Action Comics 1022 - In which a family reunion takes place... sort of

[icon_uk]

Something that's been at the back of people's minds since pre-Flashpoint Conner/Kon-El (as opposed to New 52 Kon-El, who we shall not speak of again) appeared in the pages of "Young Justice" is... When will he meet his family? His REAL family You know... the ones who live in Kansas?

The fact that Clark doesn't remember Kon doesn't help matters of course, and yet...








So Martha and Jonathan recognise Conner, but Clark doesn't... that's spacetime shenanigans for you...

But LOOK! A happy, if variably amnesiac, family scene!

Conner and the Kents! Conner and Jon (albeit older Jon, personally I'd have LOVED Conner to get Jon as a little brother, but if this is the only way, I'll take it!)

Comments

[scorntx]

Brainy, you're a fifth wheel here.
Shoo. G'wan. Git. Pretend to be interested in the cows for five minutes.

The only major grumble is Clark and Con calling John "sir".
But that's just a personal bugbear.
Still pretty sweet.

(And an upside, either because of the Romita artwork or something else, but Conner's not got that chin-fuzz. Added bonus!)

[icon_uk]

Calling your dad "sir" seems to be a very American thing.

[beoweasel]

Yeah, it's not unusual to refer to one's father or older male relatives as 'sir', at least not where I'm from.

[lordultimus]

Especially in the Midwest.

[beoweasel]

Also the South.

[lordultimus]

Yeah, just mentioned the Midwest as that's where Kansas is.

[bruinsfan]

Wait, did Superman not keep his memories of Connor and the pre-Flashpoint timeline when he merged with that energy-residue of the New 52 version and rebooted things back to more or less normal?

[coldfury]

Well, this is DC, so things might have changed when I looked away for five minutes but the timeline roughly went like this IIRC:

1. Pre-52 Superman was revealed to be doing UnderCover Superman and was There the Whole Time.
2.) 52-Clark died.
3.) Pre-52 Clark revealed himself and ingratiated himself into the world.

They mined this very very weird status quo for about 6-12 months, and then we had the storyline where Pre-52 Lois & Clark merged with the ghosts of 52-Lois & Clark, and that combined with rebirth was basically the final nail in the coffin for the 52-continuity. All the weird stuff during that period (Wonder Woman/Superman, Superman having pre-FlashPoint memories) never happened, and this Lois & Clark (w/ Jon) were always here.

Wally is the only holdover at this point, I think. Maybe Booster? Booster's been really messed up ever since new 52 hit.

[luxshine]

I am not a fan of Jon, given how certain fans of his tend to want to erase Conner's relationship to Clark because now Clark has "a real son and a real heir to the Superman name" -their words, in many arguments. BUT I adore how Martha and John immediately hug Conner once they remember him. SO I may give the other kid a chance, as long as Conner is once again considered part of the Kent family and not the "annoying add on".

[icon_uk]

Considering both Superman and Batman feature so many orphans who grew up in adoptive families, fans obsessing over blood relationships always felt INCREDIBLY awkward.

Not helped by an apparent editorial obsession over "Blood will out" in terms of moral destiny, with the weird prevalence of "If your parent is a supervillain you WILL be a supervillain" stories, even if it contradicted earlier stories. Boomerang Jr, Jericho, even Kon half the time...

[luxshine]

Exactly! I have pointed out many times that if only blood relatives count, then that makes Clark NOT being Martha and John's son, which is missing the point of the whole Clark is not Superman's mask. Not to mention that Conner, as a clone, IS as much of "Clark's blood" than Jon, if one wants to get REALLY technical.

And yes, that idea that they have to be a supervillian even if you weren't raised by your supervillian parent and you will be a hero even if you never MET your superhero parent while growing up (Side eyeing Damian here), is pretty idiotic.

[kurenai_tenka]

'Considering both Superman and Batman feature so many orphans who grew up in adoptive families, fans obsessing over blood relationships always felt INCREDIBLY awkward.'

It's not just the fans though, DC constantly throws adopted families under the bus as soon as the character has a '''''real'''' child (Jon/Damian). I hate it sfm. :')

[luxshine]

At least Damian is not particularly liked among fans. My issue with Jon fans is how they demand that everyone must love Jon because of course he's the "Real" son of Superman, unlike the clone who didn't even live with him.

[kurenai_tenka]

Do you think? I feel like people have warmed up to Damian significantly since his early days where everyone hated him (myself included, but I do hate what it's done to the rest of the family's dynamics).

I've not seen a lot of discourse surrounding Jon+Kon, but that's really sad to hear. I like Jon too, but there should be room for him and Kon. All this 'real son' shit drives me insane.

[icon_uk]

I don't think Damian was well liked when he was introduced, but I think his time as Robin with Dick as Batman was pretty close to transformational.

Since then, I think he's remained pretty popular, to the extent that he and Jon had two very enjoyable series about "The Super-Sons" and he's had continued exposure (for better or worse) in the Teen Titans.

[scorntx]

He wasn't well liked when he was introduced.
Probably because he was written as an Obnoxious Little Turd.
(Which was intentional, so that being around Dick makes him less of an OLT.)

[bruinsfan]

Right there with you. As an adopted kid myself, few things make me see red as quickly as referring to someone's "real parents" when meaning their biological ones.

[coldfury]

I've got to say, I can't figure out if I love or hate DC's new 'screw it' approach to continuity.

Did the New 52 Teen Titans still happen? Is Tim still a prodigy whose parents went into Witness protection, or are they both dead now like pre-FP? Do Tim & Cassie still remember that weird Superboy that was around for five minutes in Teen Titans? Or that 'Not!Bart' Kid Flash? Did Artemis still die in a really weird throwaway story? Does Cassie still have that weird archealogical armor power set, or is she back to being the daughter of... Ares? Zeus? Is Diana still the daugher of Zeus? Is Donna still a weird clone thing that was a false flag attack on Diana, or is she now a founding member of the Titans again?

I feel like, considering how much pure success the Titans and Young Justice have in multimedia, DC can just *really* not figure out what to do with them at all. It's really embarrassing.

[minervasolo]

I kinda like the throw-away approach, with creators being able to nail stuff down when it becomes relevant to the story they're currently telling, but some characters are definitely hit a lot harder than others. Most of YJ have had their nu52 plots completely jettisonned (thank god!) but Tim is stuck in a more awkward position because the Batfam clearly is keeping some nu52 (like Duke, and Babs being Batgirl again). I'm assuming his backstory has reverted mainly to his pre-52 canon from the way other characters treat him, but it does leave some gaping holes.

[icon_uk]

I definitely think we've lost "Tim Drake is a pseudonym and his parents are in Witness Protection after he hacked the Penguin's servers".

(Well "lost" might be overstating my emotional investment in that cack-handed mess of an idea.)

[akodo_rokku]

So what brought Ma & Pa Kent back from the dead?

[icon_uk]

Market forces?

[lizard_of_aus]

That, and Doomsday Clock, apparently.

[janegray]

A rare flash of common sense?

[bruinsfan]

This gets my vote.

[kurenai_tenka]

So they're just selectively restoring people's memories of prior canon, Men in Black style?

A'ight lol.

[long_silence]

It seems to be a phenomena centered around memories of Conner and Young Justice, Tim and Cassie both just suddenly remembered it all once they came in contact with Bart. It's odd that it hasn't kicked in with Clark yet though.

Although Linda finally managed to remember her kids and life with Wally.

[icon_uk]

Something similar happened with Wally when he first came back, and the likes of Dick, Donna, Garth and Roy didn't remember him until he actually made physical contact with them.

[superfangirl1]

I love all this and give me a big smile.