So, I am checking out Superman Unlimited now that I've started getting back into comics a bit after being busy for a while...
This whole plotline of Old Jon (as Tomorrow Man) and Young Jon returning is certainly an interesting one.
I think it could be neat if both Jons end up existing (I personally am not a fan of the age-up so would myself be a fan of Young Jon's return, but this specific method means that Old Jon can also be his own thing as well so possibly a compromise? Hm).
Also, I really like the Tomorrow Man name and costume, so just for that I am also kinda hoping this sticks since that all has a neat ring to it.
However...
From the seems of things, it does not appear that Young Jon is on the level and so its unlikely he's gonna be sticking around unfortunately.
Guess we just have to wait and see how this plays out, and to each their own. Am curious to see what happens next and so will be keeping an eye on Superman Unlimited at anyway.
This does definitely suck for Old Jon and his mental health / identity stability either way though.
A reminder that Batman Eternal did Crystal Brown dirty (and is probably the reason she hasn't appeared in a decade)
A few moments later...
Batman Eternal (2014-2015) #4
I just thought this might be worth posting since sometimes I do see folks wondering where Crystal Brown is, hoping she returns, and wondering why DC apparently kinda forgot that Steph's got a living mother.
The reason is cause Batman Eternal's re-introduction of Stephanie Brown and her family kinda just ruined Crystal's character entirely, made her a terrible mother, and then moved on.
Batman Eternal (2014-2015) #8
This really sucks, because of how her relationship with her mother was such a significant part of Stephanie's character, and how Crystal was able to eventually sober up and mend that relationship.
But N52 Crystal is, as these panels show, honestly a terrible mother and it makes sense (solely in the context of this continuity) why Steph has had nothing to do with her.
Instead of being depicted as victim of Arthur Brown's abuse, and struggling with drug addiction, this version of Crystal seems to be not only doing fine for herself, but also a willing accomplice of her ex-husband's crimes and benefiting from them.
Batman Eternal (2014-2015) #42
While this story does admittedly end on a somewhat bright note of Crystal claiming she didn't know how far Arthur would go, and then planning to take Steph and leave the city for good. Which is nice, but kinda too little too late (also Steph promptly gets kidnapped by Catwoman and Crystal never shows up again).
N52 Crystal is either...
Somehow did not think Arthur intended to harm Steph despite despite calling her, panicked by her dad trying to kill her
Was aware of what Arthur intended and had a change of heart / crisis of conscience and so was lying to Steph here
Either way, pretty horrible. And real sucks to turn a complex mother-daughter relationship into... whatever this is. Also as I mention, Crystal Brown has never appeared since.
There is a very stark difference in how many appearances Crystal has had before and after Flashpoint.
All of Prime Earth Crystal's appearance were in Batman Eternal.
Apparently infinite frontier means everything is canon now or something, so let's hope that eventually someone remembers Steph has a mother who loves her.
Please.
To end things off, here... have some wholesome Stephanie and Crystal Brown;
So I was checking out the latest Batgirl issue and the discussion around it while wondering if I should pick the run back up and...
"No one ever taught me... how to heal."
I'm not sure if I'm reading too into this (although I have seen others also take issue with the line) but this kinda feels downplaying of the Bat-Fam's role in Cassandra's life? Like, what all that I've read so far of her, I really don't think its fair to say that no one has ever taught her how to heal.
(Unless she's been literal, I guess. Cassie med school arc when?)
Early in the run, one of my favourite parts was when Cass affirms to herself how important the various members of the Bat-Fam are to her, so the panel above isn't really making me too keen to give it another chance.
Source: Batgirl (2024) #3
The reason I fell off this run in the first place is that I was having trouble getting invested in the relationship between Lady Shiva and Cass. It just felt a lot like Shiva dragging Cass into the plot against her will, away from Cass' actual family, and just constantly belittling and disrespecting Cass.
So when Shiva sacrificed herself, it fell flat for me personally because it seemed like once again preventing Cass from making any choice herself. So I'm also not too much of a fan of how it seems like Shiva is still getting focused on even in death (she's probably not actually dead though, at least not forever).
Anyway those of my thought. Still thinking of trying this run again from the start, but yeah. But still, Cass going "no one ever taught me to heal" combined with the run dragging her away from Gotham isn't something I'm a fan of.
Thoughts on why I like the depiction of Kara as a scientist
Source: Supergirl (2016) #8
So a bit ago I posted a poll about Kara's "day job" because I was curious. As it turns out, "Scientist Kara" was by far the most popular option of those who voted, ending up with roughly half the votes, with "Actress Kara" as a distant second place.
"Scientist Kara" was also my preference, and so this has gotten me thinking more deeply into the why of what makes "Scientist Kara" so appealing, with some help from the reasonings given by response to the poll.
