TRANS-SCRIBE: Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #3

Saturday, 6 May 2023

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #3 - Comic Review

Jon Kent is lost in the multiverse, stuck on another world where he's just witnessed that universe's version of his father murder Ultraman. Following the events of the last issue, Jon has fallen unscious and has has been taken to the Hall of Justice. The book begins with Diana and Clark having a discussion about Jon. It seems like this Superman is ready to trust Jon, and is willing to do whatever it takes to help the son he never had. Diana is the main voice of reason here, pointing out that he's not this Clark's son, and that he might not be able to be trusted.

Jon awakes in the medical bay, where he finds Luthor as his doctor. Luthor explains how Jon expelled all of his energy at once, and that that's why he's so weak now. It's also a way of explaining away Jon's ability to turn electric blue, because he's using up more energy than he should be. There might be more of an explanation for it than that, but if not you can kind of shrug it off as being the reason why. There's also a moment where you can see Luthor trying to brace Jon for learning what this world is like, and what this version of Superman is like, which is a fun nod to his being a traitor in the Injustice series. The fact that Luthor is also alive here places this somewhere in the five years that take place before the events of the game.

The Clark of this universe seems to try his best to come across as good and decent towards Jon, treating him well, and even promising to help him rescue Val and Lois from the Phantom Zone. The way that Clark is written in this issue is really interesting, as its showing that he still thinks of himself as a decent man, and that a lot of the things he does comes from a place of what he sees as kindness. It adds a layer of creepiness to the dictator.

When there's a break in at one of the Regime's compounds in Gotham, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash head off to try and help, and don't allow Jon to go with them. However, the mention of Damian grabs his attention, and Jon heads off to Gotham anyway. In Gotham, Damian is fighting Bruce, and Jon rushes into the middle of things to try and stop his best friend. However, this is a version of Damian who has no idea who Jon is, so he proceeds to use his super strength against him. Eventually Batman manages to get away, and Damian blames it all on Jon. Clark arrives and fills Jon in on the reason for the rift between Bruce and Damian, the death of Dick, but leaves out a lot of the story so as not to give it context, or reveal the kind of man Superman has become.

Clark agrees to let Jon fly around on his own, to see the world that Clark has built in the wake of the tragedy he experienced. Jon at first seems to think things seem good, and even talks about how his father often wanted to be this proactive. However, when he helps save someone, who then runs in fear because of the symbol on his chest, Jon realises that there's something rotten on this world; and Superman is at the core of it.

This issue feels like it's doing a lot of set-up. Despite being the third issue of a six issue series, it's got the feel of a first issue because it's having to introduce Jon to a lot of stuff. The readers might be familiar with the Injustice comics, but Jon isn't, as such we need context for everything that he's coming across. This means that a lot of the issue is dealing with backstory, with world building, and with catching up with the status quo. The result is an issue that feels kind of slow; though it still manages to be interesting and engaging, and keeps your attention. I think those who've read the Injustice comics will also find it interesting.

With Jon now apparently realising that there's some bad stuff happening on this world, and with the shady conversations that Clark has had with his allies, it looks like things might be descending into violence pretty quickly. There's no way that Jon is going to side with this version of Superman, so he's going to have to fight him. But, would he perhaps pretend to be okay with things until Superman helps him to free Val and Lois so that he can go home? Maybe, though I can also see this version of Superman refusing to actually free them, because if Red Tornado gets out it means that Jon can leave their universe; and I don't see Clark wanting to lose his son again.

We've reached the halfway point of the series, and it looks like things are going to get pretty interesting with the next issue.