Jonathan Samuel Kent
Jonathan Samuel Kent is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Jonathan Samuel Kent was the son of Superman and his wife Lois Lane with his birth coming through a unique set of circumstances. The supervillain Brainiac managed to gain access to the Vanishing Point allowing him to look across the history of the Multiverse. This allowed him to collect cities from across various points of the timeline with the inhabitants being imprisoned in domed structures with them deposited on Telos the Planet Incarnate located outside of time and space. (Convergence v1 #1) Among those cities were a version of Gotham City from after the Infinite Crisis with it holding a version of Superman and Lois Lane. Whilst trapped within it, Superman was deprived of his powers that were suppressed by the time with him and Lois remaining trapped in the city for a period of nine months. Whilst together, the pair were able to conceive a child as Superman's non-powered state allowed Lois to get pregnant. (Convergence: Superman v1 #1) When Brainiac was missing, Telos opened the domes to one another forcing the various cities to fight with this version of Superman regaining his powers and being forced to battle the people from the Flashpoint Earth. By this point, Lois had gone into labour with her being taken to the Flashpoint Batman who was a doctor that helped in the birth. Lois gave birth to a healthy baby boy with her thinking of a name with both Superman and Lane deciding to name him after their respective fathers leading to him being named Jonathan Samuel Kent. (Convergence: Superman v1 #2)
His parents survived the journey to stop the original Crisis from manifesting which caused changes in the timestream whereupon they found themselves on Prime Earth. Jon’s parents then set up new lives for themselves as they lived in secrecy as they cared for their son who went by the name of Jonathan Samuel White with his and his family’s past being hidden from him. (Superman: Lois and Clark v1 #1)
Superboy
Whilst looking for a Christmas tree in Hamilton, Jon was captured by Damian Wayne who believed the new Superboy to a threat to the world. It was then that both Batman and Superman had arrived leading to a confrontation until Jon stopped the fighting. Batman asked to check Jon's genetic structure at the Batcave where Alfred Pennyworth showed Damian's various pets. However, Damian refused to accept Jon's friendship and a fight emerged that had to be stopped by both Batman and Superman. (Superman v4 #10)
Jon was then abducted by the Imp Mister Mxyzptlk who resented the fact that Superman had forgotten him as he devoted time to his son. (Action Comics v1 #975)
Adulthood
He came to question his place in the universe after noting how much of a hero his father was and that the expectations that were placed on him to follow his example. It was this line of thinking that led to him accepting an offer from his grandfather Jor-El to travel into space despite his own father not trusting the Kryptonian. They went to many worlds when his mother Lois Lane decided to return to Earth. During this time, Jon came to see that his grandfather was mentally unstable as he himself questioned the universe as he believed science brought order but the nature of his existence only showed chaos. Thus, in the years he lived through, he decided that he wanted to find a means of leaving his grandfather and returning to Earth. The nature of time-dilation meant that Jon experienced years when only months passed by back at his home with him aging from 11 years old to 17 years old. Ultimately, his feelings about returning home were conveyed to his grandfather who plotted a course back to Earth when their ship fell into a black hole. (Superman v5 #8)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Initially, he went by the name of Jonathan Samuel White in order to hide and protect his true identity with Jon being unaware of it at the time. (Superman: Lois and Clark v1 #1) Jon later came to take the superhero identity of Superboy. (Superman v4 #6)
At first, he was not aware of the fact that his father was Superman and was initially angry at his parents for hiding this from him. (Superman: Lois and Clark v1 #1)
As a young boy, he had a pet down that was named Ranger. (Superman: Lois and Clark v1 #1)
Powers and abilities
According to Batman, as a Kryptonian/Human hybrid, Jon had the potential to become more powerful than his father with his abilities being off the chart. (Superman v4 #20)
One of the first powers he came to develop was super-hearing. (Superman: Lois and Clark v1 #5)
Another power he came to learn to possess was invulnerability where he was not injured in scorching flames that would have burnt an ordinary human. (Superman: Lois and Clark v1 #1)
He then began to develop the ability to fly rather than be limited to giant leaps. (Super-Sons v1 #10)
One ability he seemed to had developed was his solar flare where he was overcharged with solar energy and emitted it as a powerful blast from his body. He was said to be unable to control this power which acted as a jamming field filling the air with static and emitted an energy signature. (Teen Titans v6 #15)
Notes
- Jonathan Samuel Kent was created by Dan Jurgens was created by Convergence: Superman v1 #2 (July, 2015).
- In an interview on Newsrama, Jurgens wrote, "The way I describe him is that he looks like Clark but has Lois' spitfire attitude and inquisitiveness."
