DC Comics : New Superman, Jon Kent, Comes Out as Bisexual

DC’s New Superman Jon Kent Comes Out as Bisexual

The new Man of Steel is on a journey of self-discovery.

The comic book industry has worked to increase LGBTQ+ representation in recent years, and DC is taking a major step forward in 2021.

IGN can exclusively reveal that the current Superman, Jon Kent, is coming out as bisexual in the upcoming Superman: Son of Kal-El #5.

For those not up to date on the current DC line, Jon officially inherited the mantle of Superman from his father following the events of the Future State crossover. While Action Comics explores Clark Kent’s adventures off-world, the recently launched Superman: Son of Kal-El focuses on the 17-year-old Jon as he grapples with the biggest responsibility of his young life. But at least he has someone new to share that life with.

Warning: the rest of this story contains some plot spoilers for Superman: Son of Kal-El #4 and #5!

Fans of the series probably won’t be surprised to learn Jon is entering into a relationship with Jay Nakamura, a hacktivist who idolizes Jon’s mother Lois and has already lent his new friend a helping hand. And as this image shows, the two friends will become something more when they share their first kiss in issue #5

Superman’s son, Jon Kent, comes out as bisexual in a new comic

Superman, Champion of the Oppressed, the Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow, the Last Son of Krypton, the Big Blue Boy Scout, Mr. Not-A-Bird-Nor-A-Plane Himself.

Queer. All of a sudden.

And at 83 years old, no less! Bless his heart.

But that’s not what’s happening here. Comics being comics, the truth is a lot more granular.

We’re not talking about the classic, original-recipe Clark Kent/Kal-El Superman that’s been around since the June 1938 issue of Action Comics #1 first hit the stands. It’s not the Superman who’s infiltrated the global zeitgeist to become a part of our collective consciousness via comics, serials, radio, television, film, toys, roller coasters and the bedsheets I got for Christmas 1979.

No, it’s his son, Jonathan Kent. Whose precise backstory in the comics has been so ruthlessly pummeled by a series of reboots, retcons, space missions, time-travel and rapid aging as to render it so incomprehensible that it sends even diehards like me scurrying to the nearest wiki.

He’s slated to come out as bisexual in the pages of Superman: Son of Kal-El #5, written by Tom Taylor with art by John Timms, which will published on November 9th. Jonathan and his male friend Jay, introduced earlier in the series, will share a kiss.

Here’s what you need to know.
It’s still Clark and Lois, not Clark and Louis

In current DC Comics continuity, Clark Kent married Lois Lane. They had a son, named after Clark’s father, Jonathan. Lots of stuff happened to the super-tyke, including but not limited to the kind of narratively convenient rapid aging that a lot of sitcom moppets undergo, and now he’s a 17-year-old with all of his father’s powers. (There’s been some talk, in the comics, that the combination of Kryptonian and human DNA may somehow make him somehow even more powerful than Superman, which doesn’t make a lot of sense on the surface, but then, if a superhero can defy the Law of Gravity, why not the Laws of Gregor Mendel?)

And while Jon Kent is the O.G. Superman’s son, and has gone by the nomme-de-cape Superboy until now, in the pages of Superman: Son of Kal-El, he’s assumed the mantle of Superman, while his father heads off to deep space for an indefinite period of time.

Who’s next?

The obvious question, then: Which major DC hero is gonna be the next one to get an off-shoot queer version of themselves?

If the question is obvious, the answer is even moreso: Wonder Woman. Mark my words.

Wonder Woman, let’s remember, hails from an island of women who’ve been hanging around together for thousands of years, with nothing to stare at but one another. And as she herself summed it up so often, in her go-to comics catchphrase:

“Suffering Sappho!”

Yep, Diana’s next. It’s inevitable. The writing’s on the urn.

But in a larger sense, “who’s next” isn’t the most pressing question facing us.

No, the real question that needs answering is this one: Where are these versions of Superman, Robin and Aqualad gonna get a timeshare next summer — Fire Island, or P-Town?

DC’s New Superman, Jon Kent, Comes Out as Bisexual in Upcoming Comic

In a landmark moment in comic book history, Jonathan Kent — the son of Clark Kent, aka Superman, and Lois Lane — is coming out as bisexual in the pages of DC Comics, the publisher announced on Monday.

Jon Kent, currently known as “the Superman of Earth,” will come out in the Nov. 9 issue of “Superman: Son of Kal-El #5” when he starts a romantic relationship with reporter Jay Nakamura — indicating the Kryptonian apple does not fall far from the tree.

The decision to have the superhero currently carrying the mantle of the Man of Steel come out as bisexual is the most high profile example yet of comic book publishers expanding the scope of LGBTQ+ representation within their pages. In August, DC published an issue in which Tim Drake — aka Robin, Batman’s loyal sidekick — also came out as bisexual. Other major LGBTQ+ comic characters include DC’s Batwoman, Harley Quinn, and Alan Scott (aka the first Green Lantern), and Marvel’s Iceman, America Chavez (aka Miss America), and Northstar — one of the very first openly gay comic book characters when he came out in 1992.