The Trouble With Jon Kent

Comic Reviews for week ending 8/6/2023

Aug 07, 2023

Good morning, my friend,

First off, we’re going to try something a little different today, and if you like it, we’ll do more. You can now watch/listen to a video version of this newsletter. Click on the thumbnail below for me to give you the lowdown, face-to-face.

If you’d rather read than watch or listen, this week’s Op-Ed turns a critical eye toward poor Jon Kent. Rarely has a DC character had such a strong and promising start, only to have one bad creative decision after another send Jon Kent to the backburner.

What went wrong? What can DC do to fix him? Give it a read (or watch the video above).

[Op-Ed] The Trouble With Jon Kent

What do you think? Is Jon in a good place, or do you agree that he’s been badly damaged?

Comment below with your thoughts.

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Aug 7, 2023

I almost agree. However, the hero's journey is not the only type of story. For me, Taylor's Jon Kent and his Dick Grayson fail on every level of storytelling, not just the hero's journey.

From issue 1 to 6 nothing about Jon Kent as a character changed. Who the character was at the beginning of the story remained who he was at the end of the story. Just as Dick Grayson at the beginning of the Nightwing run is the same as he is now. Neither had to go thru a hero's journey to evolve, but every character in every genre must evolve to be interesting.

At the beginning of the Adventures of Jon Kent, the only real question was whether Jon and Damian would hook up in the Injustice Universe. We knew going in that every decision Jon, like Dick, would be the superficially "right" choice, each action the seemingly correct action...and that he wouldn't hit anyone. The same minus the hitting for Dick under Taylor.

Contrast that with Jon's heyday was a Super Son. Often Jon was shown to loose his temper. Though remembered as the little Ray of sunshine, in contrast to Damian's darkness, Jon gave just as good as he got in their arguments, arguments in which often both were partially right and partially wrong....or right or wrong by point of view. As a result, the stories worked as not only a hero's journey, but character studies and morality plays.

Similarly, see Dick under just about every other writer. Dick made bad choices, has a short temper, need to learn from others, does some thoughtlessly cruel things to those he loves, gets knocked down and picks himself up. Not all of those stories were hero stories. Some where family dramas using hero motifs (ex Morrison), others crime dramas or soap operas.

My view is the failure here is a fundamental characterization issue. Nightwing at least makes it as a collection of "moments", but Jon Kent isn't even afforded that level of depeth.

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