A Tribute to Conner Kent

Warning: This contains spoilers for Young Justice 

Before we get started let me briefly explain who I'm talking about. This isn't Johnathan Kent, the son of Superman which recently made headlines. This is also not one of the twins from the series Superman and Lois, nor is this the Connor Kent from the comics who did die at one point during Infinite Crisis but was brought back by... Reasons... I'll be talking about the Connor Kent/Superboy from the show Young Justice, in case the spoiler warning didn't give it away. 

Okay, let's do this

Passing of A Hero

In the latest episode of Young Justice: Phantoms, Connor Kent was killed trying to save the populous of Mars from a terrorist attack fueled by Apocalyptician technology. Long story short: Young Justice is complicated and diverts from the regular DC timelines. Now granted super heroes are not known for staying dead if mileage can be found from their miraculous resurrections, no matter how stupid the premise is. 

Despite death being a swinging door, Young Justice has done a great job of killing off characters and having them stay dead, including fan favorite Wally West/Kid Flash. While Connor's death in the comics was reversed by... I'm not getting into it... Young Justice has a track record for making its deaths both visceral and permanent. 

Why This Superboy Is So Great

To get into why this death matters I have to take a quick backstory of this Connor. I'm not going to do the comic version, let's just say oh the 90's. 

Connor first appeared in episode 1 of Young Justice in the Cadmus labs, a secret research facility that was using cloning and gene manipulation to make monsters. Centerpiece to their collection was Superboy, a clone of Superman and a mysterious, then unknown, human. Superboy, as he was first known, was taught everything via telepathy having never been allowed to experience the real world for himself. He was rescued by Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad and was adopted into the team. 

Superboy was at first angry and confused because while he was strong and tough he didn't have all of Superman's powers. Adding to his teen angst his unwilling DNA donor Superman had no idea what to do with him so he basically shut him out for the first season. So a mentorless newborn Superboy had to figure out how to the navigate the world with a group of other teen superheroes. 

This character is so rich because he's relatable. He doesn't know what to do with himself, since he's supposed to be a replacement for Superman should he ever die, but how could he replace Superman if he couldn't even fly? Worse how could he learn how to be like Superman if the Man of Steel wouldn't give him the time of day? Already we had an interesting character to explore. 

The Highlight Reel

Some of Connor's best moments from the series included: 

*Him finding out that his human donor was actually Lex Luthor, and that Luthor could control Superboy with subliminal commands implanted psychically into Superboy's mind. Luthor tempted Superboy with a type of performance enhancing drug that gave him his full compliment of Kryptonian powers, in exchange for promised favors later. 

*Connor began dating Miss Martian near the end of season one, but at the beginning of season two it was revealed that they had broken up, and the audience learned that it was because Miss Martian was using her psychic powers to tear information out of the minds of her enemies and leaving them in a vegetative state. The final straw was when Miss Martian started altering Connor's memories so he'd forget their arguments ala Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The most interesting character beat from this wasn't that Connor didn't trust Miss Martian, but how he eventually forgave her and they began dating again, eventually going so far as to nearly marrying her. 

*We don't get much Superman/Superboy interaction, but what we get is fascinating. Batman has to have a heart to heart with the Man of Steel about how to have a sidekick, an interesting role reversal since it's usually Superman trying to teach Batman how to be human. Superman eventually accepts Superboy, and refers to him as "brother". It's rare that we get a story with Superman having a character flaw, and having Superboy bring it out creates a fascinating development for both characters. 

Legacy

Recent incarnations of Superboy in the comics have taken some traits from the Young Justice version. The 90'sness of old Connor has been all but scrubbed clean, now giving us a more interesting broody character who is trying to find his place in the world. Connor is an example for the argument that while it's fun to see our favorite heroes in live action Hollywood blockbusters, TV can give characters the chance to breathe and come into their own, giving us better realized and fully fleshed out characters. 

Weather Connor Kent comes back or not, I'm grateful for the story the writers gave us from watching Connor be born to his last heroic sacrifice. 

-JOE

Five Franchises that Don't Get Enough Love

 Yes they have fans, but you don't hear that much from them. 

Yes they have merch but it's few and far between.

Yes there's fanart but it's not as popular on Deviantart. 

These franchises need far more love than they get, and they're going to get some here. 

