Hazard a guess and say a super powered grandson of kal el will be a bit of a stretch for DC at this point?

Honestly I'm much more concerned about Jon's character. You can survive a butchering of the character once (Bendis) but can you survive a second one, what Taylor does to him now? I don't think so. At this point I hope they'll pull a de-aging comicbook storyline where he just reverts back to the age he would normally have without Bendis and just erase everything Taylor did to him. Just bring back the wide-eyed, Tomasi version of the character, without all of Taylor's ideological burdens.

I think after the novelty wears off this title will sputter out. It's pretty clear Bendis was told to rapidly age the character likely more for 5G plans than for Taylor's social engineering.

Well, this is a maxi-series, so there are still 7 issues, plenty of time to ruin Jon even more. Taylor will turn him into Greta Thunberg two issues from now. After that, DC will launch a one-shot with Damian trying to recapture the Super Sons magic. I think that's far gone by now.

I actually didnt like Damian at first the character grew on me. Where he became a future version of batman is when the character clicked for me.

Lol..thunberg "how dare you". Hlobal warming Jon makes no sense because his dad has access to technology that that literally fabricates environments.

"Making sense" isn't an issue for Taylor, propaganda is. And honestly it's just partially his fault. His fanbase is to blame because they accept idiotic stuff just for the sake of their cause. They don't ask for better so he doesn't try. He is capable of better writing but he knows his idiotic fanbase will accept his shit, regardless of how little it makes sense.

No question Taylor is concerned with activism here. Jon's metamorphosis into a switch hitter is indicative of that.

Taylor's pretty much checking all prog boxes with this title global warming anti 2A "refugees..wink wink" Jon's now consonant person.

I'm sure Taylor would love to work a vaccination angle that always works up the progs.

Funnily enough Superman is currently in a book with authority and it's a much better read than Taylor's hamfisted writing here. Which again makes one ask...what is Taylor's priority here?

Propaganda. Don't forget, we also have an upcoming confrontation with Lex Luthor. You just know that after the refugees propaganda (check), the LGBT propaganda (check), the climate strike propaganda (future check), burn capitalism down is going to be his next issue. This is all Taylor cares about. And he just loves to propagandize through such a powerful character as Superman, who people love.

Unfortunately this is a bastardization of the character and at some point you have to realize when something is changed beyond any recognition that it's just twisted into something else entirely. This, right here, isn't Superman. It's Tom Taylor masquerading as Superman. And I have zero interest in a moron like Taylor who believes he knows what's best for the world I live in.

Is it a maxi series I thought it was ongoing?

Did Jon stop killing trees to do his environmental propaganda to kiss the boy who came out of nowhere? I don't know, this comic has seemed so boring to me almost as if it was I'm not Starfire. Jon is character come of a soap opera of rosa de Guadalupe. The Jon's boyfriend looks a bit like the Devon Erickson.

People are easily misled by comics covers

Guys, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Gather ‘round… You ready? STOP. BUYING. IT. If you aren’t happy on the direction of the book, bitching about it online after you already BOUGHT it solves nothing. Nobody cares what you think. Nobody cares what I think. They care what we buy. You stop buying, your LCS stops ordering, the publisher takes notice. See All-New Marvel now. Don’t fool yourselves into thinking you’re sticking it to DC by buying & bitching. Stop buying.

So succinctly Hydro if we are not talking about something you agree with then we should be silent? No thanks. The motivations of the writer are valid to discuss. And I've never bought a copy of the book so your advice is useless to me.

@Hydro-Man: If "nobody cares what we think" why are all these morons here so butthurt about it? That alone makes it worth it. I get what you're saying and you are partially right. All the same, I don't want to ignore something when I consider it wrong. And this is wrong on all levels. Superman, one of the best characters in comic history is being turned in a puppet propaganda tool by an idiotic writer.

I don't want to see that. I find it wrong and I want to be able to say it. Because in case you missed the memo we're allowed to say less and less what we don't like in the name of "tolerance", "acceptance" and PC. All the while, the people who ask us to shut up put their fists in other people's mouths, sometimes even literally. So yeah, I feel like we shouldn't cave in to this. Again, I get your point, sales are what matter most but sometimes it's about more than that.

@Ming I don’t like the new direction just as you don’t . All I’m saying is the only way to affect change is to not buy the book. If you’re not buying the book (like you say), nothing I wrote should rile you up. We agree. @Merlyn Yes, you can get butthurt responses from people by posting negative reviews of the book. If that’s your goal, keep on trucking. If you want change… stop buying it. Remember how All-New Marvel Now ended? Retailers screaming at the publisher? That’s how we win.