So with that in mind, I figured I might make a post discussing this. Note I am not the biggest comic expert, but I am learning more bit by bit.
What Makes Kara the Scientist so appealing?
Source: World's Finest: Batwoman and Supergirl (2020) #2
I think this was the story which really sold me on the concept of Scientist Kara. I'd really recommend checking it out, but here's the gist...
Kara gets fired from her CatCo internship due to constantly leaving to do Supergirl stuff, after a dressing down from Cat Grant she flies over to the Daily Planet rooftop where she meets her cousin. Kara reminisces about Krypton (as shown in the snapshot above) and reveals (after Clark questions her) that she only became a reporter because Clark is one and she doesn't even like the job. After being reassured by Clark that she could never leave in his shadow and how they all have to find their own paths, she ends up attending a S.T.A.R Labs job fair with a much more optimistic attitude.
This story quite firmly establishes science as something that is hers, an activity which she enjoyed.
Pursuing a career in journalism is something, by contrast, that she both struggles with and finds frustrating.
That's what I found so appealing, I think. Kara being a scientist in this context means allowing herself to follow her own path rather than just seek to live up to the legacy set by Superman.
Furthermore, it can also help show the differences between the cousins and their upbringings.
Kara's Kryptonian roots
Both Superman and Supergirl are immigrant stories, but also quite different ones.
Superman is Clark Kent, even if he was born on Krypton as Kal-El and those roots are part of who is he is. Clark Kent is a Kansas farm boy, the man he is and the morals he lives are due to Ma and Pa Kent.
Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, even if she now lives on Earth as Kara Danvers/Linda Lee Danvers/Linda Lang (depending on the continunity). Kara Zor-El is generally 15 when arriving on Earth (I believe) and so spent those years growing up in Argo City (which escape Krypton's destruction) or on Krypton itself. Either way, she was raised in Kryptonian society and culture.
Source: Supergirl (1982) #17
I think it makes quite a bit of sense for Kara to remain attached to her roots even after years living on Earth, since that is the culture she grew up in, and it also because of how interesting it is to explore.
And while the nature of Krypton can vary across different continunities, a consistent aspect is that it is a scientifically advanced society which surpasses Earth in that regard. The House of El is also populated by scientists, with that being the standard career of the parents of both Clark and Kara.
Source: Batgirl (2009) #14
Kara was, in the New Earth continuity, even depicted as following the family business via joining the Science Guild.
(Also; gotta love Kara's smugness here.)
The best of both worlds
Clark Kent can be said to represent the best of humanity.
So I think it would fit for Kara Zor-El to represent the best of Krypton.
As I mentioned before, the portrayal of Krypton can very much vary. Often it is a flawed and stagnant society, although there are also versions which are imperialistic (such as in MAWS, although I personally was not the biggest fan of that, but I digress).
Source: Supergirl (1982) #18
To take another step back to pre-crisis Supergirl and her choice of headgear, I'd like to highlight these panels.
As shown earlier, she chose this particular red headband because it is a traditional piece of Kryptonian attire and so represents her continued ties to Krypton even while living on Earth. As shown here though, the headband is traditionally only worn by men and yet Kara decides to wear it anyway because of Earth gender equality concepts.
It creates an interesting mix of traditionalism and rebellion-ness. She is maintaining her Kryptonian roots, but doing so in a way which defies part of the tradition via incorporating an ideal she learned on Earth.
And so that is how I think Kara Zor-El could represent the best of Krypton.
She is the scientist, someone who represents Kryptonian's advanced society and values, but also lacks the stagnation, close-mindedness and dogma which is often shown contributing to the people's doom.
She becomes "The Woman of Tomorrow".
Some final thoughts
Another perspective of this which has crossed my mind is that giving Kara the background and ambitions of a scientist arguably could add another layer to the tragedy of her story. Of course, the loss of her home, family and people is the primary tragic event. But a Kara whose only wish was to do science, ending up on Earth where she no longer gains extreme powers but also a newfound legacy of heroism, means that Kara now has newfound expectations and even responsibility, even if she never wanted to be a fighter at all.
Kara had her entire life changed on a fundamental level when circumstances destroyed her home and sent her to Earth.
Her being a scientist can be seen as another way of her maintaining her ties to the advanced society she hails from, and reflect the way in which she was a product of that society even as she grows and explores new ways and ideas.
And I think this concept, both making Kara science-inclined and generally more focused on her Kryptonian roots, can be beneficial in exploring the immigrant aspect of her character in a way different to Clark.
On the Jon & Jon situation (Spoilers for Superman Unlimited #13)
So been a few weeks now since this came out, and I've already said this over on Reddit back then... but just figured I'd mention it here too.
