Superman: Son of Kal-El (2021-) #5

Superman: Son of Kal-El (Single Issues)

by Tom Taylor, John Timms (Artist), Hi-Fi Design (Colorist)

Faster than fate. As powerful as hope. Able to lift us all. For all his great power, Jon Kent can’t save everyone, but that won’t stop him from trying. How much can Earth’s new Superman do before this Man of Steel buckles? And when he does, who swoops in to save Superman?

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Superman, LGBT, Queer, Comic Book

31 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 16, 2021

About the author

Once a professional juggler and fire eater, Tom Taylor is a #1 New York Times Bestselling, multi-award-winning comic book writer, playwright and screenwriter.

Well known for his work with DC Comics and Marvel, Taylor is the co-creator of NEVERLANDERS from Penguin Random House, SEVEN SECRETS from Boom Studios and the Aurealis-Award-winning graphic novel series THE DEEP. Taylor is also the Head Writer and Executive Producer of The Deep animated series, four seasons of which is broadcast in over 140 countries.

He is perhaps best known for the DC Comics series, DCEASED (Shadow Awards Winner), NIGHTWING (nominated for 5 Eisner Awards), SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL (GLAAD Award Nominee), INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US, SUICIDE SQUAD, EARTH 2 and BATMAN/SUPERMAN as well as Marvel's FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, ALL NEW WOLVERINE, X-MEN: RED, DARK AGES and SUPERIOR IRON MAN. Taylor is also the writer of many Star Wars series, which include STAR WARS: INVASION and STAR WARS: BLOOD TIES (Stan Lee Excelsior Award winner). Taylor has written for Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Boom Studios, Wildstorm, 2000 AD and Gestalt Comics.

He can be followed on twitter @TomTaylorMade.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Noise cancelling headphones. Riiight. Superlad can hear sounds from the other side of the world, but a pair of noise cancelling headphones does the trick.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great issue. Jon pushing himself to the limit was great to watch. Also boy kiss. Yay!

[Sid · Rating 5 out of 5]

another win for bisexuals! we stay winning huh. welcome to the club jon baby. and take some rest ffs

[Kastie Pavlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love. It! Jon and Jay had vibes from the get-go and I was wondering what, if anything, would come of it. I'm kind of happy it got a big splash page handled with lowkey normalcy and back to business instead of building it up and making a huge deal out of it. Making it ordinary keeps the extraordinary thing the solar flare attack and Jon's need to save everyone he can hear crying for help. He's still coming into his own in every way, as a young adult, as a person, as a hero, and he's doing it all at once with each aspect of his life as important as the others. I like the balance and the risks.

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good story about a boy who's becoming a man and trying to do too much. He has no idea what to do next but is trying to be the hero he thinks his father is. If anything he is stuck in the shadows of a giant and that makes his choices seem harder. What is clear is the kiss with loam large in everyone's eyes when it's just a small part of who he is.

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn. Yes, this would have meant a lot to my younger self. But my adult ass still enjoyed the hell out of it. Queer characters and stories are valid. Queer people exist. Queer people can be heroes. That’s why representation is so important.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aí gente, o tanto de chilique por causa de um beijinho. Mas meu negócio com essa edição é que não sei se eu não lembro mais porque faz um tempinho que eu li o 4, mas achei esse história meio 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good gay superman!

[Clay Bartel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has been a real slow burn... issue #1 was largely a recap of Jon Clark's history, in a retconned format... personally I enjoyed his connection with Convergence and the story that unfolded in Road to Rebirth Superman Lois and Clark and the Rebirth Action Comics series...

#1 summorized and modified Jon's history and while I didn't hate it I wasn't super (no pun intended) excited by this.

Issue #2 is easily my second favorite of the 5 issues so far with Jon attempting to blend in and ultimately meeting Jay.

#3 introduces the out of wack meta humans who become pivital to the ongoing stories.

#4 sees the Kent farm attacked and Revelation about Jay and a visit with the Flash.

And finally issue #5 which is my favorite so far as we see Son of Superman Jon Clark deal with the solar flare attack and his growing relationship with Jay.

I've gotten the feeling like all the components are in place and this slowly building story is finally heating up and writer Tom Taylor will hit his stride with issue #6 and beyond.

With international attention on this series and it launching to number 3 top selling DC series I hope this can become a long running series that dives into real world threats and Jon's intimate feelings.

Check out this ongoing series!