Merlyn, I’m not at all against you speaking out. You’re right. People are chomping at the bit to call you all kinds of “-ist” for not thinking like they do. Speak your mind. But you’ll be better if you can do that without supporting something that makes you upset. When I told my LCS the only DC book I wanted this week was Batman, instead of asking why I was down to one book, he said “ok.” Cuz he knows what’s happening. I feel worse for him than anyone but hopefully things turn around.

I get what you're saying Hydro. And yes sales talk but lately DC has been ignoring poor sales on some titles too.

I'd argue that while, yes, the sales have been a huge factor and ultimately the main factor in Marvel dropping that initiative, the online backlash was a big factor too. People were literally laughing at Marvel and making fun of them online and that hurt the brand. So yes, not buying these books is a good step towards what we both want. Laughing at them for their stupidity is another one. I'm probably going to drop this book very soon so I'll heed your advice soon enough, but not just yet.

Glad we are in closer agreement but sad that we’re each at this point over something that once meant so much to us. Oh well… If New 52 or All-New Marvel Now taught me anything, it’s that I can cut them off if I need to. While they wait for that new base of Twitter likes to translate into sales (that never will), I’ll just dive into my archive of library editions.

I think theres value to what you said with sales Hydro although DC is very stubborn with some titles that are poor sellers. Ridley's idea of batman for example is the only bat title that falls out of the top 50 yet they're keeping it around. Obviously moving the character with all the Fox family to New Yirk with #6 is DC blinked and didn't scrap top seller BruceBatman which I'm sure was the original plan.

Call me crazy but I didn't have everything on New52 like I did with All-New All-Different. There were some good titles, too.

And what makes you suppose that I am buying this thing? and immediately the gag law. Everyone has the right to have an opinion, those who like it, good for them and welcome their reasons why they like it and those of us who don't like this, why shut up? Long live freedom of expression for everyone.

And I also agree with Merlyn, I don't know what happened, the new 52 had better comics. Why not leave something for everyone's taste without snatching good comics from us? They just infantilized everything and are giving more importance to the color of the skin or the sexuality of the characters.

@Ming Just give it time. It’s an odd sales cycle: publisher > distributor > end-buyer. End-buyer response will catch up to them eventually. Speculators will be all over Son of Kal-El #5 so it’s a bad example. This issue notwithstanding, outside of Batman, you see anybody clamoring for DC at your LCS? Christ, I’m seeing more copies of Moon Knight than just about every DC book outside of Batman.

@Merlyn I gave New52 a shot. I give a lot of things a shot! Even this title, despite the writing being on the wall early on. Can’t say I look back fondly on New52. I feel like for most of it, my pull list was down to Batman and Justice League.

Hey, Moon Knight is pretty good. I'm no fan of Jed MacKay but I can admit that's a good book. Yeah, Batman was good, JL was good, I also liked RHATO, Red Lanterns, Talon, smaller series. Most of the big main series were bad, you're right. But I still think New52 was better than what DC is doing right now.

Lol Hey, I’m not crapping on Moon Knight. Just pointing out Moon Knight is… Moon Knight. A few years (or even months) back, would you expect there to be a higher demand for Moon Knight than most of DC’s core characters? Reminds me of when Rebirth launched and there was greater interest in Green Arrow than core Marvel characters.

Hydro I just read the last issue of son of kal el only sold 35K and action even less. I think I owe you an apology in a year this stupidity of DCs is likely to be at an end.

Well, Action selling less is pretty concerning to me. Action is much better. I get that this issue probably sold well because of the obvious speculators, but still, the fact that it sold better then Action might mean that DC will interpret the situation as in that the current direction, with Jon Kent Superman, is a good one. That doesn't sound like very good news to me.

Connor Kent is a clone, so he is obviously not being counted as a genuine half breed. But then again this entire review is pure copium so why expect actual logic? At least your Eternals review was good

But he is a half breed, it doesn't matter how he was conceived, so Jon is not the first of his kind. No, this entire reviews makes sense, you're just butthurt about it. Yes, I like Eternals, it's a very good comic. I'd like for this one to be like that but unfortunately Tom Taylor has other interests here rather than good storytelling.

It does matter how he is conceived. Hes not a natural birth or a natural living thing, hes artificial. This is so obvious. I mean I knew what you were gonna rate this book before it even came out, that doesnt surprise me but at least use some logic

It wasn't talked at all about that. The phrase was "you are the first of your kind". That's just not true, it just isn't no matter how desperate you are to defend Taylor. You're the one who rejects logic in a pathetic attempt to defend a writer you like. Yeah, I'm going to rate shitty books that don't make sense pretty low. Expect that trend to continue.

