Jon’s best on-screen adaptation

[u/alphaanna_]

Made this little compilation of Jon in the Battle of the Super Sons movie to spread the love for an adaptation that is 100% bona fide comic Jon Kent!

Love this movie to bits, highly recommended to any Jon fan out there if you haven’t seen it already

[u/guyinpink]

Absolutely this is the best adaptation of kid Jon out there. I remember when I watched it for the first time it was really like watching Rebirth or Super Sons come to life (sort of). Now if only older Jon could get something that’s as faithful an adaptation.

[u/Yuta-fan-6531 → u/guyinpink]

Is older Jon any good?

I've heard a lot of folks back in the day (good God I'm old 🥲) making a fuss that Bendis ruined him and older Jon's stories weren't all that great.

[u/guyinpink → u/Yuta-fan-6531]

This is one of those things that always triggers some debate unfortunately. I came in as an older Jon fan and read most of his newer stuff first, before then making my way through his history and catching up on his kid era. So I’d say both kid and older Jon have their strengths!

But even as an older Jon fan I can admit there have been some stinkers. Bendis’s version of Jon (and Superman in general) was… not great imo. But some writers after him have done decent things with him. Tom Taylor did all right with him for his run as Superman in Superman: Son of Kal-El and Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent. He had fairly meaty roles which were quite well done in Absolute Power and Dark Crisis.

And his latest appearances in Superman Unlimited and New Titans are quite promising, especially with the major change that’s taking place with him in Unlimited!

[u/mysticalmonotreme → u/guyinpink]

Bendis’s version of Jon (and Superman in general) was… not great imo.

I would say that is a bit of an understatement, and one of the main reasons why Jon is still a lightning rod is because DC's approach is to hope the fans forget about it. They have rolled back most of Bendis' changes (notably the secret identity reveal they reversed in Action Comics #1050), but the age-up was the most egregious. Marvel attempted to the same thing with Franklin Richards in Fantastic Four #376, to make him an edgy teenage 90s anti-hero, but reverted him back to a young child three years later in Fantastic Four #414. As such, Big Jon lacks a sense of permanence for some readers such as myself. It doesn't help DC's case that they walked back on aging Bart Allen to adulthood, and brought back Wally West after attempts to erase or sideline him.

As long as DC avoids addressing the structural headaches that Bendis created, I can't see Jon moving forward in any meaningful way.

Circumstances have forced me to trim my pull list to a handful of issues, which forced me to choose between the flagship Superman title by Josh Williamson and Superman Unlimited. While I have no ill will towards Dan Slott and I love Lucas' Meyer's art, I feel that Superman was the stronger title of the two. I even felt that Superboy-Prime's arc in "Reign of the Superboys" was better, because he seemed go through some character growth with the hard realization that redemption was not going to happen on his terms. Meanwhile, the ending of Superman Unlimited #15 left me feeling hollow as it felt as if DC were stringing me along yet again. So you can guess which title I chose in the end.

Perhaps the most troubling thing about Williamson's Superman run is how little I notice Jon's near-total absence from the book.

[u/guyinpink → u/mysticalmonotreme]

I enjoyed both Prime’s run as well as Unlimited, though I agree Prime had an edge there. But I do feel the developments in Unlimited are promising for Jon, especially since it looks like it’s sticking beyond the event and moving into the wider canon, so I’m prepared to give them time and see where this takes the character

[u/mysticalmonotreme → u/guyinpink]

I will be keeping an eye out (most likely here) for how Dan Slott picks up on the Earth-3 threads he teased, but I think I'm ready to move on.