Okay, that's fair. I don't really pay much attention to who is the author of comics unless they piss me off by both making me love their work with the depth of my soul and then pissing me off that same amount. (James Roberts, I'm talking to you.)

...I think they're just making an announcement because some people who might not already be reading the comic will want to check it out.

 

Yep, it's called marketing. Batman: Urban Legends got more attention after Tim came out and fans were already guessing were the story was going before the writer confirmed it.

 

I don't see how Jon is an established enough character for anyone to get upset about. At this early point in the character's existence, this doesn't even count as a retcon. It's just revealing character; it contradicts nothing.

If DC retcons a 75 year old character and negates decades of established romances or whatever, I can see a longtime fan of that character not being over the moon about it. Or even a 1990s character like Tim, who was in fact in a heavy relationship with Spoiler only months ago in Bendis' Young Justice series. But any character not created prior to the New 52, I say fuck it. They're open game for any writer to take in any direction if they have a story to tell. And Jon wasn't even a New 52 character; he was created pretty much as the New 52 was ending! So who cares? Really? Just let them tell stories. Now out of DC's stable of thousands of super-heroes, they have a whopping 7 or 8 gay or bi characters. It's not exactly an invasion or anything.

Also, I like Taylor and Timms a lot. Taylor, I like nearly everything he's written. And while I wish Pat Gleason had stayed on the book, Timms was a fantastic artist on Young Justice. So they have between them built up a tremendous amount of goodwill for me to see where they're going with this.

All that being said, I agree with everyone that I wish DC hadn't aged Jon off-camera. That was a hacky, tired cliche that robbed us of a lot of stories that many were enjoying.

 

Absolutely. If anything, I think Jon discovering he's bi would have been stronger if he was exploring it while he was still growing up before the age-up, since it's a hard subject for pre-teens and teenagers to tackle, even when support's there. I just think some younger readers could have benefited from Jon still being at age with this development.

 

God Bendis' Superman run was so bad...I can't really say anything good that came of it. Between aging up Jon almost entirely off-panel, then sending him to the future for the Legion of Superheroes, and whatever is going on in Justice League, I'm not sure Bendis has really brought anything worthy of note to the DC universe. It is what it is, at least Jon gets his own comic from a better writer.

 

I really believe that was not his idea, though. I think that was already part of the half-aborted Generation 5 thing that Bendis got handed and was told to make the most of. Bruce Wayne was going to be replaced by Lucius' son (which they're kind of half-doing now), Wonder Woman was going to be replaced by whoever that is, and Superman was going to be replaced by Jon... for a new generation of lead heroes that not one single person on Earth wanted. The fan backlash was so huge that DC said they weren't doing it anymore, but they're kind of doing it now anyway. And they couldn't replace Clark with little kid Jon. So I think that was already in the cards before Bendis even got signed to DC.

But if DC was really married to the idea of replacing Clark as Superman, I'd much rather they'd handed the mantle off to the newly-returned Conner, and left Jon as he was.

Speaking of Tom Taylor, that Batman mini he's currently doing with Andy Kubert is very good. I think just one issue left, which is too bad.

 

I really enjoyed the father and 10-year old son adventures of Superman and Jon. Seeing Superman as a father was a new take on the character that really clicked with me, and Jon was a great character. Aging him up was a bad idea all around. As has become common, I can only find the version of a character that I want to read in the back issues. There are exceptions, but they are becoming fewer and fewer.

 

Losing that dynamic with Damian was a disappointment too, I really liked that era of "Supersons" and was looking forward to seeing them grow up together before the eventual reboot. It's nice that writers still acknowledge that time once in a while, but it's not the same. I still like Jon and glad he's stepped into the Superman role for at least a little while, but the loss of the possible awkward teenage Jon stories that could have been written is bittersweet at best.

 

IDK, we've seen Superboy stories before. But, to my recollection, the Superman mantle's never been passed to one of them in this way. I think it's a lot more interesting a concept and worth aging him up for.

 

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this, it was a modern take on a Superboy that also has the son dynamic with Clark and Lois without being in an alternate universe, and we never had a Robin like Damian before, especially as the type of friend you grow up with. I think for both the growing up and exploring his orientation during the vulnerable years of teenage-hood, those are more interesting a concept and worth having him grow up as naturally as comic book time would have allowed.