You quoting it makes your point even weaker. You MIGHT have something if he said you're the first half breed. But his "kind" is a natural born, human/kryptonian hybrid. And he's the first. This aint even defense of Taylor, its basic reading ability.he is the first time a human and a kryptonian bore a child. Your hate boner for Taylor determines the rating more than actual quality. Like I said, you are predictable at least, but you're known for these BS "criticisms" and this is no exception.

Why does his "kind" need to be a natural born? Since when did you invent this rule? Are you so desperate to defend Taylor that you just invent stuff? I'm not the only one pointing this out, btw. I've seen this on several other comic sites. So a lot of people have seen this but I guess they're not all pathetic fanboys like you. I've already rated the comic badly before I added that because it was a shitty comic so this has nothing to do with that.

The fact that you and other losers here who can't take the fact that other people don't like what you like screech like crazies doesn't make the criticism wrong. You just can't deal with it. Learn to. I'm not about to make it any easier for any of you, you can be sure of that.

Comic books are full of clones who have had families, children etc. Conner is no exception to that.

You typed a lot to try and make sense of a nonsensical argument. No one said it "needed" to he naturak born but thats what he is, and he is the first of that kind. This literally isn't hard my guy. Any way you slice it. He is the first of his kind. His kind is a being born of a kryptionian and human. Not in a test tube. Born. Anyone else saying this nonsense is wrong too. Just like how Damian is the son of batman. Because he's his bio son.

But the boyfriend didn't specify about "born", that's your obsession you keep coming up with because you're desperately trying to pull at something that isn't there just to defend Taylor. He isn't the first of his kind.

"There aren't a lot of half-kryptonian, half-human people running around", "You're the first one. You're the only one". I just literally quoted the book. Not a single mention about him being born or not, it's just about being half-human, half-kryptonian. Stop embarrasing yourself to defend Taylor. He just didn't do his homework and winged it. It's not up to you to clean up his mess.

"No one said he needed to be natural born" YOU JUST DID, repeatedely so. Dude, you're losing it, get a grip. :))

"Hes not a natural birth or a natural living thing" Your quote. Are you ok, seriously? You don't need to WIN here, I admitted when I was wrong on that Black Manta issue, you can admit too. I won't take it in your face or something. Just stop.

Wow you're still trying. This is sad dude. You keep coming back and adding more because you are realizing how bad of a point this is. Hes the first of his kind. Its not hard. If I say Damian is the first son of Batman, I am not wrong to say that because he IS the first. If you want to be pedantic you can say Dick is the first but dick isnt his real son. It's the same with this.

Not to mention that Connor is currently dead/in another universe if you're reading Suicide Squad, there are actually 2 Connors and both of them aren't there so it tracks. This isnt tom messing up or me, its you.

I don't know if you really are this idiotic or you just don't want to admit you botched this one badly. For your sake, I hope it's the second. You've contradicted yourself numerous times and I just proved it to you. I can't do any more than that, when I'm proving you with YOUR words AND with the LITERAL QUOTES and you still ignore it, you're either very stupid or just insane.

No, Conner isn't dead. That's Match. Conner is alive, he's with Young Justice. He JUST appeared in that book. Get your shit together and stop embarrassing yourself. This just proves you have NO IDEA what you're talking about and just keep adding more shit to the wall in your desperation to defend Taylor and your poor reasoning.

Conner is the FIRST of his kind because he's the FIRST being with half-human, half-kryptonian. Literally what the pink-haired dude was talking about. Didn't talk about being born AND YOU EVEN ADMITTED THIS. Just fucking say, "I was wrong, whatever", stop being such a baby. :)))

Those quotes dont even contradict. He doesn't have to be a natural born to he the first of his kind, because Connor is a clone. Clones are never counted as genuine genetic samples in biology if a real one presents itself. However, the statement would still be correct because he is still the first of his kind in regards to his birth. This isnt hard my guy.

Also, Match was originally shown as another Connor but its revealed he's a clone and there are many like him which lends itself even more to what I'm saying. I can admit I haven't read young justice in ages and zi thought they were in another dimension or something. Either way my point still stands. Tom isn't wrong to call Jon the first of his kind any way you slice it. Clones don't count period. It seems you aren't willing to be convinced of this for some reason.

