cir or Linda acknowledged again (even if it is just a variant)!

This is a pretty great image and it's what I'd prefer to see. So much of Jon Kent's potential was wasted because of DiDio and Bendis. I would have loved to see Connor and Jon form a brotherly bond.

[skyvolt2000]

I didn't know about some of this. You did a good job of answering my question and I understand where you're coming from. As someone who started reading right as Tim came aboard (actually just as "Death In The Family" was releasing) and for a good fifteen years after, I've never seen any indication that Tim or Connor are anything but heterosexual. It appears that some of the later stuff you mentioned was during the period I wasn't reading as much.

Remember when we first got Tim-how many LGBTQA+ characters were doing anything of substance in books? Let alone had a solo? At least at DC. Dc did have at least 2 LGBTQA+ writers-who both were working for Milestone and later on a few DC books.

I would suspect no one was even thinking about making either one LGBTQA+. They just wrote the stories.

And for the most part the writers were Peter David and Chuck Dixon for those two.

[SuperX]

Conner is straight, Tim is bi, kon is bi, period. now can we get back to actual heroes saving the day and fighting evil scientist giant robots

[rpmaluki]

Conner is straight, Tim is bi, kon is bi, period. now can we get back to actual heroes saving the day and fighting evil scientist giant robots

Don't you mean Jon is bi?

[Vordan]

Don't you mean Jon is bi?

He just misspelt Jon.

[SuperX]

He just misspelt Jon.

thank you, my auto correct is insane.... check all my posts lol

[Vordan]

Well YJ: Dark Crisis is out and I bought it for Conner but…

8891CC88-CF4F-40BD-B2C6-0A7A2F6501ED.jpg

Not expecting this to be very good when I get around to it. God his solo and that Superfamily crossover can’t come soon enough.

[SuperX]

I didn't care for it for many reasons, and DC approved this for so many issues

[Vordan]

Finally read it. It was fine I guess, not as bad as I feared it would be, but still not great. I’m tempted just to drop it but I guess it might be important for what comes after.

[Monari]

YoungJustice.jpg

Just want to say that straight teenage boys would not be reacting this way in this scenario....

[marhawkman]

YoungJustice.jpg

Just want to say that straight teenage boys would not be reacting this way in this scenario....

Yeah they could. It's as simple as not wanting HER to do that.