In Superman #31, Jon Kent Begins Stepping Out of his Dad’s Shadow

Welcome back to SuperChat! Spinning out from the pages of BatChat, Super Boys Justin Partridge and Tony Thornley commit themselves to a new never ending battle, diving into the mighty deeds of Superman. This week Justin is taking a well-deserved break and we’re joined by guest columnist Armaan Babu to talk about Jon Kent’s big moment in Superman #31! Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, drawn by Scott Godlewski and Norm Rapmund, colored by Gabe Eltaeb, and lettered by Dave Sharpe finds the Supermen facing the Shadowbreed, and Jon Kent finds himself staring down his father’s legacy!

Tony Thornley: Hey Armaan! Welcome! This was quite an issue. Pretty simple plot but hell of a lot of character work.

Armaan Babu: Thanks for having me, I’m happy to be here! With Justin currently covering Marvel’s terrible version of Superman, and me covering Earth-3’s, it’s refreshing to be able to talk about two of the best versions of Man of Steel – the original, and the son who will soon be taking his place. 

Betrayal

TT: So this issue picks right off where we left off last issue. The Shadowbreed has returned, and they’re incredibly different from what they were before. Considering we didn’t see what they were like before, this opening scene doesn’t quite have the emotional impact that Johnson is going for. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t creepy.

Godlewski nails it here I think. He makes the Shadowbreed scary without making them something we’ve seen before. And he leans into the shadow part of their name- they’re all darkness and void. He could have done something similar to Venom, but he makes it a little more like living event horizons, surrounding the Thakkramites.

What did you think about this opening?

AB: I found that the emotional impact of this opening had a different effect on me. It was less the creepiness of the Shadowbreed – it was the tragedy of it. Philip Kennedy Johnson’s inner monologue for Superman strongly captures a Comforting Dad voice. Despite the reveal at the end of the last issue, Superman somehow makes it feel like everything’s going to be okay – and the pain in the eyes of the Thakkramite being transformed makes it tragically clear that things have gone horribly wrong.

TT: One thing I struggled with in this sequence is when guest penciller Norm Rapmund took over. I think Rapmund is a solid inker. However, his pencils here- particularly on the Kents’ faces- just feel so generic. 

Thankfully, the script remains strong throughout those scenes.

AB: I agree, as far as his faces go – it’s a step down from regular penciler Scott Godlewski. One thing I will give Rapmund credit for, though, is his handling of capes. His action scenes as a whole are fluid, but it’s the capes that really stand out, giving both Clark and Jon a certain sense of majesty, bringing that sense of wonder into the way they fly.

That combines well with some incredible panel layouts in this issue, which I believe are based on Godlewski’s breakdowns, that are doing a lot to sell the impact of the story. The first double spread of this issue has its panels look like the page is looming towards the reader, the warped angles really selling how wrong the invasion of the Shadowbreed feels. The tilted panel angles are used extremely effectively later, making you feel the speed of Jon’s flight – I love it.

TT: Oh I agree there. The layouts are great throughout. I’m really bummed that Godlewski isn’t drawing Jon’s series starting in July, but I hope he sticks around on the Superman line. I think he’s a star in the making.

Sacrifice

TT: So with Clark, Jon and Prince Qarath O Bakkis away from the Shadowbreed, it’s time for a plan. This is where the issue is the strongest I think. While the plan is pretty standard- While Jon tries to build the gizmo that will shut down the Shadowbreed, Clark himself will try to save others before the Shadowbreed takes them.

This is where Jon and Qarath O Bakkis get to talk about the nature of Superman. Who he is, what he means to Jon and to Earth. Good grief this landed perfect for me.

AB: The feelings evoked here – it’s things like this that Johnson’s run will most likely be remembered for. He does a great job of working with the idea of a child seeing their parent as a superhero – and in Jon’s case, his father actually is the world’s greatest superhero. A good Superman story lives or dies by how inspiring it makes Superman feel – and I think it’s safe to say that we’re both feeling pretty inspired?