Connor is a copy, not the original. Just like a print of art or a document reproduction wouldn't count as an original, Connor doesn't either because he's a copy. Hes literally not the first anything because his genes are literally just copies of the original. I really don't know what else to say to make this clear

Clones don't count lol? Have you been reading comics since yesterday? Taylor botched this one, stop this. And Conner isn't a clone like Match is, your logic here is just wrong. Match is a clone of Superboy, Conner isn't a clone of anyone else before him. He's not a copy, a copy of whom? He's a combination between Clark and Lex, he isn't a copy of anything, why do you insist in this stupidity? You do realize that in your desperation you are just proving me right even more?

His DNA is not original. Hes a combination of genes copied directly from Lex, and genes copied directly from Superman. Hes a copy. Match is a copy of him and there are many others. Like prints on a press run. None of them are original. It seems you are adamant about not admitting you're wrong on this so I see no point in continuing. I dont wanna go in circles here.

Dude, a copy means you've replicated something. Conner ISN'T a copy, he's a COMBINATION of Clark and Lex. Search the dictionary for what "copy" means. Match is a copy, yes, he's Conner's copy. Conner is no one's copy. Ergo, he is the first half-human, half-kryptonian, not Jon. I am not wrong so yeah, I'm not going to admit I'm wrong when I'm not. You know when I was wrong on Black Manta I admitted as much. Seems like you're not man enough to do the same. No surprise there, honestly.

Fuck this propoganda and fuck DC

No one is interesd in Usurper Batmans war on privilege or Ridleys hamfisted racial politics. No one reads Batman for that. If Tim Fox poor sales hold up he won't be around "for a while" in the books. I'm still thinking the end game is a CW show for Tim Fox while feature films remain Bruce. I never watch the CW shows so as long as Usurper is not in the main books I'm fine.

Jace Fox and Ridley share a common theme of self-loathing in this series. Jace has self-loathing knowing that he is an unpunished hit-and-run killer, and wants to take his self-hate out on others. Ridley knows that he has been unable to come up with his own original character with a comics marketplace (not since New American in "The American Way" comics for WildStorm), and he writes "Batman" with the self-loathing that he has had to sink to being an usurper of someone else's character.

Jesus Christ you weird reactionaries

Great observations Bats. Nothing about the character feels earned. He stumbles onto a satellite Batmab base coopts the fear and claims th is mantle for his war on privilege. His father has effectively stolen the Wayne fortune and company which the character also insinuates himself into while decrying the wealth. Funnily enough he speaks like this is the or 6 years in the future approaching Future State yet hes slated to again walk into the title after Bruce self exiles put of Gothsm next year.

Sorry for the typos. Tim Fox just feels entitled to usurp whatever he wants from Batworld and I think that's why most fans haven't embraced the idea of him as Batman. Theres no nobility or compelling force to him. Hes just a knob that thinks he can take whatever he wants for his less than compelling war on privilege. This is what third series for him? Hes still not resonating with fans and I think that's why DC is keeping him with one foot in the elseworldy Future State.

I dont know Merlyn...could DC be blinking with this character and keeping him in Future State for now? Perhaps they hope sales improve this series? Tamiki will be continuing the move towards Future State with Shadows of the Bat but Williamson seems to be working on a Batman Inc status when he takes over in 118.

reactionary= "I hate that you don't like what I like and even have the guts to critique it". @Ming: Neah, he'll be the Batman in the main DCU and for some time.

Right, how dare we point out the King has no clothes. I mean, isn't it every day that costumed comic writers take a hit-and-run murderer and make him into a costumed hero? Clearly it must be something wrong with those of us who find that obscene.

Cool

I'm starting to have my doubts Merlyn. It's entirely likely but the whole "Batman hasn't been seen in years thing is a status from Future State. Granted Ridleys writing has been pedestrian at best but that's quite a whopper DC editorial let go. Tamakis next arc pushes Tec towards future state but that would take it out of continuity by 5 or 6 years. I'm hoping you're wrong on this but you do tend to be right.

Agreed Bats. Theres a lack of nobility to what's behind Tim Foxs war on privilege and how hes chosen to go about it. It speaks to Ridleys values too. I think most fans cant find a way to resonate with that and so after a few issues Tim Fox books fall out of the top 50 sellers.

The sequence where Tim Fox uses urban hipster vernacular is just laughable. Yeah sure the kids will ask permission next time they spray paint a wall.

"Urban hipster vernacular"? Uhhh no its a dialect my guy. No different than Remy Lebeau incorporating French or rogue calling people "sugah".

No its urban hipster vernacular. For real...LOL.

Please... don't embarrass yourself. Its called AAVE and trust me this comic is using a pacified version of it

@Mingthemerciless It certainly is! somebody pass the patchouli

@fenixalasnegras oh lookie here, a racial dogwhistle. Really classy. About what I'd expect from you honestly.

