I Read Bendis So You Don't Have To: The Famed Jon Kent Age Up
Hi! I'm Milas. I've read more Bendis Superman than is probably healthy.
No matter if you liked the age up or not, most fans are in agreement: this run was bad. Pretty dang bad. And I agree- this run is often hard to parse through all the... er, bendisisms, and often mangles what little themes it has through poor storytelling and lackluster use of page real estate. However, I unfortunately have become an expert on this particular story due to how many times I reference it in analysis, and I do not wish my suffering upon anyone else. So, to spare us all from said suffering while writing meta, I encourage Jon fans, from whichever corner of his fandom you come from, to use and link to this series as shorthand if you so need to.
This installment will be going, objectively as possible, beat by beat through the actual events of the famed 2019 Jon Kent age up.
Issues covered are Superman (2018) issues 7-10, as well as briefly covering the events of Super-Sons of Tomorrow (all issues) and The Man of Steel (issue 6).
Before we can get to the actual mainline Superman run where this event occurred, we should real quick go through the events leading up to this.
In Super-Sons of Tomorrow, Jon is confronted by Savior, an evil version of Tim Drake from a future where Jon accidentally causes a massive loss of civilian life via an explosion of his powers. Savior is travelling from back in time to try and prevent this from occurring by killing Jon, therefore stopping the catastrophe. This causes infighting amongst the Teen Titans, even more fighting with people from this alternate future timeline, and concludes with a vote being held to decide if Jon is welcome amongst the Teen Titans. The vote decides no, Jon will not be admitted onto the team.
Though the Teen Titans tell Jon that this is because the events of the book gave them a lot to think about and work out, this is not what Jon takes away from it.
In Man of Steel, Jor-El shows up and invites Jon out to space with him. This is meant to be a journey where Jon will be able to learn things that Clark has "neglected" to teach him, as well as connecting with his Kryptonian heritage.
Clark and Lois are vehemently against this at first. Clark, especially, does not change his mind on this being a bad idea, even after Jon leaves.
However, the reason Jon goes is because, in his own words, he feels like there is something wrong with him.
This is a feeling, that, in text, Jon feels specifically sparked on by the events of Super Sons of Tomorrow. Feeling lost, and like he needs to explore himself, Jon (and Lois, who does not want to leave her son unattended, and intends to write a book about the experience) join Jor El in space.
(I highly do recommend you all read Man of Steel, because it's about as close as Bendis gets to writing genuinely well in this whole collection of books, and I can only screencap so much of the sheer amount of discussion that happens between the three Kents about Jon going on spacecation. Trust me, they didn't just shoo Jon off! They talked about it for what in comic time was AGES.)
This is where we get to issue 7 of Superman, where Jon returns from his vacation... as a seventeen year old.
As Jon himself says, he didn't get aged up magically- He lived those years. So, what actually did happen to him while he was out there? What happened during those six-to-seven years (depending on who you ask)?
First: What happens to make Lois leave?
The House of El suit Clark lends her to keep her safe makes her a target, a target that puts her in active danger (in exact opposition to what Clark intended), and so for her own safety she departs.
Leaving Jon alone with his grandfather.
Who, as Jon says, has gone completely insane.
The nature of Jor El's insanity is revealed in the next issue, issue eight, as we reach what I and friends call the Jor El Nihilism Speech:
Jon follows Jor El's line of thinking for most of the conversation- He understands what it feels like to not belong in the story, because that fear of being somehow wrong was what brought him out here in the first place. Jor El, Jon Kent, both men outside of time, outside of belonging. Neither should exist.
But Jor El takes it to a conclusion Jon doesn't accept: That it's a hopeless existence.
This makes Jon want to go home. Concluding Jor El has utterly lost it, he decides he needs to make a break for it somehow. Because of how far from Earth they are, he can't just fly off, so he attempts to get some help from some Green Lanterns:
It doesn't go well. At this point, Jor El stops speaking to Jon for awhile, and they spend... an indeterminate amount of time fighting through the galaxy, trying to solve people's problems. While not talking to each other. At all.
But when Jor El finally does try and talk to Jon....
Well. Here's the part you're probably reading this post for:
Yay! Its volcano time!
An unexpected black hole throws Jon (and Jor, but we'll get to him later) through dimensions, landing him on Earth-3. At the feet of the Crime Syndicate.
