Jon Kent is the best Superman character introduced in years, and it’s not a close contest. Superman and Lois’s first child was the exact breath of fresh air that the Man of Steel’s comics needed, giving him an all-new dimension to tackle as he learned to be a father. Watching Jon grow from a rambunctious kid to a true hero who might even surpass both his parents is incredible, but that comes with a massive asterisk. Every Jon fan remembers the utter devastation and horror that was the decision to unceremoniously age him up. Ever since, Jon’s been in a weird place, his character languishing and DC clearly not knowing what they wanted to do with him.
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It’s no wonder that ardent fans have cried for Jon’s de-aging since it happened, but that’s simply not a possibility at this point. Jon has been an adult longer than he was a kid. That’s never stopped fans from praising and missing the adventures of kid Jon, though his newest story might finally lay that argument to rest. Superman Unlimited brought back what seemed like the young version of Jon Kent. The adult version renamed himself Tomorrow Man to hide his identity and give his younger self the life he should have had, but as of issue #13, we have definitive proof that this Jon isn’t who he says he is. In fact, he’s probably the son of Jon’s worst enemy.
A Broken Boy Displaced From and Haunted By the Past
The Fourth Dimensional demon Master Txyz will one day be Jon Kent’s archenemy, so he decided to destroy him before they ever met. Of course, this inadvertently led to Jon becoming the hero who will stop him and save reality, as is so often the case with time travel. In the end, Txyz decided to give Jon a “gift” and had Tomorrow Man pull a young Jon out of the volcano he was trapped in. Tomorrow Man dropped Superboy off with Lois, but the kid had nightmares of being tortured by Ultraman, who shouted that he would either make Superboy his lieutenant or kill him trying. Tomorrow Man decided that his young friend needed a good old-fashioned adventure and took him to battle the rogue Super Monkey, Beppo.
Of course, being a monkey with Kryptonian strength made Beppo even stronger than Tomorrow Man. To make matters worse, his blood was infused with Kryptonite, meaning Beppo’s bites weakened T.M. even further. While Tomorrow Man was out of commission, Superboy lost his head. Beppo bit him, but that only enraged and seemingly empowered Superboy, who pounded Beppo into the ground while he screamed that nobody would ever hurt him again. This confirmed two things for Tomorrow Man. One, this Jon was way more emotionally broken and traumatized than he ever was, and two, Kryptonite made him stronger. This wasn’t Jon’s younger self at all. At best, he was a fake created by Master Txyz. At worst? He’s Ultraman’s son.
The Fake Jon Is the Real Jon’s Worst Nightmare
There have always been clues that Superboy isn’t who Tomorrow Man thinks he is. The biggest is Krypto, who constantly growls at him, which tipped Damian off too. This Jon is also a whole lot more reserved and angry than the original, who, even after years of torture, has always remained surprisingly stable. Obviously, this could all be some big trick planned by Master Txyz to torment Jon further. He could have plucked a different version of Jon who took his trauma worse, intending to have Tomorrow Man give up his life for the kid, unaware that he practically dropped a bomb in his place. Yet, the evidence points to a much worse conclusion.
Ultraman tortured Jon for years, but according to Jon’s own admission, he only struck him once. The majority of the torture was Ultraman keeping him there and treating him like a rubber duck he could talk to and cry in front of, before screaming at and flying away. The new Superboy both looks younger than Jon did at this time, which could just be for marketing and fan recognition, and suffered far more brutality. Ultraman never wanted to turn Jon into anything, but his own son, especially after Jon escaped? That’s definitely someone the crooked Ultraman would want to turn into his lieutenant in the most abusive way imaginable. Kryptonite makes Ultraman stronger, too, which explains how Superboy overpowered Beppo after he was bitten.
Superman Unlimited #13 is on sale now!
Fans have been asking for Superboy back for years, and now that DC’s finally done it, we’re all about to see that this isn’t the hero we remember at all. If this Jon really is Ultraman’s son or even some clone of him, then he’s charging down the villain path at record speed. What do you think about this new Superboy? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
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