Christopher Kent question (Superman: Last Son)

[Stevil2001]

I just finished reading Superman: Last Son by Geoff Johns & Richard Donner, which I enjoyed immensely. But if I made a complaint, it would be that we don't actually see much of Clark and Lois raising Chris, so the impact of his "loss" at the end is somewhat dampened. I know he popped up elsewhere during this time, but I can't find a decent list. Does anyone know where he made appearances? (And if they're collected in trades?) I'd like to read more about the kid.

 

[Mike Farley]

Christopher continued to appear in SUPERMAN written by Kurt Busiek. It seems pretty obvious no-one told Busiek that the kid wasn't going to stick around after the terminally late LAST SON wrapped up.

Christopher also currently appears in ACTION COMICS, but has been ages to adulthood. Because DC loves to introduce new kid characters, but then immediately does everything they can to make them young adults.

 

[Mr Light]

I just read Lost Son as well. I was just as glad they got rid of the kid; it was reminding me waaaaay too much of Superman Returns. It was pretty confusing though because the story seems to be a continuous narrative yet at the end Chris Kent says he met Robin, which I guess happened in a tie-in issue not in this collection. ... On a slightly unrelated note, I was a little annoyed that the handful of Kryptonians defeated and captured the entirety of all the superheroes OFF-SCREEN. Would have like to have seen that. Plus, I find it hard to believe it was that easy.

 

[shivkala]

I think he made his first appearance in Superman with issue #662, part of the "Camelot Falls" arc. He starts to be a more important part of the title with the start of "The Third Kryptonian" in issues #668-670. He and Lois are involved in a sub-plot to the "Insect Queen" storyline in issues #671-663. His final appearances are in issues #674-675, Busiek's last issues on the title.

Honestly, except for "Camelot Falls," which was decent to really good in parts, I did not care for Busiek's run on the title. Due to the editorial problems Mike referenced, it's easy enough to ignore those issues and the continuity issues they raise.

 

[Stevil2001]

I think he made his first appearance in Superman with issue #662, part of the "Camelot Falls" arc. He starts to be a more important part of the title with the start of "The Third Kryptonian" in issues #668-670. He and Lois are involved in a sub-plot to the "Insect Queen" storyline in issues #671-663. His final appearances are in issues #674-675, Busiek's last issues on the title.

Honestly, except for "Camelot Falls," which was decent to really good in parts, I did not care for Busiek's run on the title. Due to the editorial problems Mike referenced, it's easy enough to ignore those issues and the continuity issues they raise.

Thanks. Yeah, the reviews I'm reading of these stories are pretty weak. In which story does Chris meet Robin?

Christopher also currently appears in ACTION COMICS, but has been ages to adulthood. Because DC loves to introduce new kid characters, but then immediately does everything they can to make them young adults.

Yeah, I read that on Wikipedia, and I'm pretty uninterested in reading that.

I just read Lost Son as well. I was just as glad they got rid of the kid; it was reminding me waaaaay too much of Superman Returns.

I liked the kid, or at least the idea of the kid, in both here and Returns. But especially here. There's the sequence where Lois says they're not parent people, and Chris just asks "Why?" I would have liked to see them tackle parenting, but unfortunately Last Son plunges straight from the adoption to the arrival of General Zod, with no chance to see how Clark and Lois would be as parents.

 

[shivkala]

In which story does Chris meet Robin?.

Superman #668, the first part of "The Third Kryptonian" storyline.

 

[Stevil2001]

Thanks again. Given the lackluster reception of these stories, I may just pick up the trades from the library at some point.

How have Johns's subsequent stories been? I know Last Son was followed by a Bizarro story, and now there's the whole New Krypton thing...

 

[DarKush]

Didn't like Jason from Returns, but I liked how Chris Kent was introduced. It sucked when they aged him, but for some reason I have been reading the current Action run with him as Nightwing in it. I like the idea of Zod having sleeper Kryptonian agents on Earth. I do sort of wished they hadn't aged him though. Giving the comic Clark and Lois a child really opened up a lot of storyline possibilities.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Brainiac is a must read as it has the death of an important charcter and it shows Superman's confrontion with the real Brainiac. New Krypton is important as well, James Robinson and Greg Ruka have been handling the reins while Johns is foucusing on Flash: Rebirth and Blackest Night. Superman has been moved over to World of New Krypton until Geoff comes back to Action Comics in the spring time. The Bizzaro story you can pretty much skip as I did...it was a two parter I believe and the TPB has reprinted Bizzaro stories. Everything has suppossedly been building towards a a major Superman event next summer that Johns hinted at a couple months ago in a Wizard interview that he hasn't elaborated on.

Chris Kent was okay...I wonder sometimes if he was introduced not just only to be Zod's son who Clark wants to raise with better values but also to test the fandom and see how the response would be to Lois and Clark having a child of their own? I thought he was okay, I'm enjoying him better as Nightwing, the scene where Lois confronts him about his relationship with Flamebird and then takes off before answering was classic. I liked Jason White though too...

 

[Mike Farley]

Johns will be back on a Superman book before spring, although not on one of the "main" titles. SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN should be out fairly soon. As the title suggests it is a retelling of the origin of Superman as it currently stands in the New Earth continuity.

And the Bizzaro story is a lot of fun and features some nice art by Eric Powell. It isn't important to the ongoing story arc but who cares? A good story is a good story, right?

All of Johns' ACTION COMICS run is worth reading. I actually consider "Last Son" the weakest of the lot. This might be colored by the fact that there were HUGE delays between issues.

 

[Mr Light]

Escape From Bizarro World is pretty skip-able, particularly since the trade is over half old reprints. I believe "Superman and the Legion of Superheroes" is the next trade, which was well reviewed but I don't care about the Legion. "Brainiac" I found underwhelming, mainly because it was lame that THIS is the ACTUAL Brainiac we've never seen before despite seeing twenty different Brainiacs before now. And the story wasn't very huge or epic. "New Krypton Part One" is another rip-off trade in that half of it is two specials starring Jimmy Olsen that has very little to do with the story. There's only three actual chapters of the story in it! Can't wait for Part Two though

 

[Mike Farley]

I haven't seen the "New Krypton" trade but if it's the Jimmy Olsen/Guardian special in it...it IS important, not really to the New Krypton arc, but to the stories that follow.

 

[Mr Light]

Yeah, it's the Jimmy Olsen and Guardian specials. But who cares about Codename: Assassin? Or is there something more.

 

[Mike Farley]

Codename: Assassin plays into later stories too. World of New Krypton is just the kick off for a huge story that continues to build through the various Super-books.

 

[shivkala]

Plus, the two specials are, in my opinion, the best Superman related titles James Robinson has written thus far.

 

[Mike Farley]

I actually really liked the last issue of SUPERMAN with Mon-El's world tour.

 

[Mr Light]

Plus, the two specials are, in my opinion, the best Superman related titles James Robinson has written thus far.

I'll have to avoid the Robinson titles then

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I actually really liked the last issue of SUPERMAN with Mon-El's world tour.

That was awesome. I didn't like the rest of the issue, but Mon-El's running commentary as he traveled the world, got into scrapes, and experienced things like his first kiss, was wonderful.