#anti super sons

[bobbinalong]

I’m really confused.

You posted that Damijons make Damian out to be mean, abrasive and ‘feral’ but you tweeted today or a couple days ago that Damian is genuinely horrible to Jon, so much so that Clark should keep Damian, a child, he understands is very traumatized, away from Jon.

You also preferenced it by saying that you love Damian so you know that your statement was inherently anti-Damian…? So you dislike Damian? You don’t have to like Damian but you can’t say one thing and then the other. Is it bad to say that Damian is mean and abrasive? Or is Damian so mean and abrasive that he should be kept away from Jon? Which is it?

Also, your mutuals were agreeing with you. People who also often kind of allude to the idea that Damian feels nothing for Jon and they lack chemistry. Why insinuate Damian is emotionless when Super Sons literally has multiple Damian focused plot points where Jon gets harmed and Damian freaks out; proving he cares for him.

So do you really think Damian should be seperated from Jon, like they shouldn’t be friends?

The important part of the tweet you're referencing is the "IN SUPER SONS" one. It's also important to note that I made this complaint five issues into my re-read, so it was more of a flippant observation, not yet a proper critique of the run or Tomasi's writing.

As far a actual critique goes, at no point has that been about Damian as a character or Jon and Damian's friendship as a whole, because I love both of those when they're written well, it has always, ALWAYS been about how Tomasi writes them in these books.

This is how Damian acts towards Jon (again, in Super Sons) before Clark says he wants them to spend more time together, not including moments where Jon gave as good as he got, but even in those, Damian is pretty consistently portrayed as the instigator and Jon as the one retaliating.

He is acting horribly and even after this occasionally like he doesn't care for or respect Jon as a person and Clark knowing where this behaviour comes from doesn't mean he should want his kid exposed to someone who regularly insults and disrespects him.

Again, though, none of this is because of who Damian is as a character but because of how Tomasi perceives and writes him. His Damian's smart and he likes to banter and Tomasi sucks at writing smart kids and friendly banter, at least in the Super Sons books, so Damian being a little catty or mean, which is in line with is character in my opinion and would be fine, turns into him throwing Jon off of buildings. That's not frenemy behaviour, that's just a general disregard for Jon's well-being.

I've also at no point denied there were sweet moments in these books; there are and plenty of them, but that just means it bugs me even more when Tomasi goes back to having Damian slap Jon around. Again, it's inconsistent and I don't like it. Which I also said on Twitter but that may have been after you sent this ask:

Both Jon and Damian are characterized very inconsistently throughout Super Sons and Adventures of the Super Sons (I haven't reached Challenge on my re-read yet, so for now it's excluded from this criticism). Damian deeply cares for Jon in one issue, says he'll protect him, has fun with him, gets mad when anyone else hurts him but he keeps going back to slapping him around, verbally and physically, and this is never portrayed as any kind of internal struggle, there's no "I care for this kid I don't want to care for so I'm lashing out at him" (which frankly, at this point in his development, isn't even a conflict he should have but at least it would be something), it's just. He's good friends with Jon in one issue and thinks it's funny to have a statue of his dad beat him up in the next and I don't particularly enjoy that.

Super Sons is just not all that, man, I'm sorry.

Tomasi writes Damian well in the parts of Batman and Robin (2011) I've read (had to stop because I was getting too emotional lol), but that might be because that one's co-written by Patrick Gleason, who wrote the Damian book (Robin: Son of Batman), as far as I'm concerned. Robin (2021) I liked, too, and I hear the current Batman and Robin is delivering some good Damian, too, as is his new Black Label book. So yeah, I like Damian. I just don't like how Tomasi writes him in Super Sons specifically.

As for the Jon and Damian friendship, it's very well written in Superman: Son of Kal-El, they're fun in Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, the Dynomutt - Super Sons issue in the DC Meets Hanna-Barbera book is neat, as are Trick or Treat and Back to School, they're adorable in that one Holiday Special and I like Tomasi's Superman & Robin Special, once again weirdly pointing toward this being a Super Sons specific issue. So yeah, I like their friendship. I just don't like how Tomasi writes it in Super Sons specifically.

And going all the way back to your first point, yeah, certain DMJNs/Super Sons fans DO portray Damian as a horrible feral demon. Probably because all they've read are the Super Sons books, which, I think I've made that clear, are not the best books to get a solid grasp on Damian. That critique was about how fandom (and not just the Super Sons fandom, either, the Batfandom, too) perceives and portrays him and I think I've done a decent job at not falling into that same trap with my fanart, so I'm not sure why you bring that up.

I don't think Damian is some horrible irredeemable character from hell. Never have. I adore him. Here's some proof.

Which I know is entirely unnecessary, I just felt like sharing some fanart at the end of this.

As for my mutuals, I don't speak for them, but both of the people agreeing with that particular tweet have previously talked about liking Damian and his dynamic with Jon, their critique, just as mine, seems to be usually aimed at the way Tomasi depicts him and them in Super Sons, where, again Damian does often seem like he doesn't care for Jon. Except for when he cares a lot. Which, again, isn't his fault, since he's lines on paper and Tomasi's the one making him act this way. Which brings me back to the inconsistency being what bugs me most, so I'm just talking in circles now.

