Yes, it’s been a little while since our last Super Here For… column, but it’s a new year and we have a new Man of Steel, and it seemed like the right time to bring it back. (And yes, I realize that technically 2022 isn’t so new anymore and Jon Kent has been Superman for months. Let’s just pretend I’ve been trapped in the Phantom Zone—or 2021, which was pretty much the same thing—and leave it at that.)
If you don’t follow all the weekly ins and outs of the DC Universe, I think the first question you’re likely to ask when you hear there’s a new Superman is why? Superman has been going strong for over eighty years. That’s at least five different generations of readers who have grown up reading and watching the adventures of Kal-El from Krypton. Millions of people the world over see him as a heroic ideal—the definitive superhero. You don’t get more iconic than Superman, so why change that?
Well, you don’t. Let’s not forget that Kal-El is still very much in the picture. But with the original Man of Steel currently off world, it’s fallen to his son, Jon Kent, to take up the mantle and serve as the Superman of Earth in his place, and there are some strong reasons as to why this is very good news for the character and for Superman fans worldwide.
I’m not up on my Jon Kent “Superman " history, I’m afraid. So answer me this, he seems to have all his father’s powers (from what I can see). But given that’s he’s also half human, are his powers and abilities " halfed,” as well?
He has lazer eyes but only in half his left eye. He is right eyed and has terrible aim.
He has super strength but only in his left arm and right leg. He is right armed and left legged, so his coordination sucks.
He has freeze breath but only half the time. He has it from 2pm-8pm and 1am-7am. He is always sleeping then due to his weird sleep schedule, so this is useless.
He has super hearing but only in his right ear. He is left eared so this is useless.
He can fly but only during February 29th- August 29th.
He has amnesia kiss, but it only half way erases memories.
When he was younger his powers weren’t consistent. Some days he was invulnerable. Other days he would get hurt falling out of a tree. As he got older and worked with his powers more they leveled out. (Someone was also messing with his powers if I remember right.)
But, no, his powers don’t seem to be ‘halfed’ or anything.
Edit: And to answer the thread question, yes! I am reading this series and loving it. Jon is a great character and Tom Taylor is doing a great job writing him and putting him in situations that show how different he approaches things than his father.
That seems strange to me, even using “comic book logic.” If Clark mated with a fellow Kryptonian, that’d be one thing. But bringing a 100% human Lois Lane into the equation, should dilute the transference of power into the newly created baby, I would think. But this is the world of comic-book pseudoscience, after all. I’ll assume that as Jon matured, the genes of his father came to dominate. Yeah, that works for me!
Not sure if you are an anime fan but in Dragonballz the opposite happened. Goku’s son Gohan was eventually stronger (for a little bit) than Goku because he has half-human and half-saiyan.
But I think that if DC made Jon ‘less than’ Clark it would just cause a whole bunch of problems. They haven’t really addressed it but by having Jon be just as strong and powerful as his father, Jon is free to be the ‘Superman of Today’ without any limitations. And that is a big theme in Taylor’s series.
I haven’t gotten to his solo series yet as I’m a bit behind but have loved him from Super Sons to LoSH so can say confidently I will love him. Everything I’ve seen or heard from it looks like Jon is the Superman for the 21st Century and I’m on board!
