Superman: Son of Kal-El, Vol. 3: Battle for Gamorra

Superman: Son of Kal-El

by Tom Taylor, Nicole Maines, Cian Tormey (Illustrator)

A new Man of Steel for a new era! Jonathan Kent dons his father’s cape as the 21st century Superman, from the bestselling writer Tom Taylor!

With Clark Kent off-world battling in the universe, Jonathan Kent has stepped into the role of Superman to defend planet earth. Despite Jonathan facing the most devastating physical attack of his life, he’s ready for change.

Superstar writer Tom Taylor (DCeased, Injustice) teams with visionary artist John Timms (Future State: Superman of Metropolis) to tell the saga of the 21st century Superman!

Collects Superman: Son of Kal-El #11-15.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, LGBT

136 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2023

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

[Spens (Sphynx Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astounding conclusion to this series! I loved the conflicts here and Jon and Jay's relationship. I can't believe so many people online have made such a fuss about a bisexual Superman when his sexuality isn't even a huge part of the story. I'm glad I wasn't deterred by all the negative reviews calling this woke garbage. I enjoyed my time reading this, I loved the characters, and I look forward to reading more of Tom Taylor's work!

[Machiavelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jon Kent’s role as Superman expands beyond Metropolis as he takes on Henry Bendix and the authoritarian state of Gamorra. What starts as political chess escalates into a global conflict, with Jon forced to weigh diplomacy, transparency, and the very real costs of intervention. The story threads in his partnership with Jay Nakamura, the Rising resistance, and even a guest turn from Dreamer.

Taylor mixes classic Superman ideals with modern stakes—less about smashing villains and more about confronting systemic corruption and abuse of power. The art brings both the intimate character beats and large-scale battles to life, making this a bold, relevant Superman tale.

[David Palazzolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to like this series more than I do. I’m happy they’re keeping Jon and Damian’s friendship ongoing, I appreciate the story arcs being composed of 1 to 2 issues, I even really enjoy the fact that Jon is striving to find his own way to be Superman (a nice and realistic touch), but the series’ resolution to the conflict with it’s first primary villain was disappointing. Tom Taylor spent so much time building up the threat of Bendix, yet has him defeated in only a handful of pages. I felt a little cheated by this.

[Alex Sarll]

A story about how hard it is fighting someone happy to weaponise the decent instincts of their enemies, and if the solution it offers is one sadly inapplicable to our own world, well, that tends to be the way with Superman, but it's nice to dream. The small but telling details are lovely too - of course it makes sense that Clark's parents would have been friends with Alfred. And Krypto, as ever, is a very good dog. Really, my main complaint is the variant cover where Jon Kent looks like Jon Bass.

[Christian La Pointe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it. Jon and Jay are very cute together, and the book addresses some problematic tropes typical to classic comics such as ‘damselling’ and ignoring the reality of international politics when it comes to superheroes being depicted as ‘invading’ foreign lands. I like a lot of the heroes established herein, and it’s always nice to see new and creative ways writers devise for villains to harm otherwise invulnerable heroes.

Jon and Jay’s romance felt a bit rushes in the first volume, but the further past that volume we get the more it is growing on me. Can’t wait for the Return of Kal-El.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of great elements as always.
I Love the development of Jon and Jay's relationship, and of course Krypto. What a fantastic creature.
There's a lot of good going on here, and there's a lot of good messages, too. Stand up for what's right, be who you are, etc.
And it's always fun to see Nia Nal. It's just one of those comics that makes me feel weirdly emotional at the end, that last page of Jon and Jay standing in the wreckage together, not having to hide anything.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever heard of Gamorra?


Me neither.

Nonetheless this battle for the titular island technological superpower was compelling, and Taylor got to bring back some of his original characters from his run on Suicide Squad which was fun.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best volume yet in the Son of Kal-El series! Picking right up from the previous volume, we find Jon Kent (Superboy) struggling with how best to keep his friends and family safe while defeating Bendix and his mind-controlled, super-powered army. Jon's also gotta find a way to do all that defeating without killing anyone or being the foreign superhero who saves the day. It's a lot to handle!