 

Daimen worked well with Jon. Damien does not work with Bruce, at least not well. It's dark character and even darker character. Damien has always worked better with characters like Dick and Jon. He's a kill joy overly negative and very grim. Heck often grimmer than his father, so you need someone like Dick or Jon to lighten things up when he starts going full grim dark avenger. They don't even have Alfred to play off him anymore.
It was also fun as it showed Damien was still a kid and he'd have moments of actually acting like a kid around Jon, while with Dick or Bruce he'd typically try for mini adult.
As they got older you could have also showed Jon starting to have feelings for Damien during their adventures but pushing them aside. Have him come to terms with it over a number of issues. Heck Damien and Jon made more sense to me than making Tim Bi. The problem is they just have them come out in like 1 or 2 issues having showed no signs of it before. If your going to do it you need to take time and show it happening and even their inner thoughts on the matter. Especially if they have a long history of not showing it. But right now their orientation is being used the same way they used to kill off or bring characters back to life. Quick stunts that they can tell newspapers which might get them sales for one or two issues but in the long run likely won't attract many new readers. Because they didn't plan for it long term. So it doesn't hold up well with many long time readers.







Younger Jon, also let them play with Lois and Clark being parents, which opened up new story opportunities for both of them. It was fun watching Lois being a mom and Superman wanting to let Jon do more, but having to be the dad and reign him in. Also you got a lot of teaching moments which lets you see how superman really thinks and how he has to be careful not to hurt people. Lessons he was teaching Jon.

 

Someone should tell the mods that the next change that needs to be instituted is the addition of a 'two thumbs up' button.

 

I will say the Silver Age Silliness fan in me is thrilled Krypto is still a part of everything since several years ago onward. I'm not picking up much trades currently, but would happily buy a collection of Krypto-focused Silver Age Superboy stories, the ones where you can read his thoughts like Snoopy.

 

The Boys' Garth Ennis brings his sadistic sensibilities to DC's Peacemaker in 2022 | GamesRadar+

The Boys' writer/co-creator Garth Ennis is bringing his ultra-violent, sinisterly satirical sensibilities to DC's own gun-toting vigilante Peacemaker in a January one-shot alongside artist Garry Brown, titled Peacemaker: Disturbing the Peace.

Meant to bridge the gap for fans of John Cena's performance as Peacemaker in the recent The Suicide Squad film ahead of his HBO Max spin-off show Peacemaker, Disturbing the Peace digs into Peacemaker's comic book origins through the lens of an appointment between the brutal vigilante and the team psychiatrist for Task Force X.



Bruce Wayne gets a new Batman Begins style origin in Batman: The Knight | GamesRadar+

Despite Warner Bros. prepping a new onscreen version of the Caped Crusader in The Batman, DC is harkening back to 2005's Batman Begins movie for a new 10-issue series titled Batman: The Knight from writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico.

Batman's origins are hardly new territory for DC in comic books. Batman: Year One, Batman: Zero Year, and other high-profile stories have explored various aspects of Batman's earliest adventures, from his path to becoming Batman to his first cases in Gotham City. But Batman: The Knight takes things one step further, showcasing the time between when Bruce Wayne left Gotham as a young man, and when he returned to the city of his birth to become a crimefighter.



Official: Justice League vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes launches in January 2022 | GamesRadar+

As briefly revealed in September, DC has made Justice League vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes official.

The six-issue limited series launches January 11, 2022, and as expected, is written by current Justice League monthly series writer and the most recent Legion of Super-Heroes series writer Brian Michael Bendis.

The limited series seems something of a prelude to whatever Darkseid has cooking as revealed on the last page of Infinite Frontier #6, the event's finale.

According to DC, both the contemporary Justice League and the Legion from 1000 years in the future discover both of their realities are falling to a "great darkness" simultaneously so in true comic book superhero fashion they team up to stop it.

Interestingly, although DC's description says the superhero teams team-up, the official title is "vs."

Hmmm... We'll see how the plays out as we get closer to release.




DC's Catwoman has a new creative team - Marvel's Tini Howard and Nico Leon | GamesRadar+

Former Marvel-exclusive writer Tini Howard is taking over DC's ongoing Catwoman title, and is bringing along another Marvel Comics alum with her: artist Nico Leon.

Now relocated to Gotham City, Catwoman will dive headfirst back into the Gotham underworld and sneak into one of the most secure underground clubs in the city to steal what DC calls "blackmail material." What expert catburglarly skills will she use? A disguise, studded out with five-inch platform heels (possibly similar to the ones seen on the Catwoman #39 cover).



Nightwing gets a new costume | GamesRadar+

DC Nightwing artist Bruno Redondo has revealed a new redesigned suit for Dick Grayson's superhero persona.

Redondo, the regular artist on the Tom Taylor-written Nightwing title, posted an image on Twitter Thursday afternoon, and DC released more images later in the day.

