By [ad_1]
As Jon Kent takes on his first supervillan since inheriting the role of Superman, he narrowly escapes a fate that proved terminal for his father.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Superman: Son of Kal-El #5, on sale now from DC Comics.
As seemingly indestructible as Superman can be, well-earning his nickname as the Man of Steel, DC’s flagship superhero has definitely proven himself vulnerable to mortal injury under the right circumstances. From his usual weaknesses to Kryptonite and magic to his body possessing certain weak points when faced with cosmic might, Superman is by no means an unstoppable force. And as Jon Kent continues to grow into the mantle of Superman and prove himself to be a much different superhero than his father, he manages to survive a harrowing attack that killed an alternate vision of Superman in the universally acclaimed comic book story All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely.
While facing off against the villainous Henry Bendix, Jon was lured into a trap that bombarded his body with Red Kryptonite, with the substance distilled into lasers that shot its harmful effects into Jon directly. While Jon managed to escape from this ambush, he discovered that the Red Kryptonite’s lingering effects are the equivalent of him being exposed to a concentrated solar flare from a sun with yellow sun radiation. This effectively supercharges Jon’s abilities, at the long-term cost of overexerting his body, with Jon racing to use what time he has to save the world and inspire humanity as much as possible before he ultimately collapses from exhaustion and the Red Kryptonite’s effects. And fortunately, in Superman: Son of Kal-El #5, by Tom Taylor, John Timms, Hi-Fi and Dave Sharpe, Jon manages to survive this ordeal.
Jon’s experience with Red Kryptonite mirrors the premise of All-Star Superman, which saw Superman overexposed to solar radiation while conducting a rescue mission in outer space. While this incident caused changes to Superman’s powers, he also learned its effects would ultimately become fatal, resulting in Superman setting out to do as much as he could with his life and superhero duty before he succumbed to the overcharged radiation’s effects on his body. This Superman would find a way to survive, isolating himself inside of the sun and tacitly connecting the story to the crossover event DC One Million, though was forced to remain inside of the sun for centuries.
Here, Jon survives because he wasn’t supercharged by the sun itself but by a strange form of Red Kryptonite synthesized into a laser by Bendix. The depiction of Red Kryptonite’s effects on Kryptonians has never been a particularly consistent one, with some iterations causing bizarre transformations, including Superman’s skin to go painfully translucent, while other incarnations of the substance had it affect Superman’s emotions and judgement rather than initiating a tangible, physical change. And while Bendix’s use of Red Kryptonite certainly spells troubling signs for Superman, this new effect doesn’t appear to be fatal for now.
Jon Kent has more than proven himself every inch worthy of the Superman mantle as he strives to become a more proactive, socially conscious superhero than his father. This has already placed Jon at the top of the list of very powerful enemies but, after a painful bout with Red Kryptonite exposure, Jon has managed to endure and seemingly return to normal, albeit shaken from the entire experience. And with Bendix still on the loose and as dangerous as ever, the new Superman has even more motivation for the inevitable rematch.
About The Author
[ad_2]