Fortunately, Jay is a big help here. Their relationship feels even more solid in this volume - it's nice to see a low-drama couple in the comic book realm. The final battle is satisfying and, unlike most books, super clear on the page. This series has had quality artwork throughout - I'd love to see these clean lines replicated more broadly.

Now that I've finally come around on Tom Taylor's take on Superboy, I'm sad to see him go as Superman Prime returns in the next volume.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series despite the feeling certain parts are being forced fed to us.
The Revolutionaries seem an interesting bunch and provoke some interesting stories.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whereas the previous volume ended on a cliffhanger, with Batman being the bearer of bad news, saying that Jon shouldn’t trust his journalist boyfriend Jay, due to his connections with the Revolutionaries. From the first issue of this volume, this conflict is resolved fairly quickly as Jon and Jay will have their happily ever after. What saves the issue is the conversation between Jon’s grandfather and Batman, whom Jonathan refers to as Bruce. From this sequence, Tom Taylor is very interested in showing the domesticity of these colourful superheroes, proving they are just as human as the ordinary folk that they protect.

As for the Revolutionaries themselves, they are may be seen as violent extremists, but from their introduction in Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad: Bad Blood, we know they don’t pose a threat, though Jon as Superman does address them down when he and Jay’s mission is not to fight a war, but perform a rescue. Who knows what plans Taylor has for the Revolutionaries in the future, but from their temporary presence in this comic, hopefully we’ll see more of them. We also get a brief interaction with Jon and his bestie Damian Wayne, which is always cute.

One of the selling points of this volume is that Taylor co-writes issue #13 with actor and transgender rights activist Nicole Maines, who played Nia Nal/Dreamer, the first transgender superhero on television. First appeared on The CW’s Supergirl, Dreamer her debut within the main DC Comics continuity here as she warns Jon of an upcoming cataclysm caused by the series’ main villain Henry Bendix, resulting the death of many DC heroes. Along with an interesting power that ties into dreams, Dreamer has a rather quirky personality which I find delightful and look forward to seeing more.

Although The Rising serves as an interesting threat, in that they are a human-formed super-powered drone squad that have explosives in their head, Bendix himself isn’t really a compelling villain as he’s just another bald dictator and considering that Lex Luthor pops up here, one of these baldies has more charisma than the other.

He may not have started the series, but artist Cian Tormey slips nicely into. Drawing all the issues in this volume (except for #13, drawn by Clayton Henry), Tormey balances the action and drama really well, whether it is the numerous heartwarming character interactions, or when Jon and Jay battling an American senator who mutates in a giant octopus-like monster. Even Krypto the Superdog gets his share of the action.

Whilst there are a few more issues of Superman: Son of Kal-El coming up, setting up the return of the OG Supes, this volume wraps up the central conflict with Gamorra, which may not be the most spectacular finale, but there are some nice character resolutions.

[Bene Vogt · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the one hand, I want to complain that this volume peddles back quite a bit from the political progressiveness of the first two volumes, on the other hand it's still an excellently written and illustrated story about a queer Superman and the other complaint is that volume 4 is not yet a thing, so once more kudos to Taylor.

[Steve Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lois and Clark finally got together, and now the Earth has a new Superman, their teen son Jon. With his Dad fighting elsewhere in the universe, it's up to Jon and his friends to save the planet from another megalomaniac who wants to rule the world.

Superman entered the 21st century with a new look and a new graphic novel series.

A lot of fun.

[Aidan]

Pretty sure this argues that foreign interventions are gay pride

[baz · Rating 4 out of 5]

She doesn't get 5 stars solely because she should've been longer.

[Mariano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent ending. Nothing surprising. I think I might have liked it better if I hadn't read the Warworld saga before. This felt bland overall.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final run on Bendix. What a great series. Jon is fun, he has great friends. I love this.

[Dash Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good ending to a fine run! It suffers from Taylor’s usual trappings for plot convenience, but I enjoyed how it closed out. I wish there was more to go on, but I’m happy for what we had

[Trey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. I read this series because it has Superman in a gay relationship, but honestly? There’s not enough to the relationship to really be a draw. Their entire relationship just surrounds the plot, and the only “romantic” things that happen are an occasional kiss, and maybe one decent line about them caring for each other? It’s very surface level.