The new suit design debuts full in Nightwing #88 in January and Renaldo is singling out the return of the blue stripe (running all the way down the fingers), which originated with artist Brian Stelfreeze's 1995 redesign of the Nightwing costume. However, Redondo's image doesn't give any indication Stelfreeze's ponytail is making a comeback.



Batman and Superman team up for World's Finest by Mark Waid & Dan Mora | GamesRadar+

Superstar writer Mark Waid is back at DC, and his first major project will give what DC describes as a "brand-new day" for Batman and Superman.

Waid is teaming with Detective Comics artist Dan Mora for an as-yet-untitled story (but nicknamed 'World's Finest' in the concept art) which will begin as a back-up in January 25's Detective Comics #1050. The publisher says Waid and Mora's back-up story "is just the beginning" for the creative duo and the two superheroes.

Waid and Mora's story will be a back-up to the main storyline by series artist Mariko Tamaki and Ivan Reis, who is taking over the book with Detective Comics #1047 as the title goes weekly - at least for the month of January 2022.



The more grown-up DC Super Sons reunite in Superman & Robin Special #1 | GamesRadar+

Jon Kent and Damian Wayne, formerly known as the Super Sons and now known as Superman and Robin are holding a reunion in January 2022's Superman & Robin Special #1.

The firstborn male offspring of two of the most iconic superheroes of all time, Superman and Batman, the duo used to pal around as a sort of pre-teen World's Finest and co-stars of several series.

But that was before Jon aged rapidly into a young man a few years back and was handed the reins of being Metropolis's Superman in mid-2021, and before Damian went off on his own adventures in his solo title.

Super Sons, Adventures of the Super Sons, and Super Sons of Tomorrow series. The 48-page one-shot that goes on sale January 25 is illustrated by Viktor Bogdanovic (who also draws a cover) with variant covers by Jorge Jimenez and Rafa Sarmento.

 

And IIRC, Jon was supposed to be gay there too…

 

I'm just going to keep it simple and just say I disagree with all of this becusce unless every writer and either is on the same page, somebody is going to drop the ball with this.

Also can we please stop bring up "needing to build up or long history" every time a change is made? Comics haven't cared about that stuff in years and we need to go with the follow. Right now Bruce is broke, Clark no longer has a secret identity and etc.

Nothing wrong with that. I personally think we have enough straight heroes and nothing is going to stop Dc from making more, hell eventually Superman will have a secret child he never knew about and Batman is going to get another Robin in a few decades.

 

Full DC Comics January 2022 Solicits & Solicitations, Not Just Batman (bleedingcool.com)

 

And that is one of the reasons they are losing readers, they don't care about characters or continuity. And clearly you didn't read what I said, I have no problem with Jon being Gay, I have a problem with them quickly aging him up then not planing who he's with well. (The character is basically a gay version of his mother) Tim Drake on the other hand I did have an issues with and said Damian would have made more sense. Again nothing wrong with gay characters, but how they are going about it isn't being done well. It comes off as a stunt or filling a Quota.
They ruined several books when they aged him up and got another I was enjoying cancelled.

Also, not a fan of broke Bruce or Clark with no secret ID. (Both of which had been done before now BTW)

None of this is going to last anyway because it's not being done well and it will be rebooted in a few years. Clark will get his secret ID back and Bruce will be rich again. Sales are dropping so they will go back to what works or they will go out of business one of the two. Batman already has 2 robins, and 3 former robins. 3 Batgirls and 1 signal. That's already too many. We don't need any more.
It's not done well and I won't go with the flow. Why because the writers and artists back in the day used to all be on the same page they would have long meetings and Denny O'Neil kept everything together and making sense over multiple books. Why? Because he was the editor of all the Batbooks and he did his job. He wasn't on twitter all day insulting fans who didn't agree with him. These days with apps like zoom it's even easier to have meetings as back in the day they were either in person or over the phone.
This is a comic and I'll critique it, I wasn't happy when they replaced Bruce with Jean-Paul either and complained then. The difference is I don't have the faith that the writers are writing a story i want to stick around and read.
I don't have to go with the flow, I'm not required to buy these. This is a business, if they want my money they need to make something I want to buy. It isn't my job to support them. They have to earn my money. They can't keep raising the prices of the books for ever, much higher and people will just buy other stuff. I mostly already have.

 

Out of any modern Bat character, I'm still waiting for Cassandra to come out as bi. A young woman who learned to communicate only through martial arts, is probably 80% muscle given her background, and still learning the basics about herself as a human (and that full head mask), she's probably repressed as heck or super open-minded at this point.

 

Would make more sense than Tim, plus she had this platonic thing going on with Babs an Stephanie. She hasn't really been in a serious relationship with either sex. Closest we got was Clayface and that again was more of a really good friend thing.