TT: For sure. I can forgive weak or barebone plots when we get excellent character development like this. The best part though is that the plot, while a little basic, is actually VERY interesting on top of it. I genuinely would like to see the Shadowbreed become a recurring threat, as they have a lot of potential for long-term antagonists; I mean, psychic parasites are cool!

So we get an interesting threat, FANTASTIC character development, and Jon Kent starting to stand on his own as a hero. It’s just great.

But, that aside, after the heart to heart, we should have seen it coming… Qarath O Bakkis sells out Jon to the Shadowbreed. That sure won’t go well for the crown prince though, will it?

AB: With the entire planet’s personalities overshadowed, so to speak, there had to be at least one Thakkramite (sigh, I love these characters, but I will never remember all these names without having to look it up) who retained his own personality for the Kents to inspire – unfortunately, that means betrayal. Qarath O Bakkis’ story is an interesting divergence for the path Jon could take – Jon could easily harbor resentment for living in his father’s shadow, like Qarath has learned to, but Jon’s chosen a more heroic path instead.

I’m curious as to how Qarath’s story will wrap up, and how much or how little his people and the Kents will choose to forgive him.

TT: Agreed. That seems to be as much a part of Jon’s journey to becoming Superman as anything else in this issue is.

Your Heartbeat

TT: And while Jon and Qarath O Bakkis do their thing, Clark finds his mission is hopeless. The Shadowbreed have already taken the Thakkramites. And as they flood him, Clark’s only thoughts are about Jon in these moments. And they seriously hit me right in the heart.

AB: The way the panels are falling on this page do a lot to instill a feeling of dwindling hope, so when Clark hears his son’s heartbeat, and that immediately makes everything okay despite how doomed the moment feels? That moment is pure gold. “Your heartbeat is my favorite sound, pal” is such a corny, Dad thing to say – and it absolutely lands here. 

The moment that Clark is hearing, though? It’s the moment Jon decides it’s his turn to save the day. How do you feel about the way Superman is setting Jon up to take on his father’s mantle?

TT: Oh it’s done so well on both an emotional and physical level. We get Clark setting up… it’s not quite a passing of the torch, because he’s still around… But it’s sharing the legacy. And as the Shadowbreed pummel him, it hits both the emotional note with Clark’s thoughts and the “holy crap time to punch something!” note of the alien threat that only Jon can face.

As a dad though, the heartbeat line, that just hit me. One of my oldest’s favorite things to do is run up to me and ask “Want to check Dad’s heart?” I don’t know why he started doing it but it’s become one of my favorite things he does. So the similarity between my own experience and that line… It just hits just right for this big softie.

The layers that this story works on just clicks so well.

AB: Another thing that really interests me – that I hope we see more of when Jon takes the title for his own – is new uses of capital ‘S’ Super powers. Last issue saw one of my favorite, underrated uses of heat vision, using it simply as a light source as the Kents descended into darkness. Here, we get explodo-vision – and Jon hints that this could just be the start of a whole range of new abilities.

Some may say Kryptonian heroes are overpowered, but I say the more weird variety they have, the better. Bring back Super-Ventriloquism!

TT: Amen to that! Armaan, thanks for joining me! This was a lot of fun this week!

Daily Planet Headlines

• The backup storyline features Loose Cannon and Gangbuster. Though it doesn’t really do much with the characters, it does warn of dark days ahead for the Metropolis crowd! 
• Lewis and Basri do another fun story though.
• Dare I say I actually LIKED Loose Cannon for once?
• Still loving the Legion of Super-Heroes adjacent stuff in the modern day. More of this please.

Armaan Babu

Armaan is obsessed with the way stories are told. From video games to theater, TTRPGs to comics, he has written for, and about, them all. He will not stop, actually; believe us, we've tried.

Tony Thornley

Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.