[Gore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite issue so far of the series, and it's not the whole JonJay thing either! (Because I don't like JonJay, lol!) What I like is we see Jon really trying to put the whole world on his shoulder, and I like the depiction that even if he is Superman, he can't change the world alone. When he criticized his father for not doing more, I definitely had my tongue to my cheek because boy does this kid have a lot to learn. I'm glad he got a bit of taste of that medicine, and I like to see where he's going from here. I'm just not looking forward to the whole JonJay romance. There had been no indication of infatuation of the other. It felt forced, and Jay's character is really bland! Yeah, he's a reporter and all, but that's all we know about his character and nothing else. Like, what else draws the interest?

[R E · Rating 2 out of 5]

We’ll, the figure art still sucks (the backgrounds are well done), but the narrative in issue 5 - fairly strong in earlier issues - is fragmented and uninteresting. More evidence, to my mind, that DC is backpedaling on their so called diversity initiative.

After all, this is the issue with “The Kiss,” Superman’s first same sex scene. But rather than integrated into a tightly paced storyline, it’s dropped gratuitously into a series of disjointed vignettes of Superman saving people.

Overall, underwhelming and borderline pathetic. I’d write more, but there’s so little to this issue to think about.

[Devin Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jon running into his own limits and then finding some comfort is pretty cathartic. I also just love the struggle with the pain of the world; this is something I love seeing dramatized via Professor X (via Cerebro specifically) but it's also something that has a lot of resonance more broadly. (I won't exhaust how here.)

I'll admit that I'm starting to see behind the curtain somewhat on things that Tom Taylor does (Jon/Jay here reminds me an awful lot of Dick/Barbara from Leaping into the Light), but... I truly don't care; it's really good and nice and good (and nice).

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have nothing against it specifically, but was there any hint or character development leading to this? I have read Tomasi's Superman run and SuperSons, with young John at the center of many stories. I have not read Bendis'run or Legions of Superheroes. So for me it came out of the blue and ultimately I did not really care because there was no anticipation building beforehand.
In case there are stories that would explain this revelation, please share!

[Craig Schorling · Rating 4 out of 5]

So Jon kisses another man and people loss their minds but Lois and Clark have interspecies relations that produce a son and no one bats an eye? This was another solid issue. Not quite as good as the couple before it, but the characters are still so compelling and well written. The art is very good minus some of the goofy character panels. This is becoming one of my favorite current series. Each issue delivers and is consistent.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t read a lot of Superman. I read it but no obsessively. Of course I read the Superman’s son is gay headline and bought 1-5. I love this storyline. It’s slowly developing to be amazing. I love the potential boyfriend who has some mysterious powers of his own.

To all those who said this would flop by having the main character be LGBTQ+, haha. It sold out!

[Jacob Kooistra · Rating 5 out of 5]

(For now, I'm just logging this issue instead of the whole run so far)

Approaching classic characters with a more modern perspective, Son of Kal-El updates the Superman mythology for today. With his father's powers and his mother's passion for truth and justice, Jon Kent is uniquely suited for confronting the systemic problems facing the world.

[Kezia · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Cinéma, 5 stars, life changing
2. Jon yeeting out of there foR WoRK even though he had a good time lmfao that's the true awkward dumb teen experience, I love life writing
3. Real talk thank you to the creative team behind this that got this to happen, it means the world.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember issue #3 when I said Jon Kent inherited the world's problems? Well, in this issue, he tries to solve all of them when he gets an unexpected power boost.

This Superman isn't shy locking lips and sharing his secret identity.

Included in my Pride Month 2023 reading list.

[Thibaut Nicodème · Rating 5 out of 5]

On one hand, inject that shit straight into my veins.

On the other hand, like…big "that's it?" moment from me folks.

[OinkFish Pigs · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t even know what else to say about this, it’s just incredible and GAY omg I’m so happy

[dhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

BISEXUAL JON KENT FTW

"you've got everyone else. i've got you."

PLEASE JAY BEST BOY

i love them so much omg

[Sreedevi Dhawalaghar · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a lovely short read. I literally finished this in like 10 minutes.
the art style is just brilliant and I love the way Tom Taylor drew Jon he looks so adorable .

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whos Got You

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good. The kiss was a bit anticlimactic but I think it felt that way pq cuando jay le está diciendo q no lo necesita, los dos panels before the kiss están al revés. Amo a John y me gusta the plot.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE.

[Cath T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jon is such a great character. You really sympathize with his struggle to be Superman for everyone.

[Avinash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, they kissed!!!

[Michael McPherson III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay for gay.

[clear skies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not gonna lie the first kiss came out of nowhere. I’m loving the storyline though.


(Digital version, 2022)