The Problem With Jon Kent Superman - Explained

[@barbos1507]

What Bendis did to Superboy is a crime on itself. He effectively killed the new character that audience liked. So many stories that never came to be, it's just sad.

[@shadowednight1600]

Plus DC won't age him down because of reasons. Stupid reasons at that

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

Agreed, so much potential wasted.

[@declan6602]

But... they still make stories with him as a kid, hell, yesterday's Action Comics had a kid Jon story

[@bakasta5992]

@@shadowednight1600honestly as much as Superboy was better, having Jon be aged back puts a bad taste in my mouth. I’m tired of comics going back to status quos and removing progress characters has made. I don’t want major character developments to be set back because that sets a precedent that other characters can be set back to an earlier date. Comics need to move away from erasing character development. I think instead of literally erasing Jon back to being a child, DC should write him better and bring back some of the elements people liked about him as a kid to him as an adult. Put Tomasi on Jon Kent Superman run, I’m sure people would fall back in love with him.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

@@bakasta5992 but they skipped his character development by aging him up. And any attempts at new character development feels hallow and boring. It would be weird if they made him similar to young Jon Kent because that's not the character anymore. That's not how he acts, he's almost like an entirely different person.

[@JesusFreak98]

Jon Kent worked for two reasons. 1) Superman as a father isn't a dynamic I knew I needed, the Cw show is the best superman content in a while in my opinion 2) Damian, their dynamic is just hilarious

[@mrmoviemanic1]

Jon should also imo be his own superhero, Damien is Robin but Damien could become another type of Superhero later down the track too.

[@kavyasvirtualworld6119]

truth

[@katakovacs2066]

I would also add Jon taming his powers/emotions.

[@sharkygum2221]

i completely agree, thats why I hate how he was aged up. Aging him up took away that adorable father-son dynamic, and took away an amazing friendship that could’ve gave both Jon and Damian great character development.

[@thalmoragent9344]

​@@mrmoviemanic1 Yeah, not just another "Super" dude, but a whole other costume and perhaps team

[@spider-harbinger5985]

Thank you for making this video. In my personal opinion, Jon Kent worked so much better as Superboy and around the same age at Damian Wayne. He was like Superman’s equivalent to Damian Wayne’s Robin.

[@Kira22558]

To me no Because we already got Connor Kent.

[@ElasticGoblin]

​@lord Liman / ロードリマン Connor is more like the dick grayson robin/nightwing of superman while Jon is the Damian Wayne.

[@tyrone1544]

Why do all lonely freaks feel this way?

[@declan6602]

They still make stories with kid Jon, the age up didn't ruin any story opportunities.

[@archielive2566]

@@Kira22558he was never really superman’s sidekick or always by his side

[@TimmHenson]

Jon's situation is definitive of all of the problems with DC's thought process. "Hey this is working, lets fix it."

[@thedukeofchutney468]

DC: This is working let’s “fix” it. Marvel: This isn’t working; keep it up.

[@cristiancamilocamachocombi9460]

@@thedukeofchutney468 Nailed it!,give this man a beer!.

[@erictheguapo]

Jon Kent worked in the Super Sons. Bendis ageing him was a mistake. They should have rode that out for awhile and eventually when they age him, he should have his own identity similar to how Dick Grayson grew into Nightwing.

[@erictheguapo]

Also, Jon beong bi was so painfully shoehorned. He had a realtionship being built with Kathy(i think thats her name) in the Super Sons. I was looking forward to see Kathy, Jon, Maya, and Damian form and gfow relationships while doing cool stuff but we were gipped. They aged up Jon, made him bi, and it just didn't work.

[@Kira22558]

​@@erictheguapo yes its bad

[@UnownDepth]

Bendis making Superman was a Mistake.

[@cheesydawg371]

Bendis makes a lot of bad writing decisions, but this is the one I have the most beef with. Tom Taylor tried to work with it, but I don't think I can get over having the Super Sons relationship ruined.

[@samuelpietrasinski8372]

Bendis made a terrible move turning Jon Kent into a bisexual teenager

[@ScooterinAB]

The problem I have with Superboy's change is the same problem I have with DC's films. Super Sons was fun as hell to read. It was really cute, it was charming, it was silly, and it showed the traits of their parents with needing the weight of adult conflict. Then they changed him into an adult because DC's stories aren't allowed to be fun. Just as their films are grey and boring, they took a fun comic and made it boring and edgy.

[@andergarcia4953]

Supersons was a series I rlly liked. Jon had so much potential as a character but dc rushed his development.

[@tyrone1544]

Dork

[@TevyaSmolka]

Same here I really liked super sons as well

[@katakovacs2066]

That's what's so crazy to me. DC basically ended Super Sons and separated them like they were unpopular or something. Yet i only ever saw people praising the comic and their dynamic. I don't know what people at DC smoked to end Super Sons

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@katakovacs2066 indeed I don't understand why they did it either because frankly a lot of people myself included loved super sons and the dynamic between Jonathan Samuel Kent superboy as his little 10 year old self and Damian wayne robin was a such a fun dynamic that getting rid of this amazing team just felt like a big slap in the face for us fans of the super sons who wanted to see this dynamic keep moving forward.

[@Eking-su3tr]

​@@katakovacs2066 it was june time and they wanted a gay superman. They were smoking the rainbow bucks

[@02ninjaman]

The real interest with Jon was in his youth, seeing how superman would raise his son and how the boy would be in making his own decisions. Now that he is an adult you expect him to be like his father, we didn't see Jon become his own person. Now we have expectations with the boy, which really killed it with his character. They do things to make him stand out like send him to the future, make him bi, and now he his given new powers. They have to give him something to make him appealing to others, we wanted to see this kid grow up with his family and friends.

