#this could be seen as kon x cassie idk

[iaminjail]

kon-el: supporting his friends in style✨

[richardgrayson-wayne]

Where Is ____?

Where is Kon-El?

Common to the Rebirth discourse, from the beginning, has been the question of “Where is Superboy?” Also common to Rebirth discourse, I guess, is the question of “If/When Conner comes back, what will he go by?”

I’m going to answer the second first, because I think it’s super funny that people don’t think there can be two Superboys. Guys, how many Flashes to we have? How many GLs have we had (who have gone by GL on earth and in the League, not in the entirety of the Corps)? My favourite Flash is Flash II, Barry (and how many time has mah boi got to sacrifice himself, anyway? once per Convergence event?), but Flash I is Jay and Flash III is Wally (my Wally, nerd Wally, redhead Wally, love of my life [number, like, six] Wally).

I digress. But I think Conner could just go by Superboy, and there can be two SBs, I and II. Anyway, how great would it be if they can be called “the Superboys” as a unit, the way kids get called “the boys” or “the kids” or whatever? Superfamily has Superboys. I love it.

But damn. DAMN. Geoff, when is the Superboy coming back? He’s been gone since the start of n52, and I get really emotional thinking about it? But, it’s a matter of when, not if, right? And I’ve seen the spread of Death of Superman/Return of Superman panels from Rebirth Action Comics, and the only person missing was Conner, bro. CONNER. (Hell, Supes remembered his 90s ‘do, so where’s Kon?)

Rebirth is... I care about Rebirth a lot, because it’s a capital-C Chance. They done right by me twice (at least), so far, in bringing back Nightwing (and putting him back in blue! HALLELUJAH!) and giving me back my Wally, the one they ruined in their attempts to be more racially diverse back in n52 (because that Wally was never the same character and never even pretended to be, except in name). My Wally’s back, Other-Wally’s still here, the Flash Family is bigger! I love it! I’m in love!

Well.

Except.

Where is Bart Allen?

I’m all for bigger families. I love the family unit thing that’s going on in DC, and I always have. Did I like Supergirl? No. But, uh, I never liked Superman, either, until a lot more recently. It’s the families I love. Dad!Supes. Aunt!Supergirl. The schtick. The whole thing.

So, where is Bartholomew Allen’s grandson of the same name? Where is my fav future kid (besides my beloved Braniac 5)? He, too, has been missing since the start of n52, since the n52 Bart was a friggin’ imposter and not an Allen and ugh. Spare me.

I think I almost entirely quit n52 after that reveal, and I was just starting to try it, at the time.

A mess. What a mess.

Look, I honestly couldn’t care less about Wonder Girl (unless it’s Donna Troy, or unless we get WG and Troia), but the quintessential trio is Tim Drake, Bart Allen, and Conner Kent. No matter how unfamiliar I was with 90s Titans, I knew that this was the basic trio where Dick, Kori, and Cyborg were the basic 80s trio (I wanted so bad to say Wally - but I’d have to go further back and say Dick, Roy, Wally, and that... other Aqualad? since Wally was The Flash from ‘85 to ‘08, roughly).

What’s the trio, now? Who are Dami’s side babes? I’m actually super irate that there’s no clearly defined third generation trio, ya know? Tim/Bart/Kon (+Cassie) is so classic, and Dick/Kori/Vic (+Troia?) is pretty classic (80s Cyborg tho, pfffft). But like What’s Dami got? Other Wally and... a bunch of original Titans (BB, Rae, Kori, Cy)? I didn’t think he was Dick 2.0. Why doesn’t he get his own, new friends the way Tim did?

I digress. Really bad.

Where was I?

Oh. Bring back the trouble trio! I want SB, Impulse, and Red Robin to tear it up in Rebirth. I want to see them working together, again. Heck, I’d lowkey kill to have Tim leading the Titans, again.

Speaking of Titans, there was maybe one n52 character I cared about, Titan-wise. And it wasn’t not-Conner. It was Bunker.

Where is Miguel Barragan?

Where is Virgil Hawkins?

Where is Red Tornado?

Where is The Question? (And I don’t even care which Question, I just kinda miss the faceless weirdo.)

And, fine, Where is Cassie Sandsmark?

Where is J’onn J’onzz? And what do you MEAN he’s not a founding member of the JL anymore? What?

And where is Billy Batson?

AND WHERE IS THE JSA?

I read a few lists of things missing from Rebirth, and I’m gobsmacked at how many things and people aren’t in Rebirth. Things I thought were integral to DCU stuff, as a whole. I mean, I don’t like Hawkwoman or whatever she’s actually called, but how is she not around? I find Plastic Man laughable, but he’s supposed to be there, isn’t he?

Next thing you’ll tell me is that Alan Scott is awol. (A short Google later) Oh god where is Alan in Rebirth? Tell me he’s there. Tell me he’s not dead. Look, I don’t cre about Jade (idk, I haven’t read enough of her to care, yet), but Alan is special to me, because of... reasons and things. I love this GL Prime type deal he has going on, I love the updated idea of him having a prototype ring or something.

But I’m just digressing more.

Just. Hey, DC? I love that my Wally’s home. And I love that Dick’s not traipsing around as a Secret Agent, anymore (but the wtf aspect of that remains, for me), but I... don’t think i can handle a DC universe without Conner in it. And I don’t really... want a DC universe without Virgil in it. (psa: his middle name is Ovid. How nerdy is that?? Virgil Ovid Hawkins.)

Virgil was important to me, in my childhood. I’m just a white boy, sure, but Virgil was one of my first favourite heroes (along with Spiderman and the X-Men as a whole), and I felt like I learned so much from his show. I’m still pissed I can’t find a box set (DC, get on it).

Nightwing is important to a... portion of my teen years that was otherwise really dark.

Conner was important to me because of his issues and stuggles with personal identity.

These are my heroes in a way that most other iconic heroes just aren’t. I get this thrill of happiness and sense of hope from each of these. I have a list of comics I need to purchase, and almost the entire list is at least peripherally about these characters (or Nightcrawler, of Marvel fame -- for similar reasons to why Conner is important to me). Hell, I got Death of Superman and World Without a Superman just so that I could properly appreciate Conner’s first appearance in Return of Superman!

I just. Even if Wally’s home. Even if NW is back in the blue. It takes all three of these characters to really make me feel at home in a continuity.

Plus Barry and Hal. Otherwise I’d just permanently make my home in 90s DC comics, haha. Nope, of course they’re dead in what is otherwise the perfect place for my comic home to be.

Whatever, I just needed to ramble.