Where the hell did you see a racial dogwhistle? Are you out of your mind? Or is that just your modus operandi? Whenever you run out of arguments, you're like "Ha! Gotcha, you racist"? You did the same with me, so it's not looking to be a coincidence. Please reasess your methods or I'm going to have to ask you to stop commenting on my reviews if your only objective is to make people racists when they're not.

Go look up what he referred to in context, and come back. Just because you tend to miss details and minutia in writing doesnt mean its not there. He made a deliberately obscure reference to a racial stereotype, because that's the kinds person he is. Isnt the first time either. Also I didn't do the same thing with you. Ive made implications that maybe your view on race issues is skewed but I've never called you a racist.. you've called plenty of books racist though, without merit.

No, there's a pattern here. You lose the argument (or don't actually have one in the first place) and then you jump right to "you're racist". You have to do better than that, sorry. Otherwise I don't really see the need to entertain conversations that don't actually go nowhere beyond flimsy accusations.

What argument did I lose? I wasn't even initially talking to him, nor did he even respond to what I said. Neither party did. Twice now in this very comment thread I've advised folks go do some actual research and both times they dodge. Ironically you are choosing to make a simply accusation instead of seeing for yourself why his comment is a dogwhistle. The pattern you SHOULD be seeing is from his own past comments, which lend even more credence to my statement.

So you want to keep going this way. Ok, it's your choice. When the consequences come, it should be noted that I have warned you.

You're literally not even attempting to respond to what I'm saying at this point lol. I might as well be posting anything else with how you are just flinging non sequiturs. Christ....

You're sensitive little thing arent you Toony?

And for real its urban hipster vernacular.

Merlyn I think toony came looking for attention because his gushing review didnt get much love. Honestly I think Ridley could publish a mac n cheese recipe and toony would sing hosannas to it.

By the way no one was putting any racial complexion on this awful book until Toonys senditivies were offended. Bless his heart.

Fenix apparently patchouli is racist "dog whistle" now. So says racist dog whistle policeperson toony. N' est pas?

No, its a dialect ming. Just because you weren't educated on that doesn't mean your word is law. I see you've been reduced to ad hominem and have no actual argument. Im more than willing to leave you to continue fellating yourself but I was hoping for more from someone who claims to know things. How many more individual thoughts did you come up with after these 5 barely coherent ones?

You don't have arguments toony...you have hysterics. No one with a modicum of intelligence takes an individual like you seriously. Please let me know if I posted any dog whistle there. Oh and for real its urban hipster vernacular.

My argument is that it isnt hipster anything because it isn't. Facts aren't hysterics. Any academia or institution that claims any modicum of intellect will tell you exactly what I'm telling you. The fact you cite intellect while disregarding this is proof of my claims, which by th way you still have failed to argue against. You are trying to avoid it and its so obvious. Please... stop embarrassing yourself. And I never accused you of dog whistling. Just felix who has scurried to his cave

@Mingthemerciless What? Hahaha! How do he get to that definition?This happens when the person has not traveled and believes that the world is limited to five blocks from his house. And worst of all, he doesn't even investigate, he just spews whatever comes to mind in his haunting mind. Such incoherence made me laugh a lot, that is appreciated.

Oh I investigated lmao. You aren't fooling anyone. Well... you're fooling some folks clearly. Haunting mind... I like the sound of that. I'll be stealing jt

And on a note ,Toonstrack , there are people who have occupations, maybe you don't understand that the world revolves beyond comics. You know, school, work, friends. If you look out the window, you will see a real world outside, where normal people live and engage in various activities.

I had same view as yours. I rated higher because of art which looks damn good. Looking back, Bullseye loockdown is definitely a parallel to COVID Lockdown. A lockdown not shown in any other book. Wierd.

I mean, I saw it from the first issue, it was pretty obvious but people here called me insane because apparently if you try to read the messages that writers put between the lines you're nuts. Oh well. I've seen this happening more than once in comics but it was usually just artists drawing masks on characters' faces in situations when they weren't really necessary. Apparently Chip went all in.

What I don't get is why would you be so sadistic to remind people of all this horror instead of helping them escape it? We deal with this daily, we need to try to escape from it at least in fiction, why would you be so petty to remind people of this even in something they read mostly to escape from it. I just don't get it, you'd have to be a pretty shitty person, from my point of view, to do that.

Exactly!!! I feel like some of the ideas here are interesting, but sadly, the presentation is far less exiting. This way I have the feeling that nothing happened in this issue.