Anyway, I don't know what you were trying to accomplish with this message, anon. If it was to rob me of half an hour to explain myself unnecessarily, congrats, I guess.

[arabian-batboy]

I don't want to sound negative all the time, but goddamn, 2023 has been nothing bad news for (real) Damian’s fans right and left, from Gunn doing a live-action movie to this?

Injustice especially was already horrible for Damian and it took so many years for Damian’s reputation to recover from it, now you want to add Jon to it? The same Jon whose mere existence on normal days has resulted in Damian being reduced to a shallow “mean rich boy” archetype and was the reason they almost turned him into the DCU's main villain so that Jon would have someone to fight against?

You might as well include Teen Titans: Rebirth/the G5 plan and you will have the unholy trio of ruining Damian's characterization right here.

[janestvalentine]

#i'm (not) sorry but them being the “parents” of WONDER WOMAN'S DAUGHTER is fucking stupid and anyone saying that should be ashamed, #why is the daughter of wonder woman's character being entirely defined by men? and why are y'all letting that happen, #the entire disrespect for wonder woman and the amazons, #if you don't like them that's fine but don't pretend that that godawful wonder robin is a good thing, #i want older brother damian or jon content but they can have it WITH THEIR OWN FAMILIES, #jon literally has too younger siblings now and people care more about this lifeless industry plant, (x)

The way that people who cannot let Super Sons go is just using Trinity as a vehicle to get the content that they want is frankly misogynistic and I don't even like Lizzie

[ky-landfill]

[devine-fem]

THIS NOT A AGED UP JON KENT SAFE BLOG!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! GO AWAY OR I WILL GET THE HOSE!!!

[karaspal]

CHRIS AND DAMIAN >>> super sons

[bats-cats-and-batmobiles]

[catofoldstones]

I wonder what it would feel like to find out that your husband and father of your two children is a paedophile at Super Bowl in front of the whole of country because that’s what Elia felt.

[camo-wolf]

Seriously bendis fuck you

[ampresandian]

Percy Jackson would have the most disgusting water bottle known to human (or god) kind and drinking out of it would kill him if he wasn't the son of the sea god send tweet

[somethingsomethingeyyymacarena]

[vlackevil]

If any stupid and imbecile person say Goku only cares fight, show this image:

[heather-chandlers-weirder-cousin]

.

[soleminisanction]

The OG Saga of the Super-Sons represents an interesting period of comic book history. The Bronze Age of Comics is generally agreed to have started somewhere between 1970 (when Green Lantern/Green Arrow started up and Jack Kirby left Marvel to start the New Gods at DC) and 1973 (when the death of Gwen Stacy happened over in Spider-man).

The first issue of the Super-Sons saga hits right in the middle of that -- cover date of Jan 1973, which means it would've been on the stands towards the end of '72, with most of the other stories coming out sporadically in World's Finest until 76. It means their adventures wind up having this interesting mix between Silver Age goofiness and the Bronze Age return to darker storylines and social issues.

So in Issue 1 you've got Clark snapping the San Andreas fault like a bedsheet so the boys can test their stuff against a dying crime boss without actually risking anyone living in the city they're playing in thanks to the time paradox (it makes... just as much sense in context.)

In Issue 2 they effectively stumble into a Twilight Zone episode, visiting a small town with a mysterious secret that turns out to involve a murdered alien family, a misunderstanding involving their spacecraft, and cryogenic freezing.

And then issue 3 is this almost down-to-earth drama about a third boy who discovers he's adopted, so he abandons the noble but poor man who raised him to instead live the high life with his rich birth father, only to get a rude awakening when he learns that the South American emerald mine those riches come from is essentially a colonialist slave camp, which the Super Sons naturally help bust.

And the fourth issue?

...oh.

Oh dear. This won't end well.

[devine-fem]

Older Jon Kent could never ammount to younger Jon Kent’s angst and confusion. He could never hold the same weight. The ammount that Jon had struggled with being half human and half kryptonian, not feel like he belonged with either. Feeling unsure of himself, it all felt so raw.

Younger Jon Kent wanted to take authority of who he was and how he used his abilities.

Younger Jon Kent had so many themes and moments that made me really feel for him and become attached to him. He saw the S symbol as something that didn’t define him but brought together his family, his home.

So much of this was lost after the age up. So many parallels to mixed children (like myself) trying to find somewhere they belonged. Now Jon Kent is just so sure of “Superman” so sure of Journalism instead of looking into to science <- younger Jon Kent was a science nerd or creating a personality of his own, bringing in themes that only his character could detail.

I miss him so dearly, you guys don’t understand.

[narzissenkreuz-ordo]

ouighhh i went to bed like an hour or two early but ended up waking up even LATER than i usually do. now im exhausted trynig not to fall asleep playing thru the lantern right quest....