[@Dr_Stranger3144]

You nailed it...

[@Leadeshipcoach]

Yep… you nailed it👍👊🏿

[@El3ctr0Lun4]

I severely disliked the idea of him going to the 31st century and just live there. How does that make any sense?! Also, the whole United Planets storyline was interesting until the moment the future League of Superheroes came back and they were all giddy „oh boy oh boy this is it!”. Way to deflate any interest I had in this story.

[@navonmyhand7999]

I think a problem for the writers 😮might come with him growing up naturally. Because then they have to admit that time passes and now the age gaps for characters and events look weird. Maybe they decided, "well we've done enough and I'm bored of writing this kid. I want him older" and instead of doing the hard work he was aged up super fast.

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@navonmyhand7999 bendis caused this mess from the very beginning.

[@ZeroJinxNero]

Young Jon Kent and Superman was a heart warming father and son duo. Seeing how superman is a good father and Jon developing his powers was great. Superson's will always be my favorite.

[@ToonamiT0M]

I absolutely LOVED Jon as a kid and his friendship with Damion. I was so disappointed when they tore him away from Clark and Lois and aged him up. After that I had no interest in the character, at all. I'll cherish the Super Sons stories, and I hope they keep revisiting that time like they have with the Adventures Of and Challenge Of mini series.

[@bennywark3103]

Age him up? Wow that was dumb

[@christopherbennett5858]

Yeah, aging him that much did not help. They basically made him Superman Junior. If I was writing it, if I had to age him up, 14 maximum. Just so he’s a little older than Damian and we do some cool stuff about them working together. You could have also allowed John to navigate through any trauma recovery from Earth 3. And, because I’d probably keep the bi aspect, I’d basically make him Rise Leo but allowed to have crushes. I mean, Beast boy was around 14 in the teen Titans series and he was crushing on Tera. Why not just have that be a thing for John? Plus, aging a character up like that so you can do romance really gives me the vibes of that teen who aged herself up so she and Hal could date.

[@dec2567]

Jon Kent as superman only works in dceased it seems. He's great there.

[@nobalkain624]

DCeased has the best version of both Jon and Damian.

[@TevyaSmolka]

I agree he works great in dceased

[@risingred1241]

Big facTs!

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@risingred1241 indeed

[@rayjohnnercacao3703]

It worked in DCeased as Clark was zombified and timeskip happened so he needs to step up. Main continuity doesn't have that.

[@nobalkain624]

The problem with what to call him now is that we also have Connar back, you cant have two Superboys. What I wish they had done is if they wanted Superman with no Jon, they could have had him go off and be Mentored with Connar. This would have even let Connar grow as a Character as he learns to be a Mentor and Big Brother to Jon. They could have even had a Super Sons book where Connar and Tim have to try and Mentor both Jon and Damian. So many Stories they could have still explored with Jon having remained younger.

[@xanderg.1070]

I don’t mind having two superboys with Conner and Jon, but I found disappointing when they aged up, because I was so ready to see Conner coming back to main continuity and help mentoring Jon and this brotherly bond with each other despite Conner being Jon uncle.

[@reives3498]

it feels like everything they’re trying to do with older Jon could’ve been done with Kon-El. If they wanted to make older Jon distinguishable, they could at least address those 6years. People don’t just bounce back from being tortured, and definitely not as a kid

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

Man, I would’ve loved to have seen Jon Kent grow up from childhood into adulthood. See him go through puberty, learn to drive, have his first heart break, etc. You’d think the guy who wrote Ultimate Spider-Man who has kids would want to write about that, as well.

[@TevyaSmolka]

same here as well because that story Jonathan Samuel Kent superboy going through his childhood into adult hood is way better story then the story we have now which is just bad at least in my opinion.

[@nemostrangesonginthedirt8448]

Wop Womp

[@Krypton853]

It's my favorite commentator.

[@WannabeWryter]

You think the guy who owned jessica jones would understand how a traumatized person would sound Jon went through more trauma than winter soldier red hood and cassandra cain put together and yet he never at all seemed like it. They're only recently getting to it, but considering I absolutely hated Tom Taylor's version of Jon in son of Kal-el ( And I hate that's the version most people know now) . I'm not gonna enjoy the changes he makes now with the new mini😢😢

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@WannabeWryter same here as well i am not enjoying tom taylor's version of Jon kent either and frankly at this point all i want is for Jon kent superboy back to his little 10 year old self and forget on what bendis and taylor did to my boy Jonathan Samuel Kent Superboy and move on.

[@UnusualOtaku]

I hated when they aged Jon up. For the first time I liked the Superman comics and then they aged him up and ruined his story. Damian and Jon where such a good duo.

[@TevyaSmolka]

Also I still miss Jonathan Samuel Kent Superboy being his little 10 year old self and part of me wanted Jon kent to hang out with his older brother Conner kent superboy because that story seems way more interesting then what bendis did with Jon and his horrible legion book that nobody wanted myself included.

[@machbass]

I had a friend who gave comics a try and Super sons was his favorite series. As soon as Jon was aged up, he swore off comics completely. If only comics could keep what we like instead of constantly trying to change the status queue.

[@superbrian7997]

Humans are weird. Child soldiers evil. Superhero Children good.

[@phabiorules]

Isn’t the problem with most comics is their reluctance to deviate from the status quo? Many of them change it, but then quickly go back. It’s why no one stays dead for more than a year or two.

[@DGenHero]

@@phabiorules The issue with comics is that they don't want to change the status quo, they want "shake ups".

[@christophera5055]

As a Dad with a son around the age of Superboy at the time I was very disappointed with how Bendis handled the character. It was a great chance to share my love of comics & Superman with characters who shared a dynamic that we both could relate to. I think it was lazy & thoughtless & I’d love to hear a real explanation from Bendis as to why he’d ruin such a great thing.

