I have bemoaned what has become of Jon Kent for too long. I miss the young Super Sons version. I miss the Legion version. I don't miss the Tom Taylor book. And now we have him as Tomorrow Man, living in the shadow of his parents, trying to find out who he is, and trying to find a purpose in life.
This issue tries to address all that. What is his relationship with his father as he tries to break away and secure his own identity? What is he trying to do in life? What does he want his non-superhero life to be like? This is an opening chapter to a new direction. Dan Slott does a good job showing us this big picture nicely in this book. But is this direction enough to sustain the book? As usual, there are a couple of funny moments in here that are classic Slott.
That said, Lucas Meyer is on art and continues to glitter. There is a great fight scene with the Royal Flush Gang that sings. But honestly an opening romantic scene between Clark and Lois is the one that truly glitters. Gorgeous stuff. I hope he stays here for a long time.
On to the details!
Second, I like his new costume reveals his lower face. It lets artists be more expressive like this half-frown.
We start with Clark and Lois at some tropical paradise. The two are still catching up after all the shenanigans of DCKO, Superman being missing, and the Kingdom of Zod.
In an interesting throughline, Lois asks Clark about what he was doing when he was powered up. This is a recap of the Superman Annual, the epilogue to DCKO.
What is interesting here is that Clark said he helped restore alternate paths. So maybe we are back in the pre-Crisis world. Kamandi, the Legion, the Atomic Knights, and Hex can all be possible. Somehow the future not being locked in gives everyone more hope. I suppose it removes some fatalism.
But how great do they look.
Lois sheds her bikini and dives in with Superman already there.
I appreciate seeing just how much these two love each other in all the super-books.
Such a great scene, rendered beautifully by Meyer.
Meanwhile in Kansas, the rest of the crew is figuring out what's next now that the Kingdom Of Zod is over.
Lana is glad to be 'normal'. Natasha is starting a new branch of Steelworks looking aerospace tech.
And Jon? He is given the toys he had as a kid, reminding him of all the things he loved and wanted to be. Perhaps the answer lies in there.
Things I like. It is cool that he is trying to not be a reporter or Superman, becoming his own person and not a copy of his parents. Why not send him back to college?
Second, I like his new costume reveals his lower face. It lets artists be more expressive like this half-frown.
In a funny montage we see Jon try to be all the things he wanted to be as a kid - race car driver, cowboy, and then collectible card game professional. But none of them work.
In the usual comic book weirdness magnet way, the Royal Flush Gang shows up at the casino his card game tournament is happening leading to a brawl. And Superman, who has been watching Jon go through this trial, joins in.
In the usual comic book weirdness magnet way, the Royal Flush Gang shows up at the casino his card game tournament is happening leading to a brawl. And Superman, who has been watching Jon go through this trial, joins in.
There is a lot to like here.
First off, Jon not doing what he wanted to do as a kid is yet another reminder to me as a reader that we aren't getting a young Jon ever. He is beyond that.
Second, I like that Jon is irked that Superman shows up, realizing that means his father has been watching him. He is trying to find his own way ... how can he do that if Superman is hovering.
But best of all, I like that Ten from the Royal Flush Gang recognizes that the two heroes are working out a personal issue by taking it out on them. Now that is funny.
Even funnier is King falling through a floor onto the stage of a magic show, becoming a perfect punch line.
I must admit I laughed out loud.
After the brawl, Jon and Clark have a heart to heart about recent events.
They talk about the Jon from Earth-3. Superman says it is nature of Earth-3. Jon wondres why Superman didn't try to change Earth-3 when he was juiced on Omega Energy.
This reminded me of when the Tom Taylor Jon called out Superman for not doing enough for society. I guess if you are trying to find your way in life and break away from your family, you may question their choices. But he should know that Superman wasn't going to rewrite people's personas.
At least this is more of a super-hero question and not a 'societal ills' question like the Taylor version.
And then the new direction.
Jon vows his mission will be to save Ultra Boy, to help the Earth-3 version of him find a path of goodness.
Perhaps this will help Jon heal a bit himself.
I don't know if I want this book to be Jon doing this mission all the time. We'll see how it goes.
The book could've ended there and I'd be happy. But instead we shift to Natasha where she is considering hiring the Toyman.
So will this new take on Jon discovering himself and saving the other Jon Kent be a strong enough scaffold to hold this book up? Will a Superman/Tomorrow Man team-up book be fun? Based on this issue, I can firmly say 'maybe'.
Overall grade: B
I’m with you, let’s see Ultraboy sorted, and Jon be free to adventure rather than have one big thing on his mind. And great minds-wise, I also said in my review that perhaps John should go back to college (how did he even get in, he missed years of school… did I read somewhere Slott plans to sort out how the Kents explained their suddenly older son to the world?).
ReplyDeleteI do think a friendship with Natasha could be great - what do you think of her new hero name?
I liked this a lot too. The swim trunks joke was the best to me. I wish Jon were less whiny but if Slott's gonna clear up the mess Taylor started, it's a valid take until he gets his feet firmly on a path.
ReplyDeleteI like a Natasha/Jon team ... a Jr Steel/Jr Superman pairing is fun.
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought Slott was going to try and explain away the age problem but not yet.
And like you Steve, I think Jon was reeling from the age-up. But Taylor's run just made things much worse.
Hoping Slott rights the ship.