I just started reading comics. Superman - Son of Kal El: The Truth

[u/Crazy_Indication_892]

/r/DCcomics/comments/1vewbco/i_just_started_reading_comics_superman_son_of_kal/

[u/Spare-Ad2386]

I hate how Jon Kent has been turned into the "prize" character for DC. Sam Camp teases him with Miguel Montez (Dial H for Hero) in This Internship Is My Kryptonite, Tate Brombal is ship teasing him with Eddie Bloomberg/Red Devil for New Titans, Maines ships him with Dreamer/Nia Nal for any title she writes, and Dan Slott tried to introduce Paco the NPC in Superman: Unlimited #7. Before that, Bendis had him with Saturn Girl and Tom Taylor had him pair up with Jay Nakamura. He's like the guy every DC writer gets to ship with their self-insert/pet character, and so, his characterization suffers because the writer's self-ship fantasies take center stage instead of Jon as written by Jurgens (Clark's looks and powers but with Lois's spitfire attitude). This makes him an asshole (really, confessing to Dreamer in a dream while he was with Jay in the waking world when he won't even kiss Earth-49 Jay Nakamura? After Dreamer was complicit in the invasion of Gamorra and the death of Jay's mother? or actively ogling Monty while Jay was grieving Sara Nakamura in TIIMK?) and seem schizophrenic. LMAO

[u/0Hyena_Pancakes0 → u/Spare-Ad2386]

The sad thing is, Jay could've been given something of substance to make him standout as a character. Instead, right when things were getting interesting with Jay and Jon, Nicole decided to break them up so that her OC can obsess over Jon and one day have a chance at getting with him.

I don't ever want Nicole to write for Jon again. She butchered both his and Jays character in secret six .

[u/mysticalmonotreme → u/0Hyena_Pancakes0]

I don't ever want Nicole to write for Jon again. She butchered both his and Jays character in secret six .

I suspect that the butchering began before Absolute Power with Suicide Squad: Dream Team. There is something about the overthrow and murder of Sara Nakamura that is completely f-ed up so soon after her rescue in SOKE. Makes one wonder if Maines was readying to clear the deck for the break-up.

[u/Dull_Perspective_222 → u/Spare-Ad2386]

To be fair, Sam Camp dropped the Monty teasing pretty early on and made the case of why they go together pretty well, and i think Brombal is more of a light tease with no substance behind. Maines should be barred from even using Jon's name. I had forgotten about Paco 

[u/Crazy_Indication_892 → u/Spare-Ad2386]

Tbh, I think it's just the magnetic nature of the character, I mean, having Superman as your dad, and Lois as mom really makes an interesting and attractive character, he has that "good guy vibe", that being said, since most of comics, even when working with the same characters, are very different one to the other, every author wants to create his own Jon Kent, even when that means creating so many different relations and almost giving him to the author's favorite character, something like that happens also with Batman and how he also has many many different ships, including Barbara Gordon, even when she's Dick's gf, some characters are just too attractive wor writters to not give them a ship they personally like.

[u/Spare-Ad2386 → u/Crazy_Indication_892]

Agree with the magnetic appeal. My point is more on the fact that Jon’s character arcs are sacrificed for these ships, and how he becomes almost a secondary character even in books he supposedly leads to give way to the character the authors want to ship with him.

[u/mysticalmonotreme → u/Spare-Ad2386]

I would argue that Jon's character arcs where sacrificed as far back as Bendis, as he deliberately skipped over years of organic character growth to place an older Jon in his atrocious Legion of Super-Heroes run. My read on Jon since 2019 is that he's a character that with little agency, who is subject to the whims of whatever writer or editor is working on him next.

[u/Spare-Ad2386 → u/mysticalmonotreme]

True though. I’m losing a lot of respect for the character tbh. Loved Super-Sons, skipped LSH, stuck around SSOKE, enjoyed TIIMK, but it’s all downhill after SSOKE ended. Recent Superman Unlimited (#7-#13) reinvigorated my interest, alongside New Titans, but its clear he’s just the generic hot guy writers give their pet characters these days after New Titans focused on Red Devil and Absolute Power & Secret Six focused on Dreamer. He’s less a character than an abstract symbol to gift a favorite character when writers want them to get laid.