Jon Kent has been something of a controversial figure since being aged up by writer Brian Michael Bendis. Fans loved the young Jon Kent and the series SuperSons, and losing that version of the character angered a lot of them. This was compounded by writer Tom Taylor being given control of the character. Taylor has a rather large contingent of people that don't like anything he writes, despite his place in putting out many bestselling, critically acclaimed comics.
Adventures Of Superman: Jon Kent kicked off with Jon battling Ultraman alongside Earth-2 Superman Val-Zod. However, this story was changed completely when Injustice Superman came and killed Ultraman, bringing Jon to Injustice Earth. The series spent the rest of its run there, and it ended with Jon hugging Injustice Superman before Cyborg shot Jon Kent back to his Earth. This moment broke the brains of Comic Twitter, but if one really looks at their "outrage," it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Jon Kent and the pitfalls of parasocial relationships within the comic fandom community.
The Hug Heard Round The World
Jon Kent going to the Injustice Earth was a tantalizing prospect. Jon Kent's time as Superman showed that he was very different from his father, especially in his use of violence. Jon Kent spent much of Superman: Son Of Kal-El figuring out ways to stop threats using his powers in non-violent ways, so sending him to a universe defined by violence of the worst kind was always going to be interesting. The Injustice universe is all about a war against a fascist Superman. Placing Jon, a character who has battled against fascist dictator Henry Bendix in Superman: Son Of Kal-El, and seeing how he would deal with that kind of character wearing the face of his father was something that many fans wanted to see, despite being a little disappointed at the way the battle against Ultraman ended.
Over the three issues in the Injustice universe, Jon Kent saw the truth about Injustice Earth. He realized how far his father had fallen and did his best to stop him. However, Jon is a loving person. So, instead of fighting this dark version of his father, he hugs him. He reaches out in love to this person who is set on this terrible road because of his pain, hoping that maybe Injustice Superman will rethink his life. Of course, it doesn't work, as Injustice Superman backhands Jon away from him. The book ends with Cyborg sending Jon away, mostly because of the fear that Injustice Superman would change. This was a subplot set up throughout the book, as members of Injustice Superman's Justice League reacted to the way that their leader reacted to this person who would have been his son. It's meant to be a poignant moment that illustrates who Jon is, but Comic Twitter took it entirely wrong.
Comic Twitter Did What Comic Twitter Does
Superman reaching out to his enemies isn't exactly an uncommon subplot in Superman comics. Kal-El has always been a character who sees the best in every person and will always try to get his foes to submit without violence and to realize what they're doing is wrong. Jon Kent learned from his father that everyone deserves a chance to turn their life around. That's why Comic Twitter's reaction to the hug is so funny in the worst possible ways.
Comic Twitter is known for being reactive. It's a strange place to be a comic fan. For example, many of the posters don't actually buy comics, depending on pirate sites. A lot of them don't actually read comics and are often movie fans or lapsed superhero fans who are commenting on things with little to no context. Then, there's the rather loud contingent who just doesn't like Tom Taylor and anything he does. These fans are always looking for a reason to say bad things about Taylor's work. Injustice is also quite controversial among many, as they see it as a perversion of DC's characters. So, these fans were never going to be happy about Jon Kent in the Injustice universe. They were always going to complain, but their reach has taken the scene out of Comic Twitter and into the corners of the website that might know something about Injustice as a video game and something about Superman but know little to nothing about Jon Kent. Comic Twitter is home to an ecosystem of podcasters and influencers who use bad takes about comics to get popular, and this moment was catnip for them.
Jon Kent Hugging Injustice Superman Is Completely In Character
Jon Kent has become a very mature character. Superman: Son Of Kal-El and Adventures Of Superman: Jon Kent have shown the character reacting to things that aren't usually what superheroes concentrate on, like environmental issues, and also trying to stop threats without punching. Jon Kent has fought enemies, but as he's gotten older, he's tried to figure out smart ways to defeat his enemies. Jon was raised by two people that actually have a lot of faith in humanity. Superman is known for seeing the best in everyone, and while Lois Lane seems cynical on the outside, her work as a reporter is all about revealing the truth to people and trusting that they'll do the right thing with it. These people raised Jon Kent; they were his heroes before anyone else, and their example inspired him to be who he is.