If you're going to read ANY issue for yourself, I recommend it to be this one. The Ultraman stuff is not only perpetually relevant to Jon's story, its LIKELY going to be relevant again when Absolute Power: Super Son releases.
Ultraman is the one member of the Syndicate who claims Jon as 'his':
And proceeds to imprison Jon in a volcano. As I am sure all of you know by now. The Volcano.
Ultraman and Jon trade some conversation back and forth, establish who each of them are, before Ultraman tells Jon he is never going home, and that this is home now:
It becomes quickly apparent that due to the lack of sun, Jon has no protection, no way of escape. He tries to fly out, but no dice:
And so stuck he is. For multiple years. With nothing but pigs to feed on, stuck with a monster who intends to 'train' him to his full potential:
But eventually, Jon escapes. He takes a rock, bangs a hole in the side of the Volcano, and gets himself out, relying on what little he has left of his invulnerability.
Now is a good time to mention a small misconception I see peddled around a lot: There is actually significant evidence pointing to the idea that Jon did NOT spend all six years in the volcano. After wandering Earth 3 for an indeterminate awhile, going from city to city and stopping to help people along the way, there is a strong suggestion by the way Bendis frames it that this was also years. I'd personally estimate Jon's time on Earth 3 was about half and half- Three ish years of the volcano, three ish years of surviving out in the wild.
Anyways, Jon finds his way to the Syndicate's headquarters, encountering an evil version of Lois who tries to attack him.
But surprise! Onto issue 9, we finally get to Jon's rescue!
Jor El was also displaced in the multiverse, of course- But we have no idea for how long, where, and what he did during this time. All we know is this: Jon wasn't just thrown across space and time, he was thrown backwards.
I think this is where the source of the most misconceptions come from: Its complicated to grasp! But very simply, the reason why Jon was able to live six years while everyone else stayed the same age was because he wasn't just thrown TO Earth-3, he was thrown backwards as well.
Here's a chart I made about a year ago to try and visualize it:
If you're wondering how Jor El found him... we actually don't know. All we know is Jor El apparently made some fucked up arrangements in order to accomplish it.
And that kind of brings us back to the beginning, where Clark and Jon reunite. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, namely how Jor El managed to get Jon back in the first place, but this is essentially the rundown of the age up. So to recap very quickly:
1. No, Jon was not magically aged up. He lived those years. Its spacetime travel, not just space travel. He is mentally 17-18.
2. No, Clois didn't just 'let him go' with no conflict. It was actually a huge argument that ended up also really mentally fucking with Clark in later arcs. He goes to therapy with Khalid Nassour about it!
3. Jor El has a lot more to do with all this than he reasonably should. I could explain why he's alive but it would give us both an aneurysm- Just know in this story, he kind of serves as a foil to Jon.
Now, why did Bendis write the age up? Here's a post by a friend that gets into the metatextual reasons why this was a thing.
Jon Kent's obsession with fulfilling his father's expectations are a consequence of the volcano event.
I think there's a reason why Jon is so obsessed lately with making his dad proud and living up to the symbol being Superman represents, and it's all another consequence of his trauma by the volcano events.
As soon as Jon was trapped in the volcano, Ultraman stated his relationship with E0 Clark, identified Jon as his son, and started rambling about Jon being there for a reason, a purpose. He then told Jon about his dad having this adventures that turned him into the hero he is now, how Clark was sent to "another place" to "reach his true potential", and how Jon's presence there then must have meant that was the experience Jon needed to unlock his true potential. Some kind of destined path to follow for Jon to be able to become the hero he wants to be.
As we can see, Ultraman compares the volcano event to this adventure Clark had when he was younger, that helped him become the hero he is today. He mentions Clark in different occasions, even addressing the fact that he looks and sounds like him while torturing Jon.
Having said that, my hypothesis is that Jon's obsession with filling his dad's shoes, with making him proud, with showing himself worthy of the mantle of Superman is the need of feeling like all his trauma and suffering had a purpose. To feel all he went through was worth something. Because if he doesn't... If he doesn't make his dad proud; if he doesn't prove to everyone he's worthy; if he doesn't show himself mature and powerful, then it means all those years he lost, those years he was tortured, isolated and abandoned, were for nothing. All that pain meant nothing.
