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Bisexual Superman Series Sees Record Print Run

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Superman: Son of Kal-El the comic book series that features Jonathan Kent, the son of the original Superman Clark Kent/Kal-El and Lois Lane, who recently came out as bisexual, is a bestseller and seeing record printings.

The Spectator said of the series: I’m enormously looking forward to seeing a bisexual, or better still, a gay Superman in the cinema. It’s exactly what Hollywood needs, hamstrung as it has been since the turn of the century by grinding political correctness and, as a result, capable seemingly only of churning out a never-ending succession of stultifying duds for fear of causing anyone anywhere offence, contrived or otherwise.

 

Yes, bisexual Superman is not the Superman of old. Rather, he’s his son. But the genre is about nothing if not taking cultural stereotypes to their limit.

If LGBT Superman is to carve out his own cultural space, which is presumably exactly what the blue-haired folk at DC Comics who have created him would like him to do, then there is no point in him occupying the same characteristics as his father. A new stereotype is required, and a new paradigm – one surely that has fun through exaggeration with society’s perceptions of bisexuality and homosexuality. When he arrives on the silver screen, will the new Superman be camp, for example? Or waspish? Or disarmingly effete? Too dull, surely, to make him just a quietly determined, well dressed graphic designer capable of flight.

I asked a thoughtful gay friend what superpower he would most like this latest Superman to have. ‘Truthful answer’, came the immediate response, ‘the ability to sniff out whether a straight man is open to a gay experience.’

He also offered an alternative that he considered more woke, if less truthful. ‘The ability to manipulate the emotional literacy of adversaries, for example by provoking a state of tolerance.’ Both options would surely would presage a brilliant new direction for this most beloved of the superhero franchises.

Depressingly, the early signs are bi Superman is not quite as fun as he might be. He’s been featured in comics hanging out with activists and rescuing migrants. But he’s still young and idealistic. The possibilities are boundless.

The suspicion lingers that they’ve given Superman gay tendencies simply because they can, and they know how to cause a row on social media and generate new interest in an old superhero. In DC comics’ defence, however, the job of popular culture is not just endlessly to reflect back at us our own worldview, but also to drive progress by challenging us entertainingly.

Superman fans have debated endlessly over many years under what circumstances he would break his famous ‘no kill’ rule, if the killing served a greater good. Now we have far more difficult questions to ponder. A Superman who goes to bed with other men puts to death a billion childhood certainties by making us consider anew what really goes on in those tights.

Your dad might not have liked it, but what exactly is he going to do about it?

 

Bleeding Cool: And that’s what happens when you say that Jonathan Kent, Superman and Lois Lane’s son, is a bisexual young man. Bleeding Cool previously reported that Superman: Son Of Kal-El #5 had gone to a second printing even before the first printing had been… printed. Good trick. But now all issues of the series so far by Tom Taylor, John Timms, and Gabe Eltaeb have gone to another printing. A third printing with a 1:50 tiered cover for  Superman: Son Of Kal-El #1, and second printings for Superman: Son Of Kal-El #2, #3, and #4. We don’t know what they will look like, but here’s the cover to Superman: Son Of Kal-El #1 second printing published last month.

  • SUPERMAN SON OF KAL EL #1 3RD PTG
    DC COMICS
    AUG219227
    (W) Tom Taylor (A) John Timms
    Jonathan Kent has experienced a lot in his young life. He’s traveled the galaxies with his Kryptonian grandfather and lived in the future with the Legion of Super-Heroes, who were intent on training him for the day his father, Clark Kent, could no longer be Superman. There is a hole in the Legion’s history that prevents Jon from knowing exactly when that will happen, but all signs point to it being very soon. It’s time for the son to wear the cape of his father and bear the symbol of hope that has told the world who Superman really is. Join writer Tom Taylor (Nightwing, DCeased) and artist John Timms (Infinite Frontier) as they usher in a whole new era for the House of El! In Shops: Nov 24, 2021 Final Orders Due: Oct 31, 2021 SRP: $3.99
  • SUPERMAN SON OF KAL EL #1 3RD PTG 1:50 VAR
    DC COMICS
    AUG219228
  • SUPERMAN SON OF KAL EL #2 2ND PTG
    DC COMICS
    AUG219229
    (W) Tom Taylor (A) John Timms
    Jonathan Kent now dons his father’s cape, but can he be Superman and still have a normal life? It’s tough in this modern world. Danger is everywhere. The new Superman learns this the hard way on his first day of college, and a deadly attack forces Jon to step from the shadows and into the spotlight-where his identity is exposed to the Truth, an activist news machine ready to upset everything. But first, the son still has some things to learn from his father-and a few cool toys to inherit. Ask yourself, what would you do with your very own Fortress of Solitude? This all-new chapter in the legacy of Man of Steel has only just begun to reveal its surprises!In Shops: Nov 24, 2021
    Final Orders Due: Oct 31, 2021
    SRP: $3.99
  • SUPERMAN SON OF KAL-EL #3 2ND PTG
    DC COMICS
    AUG219230
    (W) Tom Taylor (A) John Timms
    Jonathan Kent hasn’t been Superman for long, but he’s upset some powerful people with his heroism. And the underground news source known as the Truth is helping Jon open his eyes to evils in the world that could be more powerful than the new Man of Steel. Continuing the brand-new saga of Superman from Tom Taylor, the writer of Nightwing, and John Timms, artist on Future State: Superman of Metropolis.In Shops: Nov 24, 2021 Final Orders Due: Oct 31, 2021 SRP: $3.99
  • SUPERMAN SON OF KAL EL #4 2ND PTG
    DC COMICS
    AUG219231
    (W) Tom Taylor (A) John Timms
    Kal-El has left, and the weight of the world now rests on his son’s shoulders. Powerful forces have been threatened by Jon Kent’s first leaps in his father’s boots. It’s hard to hurt a man of steel, but his loved ones make a much easier target. Jon’s world is about to come crashing down.In Shops: Nov 24, 2021
    Final Orders Due: Oct 31, 2021 SRP: $3.99

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