Adventures Of Superman: Jon Kent showed this in how Jon Kent dealt with the Injustice Justice League. Jon Kent didn't beat them into submission, although he could have done that with most of them. He used his powers to defeat them in smart ways, taking away anyone who would jump on him when he went after Injustice Superman. While many fans may have thought that Jon would have actually fought someone as evil as Injustice Superman, that's just not who Jon Kent is as a character. He was never going to have a knockdown, drag-out fight with Injustice Superman. Jon knew that he wasn't powerful enough to beat Injustice Superman with brute strength, and any battle against him would do immeasurable damage. So, he wanted to trust that his father was somewhere within Injustice Superman. He reached out with love and apologized for what had happened to Injustice Superman. Injustice Superman may have become a monster, but he became a monster because his life was taken from him. Jon acknowledged that and tried something no one else had tried with Injustice Superman — love. This moment was completely in character for Jon.
The Reaction To The Hug Was Blown Out Of Proportion By Inherent Bias
Tom Taylor's work on Jon Kent has been fraught with controversy from the beginning. Taylor has become a hot writer for DC, with Nightwing becoming a critically acclaimed book under his run. He's written multiple bestselling books at DC, so putting him on Jon Kent's books made a lot of sense to the company. However, his rather vocal contingent of haters often tries to take his work and blow it completely out of proportion. This corner of Comic Twitter will always take anything that Taylor does and use it as engagement bait. That's exactly what happened with Adventures Of Superman: Jon Kent at every turn. Now, the book isn't perfect, and there are some actual criticisms — like the way the book used Val-Zod — but there are also a lot of cool moments, like Jon Kent and Injustice Damian Wayne interacting.
This side of Comic Twitter decided that, for some reason, Jon was being soft on his fascist father. Many of the people commenting on the image only saw the image and what the original poster wrote about it. This is a huge problem on Comic Twitter. Influencers there build up cults of personality — so much so that their fans will believe anything they say about comics. They deliberately cultivate an audience that won't read the comics they're commenting on because reading the comics would show that their takes are wrong. It's a perfect example of parasocial relationships, and it's had a huge effect on how many see Tom Taylor. Comic Twitter is rife with harassment of comic creators, and Taylor gets way more of it than other creators. This moment was used by people who care more about engagement and making a living off of that than actually showing what happened in comics. Jon Kent hugging Injustice Superman is a perfect example of this. Most people just saw the one page, divorced from the rest of the book. They didn't see Jon taking down the Justice League or trying to sow the seeds of discontent against Injustice Superman. They only saw the singular controversial image and a firestorm of bad takes, bolstered by the bad take machine that is Comic Twitter, transformed into a massive conflagration.
The Reaction To The Hug Says More About Comic Twitter Than It Does About The Comic
Seeing Jon Kent hug a fascist dictator was always going to be a moment that got people talking. Injustice Superman is well known for the terrible crimes he's committed. Seeing someone hug him instead of punch him in the face is a moment that's going to spark debate and actually should. Comics are political and should be used to talk about things like fascism and how people react to it. There are plenty of takes about the hug that make a lot of sense, but the most popular of them divorce the moment from the context of the character and story itself.
Comic Twitter is very much a reactionary place. It's full of people who make a living commenting on comics and getting an audience of people to listen to their takes. They've positioned themselves as the arbiters of what comics mean to an audience who use their takes to formulate their opinion. They trust these influencers because of their parasocial relationship with them. So, if these people make a post about Jon hugging a fascist and being soft on that, their audience will take that and run with it. This has led to a moment that has been blown completely out of proportion. Anyone who knows Jon Kent as a character knows this moment isn't out of character. People that read the issue know what Jon is doing and why he is doing it. Many people have purposely taken this moment out of context in order to dunk on a character or creator they don't like — in this case, Jon Kent and Tom Taylor. This has caused this bad take to take off like wildfire. Comic Twitter is not made up of comic-reading comic fans, so this bad take became the only interpretation of this scene. It's a moment that shows just how shallow that corner of the superhero fandom is.
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