It’s the final issue of Jon Kent’s mini-series and it goes out not with a bang, but a ‘choom‘. That’s the sound made by Cyborg’s teleportation device, returning Jon to his own Earth before he achieves his avowed aim of liberating the Injustice world from its dictatorial Superman.
And it was all going so well. Jon manages to stop the execution of rebels Batman and Harley Quinn after ensuring the most formidable Justice Leaguers on Superman’s side don’t interfere.
He has a chat with Flash Barry Allen…
… clips Hawkgirl’s wings, leaves Wonder Woman hanging around in space and finds a way to beat Yellow Lantern Hal Jordan’s will.
Jon’s pretty impressive, his ace in the hole being faster than usual speed, apparently linked to his recent flaming moments, when he’s resembled his dad during the Electric Superman period.
It’s not entirely clear visually during the story that he has the extra juice, though for a couple of panels here and there his costume is blue; I was hoping for the full-on body transformation.
Either way, Jon has the power and confidence to confront the Metropolis Madman.
He could likely punch him out. Heck, Superman goes all out to provoke Jon, assaulting this world’s version of his boyfriend, Jay. So what does our young Superman do?
Love your enemy. For Jon, that’s very on-brand (Jon brand?). And while it catches Superman off guard, it doesn’t seem likely to make the Bully of Steel repent. And guess what?
It doesn’t. But Jon has one more trick up his sleeve. A holo-recording from mother Lois, who happens to be the double of the Lois Superman lost, the woman in whose name he’s enslaved an Earth.
Has it done the trick? Is Injustice Superman going to see the many, many errors of his ways? Jon will never know, because…
As he fades away, Jon has time to give Superman one more lecture-cum-pep-talk and then it’s back to the Hall of Justice on Earth 0, where Jon will be floating until November’s Beast World crossover which, speculation has it, will ensconce him with writer Tom Taylor’s Titans series.
Actually, I suppose he’ll get the odd panel in the very crowded Action Comics, but so far as having his own title goes, this is apparently it for now. Jon’s passive power use and often insipid personality hasn’t proven popular enough to keep him on the racks. Still, this isn’t the worst issue to go out on. Taylor keeps Jon true to himself, going all out to convince us that this is a brand of Superman that can work. And Jon does manage to keep Superman’s Justice League out of the way long enough to rescue Batman and Harley (off panel, frustratingly).
But the repurposing of the message from HoLois, which rather got my back up last time, is rather brilliant. It was Chekhov’s hologram, who knew? This is the kind of smart thinking that should earn Jon at least a moment in which it seems his Herculean efforts have made a difference, if only as he fades away. At the very least Superman could have assured him no more harm would be done to the blameless Jay (or he’d help him find his absent specs). But no, it’s onto the next crisis for the Super Teen.
Given Taylor has been writing Jon for a couple of years you might think he’d like him enough to give him a palpable win. Jon hopes letting the Earth Injustice public see how ‘weak’ and ‘lost’ their Superman is will make a difference, but that’s far from guaranteed. I suppose we can count him beginning to control his super energy with precision as a plus, but he’d have got to that on whichever Earth he was. How about the fact a broken jaw courtesy of Wonder Woman doesn’t faze him for one second?
Clayton Henry’s art is once more pleasingly sharp, with Jon’s big scene with Superman being a highlight. And Henry does a fine job with the Justice Leaguers, bar possibly Flash, who looks a tad undercooked. It’s a shame more isn’t made of Jon’s trip to the sun, and his glow-ups, but that’s likely Taylor’s script direction. Jordie Bellaire is back to add extra depth and definition with her colours, and she makes the art pop generally throughout. Wes Abbott’s letters are easy on the eye.
Henry’s cover, with colourist Marcelo Maiolo, is striking, showing us the angry Jon I’d have enjoyed seeing inside the book, if only for a moment.
All in all, what was advertised at a Jon Vs Ultraman book and turned out to be an Injustice: Gods Among Us addendum, has been a pretty good read. It’s showcased Jon’s strength of mind, his intelligence and shown that being his own man doesn’t make him a second-rate Superman. If only someone would let him find his joy.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
Pretty good waste of a series, here. When Richard Grayson matured, he became Nightwing, showing his influence by not just Batman, but Superman as well. Jon Kent has had so little time to develop and now he’s “Superman”? He was barely Superboy. What’s more, as there is a definitive Superman doing the job, Jon has no name or identity of his own, and making short work of the Injustice fellas won’t change it. I credit Taylor for trying to extend his Superman ideas for Val-Zod with Jon, but it’s uninteresting. The Injustice setting was put to bed and should stay there. All of the “superheroes” there are beyond flawed, and if it was as simple as Superman being a despot, Jon’s intervention would be simple, but having followed (and reviewed!) the series for full run, it’s a mess they’ve all had a hand in, including Batman.
Jon Kent needs his own identity.
Clark Kent needs a career as Superboy to validate young people being accepted as superheroes.
DC needs to hire me to do it.
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You’re so right. We had decades of Dick gradually getting older, Jon was basically ruined after seven or eight years. I hadn’t made the Val-Zod connection, what with him being Earth 2.2 or whatever, but I see what you mean.
I’ll buy your comics!
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