#the divorce dynamic is canon in tiny titans!

[not-so-superheroine]

hmm. reminds me of someone.

[loisinherlane]

Hi! I hope this isn’t an annoying ask but I’m curious to see how you view Conner’s dynamic with Luthor? I feel that Conner’s relationships with both of his dads hasn’t really been delved into as much. I think the closest we’ve gotten is Titans?

This isn’t annoying at all! <3 Anon, I love getting asks so much because I love to ask. Being asked how I view dynamics is exciting because it’s a chance for me to run my mouth.

First, I’m going to clarify that I don’t keep up with current comics super well, especially because I’m still reading through a lot of the more fundamental old comics. Most of this analysis is based on Post-Crisis continuity, and we’ll have to admit that’s Schrodinger’s canon at the moment. When you say Titans, I’m not sure if you mean TTv3 or the TV show, which I haven’t really watched since midway through the second season, so I have no comments on that.

We should also note that Lex as a character isn’t exactly written consistently. When Kon first appeared, Lex was in disguise as his own son via a clone body... and Kon was only made to be his and Clark’s “son” later, in the wake of the Smallville changes. These are changes I still ascribe to in my canon: The Luthors are from Smallville. Clark and Lex were best friends. This has an enormous impact on the Luthor-Kent dynamic as a whole.

You’re right in that they really haven’t been delved into that deeply. For one, DC doesn’t acknowledge Clark as Conner’s dad (except in this tiny, tiny panel where Lex is reading an article by Lois).

(Adventure Comics (2009) #2)

I see you trying to hide that, DC. Could not make it less obvious. But it’s canon to me. Clark considers Conner his son. <3

Of course, Lex much more obviously calls Conner his son, but he also calls him his property. Big Yikes.

(Robin (1993) #147)

(Adventure Comics (2009) #3)

Obviously accounting for different writers and different takes, we can take this combo in multiple ways. Lex could be lying in either case. Consider the first panel. After his first fight with Superboy-Prime, Conner gets sick, and Tim theorizes Luthor must have a way to save him prepared somewhere. He does, and this is their conversation afterward. It makes sense for a Lex who doesn’t actually care about Kon to still want to save him because he’s “his.” But it also makes sense for a father who loves his son but can’t show it for whatever reason to do anything he has to do to save him without revealing his hand.

This doesn’t even take into account what Lex did earlier in TTv3, but I’m not going to hash that out too much. Suffice it to say, whether Lex loves Kon or not, he’s not above using him as a tool.

Kon’s feelings are more comp(Lex). (Ha. I think I’m funny.) When Kon comes back from the dead, he has this conversation with Clark:

And later, when Kon is working through his list to figure out if he’s more like Clark or Lex, he admits he was lying.

(Adventure Comics (2009) #1)

In canon, Conner has very little time to process how Lex uses him as a tool (see my child of divorce notes), and he has to figure out how he feels about not only being a clone of Superman and Lex Luthor but what that means for him as a person. He really tries to parse that out once he comes back to life, but he never really gets a chance to get to know Lex Luthor as a person, only as a villain.

Personally, I think Kon’s feelings are really akin to a kid who loves their parent while recognizing they’re not a good person. Kon wants to know Lex, and he wants to be part of his family, even as he’s repulsed by him and his actions. This is such a child of divorce mood too: You’re constantly managing your parents’ feelings. Clark hates Lex, so Kon has to hate Lex too! Conner chose his side. He’s not allowed to regret it. And the thing is, Clark is proven right over and over. So why would Conner want to know him at all? But Lex does have family, and while they haven’t been around in a while, I think it would have been cool if his relationships with Lena and Lori Luthor were explored more!

Sorry this got really long and rambly and I totally lost the point. When writing, I try to extrapolate from canon as much as possible. I think they have a really complex relationship that hasn’t been explored deeply enough because they don’t really know each other. I’d love to see multiple avenues. A Kon that unambiguously hates Lex after getting to know him. A Kon who manages to have a familial relationship with Lex in spite of being on opposite sides. A Kon who convinces Lex to settle down and just be the annoying ex-husband, basically. Sometimes, lighter versions of their relationship are fun to write/read. (Literally my rendition in Kon-El and the Great Kazoo Caper.)

Personally, I’m a big fan of metaphors, so I think my ideal Conner and Lex relationship goes back to the child of divorced parents thing. Lex constantly tries to pull Kon between him and Clark, and Kon hates it. He hates that he’ll always side with Clark because it’s the right thing to do, even though it makes him feel guilty. He hates that he cares about Lex at all. And Lex loves him, but that love doesn’t mean Conner isn’t someone he can use. Sometimes parents are just bad people, whether they love you or not.

Hope this makes sense, anon! Feel free to shoot me any more questions you have. <3 <3 <3