Your post about Conner's fashion changes was such an informative and thoughtful analysis and it made me wonder if it is even canon to call him punk in the first place? I never questioned it before. I aslo regrettably have not read his solo series so I am one of those guilty fans that are uninformed about their faves and just go with what everyone else says is true.
Hoo boy... This got longer than I intended to because fashion is something I have a keen interest in so you brought this on yourself but THANK YOU for the compliment and the question that allowed me to explore this.
This is actually a very good debate someone can have about Kon because when you examine what a "punk" is from a fashion and social perspective Kon's first look in the 90s does fit the bill but then when we examine some other details things are not quite so clear.
Punk fashion in the early 90s compared to now has not changed too much; they still incorporate mixed media and textures such as leather and denim paired with metal elements such as spikes, studs, chains and accessories like belts and bondage visuals or death imagery. Ripped jeans, worn leather, elements of goth and grunge fashion with the use of makeup and piercings/jewelry all were still very common then as they are now.
There are some differences with punk fashion of today compared to then, but you could look at a 90s punk from back then and know immediately what the fashion style they were projecting.
So let's take a close look at Kon.
Warning TW for some mild homophobia references for attitudes in the 90s regarding some fashion.
Superboy #18
Kon's got the hair, the belts, the leather jacket, the red gloves, the ear piercing and the Lenin glasses which are all in their summation indicative of punk fashion even if it is not as loud as some other examples. Back in the 90s this this was probably as punk as they could get away with for a Superman title.
If you have some copies of the comics that include the letters to the editor at the end of each issue you will see how so many people had complaint with Kon's earring over everything else, with some citing their hesitation with his hair but it was mostly his earring that they just couldn't stand.
Earrings on men back in the 80s and early 90s were generally considered incredibly edgy and you were either a punk, gay or some sort of deviant from society if you were a boy and you had an earring.
However even those that had earrings there was a saying that was very common back then; if you're old enough or just well read you might remember it. "Left is right, right is wrong." What this was implying that if you were a boy and wanted a piecing you had better get it done on the left side only because the right side made you gay.
No I am not making this up.
However even with this ridiculous fashion rule for piercings there were an insurmountable amount of people that regarded ANY piercing on a boy to be too edgy, too gay, too out of the ordinary and it was one of the most rebellious, punkish kickass things a teenage boy could do that didn't involve ink, drugs or alcohol or something illegal.
One of the key highlights of punk culture is to make people mad about the right things, to question authority, to dare, to rebel, to talk loud about shit that's not right and to live authentically; Kon achieved this in his iconic look on virtue that his look was so heavily rejected for a long time until the audience started paying attention to his adventures and who he was.
Kon's hero look is punk, and he did have his punk attitude moments (such as mouthing off to authority and just doing what he wanted even if it got him into trouble.) So yes, it is fair to label him as punk.
However...
There's is another point of evidence that shakes this up a bit. When he is not in his hero suit, and when he changes his hero look, there is almost no indication that Kon is actually attached to that rebel punk look.
Here are some examples of what Kon dresses in when he's NOT in his punk hero suit in his solo 90s series c. 1995.
From: Superboy #18, #24 & #25.
There's no real recognizable indication while he is in civilian clothes that he is punk other than his piercing, and one piercing although rebellious does not make him necessarily a "punk." His civilian clothes are quite common, boring and dull and typical of the 1990s. Bart's wardrobe is legendary and Kon's... is not in the comics. It's really striking how much of a kid Kon really looks when he is dressed in his civilian clothes and it is something I appreciate as he is supposed to be only 16 physically.
An argument to make for punk Kon-El always is fair even in the face that none of his civilian clothes point to being punk or rebellious in nature because as stated in the post that inspired this question Kon's core identity for the longest time was circulated around being Superboy. Superboy, suit and all, WAS WHO HE WAS. He didn't have a secret identity, no civilian life, no name even until issue #59 Superboy was him trademarked packed and sealed.
As time went on for Kon his outfits shifted, he got a secret identity as Conner Kent and we never saw any element of his punk fashion again really. He remained in his new iconic jeans and a t-shirt "uniform" from 2003 - 2011 and in nearly all other media his character was depicted in that particular uniform. So the argument again can be made if he perhaps WAS punk but then grew out of it, as is typical of teenagers (I used to be a grunge fashion baby but that stopped.)
From: Superboy #76, #83 and Red Robin #09
Finally the last pieces of evidence and our closing arguments come together when Kon finally comes back into continuity in Young Justice 2019...
This time the writers and artists did something to almost answer this question and put it to rest on what Kon is.
When Kon finally comes back into continuity in 2019 after being in comic limbo for so long (7 years I think) we see him in civilian clothing that has a nod towards punk fashion with the addition of this fantastic and clearly PUNK jacket.
Kon wears this jacket in addition to his jeans and t-shirt hero look before he got himself zapped to Gemworld as a sort of hybrid to the two iconic looks that we relate to Kon-El Kent. And while on Gemworld Kon lives as a farmer but also finds the time to make his own new clothes which is the upgraded, more punkified version of his original design as seen below.
Kon's newest design is something he made himself (whereas his original design he did not) and has more ties to punk with more metallic elements, mixed media and military boots.
Kon came sort of full circle with the new comics and in the newer comics Kon has more of a self identity than he did to start with in the original and more direct affirmations to that he is a Kent, he is also Kon and he also has a tie to being punk.
So yes, I do think he is punk and it is fair to call him punk.
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