Superman: Son of Kal-El #17 – Superman embraces his bisexual son
While fans of the new Superman comic Superman: Son of Kal-El have known since last November that Superman’s kid, Jon, is bisexual, Superman himself did not know this information. Until now. In issue #17 of the comic, which was just released, the superhero returns home from a mission on Warworld only to discover that his son is in a relationship with a male journalist.
Instead of struggling with the homophobia surrounding the idea that his son is in a same-sex relationship, Superman worries that Jon might not be ready to share the information with him just yet. Superman makes moves to let his kid know that love is love, and his house is one of unconditional acceptance.
“No matter what, I will stand by you. I will defend you. I will love you, and I will always, always be your father,” Superman tells his son.
The two have a good old pow-wow, they talk it out, and everything is right in the universe once more. Superman has a queer son, and it changes absolutely nothing about their relationship whatsoever.
Australian creator and writer of Son of Kal-El, Tom Taylor, said in an interview with Polygon that this particular scene took almost as long to write as the entire comic normally would. The outcome of the conversation seemed obvious to Taylor. Superman was always going to accept and embrace his son for who he is. But as with all good storytelling, tension was required to move the plot forward.
Taylor told Polygon that he achieved this by switching the inner monologue.
“For the first time in our series, the inner monologue isn’t Jon’s. The reader experiences this moment of a father’s love with Clark.”
“The scene with Clark and Jon took me almost as long to write as a whole comic usually would,” Taylor says. “I spent days working and reworking and fine-tuning three pages. Of course, the expectation is Superman will instantly accept and welcome his son, but I didn’t want to write a clichéd scene we’d seen many times before, one that didn’t feel earned or real.”
The outcry of support and love for this issue has been loud on social media. Fans flocked to their preferred platform to gush and share just how important this scene is to them.
You can catch Jon and his boyfriend in Superman: Son of Kal-El on Amazon and all good comic retailers. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!
Featured image: © DC Comics