[@mittensfastpaw]

Because Bendis is an arrogant ass that only cares about the story he wants to tell and to hell with everything else.

[@rileywarner5258]

The Baby kicking Lois and killing her is a possible future wave rider sees in the Armageddon 2001 event. It was an event made up of annuals, I believe this was in the Superman annual

[@haroldnecmann7040]

No deeds goes unpunished

[@ShadowWingTronix]

Adventures Of Superman Annual #3. Lois dies because the baby kicks, which doesn't make sense since it shouldn't have superstrength in that continuity, and Clark leaves in grief. KZbin won't let me link to my review but it ends with Clark redeeming and being won over by Maxima.

[@MugenNiFukuzatsuna]

The hatchet job that was done on Jon Kent seems too intentional. It's like someone had a personal vendetta against that character or the character's creator. The moment they decided to age him up the same way they did with Bart Allen, I knew he was done. Because that's what you do to a character when you don't know what to do with them.

[@allstardawn6062]

@SomeFriendlessBastard True I always found it very suspicious that they aged him up the moment his character started to peak in popularity

[@christopherjimenez4578]

They missed 2 opportunities with Jon, the one of Superboy, and one that I think they could still make. What if they made a story in which he decided that he wants to grow out of the mantle, he wants to be his own thing regardless of him being Superman's son, and made him his own super hero, like when Dick Grayson stopped being Robin. I honestly think it could be a great story

[@petermann673]

"You can't just de-age him" Yes you can. Flash timefuckery retcons Bendis' run out of existence. Problem solved. But your Ultraboy solution works well too.

[@HigarashiKun]

Superman's relationship with Jon as a child was literally what drew me back into DC comics. The moment they pointlessly aged up Jon was when I dropped the comics again.

[@77mcmarine]

The whole thing felt like an unintended troll of the fans based on the 'never want characters to change' trope. And D.C. responded with here is so much change that nothing changes or makes sense...

[@mittensfastpaw]

Ya, the challenges of Superman raising a son along with Jon coming into his own as a hero and getting his powers. Then teaming up with Damian as they did hero work was just gold! Seeing him grow into being bi as he questions himself as a kid and his parents supporting him would also have been better. So many solid stories lost because of that ass Bendis aging him up and just crapping all over the Superman mythos.

[@ignatiusj.reillyprime9772]

Aging him up was so bizarre, and they did it in such a way that was so messed up. Jon Kent had to grow up on Earth 3 being tortured by a man that looked like his dad? What the hell? It was also weird that he wanted to turn him into a teenage Superboy, when he was already bringing back Conner Kent for the Young Justice relaunch. It is truly the angriest I’ve ever felt about an editorial decision. I miss the Supersons book.

[@xanderg.1070]

Honestly after Bendis aged him up, dc has no idea what they really want to do with Jon, because all of his development was skipped over and was push to be the next Superman. And the thing is, DC could have de-aged Jon way before they went too far, but they chose not to. Whether because writers chose not to because they wanted to have their spin on the character or the higher ups told them not to, they still chose to keep Jon aged up when there were multiple chances prior to Tom Taylor run to change him back into a kid, but they chose not to, and now seeing how far they are with the character it’s too late. If DC hadn’t aged up Jon Kent, there would have been so many things that we could have had such as being mentored and having a brotherly relationship with Conner Kent, creating a new Young Justice team with Damian, and developing his powers more.

[@obiomachukwuocha4918]

I miss Conner. I feel like he's never given the opportunity to shine

[@thesamuraiman]

That'd be a pretty cool "fix" for Jon Kent. A wild twist. As to be expected in comics.

[@lordultimus559]

The worst part is that by ignoring the age-up, it makes it all the more obvious, and by addressing it, it just makes it feel all the more unfair and want to return back to it all the more.

[@Rudelights]

Your solution for the Jonathan kent problem is actually very good and interesting and would make for a great story. I would pay money to see that.

[@lgr28]

Literally they could have just had Damian and Jon grow up together, go to school together, grow into their own identities separate from their parents and have their relationship not be about them being the sons of the biggest superheroes on the planet. They could have had a teen Jon figuring out that he is not straight when he ends up having a crush on a random guy in school and have that not be the singular trait that defined his character. We could have had Superman navigating parenthood and Batman coming to terms with his own shortcomings as a parent (because I lived for the Superdad and batdad interludes in the Supersons books). And let's be real Jon is the only friend Damian has had who 100% got his back (I recommend Flash 797 which has a Supersons cameo that tugs at your heartstrings) and their dynamic is super popular with kids and adults case in point the sales of the original books. With all the reboots they've done over the years it's so easy for the DC execs to bring back kid Jon especially when they know that Supersons is popular with all crowds considering they've tried to repeatedly cram them into their elseworld stories.

[@ChaozAgent]

I feel they can recover this version of Jon if they turned the issues that readers are having with Jon into Jon's issues. Picture this. Now that his dad is back Jon can't be Superman anymore and he can't go back to being Superboy, so now Jon has no idea who he is going to be. He then goes on a journey to redefine himself, trying new things, struggling to figure out a new superhero name, and getting advice from his dad and other members of the super hero community. All of this culminating with him becoming his own superhero both in title and as a person.

[@EvilLeprechuan]

Yup Bennie, You nailed it man. I loved connor kent as a character, and Jon kent gave me what I wanted to see with connor, the hybrid growing up, and then, like some jerk move, they took it away from us.

[@tionwilliams3450]

I agree 💯 percent. They rushed him and messed him up. I loved watching his character develop and grew up with Damien.

