SUPERMAN #2 Discussion (SPOILERS)

[Sacred Knight]

Ahh, okay, so it was Jon's blood. But I disagree Eradicator didn't take anything from New 52 Superman, because it says the same thing at the Fortress that it said when it encountered Jon's blood. "Kryptonian genome detected", when it assimilates Clark's glasses whatnot. So it seems like there's genetic material there that he absorbed as well. Which would make sense. Easy to imagine skin cells being on the glasses. It seems likely to me that he has the genome of both Jon and New Superman in him. Which could be an interesting dynamic to play with.

Which begs the question who is Eradicator referring to when it says "We will save you too, Kal-El." (and why does it refer to itself in plural)? Is he referring to Superdad or New 52 Superman? My money is on the latter.

Either way this looks better than the first issue. Might check out the full deal. I also saw the splash of Jon revealing his S shirt and I admit it was cute. The childish tongue-sticking-out made me laugh.

[Jadeb]

There's a splash page in this issue that's the best I've read in a Superman book in a very long time. Possibly ever. And it's entirely devoid of action.

[Superlad93]

Perhaps it is a combination of Jon being half human and that using heat vision drains his powers the same way the solar flare drains the other superman's powers. Or maybe like ultra boy, Jon can only use one power at a time.

I'm not sure they'd go the Ultra boy direction. But I might be able to get behind you on that power drain idea. Maybe his human half makes it so he has less of a filter or natural limiter on his powers like a full blood. Like normally maybe a full blooded Kryptonian has the luxury of having his or her body "know" how much power to put into a situation in order to keep them self after the fact. But maybe Jon's body doesn't have that? Maybe he has to work twice as hard to get the level of control that other Kryptonians?

It's hard to say really, because Jon absolutely had durability and flight in L&C and Action Comics. Maybe "super adrenaline" is a big factor of his powers? All of the times he used his powers (save flight) he's been under some sort of hormonal excitement.

[Superlad93]

Ahh, okay, so it was Jon's blood. But I disagree Eradicator didn't take anything from New 52 Superman, because it says the same thing at the Fortress that it said when it encountered Jon's blood. "Kryptonian genome detected", when it assimilates Clark's glasses whatnot. So it seems like there's genetic material there that he absorbed as well. Which would make sense. Easy to imagine skin cells being on the glasses. It seems likely to me that he has the genome of both Jon and New Superman in him. Which could be an interesting dynamic to play with.

Which begs the question who is Eradicator referring to when it says "We will save you too, Kal-El." (and why does it refer to itself in plural)? Is he referring to Superdad or New 52 Superman? My money is on the latter.

Either way this looks better than the first issue. Might check out the full deal. I also saw the splash of Jon revealing his S shirt and I admit it was cute. The childish tongue-sticking-out made me laugh.

Ah you're right about that. I'd forgotten. Also from what I can tell both Supermen have the very same genetic code, otherwise how would Eradicator view Jon as the house of El. So it's up in the air regarding what Superman he's talking about.

Lol Jon's little tongue sticking out shirt rip moment was pretty great

[The Whovian]

You said it better than I could. Wonderful issue, and I love the family. It's my favorite part of the book.

Same here. I like this the most

[The Whovian]

There's a splash page in this issue that's the best I've read in a Superman book in a very long time. Possibly ever. And it's entirely devoid of action.

Which splash page?

[Superlad93]

I'm reminded of this scene from All Star Superman when I look at the page where Clark and Jon are sitting in the snow. Might be an intentional slight wink to it.

[JLH]

A heartfelt and enjoyable issue. There was payoff for past story lines and set up for future ones. The writing was good and the art, beautiful. Not much else I can ask for when it comes to a comic, honestly.

I agree. I'll add that I don't think I've ever enjoyed Superman more.

[BFF]

There's a splash page in this issue that's the best I've read in a Superman book in a very long time. Possibly ever. And it's entirely devoid of action.

Which splash page?

The "House of El" one, I presume. Great page.

[The Whovian]

The "House of El" one, I presume. Great page.

Yep, that is a great page

[Sacred Knight]

Remember the early Jon Lane Kent ideas in Superboy. In that future Jon's dual genetics began attacking him, making him sick. Are these early signs, such as invulnerability not kicking in, be a sign that Jon is going to start getting sick too? I would think it too early to introduce that yet even if it were in the cards, but its something I could see groundwork being laid toward a storyline like that.

[Tony]

I loved most of it but don't care for the little girls reaction. Doesn't feel like a real little girl to me. I think the grandpa would have good reason to think ill of Clark if for no other reason than his kid fell out of a tree and was knocked out yet he doesn't want to rush to get X-Rays. If grandpa is close with the town doctor and finds out he never goes in it might raise suspicion of bad parenting if nothing else.

Everything with the training and the talk afterword was magic.

[Superlad93]

Remember the early Jon Lane Kent ideas in Superboy. In that future Jon's dual genetics began attacking him, making him sick. Are these early signs, such as invulnerability not kicking in, be a sign that Jon is going to start getting sick too?

Well he's had invulnerability before. He was utterly immune to fire Lois and Clark. But his powers seem to be "flickering". They only seem to be usable under stressful situations (aside from flight which he did via concentration in Lois and Clark). So far think Gohan from Dragon Ball since it's emotion based and he has to work extra hard to limit it when used.

It's also worth noting that Jon Lane Kent was about 3 years old when his powers came in, they were all TK, and he fell ill VERY early in life. While it's working with the same fruitful plot detail of the complications that might come along with being a hybrid, but it's doesn't seem to be following Jon Lane's template at all.

I also doubt they'd want to bring back any Lobdell idea, least of all ones that would directly link to the now shelved Superboy (Kon-El)

[Sacred Knight]

Out-there theory: "Kathy" is a Legionnaire, perhaps a daughter of Imra and Garth. Her "father" is...R.J. Brande!

As for Lobdell's ideas...I question these days whether anything he did with the Jon Lane Kent character were his ideas. Considering where we're at now, and that the book originally started with the heavy implication that Kon was still a clone of Lex and Superman, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was an edict. In which case it really wouldn't be using Lodell's idea but rather dipping into the original Jon ideas from whoever champions the character. And I genuinely think it'd be a cool idea. Show us why in the past they used to say that Kryptonian and Human could not conceive. Something at the genetic level harming him, that Superman would have to desperately fight to find a cure to, I think would be a cool storyline. It was a neat idea in the first place outside the dumb Harvest stuff.

[Superlad93]

Doesn't feel like a real little girl to me. I think the grandpa would have good reason to think ill of Clark if for no other reason than his kid fell out of a tree and was knocked out yet he doesn't want to rush to get X-Rays. If grandpa is close with the town doctor and finds out he never goes in it might raise suspicion of bad parenting if nothing else.

Might be where Kathy comes and dispels some suspicion.

I also agree with you her being a bot unbelievable. HOWEVER, if we could get some sort of back story for her it may shed some light. Like maybe she was saved by a superhero before? Maybe it has to deal with why she isn't living with her mom and dad?

I will say that I'm a little bummed out that she's just blond haired and blue eyed. Some diversity would have been appreciated here. Just seems a little basic. But I don't have an actual issue with her and look forward to deepening her story with Jon.