Fixing Jon

[exile001]

Jon is, and has always been, a bland and predictable nothing character. Sure, he exists, but what has he actually done in a decade? What has been added by such a major new character?

What sets him apart from his Dad (outside of Superman having to work to become what he is vs nepotism)? What does he like that his Dad doesn't? What does he do different to his Dad? Why should we care about him when we have his Dad? He doesn't even have a Kryptonian name.

He arrived already 8-10, so we skipped the excitement of a pregnancy/birth. He immediately started finding his powers, so we skipped to a base-power level with no complications. He palled around with Damian in some meaningless (apparently fun) basically non-cannon adventures, then jumped to Superman-lite.

None of this is remotely interesting, compelling or surprising. None of this established a new character or the start of their journey.

DC have done what pretty much happens every single time a super-hero kid comes in. The safest route to the blandest kid-version of the lead character. There was never a plan for Jon (initially) and DC didn't want to put in the work to make a compelling character for him (admittedly, everything surrounding bringing him in and Rebirth was a clusterfuck). They eventually locked in on "replacement Superman" and now we're stuck with him.

To say nothing about what it has taken from Lois, who was relegated to wife/mother (thank you, Williamson, and to a degree Bendis).

If DC wants to turn him around, in my opinion, they have no choice but to go backwards. Go back and show us his journey. Show Superman and Lois dealing with the pregnancy. Show the years of Clark and Lois being good parents before the powers kicked in. Show us Jon slowly learning his powers over years with his Dad as teacher (and access to the Fortress), and how that is different to Clark who had to do it solo. What new challenges did/does Jon face?

Show his years on Earth 3 moulding him into an adult and actual hero, learning right and wrong, not just his Dad's ideals aand teaching but through experience - i.e.. have him out on Earth 3, a world where good literally cannot win, fighting to be a hero, a supporting cast, loves, betrayals, little wins and big losses, actually making him a rounded and original character rather than a watered down version of his Dad.

As for now? Shunt him off to the future with the LoSH, add him to a multi-versal Justice League, have him be Superman's emissary and live on Zod's New Krypton (also a waste of a decade, bring on Kneel Before Zod!), send him back to Krypton's past, Colu, Czarnia, back to Earth 3, anywhere!

Just give him adventures as far away from his Dad, Metropolis, and everything else that only detracts from his being something fresh and original.

Jon has been around for a long time and I still have no idea why I should care. I have Superman, why do I need a less interesting spare who doesn't even have a cohesive journey to this point that I can read?

To make a lazy parallel, Gohan's journey may have been messy and disjointed but at least an attempt was made to show growth and establish why we should care about Goku's son (until that changed). DC had no interest in doing that, they just wanted to jump to the "Superman but younger bit", the least interesting part.

If you want an indictment of the character, he's been around for a almost decade and pretty much the only conversation around here is complaining that he was aged up (moaning he has a boyfriend is a distant second). The guy has made so little impact that DC made a show specifically about Superman having kids and didn't use the comics version of Jon (in fact, went as far away as possible).

I genuinely hope the next DC reboot wipes him away so they can try again with an actual plan, as what we currently have is nothing but an encumbrance to the Superman mythos.

He's not even that bad, he's just a completely unnecessary extra. I might sound like I hate him but I nothing him. I largely forget he exists until he is actually on panel, just being another Superman, and then I forget him again.

[Will Evans]

Cho!!chooo!!!the jon train has left the station!! But..

If they want to fix him.Get him far away from the savior powerpuff girls shtick his dad has.Make him live with bibbo bibbowski or something.Age up damian so that supersons is back.Have jon be an absolute knuckle head mischievous pain in the ass his boyscout dad has to deal with.Aka The superman of metropolis.Get rid of the tights and bring back the torn jeans and sweater he used to wear.Tights are his dad's thing.Bring the time luchadores...


I think the main problem right now with jon is taylor and his idea of superman

We would get the same "hope more" shtick..now in blue colour

There’s no reason to age up Damien for the supersons to be back.
They were always 3 years age gap between them. Originally it was Jon as 10 and Damien as 13.
Currently it’s Jon as 17 and Damien as 14.