[@pinkpowercoin3341]

Literally my only issue with Jon is I just want him to have different hero name from his dad. Other than that I think he’s good (if a bit redundant)

[@GexraldH]

If I remember correctly at that time Bendis had brought back Kon-El as Superboy so he couldn't use the name for both books

[@jiskool1]

What could his hero name even be?

[@GexraldH]

@@jiskool1 if they didn't bring back Kon-El he could have kept the Super Boy name. It's weird he wasn't in the Young Justice book since he was an actual Teen compared to Kon who was fake married with a kid

[@CarnageRulez469]

Jon Kent is at his strongest was when he was the 10 year old kid growing up with Superman, Damian and the DC Universe around him. His conception gave Superman brand new storyline potential, and even branched out in his own team up with Damian. Aging him up was the absolute worst decision that they made with the character. We only had a few years with Jon as a child. We never got to grow up with him. He just became a teen “just cause”. Now you don’t have the same father son dynamic with Supes and Jon because Jon’s a teen, and because he’s significantly older than Damian, the Super Sons dynamic does not work as it should. I’m not dissing on Teen Jon, I actually like all of the teenage stuff is fine on its own, but we need FAAAAAAAAARRRR more time with Jon as a kid before we jump to the teenage years. It’s just like with Franklin and Valeria Richards in the F4.

[@gregviews]

Im with gay relationships but jon Kent coming out as gay right around pride month basically was a marketing move 😂

[@dkznikolaj7013]

I haven't seen it yet, but I think the problem is he is just a more (in my optic) passive version of superman. Superman has always had this pressence of a leader and Icon. Jon just doesn't have that, but he also doesn't have much to replace it with, as he is just overall weaker and has a weaker personality. He worked best as super boy together with Damian

[@richardgrayson3241]

Has Jon Kent ever punched anybody? I can't remember.

[@lunakingsley.7247]

​@@richardgrayson3241yeah, a lot.

[@Dr_Stranger3144]

My uncensored opinion about Jon would make a lot of people hate me, but all I can say is, his character needs a total reboot.

[@darthvegaslastnamenotrequi5698]

I hear that Superman stood for truth, justice and the American way. If recent headline are any indication, John Kent stands for my truth, social justice and the American left's way. Lol.

[@JR-lc4mr]

What's so bad about your uncensored opinion

[@Slightly-Acceptable-Nerd]

​@@JR-lc4mr I guess what the original comment suggested about rebooting will be in regards to his sexuality as well. Which some may not find it to be pleasing.

[@Junigame7079]

@@darthvegaslastnamenotrequi5698 bruh just say you don’t like minorities

[@stereokuuji]

Nah, your opinion is kinda valid My issue with Jon was not necessarily that they made him bi(I can live with that) but it was the mess that the storyline made afterwards I mean he works in some DC storylines

[@missmeme3946]

the problems that: 1-after jon grew up, dc didn't know what to do with him because Clark and Conner were there, and they didn't know what to do with Conner because adult Jon there 2-jon doesn't have any development he grew up suddenly and became second Superman without any development

[@rayjohnnercacao3703]

#1 is because the whole age-up thing is tied for 5G initiative. The 5G initiative for Jon Superman includes replacing Clark Kent, going Civil War against his father, and him vs Damian replicating Professor X vs Magneto. So with the cancellation of that, Jon ends up purpose-less.

[@michaelkata2342]

Its amazing how fans can come up with ways to fix their mistakes but they can't.

[@LuisLopez-fq5sz]

Oh they will listen to us, They for sure WILL LISTEN.

[@TetsuShima]

Am I the only one here who thinks that DC should have made Chris Kent (the son of Zod Clark adopted) the heir to the mantle of Superman instead of Jon? In fact, I think Geoff Johns and Richard Donner were planning to do that when they wrote "Last Son", specially if we consider the fact Chris was named after Christopher Reeve (who passed away a few years before the story was made), so maybe Chris was the next one to make humanity believe that a man can fly. It's sad how they just retconned the character with the New 52

[@Tr3at_y0_self]

Building off that, they could have brought back Conner Kent Superboy and had him be the teenaged one and kept Jon a kid, and incorpore Chris Kent all together as the super sons

[@zupergodo1]

​@@Tr3at_y0_self seria algo similar los múltiples robin de Batman Bien escrito seria genial Un super familia muy disfuncional viviendo en Smallville y trabajando en Metropolis Con Lois como la madre y Lana como la tia + Varias Supergirl ( Kara cir-el powergirl ) Eso tiene mucho potencial

[@AustynSN]

Back when Wally had the power to make people remember the pre-New 52 universe, I was hoping he'd zap Lor to turn him into a mix of pre-New 52 Chris and New-52 Lor. It would have been really interesting to see how he dealt with his parents since he would have memories of them as both abusive maniacs and loving parents (if still brutal dictators).

[@Tyler_W]

​​@@Tr3at_y0_self that would've been the best of all possibilities. They could still do it. They just need the editor and writer willing to do it. Say whatever you want about how twrrible Bendi's original decision to radically chamge him was, but the way they introduced Jon as a teenager gave at least one and maybe more pretty simple ways to reverse course. We could just as easily say that the Jon that returned to earth is either lying about being Jon Kent, that he thinks he's Jon Kent but isn't, or maybe that he is Jon Kent, just not the one that left for outer space with Jor-El and Lois (for some stupid reason).

[@lesliejacoby9137]

Can you do Miles next cause I think personally miles worked better without Peter when he was succeededing him but now they are doing this weird middle ground where he just randomly interacts with Peter as if they are close but he isn't even really teaching him. I think it can work but he has to be a full mentor cause I want to see Miles gain confidence in fights cause anytime he fights an actual threat I am concerned for my guy (in ultimates he actually gained confidence and grew). It also doesn't help his only orginal storylines involve his uncle who they can't decide what they want from him and then the rest are awkwardly copying classic spiderman storylines.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

Yeah, there are so many problems with Miles Morales

[@SpikeTheWolf]

​@@DavidMartinez-ce3lp I thought ppl liked him?

