Screenshots from the episode. Early days still but this version of Jon seems really easy to like. He has an infectiously likeable and cheerful personality that kind of feels like a mix between kid and older mainline Jon, with just a hint of tragic backstory.
He definitely seems like their kid.
indeed this universe's version of Jon Kent! From Season 3, Episode 3. The episode drops hints throughout (including having Clark put together a model of his son for a model farm), and ends off with the big reveal.
Putting down my few random thoughts on this month’s issues while they’re still fresh.
- Felt that Unlimited #14 was the stronger of the two this month, opposite of how I felt last month. Really did seem like both Jons had good reveals and development this time in Unlimited, while the story over on the New Titans end smelled strongly of filler
- Prime’s run is amazing and all but I found the shoehorned reference to him in #14 to be trying -just- a little too hard
- It was a little jarring seeing some pages not done by Lucas Meyer this issue. His art’s really been quite synonymous with this entire run.
- It’s nice that Lois realises that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to push older Jon into a career as a journalist.
- From this issue, we see that kid Jon clearly knows he’s “supposed” to be weak towards Kryptonite from the way he pretends to drop it. And it seems we’re being guided into thinking that kid Jon is actually Ultraman’s son. But while the reason for his rampage is arguably justified, and he does seem to genuinely want to do good, it does make me wonder why he’s intentionally trying to hide the fact that he’s not affected by Kryptonite.
- On the New Titans front, I’m not quite sure what to make of what Jon says during his brief chat with Eva and the editor’s note that accompanies it (“I’ve just been playing triple duty” - Jon, and “As Jon Kent Superman, and now Tomorrow Man, as seen in the pages of Superman Unlimited” in the editor’s note).
- Are they saying that Jon is canonically taking part in both stories at the same time? That he’s somehow flying back and forth between the two places and swopping outfits along the way? Is that why he mentions he’s “only here a few nights a week” when he confronts Eddie about leaving dirty clothes everywhere?
- And speaking of that, his exchanges with Eddie come across as fairly juvenile. Hoping this wasn’t what they meant by “heated rivalry”
- And speaking of Eddie… wow that’s a lot of fan service this issue 😂
I admit I spent far more time than I intended squinting at this panel in Unlimited #14… but it looks like Jon’s DOB is now given as 22nd October 2005. Which if we assume that the events of Unlimited #14 are taking place in present day 2026 means current older Jon is 21.
Didn’t want to give it away in the title but spotted this over on one of the MAWS subreddit. It’s a line from an interview with showrunner Jake Wyatt where he appears to refer to the Superboy in the show as Jon.
No idea if this was a typo (he’s referred to as “Connor” elsewhere in the article and has been formally introduced as Conner. But this does seem to fit one of the theories floating out there that he’s actually Jon and just took on the name Conner for timey-wimey reasons.
I usually read the digital copies first and then re-read key titles once I get my physical copies after. So I happened to be browsing through Superman Unlimited #13 again and noticed that there’s an extra page in the physical version that wasn’t in my digital copy - and it talked a bit about the design of the Tomorrow Man suit and how it was inspired by Flamebird. Thought it was interesting!
A lot of the discussion on Jon’s future has been on whether he will stay as Tomorrow Man or return to being Superman.
What if DC isn’t going to choose? I’m thinking it’s possible they may continue to publish stories with Jon taking on one or the other persona depending on where it fits in the overall timeline or whatever other factor comes into play.
We see that happening already to some extent - Jon in Unlimited and Jon in New Titans. And Clark too technically appears in multiple concurrent publications that aren’t necessarily directly connected to each other (World’s Finest, Justice League Unlimited, the main Superman series etc).
So what if coexisting as Tomorrow Man and Superman as the story calls for it is in fact Jon’s new status quo?
Collected my Marvel/DC Spider-Man Superman incentive cover 😁
As a fan of both, this was fun. Though it’d be nice if Jon was as popular as Mark.
Now making my way through Absolute Power and spotted something I don’t think I’ve seen before - Jon with purple eyes! Always thought his eyes were blue like his dad’s. Is this the only/rare time it’s otherwise? I kinda like the idea of him having Lois’s eyes.
This varies from artist to artist of course, but Jon often tends to be drawn a lot leaner than his dad across most of his appearances. Meanwhile, Prime/CK - who’s supposed to be around the same age as Jon - gets the opposite treatment - his build is a lot closer to the typical “Superman” build with a bigger and broader frame.
Question is - which is the better physical portrayal of a young Superman? Should Jon bulk up over time now that he has a visually distinct identity as Tomorrow Man since they won’t need other visual cues to distinguish him more clearly from his dad?
I know this might be a bit off-topic for this sub, but I just finished Superman #37 and felt that the scene between Prime and Damian here was so much better than the one with the Jons in Unlimited #12. I can’t recall the last time Jon and Damian had such a good heartfelt chat, so it felt like a bit of a shame that this happened with the “wrong” Superboy.
Still making my way through these trades, and Jon continues to have some pretty badass moments Helps that it’s not just Lucas Meyer but also Sami Basri drawing him - two of my top Jon artists at the moment. The variant covers from Nightwing #110 were pretty fun too, as was the whole interaction with Damian/Mr Mittens.