Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1 by Tom Taylor Review

*This article contains spoilers for Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1*

Tom Taylor’s story starring Jon Kent did not end with Superman: Son of Kal-El (2021)! The story continues in Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent (2023), a Dawn of DC limited series which will further Jon’s legacy as a Superman.

Already, this series is enveloped with hype as author Tom Taylor announced Jon Kent will be entering the world of Injustice. For those unaware, Injustice: Gods Among Us is a best-selling, fan favorite video game and comic series in which Superman goes mad following the death of Lois Lane—in his madness, Superman steps into the realm of authoritarianism. While the Injustice world was thought retired with no sequel in sight, original author Tom Taylor is reigniting the famed multiversal universe and bringing a great confrontation between morality and brawn; Jon Kent vs Injustice Superman.

Injustice: Gods Among Us – Video Game

The super-epic begins as all good Superman stories do—a battle between Superman and a mighty enemy, in this case, Ultraman. Though this Superman (Kal-El) is not from Earth-Prime. He’s a completely random Superman pulled from the multiverse. Oh, and he’s about to die. Murdered by the evil Ultraman, who is on a quest to kill every Kal-El in the multiverse. Already, this series is off to an interesting start.

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1

Long-time DC readers recognize the super-trope of Kal-Els being murdered across the Multiverse. Justice League of America (2015) series and The Kingdom (1999) series are two prime examples of this trope. While JLA struggled horribly with its story, The Kingdom did an amazing execution of this trope. It’s almost exhausting witnessing the resurrection of this trope, yet the differentiation here can change the entire dynamic; Jon Kent is the one facing the murders of his fathers. This is a new character facing the death of his father—not just Superman facing himself and his own mortality. This is part of Jon Kent’s legacy, and since he is such a different hero than his father, it opens the door to a different kind of story. Kick those cliches, Tom Taylor! We have high hopes here!

The Kingdom #1

As satellites rain destruction from above, Jon aims to dismantle them before they crash to Earth, but suffers a massive power surge—an after effect of the Lazarus Eruption. Super-fans recognize the electric powers to be identical to Superman Blue’s powers from the 1990s. While all seems lost for Earth, a mysterious bolt destroys the rest of the satellites. The mysterious hero is then reviewed to be Val-Zod! The Superman from Earth-2!

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent

Welcome to Earth-Prime, Val-Zod! After assisting Jon, the two take a visit to Mr. Terrific and Red Tornado to verify Val-Zod’s identity. Once again, Jon proves his integrity—instead of battling the new Superman, he listens to the story and gathers facts. He wants to believe and use communication over violence—something extremely rare in superhero comics. It also breaks down that age old trope of heroes fighting simply because they do not know each other. A nice character building moment.

Finally, Val-Zod and Red Tornado reveal their reason for visiting Earth-Prime: Ultraman is coming for Kal-El. He’s already killed a host of other Supermen with a special ability that weakens the Man of Steel. If Jon does not help, his father will be murdered without question.

In a final twist, we learn Earth-2’s Red Tornado is really Lois Lane, as she begs Jon to save Kal.

Calvin Ellis

Now personally, I would have loved Calvin Ellis to have been the Superman to come to Jon, but that’s because I’m a huge Grant Morrison fan. For those who do not know, Calvin Ellis is the Superman of Earth-23. He is the first Black Superman in DC Comics History while also being the President of the United States. His first appearance was during Final Crisis and he’s been popping up here and there since. Hopefully Tom Taylor brings him into the mix as well!

This feels like an epic slowly unfolding. Jon Kent is creating a legacy and readers have the opportunity to witness it in real time. A great new series for 2023.

This series should absolutely be part of your pull list!

Rating: 4/5 Stars. This story feels like an epic. It brings back characters that have not been seen in years—some since Convergence. This is a story which is pulling together DC history for a grand payoff.

Suggested reading: Earth-2 (Vol 1) by James Robinson

Thom LaPorte

April 17, 2023

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent, New Book

DC Comics, Injustice, Jon Kent, Red Tornado, Superman, Ultraman, Val Zod

One response to “Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1 by Tom Taylor Review”

Al

April 21, 2023 at 12:36 am

I will have to disagree with you. The origins of the Superman Red Superman blue was an imanginary story printed in 63 and resurrected in the 90s. In the first case it was another case of Lois vs Lana fighting over Superman the latter in my opinion was an attempt by DC Comics to “Jump the Shark” to get Superman comics selling again. The 90s version did not sell well. So why bring back again and again. I’m a retailer and my DC fans & I see this as a gimmick nothing more. DC can not seem to find a way of using Jon without some kind of Gimmick, be it age him or change his powers by having the Eradicator enhance him or now having him take on the Superman Blue. He is a good character let him just be.
In regards to Earth 2, this is not Earth 2. With DC now rolling out the Omniverse, they could have brought back the original Earth 2. You know the one that DC made its bones on in the 40s and 50s. I like Calvin Ellis but I like him on Earth 23. He is a great character and if done well I could see him and his Justice League having their own book. But this is just sloppy writing in regards to using Earth 2. Instead of flushing out Earth 23 and Calvin Ellis they use an Earth that has history. This way they don’t have to explain what Earth 2 is all about. And this disrespects the Golden Age writers and artists. Think of how hard they all worked back then. There was no Cadre of characters to take powers from. It was just them a typewriter and their Imagination. Now you have writers who by changing everything of earth 2, say to them I know better.
Often, writters of today are so eager to change or to put “their twist” on the book they are writing, they forget what has come before. Comic book creators and even us shop owners to a point have a responsibility to make sure that the next generation knows the original story. Not the Taylor or Morrison version. I have young readers (in their 20s and 30s) who come into my store who have no idea who the JSA or All Star Squadron or 7 soldiers of Victory are.
I know I will get push back in regards to my comments especially from the younger readers who may not mind so many changes. But remember the stories being written today or characters created now which seems to be locked in now, in 25 or 50 years may be changed by some writer looking to put his twist on it.

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