It’s just that Jon is the older one now.

[manwhohaseverything]

There’s no reason to age up Damien for the supersons to be back.
They were always 3 years age gap between them. Originally it was Jon as 10 and Damien as 13.
Currently it’s Jon as 17 and Damien as 14.

It’s just that Jon is the older one now.

Which sucks..damian being older more experienced one..while jon being the more powerful shyone with mischievous streak was better.

It really addressed what I feel are the problems with the character.

Sorry I won't just blindly accept whatever is put my way and pretend its something great or even interesting. I think DC botched this from the start and keep doubling down on their mistake.

I find Otho & Osul more interesting and they've been around 5 minutes, but they have a clear origin, a strong story to bring them in with directions laid out for the future, and a bond that we've seen forged in the comics. I believe in them as characters and their place with Superman more than I do with Jon after all these years.

You may completely disagree, and that's fine, but the thread is called fixing Jon and I don't think that can start until the problems are identified and resolved.

You just described clark kent to me when he isn't written by a morrison,moore,siegel..etc.Otho or osa whatever they are called are even worse.I was not a fan of pkj run and i had to drop it .I wanted a real genuine gladiator run akin to Spartacus and i got jesus in gladiator suit.It had great art though and loved the design

[Factor]

There's so many of us that want Jon restored to what he was. I'm not the biggest fan of Jon but that's mostly because of how he was handled from inception.

If I had my way, the way I'd fix him would be to slowly reveal that the Jon Kent that we've been following lately is really the post-crisis Matrix. I'd make it so that Matrix was somehow captured and experimented on by Ultraman as well and developed a psychological fixation on Jon similar to how they developed a fixation on Superman when they first came to the post-crisis earth.

I'd make it so that Jon was still a kid and still trapped on Earth 3, maybe a little bit older like 1-2 years older. He'd be trying to be a hero on Earth 3.

I'd change Matrix's gender to they/them and keep the relationship with Jay and preserve the bi-sexuality and connection to Superman. Jon would be rescued in a big event.

All the history of the aged-up Jon would still exist. LGBTQ themes could still be explored in the Superman family books in even more ways. Super Sons would be able to return as a series. I'd just wave away the Bendis Legion as a product of hypertime, which to be fair all Legion stories kinda are since the advent of Hypertime as a concept.

What do folks think? How would you fix Jon? Does Jon even need fixing? You decide!

Fixing Jon doesn't involve keeping him trapped for years on Earth-3. That whole thing should leave so many emotional scars that the character would be unrecognizable. As a kid or a teen. And that's the biggest problem the character has. Bigger than the age-up, IMO.

[witchboy]

There's so many of us that want Jon restored to what he was. I'm not the biggest fan of Jon but that's mostly because of how he was handled from inception.

If I had my way, the way I'd fix him would be to slowly reveal that the Jon Kent that we've been following lately is really the post-crisis Matrix. I'd make it so that Matrix was somehow captured and experimented on by Ultraman as well and developed a psychological fixation on Jon similar to how they developed a fixation on Superman when they first came to the post-crisis earth.

I'd make it so that Jon was still a kid and still trapped on Earth 3, maybe a little bit older like 1-2 years older. He'd be trying to be a hero on Earth 3.

I'd change Matrix's gender to they/them and keep the relationship with Jay and preserve the bi-sexuality and connection to Superman. Jon would be rescued in a big event.

All the history of the aged-up Jon would still exist. LGBTQ themes could still be explored in the Superman family books in even more ways. Super Sons would be able to return as a series. I'd just wave away the Bendis Legion as a product of hypertime, which to be fair all Legion stories kinda are since the advent of Hypertime as a concept.

What do folks think? How would you fix Jon? Does Jon even need fixing? You decide!

Revealing that Superman's bisexual son is really a genderless blob of shapechanging protomatter that had previously presented as a woman 99% of the time seems higly problematic. I suppose if kid Jon were quickly confirmed to be bisexual it would be less problematic.

