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n0lame's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
sreneward's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
unladylike's review
4.0
This is the gay climate justice Superman series I never knew I needed. I fuckin love Tom Taylor and, although "The Truth" is way too on-the-nose and obviously going to end up being some kind of compromised/villainous, there are way more good things in these comics than bad.
readingrainey's review
4.0
Such a fun read. Reminded me why I loved comics as a kid. Solid start for a new Man of Steel.
bloodykanary's review
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
bookswithleigh's review
This is probably the third time I've read this TPB...
I'm a huge fan of SUPER SONS, so naturally, I picked up the next installment in Jonathan Kent-Slash-Superman's life. I'm not unfamiliar with comics (and especially DC), so the sudden jump in character ages and the lack of continuity with previous storylines didn't really surprise me. I don't fully understand how we jumped from SUPER SONS Jon to SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL Jon but that's fine -- I haven't closely followed DC since New 52 jacked up my favorites, so that's on me.
I think the easy pros are that Jon is not Superman. This isn't just young Clark Kent re-skinned for current times. Jon has different goals and fears than Clark did, and he voices them and his criticisms of Superman early-on. Also, I love any Damian Wayne cameo I can get, so. I think the current arc has really great potential
I do think I forgot how much I disliked the fast-paced nature of superhero comics. Things aren't drawn-out. Things are packed into weekly or monthly runs, so when they're collected like this, it seems like a wild jump for Jay and Jon to suddenly be kissing by Issue #4 or #5. Where are their dates? Where are the long gazes across the dinner table? Where is the pining? (What I'm saying is: why can't we have a full issue of just their relationship development??? I would read several arcs of that -- because please, give Jay more depth, he's pretty one-note right now and DC can do better.)
I'm keeping my eye on this series because I think it will continue to improve, but I do hope it escapes the pitfalls that tend to come with the rushed format of DC and Marvel comics.
I'm a huge fan of SUPER SONS, so naturally, I picked up the next installment in Jonathan Kent-Slash-Superman's life. I'm not unfamiliar with comics (and especially DC), so the sudden jump in character ages and the lack of continuity with previous storylines didn't really surprise me. I don't fully understand how we jumped from SUPER SONS Jon to SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL Jon but that's fine -- I haven't closely followed DC since New 52 jacked up my favorites, so that's on me.
I think the easy pros are that Jon is not Superman. This isn't just young Clark Kent re-skinned for current times. Jon has different goals and fears than Clark did, and he voices them and his criticisms of Superman early-on. Also, I love any Damian Wayne cameo I can get, so. I think the current arc has really great potential
I do think I forgot how much I disliked the fast-paced nature of superhero comics. Things aren't drawn-out. Things are packed into weekly or monthly runs, so when they're collected like this, it seems like a wild jump for Jay and Jon to suddenly be kissing by Issue #4 or #5. Where are their dates? Where are the long gazes across the dinner table? Where is the pining? (What I'm saying is: why can't we have a full issue of just their relationship development??? I would read several arcs of that -- because please, give Jay more depth, he's pretty one-note right now and DC can do better.)
I'm keeping my eye on this series because I think it will continue to improve, but I do hope it escapes the pitfalls that tend to come with the rushed format of DC and Marvel comics.
thenextgenlibrarian's review
4.0
GORGEOUS ARTWORK! I liked reading about Jonathan Kent, son of Clark and Lois Lane. The artwork really blew me away. The colors and detail! Wow!
cassie_grace's review
4.0
Right wing men on the internet hate it, so I figured it was probably pretty good. And it is!
It’s sweet. Jon and Jay’s relationship is pretty well done, if maybe a little rushed. But aside from that it’s a good comic. And I’m an absolute sucker for any Wildstorm inclusions, and Henry Bendix aka the Weatherman aka erstwhile head of Stormwatch is the villain. He’s great!
It’s sweet. Jon and Jay’s relationship is pretty well done, if maybe a little rushed. But aside from that it’s a good comic. And I’m an absolute sucker for any Wildstorm inclusions, and Henry Bendix aka the Weatherman aka erstwhile head of Stormwatch is the villain. He’s great!
helpfulsnowman's review
3.0
The marketing for this is weird, because it feels like it’s playing at “What if SUPERMAN tried to solve society’s ills?” kind of thing, but it’s really not overly political.
I’m not a big fan of the stories of superheroes trying to solve our real world problems like income inequality and so on, mostly because they cannot solve those problems.
See, in the world of comics, superheroes exist. In our world, they don’t. In the world of comics, there is a HUGE X factor (see what I did there?) that would certainly throw off social and economic forces in pretty significant ways, but those are not things that happen in our world.
When an evil dictator from another dimension tries to destroy our existence every few months, wouldn’t this change the economy?
If alien species existed, wouldn’t this change our society somewhat?
But the real problem is the flip side: superman isn’t real, therefore superman cannot solve real world problems.
Because superman can attempt to address the problems of our world using methods that aren’t available. There is no human who can stop a natural disaster like superman can. There is no human who could pick up a sinking ship and bring it to shore.
Any suggestion of a way superman could solve a problem, related to the real world, is like wishing or magic or shit like that. It’s not really applicable.
But while the covers and back copy would have you think this book is going to be superman feeding the hungry or whatever, it’s not so much. He does some of that stuff, but it’s not obnoxious, it’s not like anyone is pretending they’ve got the answers.
Which is good, because I DO have the answers, and I plan to deploy my robot man with a kryptonite heart any day now to get those answers in place!
I’m not a big fan of the stories of superheroes trying to solve our real world problems like income inequality and so on, mostly because they cannot solve those problems.
See, in the world of comics, superheroes exist. In our world, they don’t. In the world of comics, there is a HUGE X factor (see what I did there?) that would certainly throw off social and economic forces in pretty significant ways, but those are not things that happen in our world.
When an evil dictator from another dimension tries to destroy our existence every few months, wouldn’t this change the economy?
If alien species existed, wouldn’t this change our society somewhat?
But the real problem is the flip side: superman isn’t real, therefore superman cannot solve real world problems.
Because superman can attempt to address the problems of our world using methods that aren’t available. There is no human who can stop a natural disaster like superman can. There is no human who could pick up a sinking ship and bring it to shore.
Any suggestion of a way superman could solve a problem, related to the real world, is like wishing or magic or shit like that. It’s not really applicable.
But while the covers and back copy would have you think this book is going to be superman feeding the hungry or whatever, it’s not so much. He does some of that stuff, but it’s not obnoxious, it’s not like anyone is pretending they’ve got the answers.
Which is good, because I DO have the answers, and I plan to deploy my robot man with a kryptonite heart any day now to get those answers in place!
howdyellie's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5