The plot itself was pretty solid, but the first 2 1/2 volumes seem to slowly build up this crazy big threat, and then it all very quickly resolves without seeming like a big deal at all. There are also several things that should get huge emotional weight and gravitas that are just skimmed over without really showing you any of that. I’d hoped for more.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
First foray into this book. But I like Taylor's work a lot and am loving Jon Kent. Very nice story.

[Maciej Matusz · Rating 3 out of 5]

*SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL* was a relaxing read for me. Tom Taylor knows how to write characters that engage the reader. Additionally, the characters are very positive and give readers a sense of warmth—exactly what Superman comics should do. Before reading the third and final volume, I was worried that the series’ conclusion wouldn’t meet expectations, especially since it spans only three volumes. In my opinion, the series has the potential for more volumes and a longer story. So, how does *SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL – BATTLE FOR GAMORRA* hold up?

Let me start with what I found negative. The comic’s pacing is very fast—things happen too quickly, leading to a lack of proper development in certain storylines. This is especially true for the finale involving the state of Gamorra, where the titular battle appears only in the last two or even the last single issue. The action moves toward it very quickly, even though the beginning of the series suggested that helping the citizens of Gamorra would be a much more difficult challenge. Instead, the heroes deal with all obstacles surprisingly easily, which contradicts the earlier suggestions about the difficulty of the intervention.

Another downside is the resolution of the Gamorran president’s storyline, which feels quite clichéd. The way this problem is solved seems out of step with the spirit of the comic, which had previously been very pro-citizen and maintained a positive outlook.

On the positive side, the comic, as always, radiates hope and a positive message. This is evident in Superman’s fatherly relationship, where the full commitment and love for his son and grandson are strongly felt. Nightwing and Robin also support the young Superman in his goals and lend a helping hand. Jon’s relationship with Jay Nakamura is also significant, as it remains supportive despite the challenges they face. Jay is a proactive hero who wants to help the citizens of his country. It’s worth mentioning that Jon has become a better hero thanks to his boyfriend, who wasn’t afraid to tell him the truth. I love this duo.

As for the artistic aspect, there are two artists responsible: Clayton Henry and Cian Tormey. Cian Tormey had already worked on previous volumes, and his style is very detailed and realistic. You can see the texture of objects, which adds depth. The panel composition is dynamic, giving a cinematic feel. The body language of the characters in his drawings is very expressive, which helps convey emotions. The color palette is toned down and subtle, but warm enough to maintain the positive atmosphere of the comic. On the other hand, Clayton Henry is a master of clean and distinct lines, and his action scenes are much better portrayed. You can feel the strength of the superheroes in them. Both styles complement each other perfectly, without breaking the reader’s immersion.

*BATTLE FOR GAMORRA* may not be a comic masterpiece, but it’s solid. The only downside I see is that the series has already ended. You just want more adventures with these characters. Let’s hope that more comics featuring the young Superman and his boyfriend will be available on the Polish market.

[Arianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly better than the previous volumes as there is a lot more action. The stakes, however, are still incredibly low. At the start of this book, a man is about to explode in Jon's arms because of a bomb in his head, but instead of that happening Jon manages to do "super-speed emergency microsurgery" and nothing happens. Of course, this is not a moment slowed down in time so we can appreciate how nervous Jon is, how desperately he's looking for a solution to save someone's life - it just magically happens, and later Jon just tells us that he magically did it.
Dick Grayson manages to plant a bug inside of Lex Luthor's office, despite the fact Lex definitely knows he's a Batman associate. But don't worry, when it becomes convenient for the narrative for Lex to return to his genius supervillain self so he can defeat Bendix, he does that with no problem.
Jay Nakamura is apparently the dumbest person on Earth, as his identity gets exposed not by the supervillains who want to defeat him, but by himself. Of course, everyone who accuses him of being a biased actor because of his political affiliations is framed as being an evil conspiracy theorist, even when he has been exposed on live television to be the son of the former Gamorran president - the perks of being the love interest, I guess.
Bendix is planning the death of literally all heroes but don't worry, a random character has had a premonition so we can stop it before it happens with time to spare! The heroes orchestrate an attack on Gamorra, because attacking a sovereign nation with the purpose of overthrowing its dictatorship is totally normal and totally something Superman would do. Of course, Jay is intangible so he can't be hurt, the Revolutionaries are completely unscathed, and the Gamorran people even collaborate with the heroes so they don't even have to do the work of overpowering people.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bendix conflict continues to boil as The Rising continues to escalate and come to its finale and climax as more and more people are controlled by Bendix including a US senator! I understand why some might not like how quickly Bendix's downfall was done. I think it was okay as we saw him do multiple fights and actions beforehand through him controlling and operating people which allowed him to be in fights even if he wasn't physically there. He was naturally a villain that was weak alone so once he was separated from what was making him strong he would crumple quickly. And the way he crumpled allows for a later plot point with Lex Luthor (or that could be just general character dialogue of Lexington at the end this is my first real Superman comics so I'm still figuring his deal out).
The art really steps up. As normal the actual penciler changes occasionally but the main artsists for the second and third volumes have artstyles I enjoy much more. A good chunk of this one is done by Cian Tormey who I think does a good job. It's comic-style art with a bit of cartoon in there. While its not the strongest art it is solid. Cian Tormey really excels at action scenes (at least in this case) but even in less action-heavy scenes their strong posing and silhouettes (especially for panels with a lot of time given to them) come through. It's especially amazing with capturing dynamic movement (just look at the reveal of Jay's mom or when Jay falls through Jon's arms).
Jay Nakamura gets some solo-time in this volume which I like. We get to see him do some stuff with Jon which helps establish him more as a character and less as just Jon's boyfriend. I think that was a good move and I hope later comics continue with this trend that Jon Kent's first Superman run introduced at its end.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Telescopic X-ray vision plus heat ray vision means emergency brain microsurgery”—thanks, I get it… but I still hate it.

This kid was stuck in a volcano for six years, I don’t care that he was read at the speed of light or smth, reading about brain surgery doesn’t mean you understand brain surgery… also how long has it been since you were stuck in that volcano??

Finally, it’s here we got something about how the first Gamorra powered person was taken out of the laboratory, but I feel like that mystery should been better than just “it was the Senator.”

And, of course, Jay being revealed as a part of The Truth and being the son of the ex-president makes it political, but why is no one talking to the refugees from Volume 1 about how awful Bendix’s regime is? They probably know people are being experimented on by now. Why hasn’t Jay and the other Revolutionaries come out with their collective testimony about their escape from Gamorra? If the UN exists, whether or not the UN takes action could determine the course of the story. And if Bendix wants to “sell” his superpowered soldiers, poor or skeptical nations could raise issue with that.

(Upon further research, now I’m not even sure which Revolutionaries are Gamorran survivors.)

Lastly, the battle for Gamorra was too easy. What about the people? There aren’t any retainers that can attempt to fill the power vacuum of Bendix’s regime?

The relationship between Jon and Jay is about as exciting as plain pita bread. There is something to these characters if their individual potential was able to shine more.

Other than that, the only exciting relationship is Damian suddenly showing up to help at the end and that lasted as long as it took me to finish listening to that new Magdalena Bay song.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a comic that is trying to run before it can walk. Maybe that's my read on the character, but that's how it feels to me in almost every issue.

Bendix is throwing everything he can at 'The Truth' and Jon Kent. With Luthor's help, he's been building a metahuman battalion (Stormwatch callback) to keep totalitarian control of Gamorra. Jon's trying his best to protect his family and boyfriend, who gets an unofficial[?] superhero name, in 'Gossamer', from a villain that is thinking a few steps ahead.

We also have another appearance by 'The Revolutionaries'. In my opinion, possibly one of the worst teams gathered in comics. Cliche. Boring. Nothing about this team, besides their connection to Bendix's abduction and metapower grafting program, is making this a group I'm investing in.

Leave it to Damian Wayne to pick things up...
------------------
Bendix's downfall, in my opinion, is over quicker than expected. It makes a character, historically a large 'big bad' into a ...placeholder? Is it the right move? We'll see in future issues.

Bonus: Pa Kent schooling Batman on how to raise a Superman (and being BFF's with Alfred)
Bonus Bonus: Dreamer (transgender superhero ancestor to LoSH member, Dream Girl) made their debut.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It all ends here! With help from Dreamer and his boyfriend Gossamer, Jonathan Kent takes the fight to Henry Bendix to liberate Gamorra once and for all.