[Morgoth]

I would send him on some sort of huge space adventure, focus on his actual trauma from his time on Earth-3 + I would try to make him different from Clark, because it's getting ridicilous at this point.
Regarding possible writers, King or Ewing would be good candidates, imo. And, of course, keep Taylor away.

[Monari]

Revealing that Superman's bisexual son is really a genderless blob of shapechanging protomatter that had previously presented as a woman 99% of the time seems higly problematic. I suppose if kid Jon were quickly confirmed to be bisexual it would be less problematic.

I don't see how that would be problematic at all. In fact, if anything, it would help further the progressive message by way of a character for whom gender is both a social and literal construct, helping deconstruct the concept further. Their sexuality also wouldn't be affected since sexuality and gender are wholly separate concepts. Finally this wouldn't be the same Matrix that was going by Supergirl previously, this would likely be a new version of the character.

[Will Evans]

I don't see how that would be problematic at all. In fact, if anything, it would help further the progressive message by way of a character for whom gender is both a social and literal construct, helping deconstruct the concept further. Their sexuality also wouldn't be affected since sexuality and gender are wholly separate concepts. Finally this wouldn't be the same Matrix that was going by Supergirl previously, this would likely be a new version of the character.

Lol. You guys are talking about bringing back Matrix for Jon, when editorial won’t even bring Matrix back for Linda Danvers.
Face it, Matrix is too convoluted to bring back for modern DC. They’re not going to bring her back to confuse even more people.

[Journey]

Why does he need to be a superhero identity?he can just be an adventure characters..Like a fantastic four,if we are being closer to him.He doesn't need to give up superman title cause he is superman..He can just give up clrk's motivation to be the savior.

Making him Superman was a mistake a big beef people have always had with Jon was he doesn’t differentiate from Clark, sure even when he was Superboy people had beef because that was Connor’s thing but that just proves my point beyond his sexuality Jon has no individuality to stand on. He needs to discover himself this is a boy who lost years of his life in isolation & the. Immediately hopped back into the superhero bs & just bandwagoned off his dad he never had a chance to discover himself, even now Jon takes on a lot of Jay’s beliefs & calls them his own, he doesn’t know who he is.

[Journey]

There’s no reason to age up Damien for the supersons to be back.
They were always 3 years age gap between them. Originally it was Jon as 10 and Damien as 13.
Currently it’s Jon as 17 and Damien as 14.

It’s just that Jon is the older one now.

Jon being older than Damien ruins their relationship entirely IMO it gonna go to deep into it but now i have a hard time seeing them as best friends & more so just another older brother figure for Damian but they still always try & act like nothings changed it’s dumb to me personally but I agree Damien should stay the same if anything they should knock Jon down a few years.

[Journey]

Fixing Jon doesn't involve keeping him trapped for years on Earth-3. That whole thing should leave so many emotional scars that the character would be unrecognizable. As a kid or a teen. And that's the biggest problem the character has. Bigger than the age-up, IMO.

That’s another thing all the trauma should exist doesn’t exist, & now Tom Taylor believes he handled all the trauma in his lil mini that ended up being complete waste of time & Injustice mini Bs, either way Ultraman is dead now so any chance of Jon properly handling trauma is gone now.

[Noodle]

They only thing they need to fix is getting rid of the electricity powers, and even that isn't aggressively bad or anything. Just dumb.

[HsssH]

I did enjoy his friendship with Damian and I probably would have liked a rivalry with Lor. But I guess that really just shows that I don't care that much about Jon as a character, but more as a guy that others interact with. And I'll probably end up liking Lor more than I ever did Jon.

Edit: I guess my point is that there is nothing to be done, Jon wasn't a good character when he debuted and in recent years he didn't improve at all.

[Celgress]

That’s another thing all the trauma should exist doesn’t exist, & now Tom Taylor believes he handled all the trauma in his lil mini that ended up being complete waste of time & Injustice mini Bs, either way Ultraman is dead now so any chance of Jon properly handling trauma is gone now.

Indeed, Jon's trauma has been poorly dealt with. What should be a defining character trait is barely touched upon.

[king81992]

Give Jon his own unique team. There are plenty of characters that would make for interesting team members and challenge Jon's philosophy/ benefit from his outlook.