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

@@SpikeTheWolf I gotta be honest, I've always found him boring. And he shares too much with Peter Parker to really be considered his own character. He worked fine in the Ultimate universe, but then they rolled him into the main universe. And his superhero name is also Spider-man. Got bit by the exact same spider. Similar powers. Fights the same villains. Similar personality. Also dated Gwen Stacy. It's kind of annoying. Even in the Into the Spiderverse, he just learned what it meant being Spider-man, but now he's saving the multiverse again in Across the Spiderverse. This would be like if in the MCU, Tom Holland learns what it means to be Spider-man in No Way Home. And then they just do a No Way Home 2 and he's saving the multiverse again.

[@lesliejacoby9137]

​@@DavidMartinez-ce3lp didn't get bit by the same spider

[@lesliejacoby9137]

​@@SpikeTheWolf he is liked but the way they are doing his story is weird. In ultimates he grew a lot cause Peter was dead but now it seems like they are stalling his growth till somethings happens with Peter cause he isn't out of his shadow at all, has almost no truly new villains unless it's a copy of an old spiderman story like the clone thing, or they just keep using his uncle for conflict (it's not working well). Outside of the comics he is doing amazing but in them and its a whole other character who hasn't become really a character to begin with.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

You actually fixed one of the hiccups in my old concept for bringing back young Jon without losing new Jon by using the Earth-3 retcon to explain where he came from. Have young Jon prove to be a good influence on alt Jor-El, just showing Jon is his father's son, have older Jon go by Jordan, like in the CW series, and you still get to use young Jon's education to explore who Superman is while seeing Jon become his own man. The other two super-kids they recently brought in could do that but it's hardly a replacement for watching Clark teach his actual son how to be a superhero and super man.

[@DedFandoms]

It’s so fun just hearing him talk so passionately about comics

[@katrose5179]

“When Brian Michael Bendis took over” really is about all the explanation a lot of things need. I’m still salty about what he did with Kitty Pryde.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

You mean in the Ultimate universe?

[@karmabum21]

What did he do to Kitty?

[@katrose5179]

@@DavidMartinez-ce3lp I wasn’t real thrilled with what he did in 616 either.

[@katrose5179]

@@karmabum21 everything with Starlord, abandoning the xmen, no longer using the name Shadowcat…a lot. The black vortex stuff could’ve been interesting. But they dropped that entire thread so who knows what happened to her ramped up powers.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

@@katrose5179 me neither. So many good ideas like Secret Invasion, but I just wish someone other than Bendis wrote his stories. They were never as good as they could have and should have been.

[@triggyiggyiggy]

I've always like jon kent. Gotta imagine knowing what superman knows and trying to apply that as parent. Its a tough subject but its never been too hard to follow.

[@geardestroy]

Seriously they didnt even gave him any interesting history line, having this Jon being Ultraman's son trying to redeem himself sounds extremely interesting

[@danielendless]

Fatherhood ended with Jon Otho and Osul are our new kids

[@samuelpietrasinski8372]

Super Sons is so cool and Jon Kent needs to be Superboy forever in the hearts of DCU

[@joeparrigen4982]

Benny, the comic you are looking for is from an event called Armageddon. This was post crisis. Each book that DC had an annual about it. Superman had two on-going books at this time, so this annual might have been in either Adventures of Superman or Superman. I hope this helps.

[@d.wbrown1154]

I read the book Benny was talking about. Shockingly, I enjoyed it.

[@rgvguy]

Yes it was part of the Armageddon storyline crossover during the summer of 91 where it was premised that a super hero would turn into a villain. I believe it ws the Adventures of Superman Annual where Lois dies while pregnant with Superman's baby which led Superman to leave Earth and eventually hooked up with Maxima.

[@Monikerpub]

Make one of these for Spider-Man. We all love Spidey but there's a lot of major problems that must be addressed

[@st0ryt3ll3r8]

The Earth-3 Jon thing you said at the end would actually be really cool. The Supes family would have Kal, Kara, Kon, Jon’s 1 & 2, Krypto (he counts, dammit!), and possibly more beyond my knowledge. But it’s be really cool. Building families for the heroes like the Batfamily, The Wonder Clan (my name), the Flash Family, whatever they call Shazam’s family now, etc. Soon they could have enough for Justice League Football tourneys.

[@TheKraken5360]

I think John Kent's continuity is now too complicated. In order for characters to have staying power, I think you need to be able to quickly explain their origin to a new reader. John Kent is now Superman's son from a parallel universe, which was merged with our universe. He was then sent away to another parallel universe, where he aged quickly. That's a weird backstory. He's too complicated as a character. At this point, I think they need to streamline the Superman family and send John away to a parallel universe.

[@wdcain1]

I'm surprised Bendis broke up Lois and Clark considering he's one of the few writers who 100% supports Peter/MJ and tried to undo OMD.

[@docsonic23]

To me I feel like the reason why the comic market isn’t doing so well is because of how more mainstream anime and manga have taken things over, it happened to me, I got bored of comics cause I was seeing better storylines in manga than comics, I still read comics once in a while but at this point the whole dynamic has changed

[@mittensfastpaw]

Honestly it is probably because manga starts and it ends. So you see the changes in real time and then can move to the next story when it ends. While comics will never end and that turns many people away with the massive backlog that only grows.

[@thesoniczone11]

Jon should just be called "Superson".

