Jon does have trauma from before the volcano and Ultraman! Jon's entire life has been pretty traumatic, actually. From being kidnapped by Intergang as a kid to lighting Goldie on fire to watching an entire planet and culture be destroyed thanks to religious extremists to being brainwashed by Manchester Black to being told he's on a path to destroying Metropolis and being hunted by Savior to the events of the Oz Effect. This is to name only a few. A lot has happened in his life.
None of it gets discussed in fandom.
All of this gets brushed under the rug to focus on Jon being a "sunshine boy" with a perfect life and childhood, usually to act a counter to a character like Damian.
Why? These are clearly important, live-changing events for Jon. What makes this particular trauma easier to ignore than what happened to him during and after Bendis?
The answer is consequences.
Rebirth, and especially Tomasi, do not give any of these events consequences. We never get to see how they affect Jon on a deeper level once the arc ends. Jon continues to be that happy sunshine boy until the next tragedy strikes. Rinse and repeat.
The volcano and Ultramam have consequences. Jon is permanently older. He's missed his childhood. He has to work through those feelings while his new siblings get to have what he didn't. He has to look at his father's face and see his captor. Absolute Power has consequences. It's the entire plot of the current Secret Six run.
There is now, at the very least, an attempt at showing the effects that Jon's life has on him. You can't discard it the way you could during Rebirth because it is driving the story. It's why people have long-winded complaints about the age-up and the trauma that gave Jon but are silent on everything that happened during his childhood.
You can't ignore his trauma anymore, and a lot of people hate that.
prguitarman
theartofmadeline
dededos
annaxmalina
jacobvanloon
gummygunk
pixelskylines
kaledo-art