While the situation and true nature of Young Jon remains ambiguous, and it is quite possible he is a clone, or construct, or illusion, or Earth 3 variant...
But the line about "That Jon Kent is far more broken than I ever was" is making me really hope that this storyline avoid the route of villainising Young Jon (whatever his true nature may be) for being "broken" or traumatised over his experiences.
I just feel like that would be a really unfortunate and uncomfortable direction to go. I am still waiting to see how this all develops, but this line did have me concerned.
And her death being the cause of the alternate almost-perfect timeline was… kinda maybe a bit much?
I get that it was less a case of “Vi dying made everything better” and more so a case of “Undercity child dying caused enough of a scandal to force Piltover to care about the Undercity” but still.
Vi’s life has been non-stop suffering. She has constantly tried and tried to save and protect those she loves and has time again failed horribly.
By the end of the series she lost her birth parents, her adoptive father, her adoptive brothers, her adoptive father (again), and finally her sister.
And even if Jinx possibly survived, it’s unlikely the sister swill reunite anyone soon and so Vi will have to live with assuming her sister is dead. Plus with the guilt of Jinx having died saving her because she couldn’t leave behind Vander. Plus it was Ekko who convinced Jinx to keep living.
So the whole alternate timeline where she dies and everyone is great just feels like kinda punch in the gut on top of the sheer level of suffering she endures despite her good intentions and desire to just protect those she cares for.
Arguably made kinda worse by how the living Vi of the main Arcane timeline doesn’t really contribute overly significantly to the final battle against the Noxians and Viktor?
It was Mel and Caitlyn who had the final fight with Ambessa. Ekko of course saved Everyoje with the Z-Drive when Viktor was on the cusps of victory. Jayce was able to convince Viktor to stop. Jinx’s aerial rescue with mini-gun also probably took out more Noxians than Vi.
Not to say Vi didn’t contribute at all, of course. She still definitely held her own and fought a good fight. But still feels kinda crappy to have the whole good alternate timeline with Vi dead and then not give main Vi bigger moments to succeed and make positive changes.
Anyway my feelings are still fresh so I’ll probably mull over them and reflect on the season more as time goes on. Did really like it overall I think though,
But still though; Vi really deserved so much better.
At least she and Caitlyn mended things and seem happy together at the end, and so together they can hopefully grow and heal.
This is just a thought I had (please excuse the low-quality meme I made to serve as an example)
So following her appearance in Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023), Maps not only was officially recognised as a Robin also learned the identity of Batman as being Bruce Wayne.
However, if I remember correctly, she never learned that Damian Wayne is Robin. And even though she might now know that Damian's father is Batman, that technically doesn't automatically mean Damian's Robin and also she might be too excited to put two and two together at first.
Meanwhile on Damian's part, he was uninvolved with the events which got Maps as a recognised Robin. Furthermore, there's like five hundred or so vigilantes in Gotham these days and at least half of them are/were Robin. So he might not keep track of every new vigilante that goes through the Batcave.
So the point of this train of thought, harkening back to the poor quality meme I made, is that I figured it could be amusing if Damian and Maps have a reunion due to both happening to be in the Batcave for Robin business at the same time and being like; "Wait, you?!"
Source: Batgirls (2022-2023) #11
Also could picture a similar meeting with Cass. As while Maps does know Cass is Batgirl, she does not not know Cass is connected to Bruce Wayne (as shown in the above image here, she doesn't know Cass' last name and Cass never gives one).
Since its been shown that Maps' mother gets her to attend fancy rich people parties at their house, imagine if Cass attends and is introduced as "Cassandra Wayne".
So this has been a neat detail / reoccurring skill which Maps has displayed in her post-Gotham Academy appearances.
Batman (2016-) #120
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023-) #12
Just thought these were pretty neat. Maps being shown to be adept at researching monsters quickly and being able to figure out what they are and even how to deal with them seems like a very fitting speciality for her which also helps her stand out a tad more amongst other holders of the Robin mantle.
Maps becoming some sort of monster hunter / occult detective seems like it would work great as a future direction for Maps, especially if she were to move on from Robin.
Hopefully this reoccurring skillset is a sign of things to come.
(Semi-related; but I kinda feel at least some of my complaints about Meridian would have been lessened had her time travel been magic-based rather than tech-based, but I digress and also don't want this post to turn into another "Prof Uber complains about Meridian.)
Tbh somewhat tempted to write a fanfic based on this developing concept of monster hunter / occult detective Maps. Perhaps teaming up with an Olive who has managed to gain control over her powers? Hm...
Maybe.
If I have the time/energy.
Regardless though, just thought these were some neat details worth sharing.