[@flashtheshapeshafter]

I actually like that, man that would have been good

[@bemiatto67]

Aging Jon up was so dumb when they can just Kon. In fact I'm really annoyed we were robbed of Kon and Tim being Damian and Jon's big bros while they grow into their own identities

[@lizahollinger]

I agree with not calling him Superman so I started calling him other names. My first one was Supershock after his electric powers but then I thought of something better. That fits his character and never needs to be changed because it can always stay with his age. Superson

[@rayjohnnercacao3703]

17:21 - DC has history on disregarding whatever happens, just do it. Barbara Gordon being able-fied. Hal's Parallax being developed long enough for 10 years to be a villain, died, and then revived to become Spectre, all of it to be just retconned to be caused by a Yellow Space Bug. Bart Allen is on similar situation as Jon, just he's able to get back what he once was. So, I am not surprised by their risky decision on deaging Jon.

[@ACE-es7zi]

Actually if they want to focus on Superman, there is no need to let Lois and Joe go, Lois is not a superhero, just let her stay in the background, and Joe has a lot of excuses to keep him out of the spotlight, like Superman needs to do More dangerous missions so he can't take him there, Joe goes to a boarding school in another city, or so he just follows Superman in the background, only tells some insignificant dialogue, and then fights bad guys with Superman in action scenes. If you want to focus the story on Superman, then focus the story on Superman without necessarily leaving his wife and son.

[@JudgementalGoat]

Saying that Superheroes with families are problematic has to be the worst shit take I've heard online today

[@GuyjinOnline]

20:10 There is no "40-70 thousand people who love that". If there ARE, they certainly aren't going to support it financially.

[@lucastheprinceofdarkness9344]

The sad truth is that DC is trying to make the older Jon more popular than kid Jon. From constantly changing his suit, to making him bi to attract more readers, to everything else that has happened in recent comics since this mess started. All DC is doing is distancing themselves from the Jon Kent fandom. What’s worse, by making Jon an adult, DC has accidentally made Jon into a knock off version of Invincible. On top of all that, watching Jon learning to become a hero like his dad was simply adorable. In most continuities, Superman’s childhood is full of Clark being afraid of not knowing where he came from or not knowing what he was fully capable of. With Jon, it’s almost like Superman went back in time to teach his younger self everything he will need to know.

[@Silver_Spectre]

I definitely think if we got more years of young Jon Kent and over time got else worlds and future timelines over time, then he could more naturally age up to his 17 year old Superman self, Look at Damien there’s been plenty different versions of him who have become Batman through else worlds stories but not replaced him in a main Batman book which could potentially happen in the future and it would feel more natural than speedrunning him from baby-11-17 then taking over as Superman replacing his dad in just a few years

[@DJray91]

Honestly one of the best verisons of jon kent and Damien wayne in my opinion have been from the deceased storyline and honestly i like that storyline and hope they would continue developing that world in dc that and the injustice world as potential i dont think they have tapped properly but anyway definitely like the deceased worlds damien and jon better than their mainstream counterparts

[@cassidyruffing4031]

Great video, only small problem was when you said about DC turning John into a white, cis, male again. I think you meant to straight, because, at least with my limited understanding of those comics, John was still cis, since being cis has more to do with gender than sexuality. Other than that I agree with everything. He was so much fun as a super son, and now they've written him into a corner. Also love the idea you presented to fix the problem. If only DC would listen l.

[@NorthernTracker]

one problem though with your suggestion, would we not then have a situation like red arrow and arsenal in young justice where kid john kent has been missing for so long and he comes home and finds that someone else has come in and taken over his life, no one even knew he was still missing because this person had been lying about who he was.

[@6rade]

Jon Kent from Dark Crisis and DCeased is the best incarnation of him and this reboot of him should stay where it is during this Dawn Of DC

[@Bliu2th]

They tried to teenage Gohan Jon to quick. They got to let Gohan, I mean Jon, to do his own thing for a bit but they F'ed that up

[@Shadrio]

I was pretty new to comics, I'd got in with The New 52 but got hooked with Rebirth and my favorite comics were the Supersons. Aging up Jon Kent, overuse of The Batman Who Laughs and then how the DC Death Metal event isn't even referenced anymore pretty much killed any excitement I had for reading comics anymore.

[@freshbrd1]

This one was good. But can you do a video about the problem of The Question (Vic Sage). I wonder what was the problem of The Question. Batman even revealed his Identity to The Question with his own will

[@thefuturefighter8215]

I remember when jon Kent was the best new thing that got introduced in new 52 and now it's just sad what they did to the character in so fast and yes 8 years in comics is so fast

[@TevyaSmolka]

technically he wasn't from the new 52 he was actually property introduced in convergence and then we got DCYOU era which gave us a amazing book called superman lois and clark which was a great miniseries by the way which gave us Jonathan Samuel Kent superboy first introduction in the mainstream dc universe which also introduce Jon Kent discovering his powers for the first time, but I do understand where your coming on its sad on what dc did to my favorite character and got rid all of his potential for his character to move forward in the past 8 years for nonsense but that's just my opinion.

[@thefuturefighter8215]

@@TevyaSmolka thx for correcting my miss on his actly introduction and i completely understand what you mean i was actually reading dc comics at the time cuz of him and damian but now both are let's just say weird position where like they are there but also not more so to John at lest damian is easy to write him out of his current position but John is just screwed now but benny here had a solution it's not the best but it's at lest passable to make all happy

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@thefuturefighter8215 your welcome man and I agree benny solution is actually great solution to finally get back the real Jonathan Samuel Kent superboy as his little 10 year old self and having this imposter Jon kent superman being from earth 3 is a great idea would kill two birds with one stone which i would be all for that at least in my opinion.

[@ChrisJones-fi6cg]

Armageddon 2001 is the storyline for Lois getting kicked and dying.

[@MatawguroRobbie]

Adventures of Superman Annual Vol 1 3

[@_____2219]

Jon has the same problem as Tim, they don't know what to do with him. For now they're stuck in limbo just hanging around and appearing here and there.