- On Comicbook.com, Jurgens further noted in an interview that, "Lots of people might expect Jon to be something like his dad’s younger self, but it would be a bit of a mistake. His parents are not Jonathan and Martha Kent. It’s Lois and Clark. They’re different people with different ways of parenting."
- Artist in an interview on Newsrama commented on the characters costume, "I started trying out some of the more classic designs as a mini homage to the classic Superman, but the guys at DC wanted to experiment with something more casual, as those are the designs that have been working better recently. We are also looking at an incomplete "Superboy;" he's not super yet, so it's reasonable to say that if he's only half super, that he should have clothing that's half super. So we started to play around with clothing that I see as popular right now with teenagers. For example, tight ripped jeans, at least in Spain, are very popular right now and I think they give a lot of mobility to the character when I draw him on the page. I've also used a popular shoe design. I must mention that I like putting effort into what I wear personally, so this way I was able to add a bit of myself to the character. The short length of the cape gives it a younger look, and the zipped hoodie… I did that thinking they might make a real version for people to wear. I also think that this aesthetic could make a connection with the younger readers."
Alternate Versions
- In Son of Superman v1 (1999), a Jon Kent appeared in the alternate Elseworld setting where he was the son of Superman and Lois Lane. His father was captured and missing for years with his mother Lois raising her son by herself where she kept his parentage from him as he did not manifest powers and thus believed his father was an ordinary Clark Kent. During his teenage years, he began to manifest his abilities and later came to learn that his father was Superman.
- In Batman Beyond v5 #11 (2016), Jon appeared in an alternate future set in a variation of Batman Beyond. It was shown that he was the Superman of this era and part of the Justice League Beyond with the fate of his father being a long story. During Brother Eye's attack on the world, the Justice League Beyond were captured and kept in stasis until brainwashed by Abel Cuvier. A time displaced Tim Drake from Future's End came to this timeline where he became Batman Beyond and rescued the Justice League Beyond after learning their fate.
- In Justice League v3 #27 (2017), it was shown that in an alternate timeline where the members of the Justice League had children. In this timeline, Diana had a son named Hunter but she abandoned the boy with Superman and Lois Lane adopting him where they cared for him as he was their child with hi being raised alongside their own son Jon Kent.
- In Green Lantern: Blackstars v1 (2019), an alternate version of Jon Kent was shown in a reality created by Controller Mu after he used the Miracle Machine to change the universe. Jon Kent was born the son of Superman where he wanted to join the ranks of the Blackstars but his father banned him and warned Hal Jordan that any attempt at taking his child would result in war. At the time, Jordan was looking to restore the Prime Earth and abducted Jon to trigger a war between Superman and the Blackstars in order to distract Countess Belzebeth.
- In Future State: Superman of Metropolis v1 #1 (2021), an alternate future version of Jon Kent was shown in the reality of Future State. This version had taken his fathers place as Superman and was a superhero that protected the Earth. He later came to be a member of the Justice League alongside the new Wonder Woman Yara Flor.
In other media
Television
- In Young Justice: Outsiders, Jonathan appeared in the setting of the animated television series 3rd season.
- In the Arrowverse, Jonathan appeared in the shared continuity setting:
- In Supergirl, the child of Superman and Lois Lane appeared in the live-action television series. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, the child was identified as being named Jonathan.
- In Batwoman, Jonathan appeared in the live-action television series during the Crisis on Infinite Earth's crossover. The Earth-96 Superman stated that Jonathan resembled his own reality's son 'Jason'.
- In Superman & Lois, Jonathan Kent appeared in the setting of the live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Jordan Elsass. Jonathan was said to be a modest and kind-hearted boy who had a brother named Jordan Kent.
Films
- In Superman Returns, Jason White appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Tristan Lake Leabu. He was the son of Superman and Lois Lane with his father being unaware of his conception as he had departed Earth to find Krypton. Following Jason's birth, his mother hid Jason's parentage and had been involved in a relationship with Richard White where she claimed that he was the father. The pair were thus responsible for raising the young Jason White who had hidden his powers from the world.
Video games
- In DC Legends, the Jon Kent Superboy was introduced as a playable character in the mobile video game.
Appearances
- Convergence v1: (2015)
- Superman: Lois and Clark v1:
- Superman v4:
- Super-Sons v1:
- Teen Titans:
- Adventures of the Super-Sons v1:
- Superman v5:
- Legion of Super-Heroes:
- Green Lantern: Blackstars v1:
- Legion of Super-Heroes:
- Future State: Superman of Metropolis v1: (2021)
- Future State: Justice League v1:
- Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman v1:
External Links
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