Superman is in the perfect place he’s been in years. 2025’s Superman did a unbelievable job of bringing him again into the cultural eye and DC Comics was prepared for all the consideration, publishing superb Superman comics and making him integral to DC All-In. Since 2021’s blockbuster “Warworld Saga”, Superman and Motion Comics have been two of the perfect superhero books on the cabinets, one thing that has continued into the current day. The Superman nook of DC has been a significant undertaking for the writer over the past decade; the Man of Metal had been significantly broken by the New 52, so DC did one thing that nobody ever anticipated them to do to repair the issue – give Superman and Lois Lane a son, Jon Kent. Jon was launched within the Convergence crossover, in a narrative that simply appeared like a love letter to post-Disaster Superman and never the blueprint for the long run, however he would finally change into the middle of a brand new Kent household push.
Followers beloved the thought of Lois and Clark with a toddler, and that led DC to creating them the primary line Kent household in 2016’s profitable DC Rebirth reboot. Jon turned one of the crucial beloved elements of this new established order, one thing that was compounded by the e book SuperSons, placing Jon and Damian Wayne collectively to struggle evil. Younger Jon was a favourite of mid ’10s DC followers, with readers anticipating a few years of tales with the preteen Kryptonian/human hybrid. Nonetheless, Brian Michael Bendis coming to DC to put in writing Superman would change all of that. Jon was made into a young person within the early part of the run, and nothing has been the identical. Followers have been outraged ever since, however I feel it’s time to confess one thing that nobody desires to – DC was proper to age up Jon Kent.
SuperSons Was Nice However Jon As Superman Is Higher
Superman had lengthy been the daddy of the DC superhero group, so giving him a son was the right concept. Jon Kent was every part you’d anticipate the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane to be – a kind-hearted child who was good and curious sufficient to get himself into hassle. It was superior attending to see the Kent household take down the Eradicator in Superman (Vol. 4) #1-5 as a unit and we received extra nice adventures with the Kents educating their son the ropes of being a accountable superpowered particular person. Teaming him with Damian in SuperSons was the right subsequent step, letting readers see him not solely use the teachings he had discovered from his mother and father but in addition study new stuff from Damian.
There was a time in 2017 and 2018 when SuperSons was one of the crucial beloved books on the stands and followers have been trying ahead to a long term of those two characters working collectively. Followers beloved the tales with Jon and Clark working collectively, beloved seeing him and Damian get into insane hijinks, and beloved the way in which he interacted with the remainder of the DC Universe. They needed extra of that, which is why growing old him up brought on such an uproar. The writer was mainly 10 out of 10 with the younger hero and utterly altering the course wasn’t one thing that quite a lot of followers needed.
At first, it made sense; Jon was performed as an edgy teen character, held prisoner for years by Ultraman on Earth-3, and was nothing just like the younger hero readers had fallen in love. These early months of Jon’s return have been actually fairly tough; I didn’t hate growing old him up, however I wasn’t pleased with what they have been doing in lieu of SuperSons. Nonetheless, Bendis did a very good job of constructing the character up as his run went on, exhibiting him recover from the traumas of his current previous. He wasn’t precisely the character he had been, however he was creating. This could result in his greatest promotion but, when he turned Superman after Kal-El left the Earth in “Warworld Saga”.
Jon solely spent a few yr as Superman with out his father round, popping out as bisexual, and helming his personal solo collection. Whereas it wasn’t probably the most superb time within the character’s existence, it proved to be precisely the step he wanted. Jon confirmed that he was able to be Superman on his personal if he needed to be, that every part he had discovered from his mother and father within the first ten years of his life had paid off. The most effective examples of that is the underrated Darkish Disaster on Infinite Earths, the place Jon did his finest to step into his father’s boots and assist save the multiverse. He ended up enjoying an important function within the occasion, exhibiting that the subsequent technology was prepared for the ball.
Since then, Jon has taken one thing of a backseat. He’s most not too long ago been made into the star of the Dan Slott-written Superman Limitless, helming the e book as Tomorrow Man throughout “Reign of the Superboys”, which noticed what gave the impression to be a younger him exhibiting up, a narrative that excited followers who needed younger Jon again. In fact, there was extra to it than met the attention and it was one more instance of why Jon is so superior. Slott does a unbelievable job with the character, introducing him into the e book as a reporter for The Each day Planet in Smallville. Slott was in a position to make him into the right combination of Lois and Clark – a wise, respectful, but tenacious reporter who doesn’t cease till he will get the story and is prepared to bend the foundations. It’s every part that we may have needed the character to be after we have been picturing how he would end up.
Dropping SuperSons Jon was a blow, there’s little question about it. The e book was superior and it was taking Jon and Damian in some cool instructions. Nonetheless, in case you have been ever a fan of Jon, you need to be pleased with the character no matter whether or not he was aged up or not. He’s developed into a tremendous hero, one who has really earned the Superman identify. The Superman household has hit a brand new stage and actually, this aged up Jon makes it higher than it will have been if he was youthful. He’s change into a key a part of the DC superhero group, all as a result of DC made an unpopular resolution with him.
We All Miss Child Jon however Older Jon Is Vastly Superior
The 2010s have been a tremendous time for younger characters. Marvel launched us to Kamala Khan, Miles Morales, and Sam Alexander, whereas DC gave us Jon Kent. Jon was the right subsequent step for Superman as a personality, exhibiting him as an precise father or mother for the primary time. It led to new tales for the Man of Metal, in addition to an entire new younger character to mould. Like everybody else again within the day, I beloved SuperSons, so its shock cancellation was a blow. Inside a yr, Jon was utterly totally different, sparking a fireplace storm within the DC fandom (to not be confused with a Firestorm).
Since then, complaints about Jon Kent has been one thing that Superman followers simply must dwell with. More often than not, it’s actually unhealthy actors mad that he got here out as bisexual and are straightforward to disregard. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply that there is no such thing as a cause to be mad about him being aged up; it’s simply time to let it go. SuperSons Jon Kent was nice, however present Superman Jon Kent is method higher. Younger Jon would have been enjoyable, however all we’d have gotten have been stereotypical younger hero tales for what may have been a long time (have a look at Franklin Richards; he was a toddler since earlier than I used to be born and I’m no spring hen). Growing older him up allowed the character to be taken in new instructions, with these instructions altering the general narrative of the DC Multiverse. Younger Jon was nice, however older Jon is the place it’s at.