[@TetsuShima]

The main problem with Jon's bis*xuality is that Jay Nakamura wasn't a developed character who existed long before Jon dated him, being instead a mere guy purely created just to serve as John's boyfriend, which makes him a really flat character that feels much more like a mere plot device rather than a person. He's basically the same as the Bernard guy Tim Drake dates.

[@christopherbennett5858]

Sucks, really. I mean, people like Midnighter and Apollo but the people who made Jay and Bernard forgot to make them interesting.

[@Savagewolver]

My own point exactly. There are going to be gay and bisexual characters in media, but you should never do this to an existing character who has never shown signs of being this way. A good example of how it is done is The Ray, a former silver age hero from Uncle Sam’s freedom Fighters, was a hero from earth 2, I believe, that had no bearings on the original character. Thus the change didn’t hurt him or his connection to his fans. Then they do this to Jon and, the worst offender, Bobby Drake Iceman, who I think had even been married at one point. Suffice to say, it’s something that could be handled better.

[@christopherbennett5858]

@@Savagewolver So… why does Harley get a pass? She’s been around longer than John. Or is it because she’s a villain? John only came about in 2015 and was a kid who was prepubescent. There was space. It’s not the character himself that is long known but the brand of the Superman.

[@katrose5179]

@@Savagewolver Bobby was never married. He did only date women. The entire way it was handled with him is still an excellent example of what NOT to do.

[@orlandobritt1460]

​@@christopherbennett5858 Her and ivy have been a thing from the 90s .Jon and Jay meet in passing then as Jon on a roof Jay shows up and they in love.

[@jordanromesburg6819]

Appreciate how you navigate the political landmine that DC clearly played into for headlines, while also plainly showing how Jon being bisexual was by no means the source of the trouble.

[@ACE-es7zi]

I have two other ways to turn Joe back into a kid: 1. The young Joe we know is actually a time traveler from a not-too-future who travels from the future to modern times to prevent some supervillain from conquering the world, or some A superhero turned into a villain and so on. When I first saw young Joe, I thought the story would really develop like this; second, Joe grew up because he had the power of Shazam, when Ultraman kidnapped Joe to torture , In fact, he was experimenting on Joe, wanting to have the superpowers of other heroes and villains, and Joe thought that it had passed for several years because he spent most of his time sleeping in a test tube. His new lightning power is also for this reason.

[@richardgunton9564]

If they had slowed down his story it could have made his sexuality into a far more understood and interesting story, by having the you follow Jon discovering and exploring it. By giving it time to develop it would probably have been far better.

[@MrEnKaye]

When Kal came back and they announced they were changing Jon's powers, they had the PERFECT opportunity to make Jon Flamebird and they squandered it.

[@katakovacs2066]

Force aging Jon, ending Super Sons and separating Damian and Jon was one of Dc's biggest mistake. Which makes it more bad that there were so many people involved with these decisions (writers, artists, management) and not a single person said: "Guys let's not do this. We have a good thing going on, let's not f$ck it up!" I can only hope we get kid Super Sons back. What with the more and more new stuff made about them (comics, animated movie) makes me hope we get it someday.

[@garrettadyns3927]

Haven't even started the video yet but why Jon he's so good I love him 💙❤️

[@riduanaqil1452]

Loving this series, man. Keep it up!

[@tyrone1544]

Of course you love it. It’s written solely for homosexuals.

[@TFfan665]

I felt like DC originally had a character with cultural staying power, like Carol Danvers - Captain Marvel. 🙃Nobody remembers Mar-Vell, now that Carol took over and Marvel created multiple stories that really helped build out that lore. Jon Kent just made sense, he was the perfect foil to Damian Wayne(To one of the most interesting Robins). Damian is a hothead brat, Jon is a cinnamon roll. They look great when placed into a poster together with their contrasting expressions, and especially with their fathers. Comics always had this problem were legacy characters don't stick, because of branding. The identity that the normies think of first will always be the one who the character is perceived as. They struck gold with Jon, he had a unique perfect made spot for him to fit into and no previous baggage to contend for space. Aging him up takes out he's uniqueness. They even released Super Sons movie and a young Jon Kent in another continuity while adult Jon is still in the main, which doesn't help things.

[@Arclight-Arcanum]

RIP Tomasi Superman, Supersons, and GLC.

[@taylordesouza7]

DC could team up Jon & Damian again and send then in adv together. That would solve all the problams. Damian is growing up fast as well.

[@derrickhaggard]

Agreed.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

Should've never brought on Bendis. Everything he touched didn't work. He hasn't been good in such a long time.

[@TevyaSmolka]

I loved Jon kent superboy as his little 10 year old self and Kathy aka beacon they were such a great couple and so cute at least in my opinion.

[@christianrapper]

Heck, I liked Superboy with the Brazilian Wondergirl. That could have worked and felt natural

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@christianrapper I will give that future state couple credit where its do it at least gave Jon Kent superboy someone that understands and plus like you said it was would've been way more natural with Jon and yara flor wondergirl being a couple then the actual couple we got with Jon and Jay nakamura which was just forced and wrong on so many levels its not even funny but just disgusting at least in my opinion.

[@christianrapper]

@@TevyaSmolka i loved those two together. They could have actually had their Wonder Woman and Superman pairing that I actually liked. DC could have printed money with those superboy and wondergirl cartoons.

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@christianrapper i can agree with that

[@kareemissa975]

I loved supersons. It’s the reason I started reading Superman again and started to be Jon fan.