It's interesting to see where this series has ended up; Tom Taylor has gone on record and said that Jon hasn't thrown a punch to solve his problems so far, but faced with Henry Bendix, it's difficult not to lash out. This is as much a moral fight for Jon as it is a physical one, and it's great to see Jon stepping out from his dad's shadow. He's not afraid to ask for help, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty if he has to, and he never forgets who he is. I've seen so many people say that Jon's a blank slate since the age-up, but I'd point at this series and tell them that they're wrong.

Cian Tormey may not have been the artist to launch this series, but he's really made it his own. He draws four of the five issues here, with an assist from Clayton Henry in the issue that brings Dreamer into the DCU proper.

Son Of Kal-El ends here (the last three issues of the title are part of the Kal-El Returns crossover), and it's a tour de force. A success on every level.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okayish volume as we have Jon and Jay expose a corrupt senator and reveal how Bendix maybe behind it and it makes for fun storie,s plus some good moments here and there between them, and then there is Luthor always upto some mischief and we see his plans and some good moments between Pa kent and Batman which I liked, then the big fight and well what happens when Jay's mother Sara gets transformed into a monster and has to fight her son.. that should have been the emotional crux of the whole thing yet it feels like it was cut short, but regardless you have the big battle and also love seeing Damian here and I love his and Jon's friendship like how each of them are there for one another.

There are some moments that are good like the moments with Dreamer and her showing him whats to come and how Jon prevents it, showing maybe he is ready to join the JL and it was good but could have been better.

This is one of those volume I wish was larger and actually showed more of the big moments it hinted at the start or built upto but maybe got cut down because of the crossover but oh well, still good and the art and colors were again great!

[Yani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the volume where it definitely feels like this whole storyline should have just been on big fat graphic novel instead of the four volumes that we got. Because this feels like the third act action scene before the fourth act denouement.

We also get less Nightwing in this volume... and less of a lot of other characters besides Jon and Jay... and... I dunno... Jay doesn't really feel like a whole character to me. He's slightly better than just "default love interest" but he's also kind of "default love interest with superpowers". I have no idea if the character also features in his own book or as a character in another book, but he's a little... flimsy here.

I still like the Jon version of Superman overall though.

And, once again, I will reiterate my love for the alt covers in the back by Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain... and my wish that they had just done the art for the whole book.

[Joseph Morin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has over-stayed its welcome, but its art is still gorgeous!

There's lots about BFG which I enjoy: Jon's relationship with Nightwing, the challenge of facing a whole sovereign nation, and (to reiterate) its artwork: I love the characters' facial expressions, the flow of action, the detailed settings, and the dynamic colour-schemes which find beautiful ways to use blues and reds (Superman colours!) on most pages.

Battle for Gamorra well pays-off its setup-- but took FAR too long getting here. This narrative took 15 issues to tell a story which might have been done in half. Otherwise, it could have turned Bendix into a more peripheral threat and told more diverse stories until this grand finale. Also, I loathed a dumb twist halfway through the book (the mask incident) that could have been better executed.

Battle for Gamorra is still Worth a Read (but more for its art).

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read "Next: The Return of Kal-El!", it occurred to me that I now understand why Volume 3 of this series felt like an end to "the adventures of Jon".... Heading into Dark Crisis, we need Jon to be focused on helping everyone and not still worried about Jay and the troubles in his home country of Gamorra.
We get to see Jay unveiled to the world, get the debut of Dreamer, see Gamorra freed with the defeat of Bendix, and hint at a possible new power or level of powers for Jon. Overall, it was a good Volume, with a lot of action and the continuing maturity of Jon, proving he really is worthy of the title of Superman.
Recommend.... what will happen when his dad returns?

[Zhyar Jasim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Jon but this is not it.

The relationship between Jon & Jay could have been done better, instead I don't even recognize Jay as an actual character, his sole role is to be the sexual awakening of Jon and I HATE when characters are used in such a way, give him a personality besides being Jon's bf.

Don't even get me started on Jon & nightwing! When did they became BFF, instead of Jon consulting his one and only actual friend DAMIAN WAYNE he goes to nightwing for advice, Unbelievable.