Tom Taylor and John Timms‘s Superman: Son of Kal-El series launched a few months book, finding Jon Kent, the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, preparing to take over as Earth’s Superman as his father leaves the planet for a mission off-world. Now the creators are adding another new layer to Jon Kent’s story, as next month’s Superman: Son of Kal-El #5 will reveal that Jon is in fact bisexual.
The reveal, as reported by IGN, comes in the form of a kiss between Jon and his new friend/love interest, Jay Nakamura.
“When I was asked if I wanted to write a new Superman with a new #1 for the DC Universe, I knew replacing Clark with another straight white savior could be a real opportunity missed,” Taylor says in the IGN piece. “I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes. Today, Superman, the strongest superhero on the planet, is coming out.”
Introduced in Superman: Son of Kal-El #2, Jay Nakamura is a student in the Media Department at Metropolis College who meets Jon (in his short-lived secret identity of Finn Connors) on Jon’s first day of school, and who quickly befriends Jon after his secret identity is blown. Taylor described the dynamic between Jon and Jay, and also revealed that readers will learn Jay has metahuman abilities of his own:
“He’s obviously an effective journalist, and Lois Lane is his hero. But Jay is also a refugee from Gamorra, so his experience also reflects Clark’s. While this has fortunately changed over the years, historically, Lois has often fulfilled a damsel role. Jay Nakamura will never be that. He and Jon will tackle many things side-by-side. […] What was most important was making Jay Nakamura formidable in his own right. Finding the balance in their relationship so they could be equals rather than having Jay be too reliant on Jon. This is why Jay’s own powers are revealed in issue #4, and we learn he can’t be harmed. That means, of everyone in Jon’s life, Jay is the only person Jon doesn’t need to protect. It means their relationship is an equal one built on mutual support.”
The Jon Kent Superman revelation comes just a few months after readers learned of another big-name DC superhero is bisexual. A story by Meghan Fitzmartin and Belén Ortega in August’s Batman: Urban Legends #6 saw Robin Tim Drake begin to explore his sexuality, agreeing to go on a date with a former classmate for whom he realized he had feelings beyond friendship.
Both developments are indicative of a larger push at DC Comics towards diversity, particularly when it comes to sexual orientation. The publisher celebrated June’s Pride Month with an anthology one-shot focused on their LGBTQ+ characters and a series of variant covers (including one seen above, featuring the original Man of Steel carrying a Pride flag), and has debuted a number of new titles featuring queer lead characters including Crush and Lobo and Aquaman: The Becoming.
Superman: Son of Kal-El #5 arrives in stores next month.
I really hate this move. Not for the reasons you probably think: representation is great and necessary, so bully for a bisexual character. It;s that I really dislike the books coming out of the Superman office right now, finding them badly written and plotted, with Jon Kent being a boring character and an ill-considered replacement for his father. I don’t give a rat’s ass if he’s straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or anywhere on the spectrum; I just think the books are really bad right now. (Same with the Bat books. They’re bad, too, and it has nothing to do with Tim Drake.)
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