5: Young Justice

The more grown up Teen Titans show was a victim of bad marketing. Meant to be a toy selling scheme for kids, the show's overarching storyline and more adult issues didn't hit well with kids, however older DC fans loved the show. Without the coveted toy market cornered, the show was cancelled on a cliffhanger only to be brought back on DC's not defunct streaming service. All three seasons now have a home on HBO Now, so hopefully it'll get more fans discovering this lost DC treasure. 

4: Gargoyles

I may be wrong about a stable streaming service giving a show new life, as it didn't work for Gargoyles. The show was a hit back in the 90's, but it's received little buzz since showing up on Disney Plus. The show is relatively dark compared to most of Disney's fair, but the story is engaging and the characters are far deeper than cartoon characters today. This is worth a rewatch and some more fan love from the geek community. 

3: Superman the Animated Series 

(A lot of DC on this list...)

After the much beloved Batman the Animated Series, Superman got his own show in the same universe. The cartoon breathed life back into the beloved Man of Steel, but sadly it's not talked about even close as much as Batman's is. Superman the Animated Series needs a good rewatch, though that will be hard to do since it's not currently available on any streaming service. 

2: Once Upon A Time

Okay so this one gets plenty of love from this blog, but overall....

Yes, this show was overdramatic. Yes it was complicated as it tied every fairy tale and Disney movie into one giant mass, but it was incredibly fun and the acting was on point. You can actually identify with the characters and their magical issues. Every episode, as absurd as it is, makes you want to say "....One more episode." Check it out again, let yourself into the world, and let it be either a guilty pleasure or an indulgence into pure dramatic fun. 

1: Daria

The voice of disillusioned teenagers, Daria was the show that gave us permission to question the world around us when we were told to just obey and go along. Daria was an MTV exclusive back in the day, so I get why not a lot of people have seen it, but now that it's on Amazon Prime, maybe this show can get the attention it deserves. If you don't have Prime, the box set is sold for a reasonable price and is worth every penny. Check it out and let the misenthropic teenage girl inside out for a few hours. She might thank you for it. 

-JOE

RIP Young Justice

I’m about ready to switch comic alliances. To anyone not in comics this is big, like switching the kind of underwear you wear, but DC is really leaving me with no choice. First they quasi-reboot their entire continuity and give us this New 52 trash, then they bomb the Green Lantern movie, and now this: Young Justice will not be in Cartoon Network’s 2013-14 lineup, essentially cancelling it. 

GRRRRRAAAAWWWWWW!!!!

Oh, what’s Young Justice you ask? No, it’s okay, I don’t blame you for not knowing, since DC is too busy trying to convince everyone that healing Batgirl’s spine was a good idea they haven’t really promoted the best cartoon they’ve had since Batman the Animated Series. Young Justice follows a team comprised of the Justice League’s sidekicks, called the Team, who are deployed by Batman to go on covert ops missions in order to stop a secret cabal of villains called the Light from destroying the League and taking over the world. The first season was hands down amazing, Every character had their own intriguing story arch full of surprise twists and more emotional draw-ins then a book about the pioneer’s puppies. The thing that sealed the deal for me was that they brought one of my longtime favorite super heroes, Superboy, in as a main character, complete with his trademark tee shirt. Although they do take liberties with the original continuity, I personally am not a purist (Unless DC does something stupid, see earlier rant on New 52, and extended edition coming next week) and loved the changes they made in Young Justice, like Superboy being a broody anti-social, and Miss Martian being a flake.

The second season took place 5 years after the last, introducing a pile of new young heroes to the team, including Lagoon Boy, Batgirl and Wonder Girl. The story became a little harder to follow with the addition of so many new faces, but it still worked, and this time centered on a secret alien invasion, but the show was put on hiatus mid-season last year. Now it’s all but official: Young Justice is cancelled.

Here’s my question: What is DC doing? At this point they’re pretty much on life support with comic sales dropping since last year, most of their movies either crashing and burning and then cancelling popular shows like Young Justice and Green Lantern. Nolan’s Dark Knight movies was pretty much the only thing they really had going for them and even then Rises had more than its fair share of problems. As of now, DC is looking at rebooting Superman this summer with Man of Steel, rebooting Batman in four years, and after that putting together a Justice League movie much like the Avengers last summer. I really hate to say this, but unless DC makes some major changes soon, they’re might not be a company left to make a Justice League movie!

So here I sit about to give a tearful goodbye to my precious Young Justice, and maybe to my favorite comic book company with it, hoping against hope that they manage to pull themselves together soon before we lose Batman and Superman forever, while wondering if Hot Topic still had those light up Iron Man boxers I was looking at the other day.

-JOE

For a sample of Young Justice, click here!