[@GINGI9519]

Turn him back into a boy with Damien and let's follow that

[@joshuaingobo1559]

To fix Jon Kent entirely, I would have him be born in the year 2001, or 15 years before Dawn of DC. His birth would happen nine years in real-time (or six years in sliding time) after the death of Superman in 1992 (or 21 years before Dawn of DC), eight years in real-time (or seven years in sliding time) after Reign of Supermen in 1993 (or 20 years before Dawn of DC), and five years in real-time (or four years in sliding time) after Superman’s marriage to Lois Lane in 1996 (or 19 years before Dawn of DC). He would spend the next 15 years in real-time (or ten years in sliding time) - from 2001 to 2016 (or 15 to five years before Dawn of DC) - growing up in Metropolis (for the first ten years in real-time, or the first five years in sliding time) from 2001 to 2011 (or 15 to 10 years before Dawn of DC) and Hamilton County (for the next five years in real-time) from 2011 to 2016 (or 10 to five years before Dawn of DC) having a good childhood. This includes him learning about his origins from his parents, the Superman family, and the entries superhero community; becoming a little brother to Lor-Zod/Chris Kent Nightwing (who is in his pre-Flashpoint incarnation, was born in the Phantom Zone in 1988 (or 23 years before Dawn of DC), raised by Clark Kent Superman and Lois Lane since 2007 (or 11 years before Dawn of DC), made his debut as the fourth Nightwing (after Clark Kent Superman, Van-Zee, and Dick Grayson) in 2009/2010 (or 10 years before Dawn of DC), and is in a romantic relationship with Thara Al-Var Flamebird since 2016 (or five years before Dawn of DC)) and learning about his dad’s adventures from him being born on Krypton in 1928 (or 66 years before Dawn of DC) to him being raised by the Kent’s since 1931 (or 63 years before Dawn of DC) to becoming the original Superboy in 1939 (or 55 years before Dawn of DC) up to the present. By 2016 (or five years before Dawn of DC), Jon would discover his powers, and his parents would be shocked and impressed by his powers. This would lead to him becoming the fourth Superboy (after Clark Kent Superman, Conner Kent Superman, and the New 52 version). That same year, he would meet and team up with Damian Wayne Robin (who was 18 by this point) and would form the Supersons, which I described as the fourth generation of the World’s Finest (after Clark Kent Superman and Bruce Wayne Batman, Dick Grayson Nightwing and Kara Zor-El Supergirl, and Conner Kent Superman and Tim Drake Red Robin). His adventures from the Rebirth Superman and Action Comics (except the Bendis run) would still happen, including his befriending Kathy Branden Beacon and spending time with Damian Wayne Robin and his Young Titans. By 2017 (or four years before Dawn of DC), Jon would join Damian Wayne’s Young Titans (a combination of Young Justice and Teen Titans) because Damian believes that Jon has the potential to become a hero and that he and Jon are best friends and. By 2018 (or four years before Dawn of DC), he, Clark, Lois, and Chris would move back to Metropolis to settle down in the city. By 2021 (or two years before Dawn of DC), he would be in a romantic relationship with Kathy Branden Beacon, after years of buildup. By the time Clark Kent left Earth to be in the Warworld Saga, he told Jon and the Superman Family to try to do his best at becoming a superhero as Superboy and to keep Metropolis safe. By 2022 (or one year before Dawn of DC), Clark Kent would return to Earth and catch up with the entire superhero community, including meeting with his best friend Bruce Wayne Batman, the JLA, the Superman family, and his son Jon. During this, Jon would tell his dad about what he [Jon] has been doing since he [Clark] went to Warworld, including protecting Metropolis and him having Kathy as his girlfriend. By 2023, Jon (and by extension Chris) would become a big brother to the Super-Twins and would try and do his best to treat them like family. A few years after Dawn of DC (specifically between 2028 and 2033), Jon would become Earth-One’s/New Earth’s/Prime Earth’s fourth Superman (after Clark Kent, Conner Kent, and Lex Luthor (who reformed in 2016 and used LexCorp to benefit humanity and help people after finally learning Superman’s purpose and meaning)). He would try to live in his dad’s footsteps and would do his best to live up to his dad’s legacy while forging his own path. After 2033, Jon would marry Kathy Branden and would have children and grandchildren (whom I assume are the same grandchildren from the Supersons comics), whose legacy would continue a lifetime into the future. That is what I believe DC should do to fix Jon Kent.

[@Bag2218]

As an avid Super Sons fan, I've tried to still support Jon even after Bendis ruined him but...he's just so bland now. All the fun has been sucked out of the character along with his youth. And it sucks because, so many writers have acknowledged that they know the decision is unpopular but they've gone full steam ahead with it anyway. Basically like One More Day. Jon shouldn't be a kid forever, no. But the way they aged him up just...ruined the whole character. All they had to do was have him grow over time like Damian's been doing. Like Dick and Tim's generations did. But instead they just haphazardly threw him in the oven for five minutes and slapped an uncooked, unseasoned mess onto our plates. And for that, I just can't financially support anymore books that he's in. They killed a good character with a lot of promise and have now started parading around his hollowed, stretched out corpse.

[@ShinAkakage]

Everything done to Jon Kent was criminal.

[@Velvet_Intrigue]

I don't think Mr. Oz was going to be ozymandias because of something he said when he first appeared about Superman doing what he taught him to do.

[@Butterism]

Aged up Chris and then aged up Jon. Just stop.

[@TevyaSmolka]

i agree frankly both aged up for both Jon an Chris were just bad,

[@6rade]

@comicstorian Adventure of Superman Annual 3 is when Lois died to the baby kick.

[@AllAboutThatLife2023]

"DC was having a little bit of a weird time" I couldn't agree more, and it still is.

[@AlextheComicHoarder]

Or Wally west going from kid flash to flash then Barry came back. It’s happened before and I think that might be a closer comparison, but I was tracking with you and the Nightwing analogy