Why Son of Kal-El and I Am Batman Survived Past Wonder Girl
Why Did The Most Popular Future State Legacy Character Get The Short Stick?
In reaction to my post on Joelle Jones’ Wonder Girl, I forgot to talk about the other legacy heroes of DC Trinity. While also going over the market power of Superman and Batman compared to Wonder Woman.
Along with Yara Flor, this campaign focusing on legacy heroes coming into their own had two other characters. One of course is Superman’s aged up son Jon Kent. The other is Jace Fox as the Batman of New York, a development that most people either forgot about or ignore. Long after Yara Flor’s series was cancelled these series continued with Jon getting a followup series. But I Am Batman… I don’t even know what the plan is with it.
Which calls into question why. Unlike Yara, neither of these two are the focus of a licensing deal. Truth is, it revolves around the marketability of Batman and Superman.
Did Anyone Want A New Superman and Batman?
Despite the headline, nobody was asking for a new Wonder Woman either. But these two were dealing with a bit of baggage.
Jon aging into a young adult was a badly received move by Superman writer Brian Michael Bendis. To oversimplify, the collectors saw Jon being a new Superman as acknowledging a status quo nobody wanted. Especially since Jon’s character didn’t have time to develop from a preteen into a late teen.
As for Jace Fox, this was a recycled idea of having his brother Luke Fox be Batman. But somebody thought it would be better to have a blanker slate like formerly known as Tim Fox. Only problem is, this decision was tied with baggage of its own; a retcon that damages the character of longstanding Batman ally Lucius Fox.
Compared to these two, Yara had plans and stood out with a sense of uniqueness. Nobody really knew what to do Jon before Tom Taylor’s run. As for Jace, DC had plans to monetize their cash cow franchise as much as possible.
Wonder Woman Wage Gap
In licensing fees and global retail, Batman easily makes the most profits. A feat that is naturally reflected in the amount of Batman comic titles that are published in a year. It’s not uncommon to see a mini-series or even a one-shot featuring the Dark Knight, especially if it means more licensing buyers. Superman meanwhile is no slouch with the Superman and Lois TV show helping to renew interest in casual fans. Along with their spin-offs and numerous license earnings, they remain familiar icons to throw money at.
But while Wonder Woman remains an influential character with a rich history and cast of her own, in terms of profit it’s not much. Not when executives can invest their money in nostalgic blockbuster successes. On the comics’ publishing side there are no strategies to spread Wonder Woman’s brand around. Just telling the same old stories on repeat.
Were Jon and Jace That Bad?
Despite what some people might say, neither Superman: Son of Kal-El or I Am Batman were bad or worse boring. Disclaimer: I’m a Tom Taylor fan so I’m going to be a little biased.
While Jon’s Future State story struggled to have a direction, Son of Kal-El is a different story. Jon Kent’s story was actually structurally sound in terms of writing, characters, conflicts, plots, just about everything in writing. …Well almost. I’m not really a fan of Jon hooking up with Jay Nakamura his helper against the villain Bendix. (Watch it triggers!) Besides I can’t help but feel like this was an executive design rather than a creative decision.
Don’t at me! I’d bet that Taylor would’ve preferred working on the Aerie and Wink as his go-to queer couple if he had the choice! He had them appear in his DCeased franchise before they appeared in Superman for pity’s sake! I’d prefer it…
Besides some of the other controversies come from the marketing. Social issue conscious covers that didn’t even play a major part in the issue it advertised and of course prematurely releasing new issue printings with pride logos.
I Am (Just Another) Batman
As for I Am Batman and its related material, I think it’s only going on because it’s a Batman title. Why? The introduction of The Next Batman: Second Son and Future State: The Next Batman are slow… especially when it comes to the Fox Family. Things happen for the plot’s sake and there’s barely any character other than these long-time allies of Batman are showing villainous fangs. And for something that’s supposed to be about Jace, readers had to wait until I Am Batman to learn anything about him.
What do readers learn about this black sheep of the Fox family? He wants to hold his father accountable for covering up a manslaughter Jace caused as a teenager by going out as Batman. How or why? No clue. He was really just chasing down any rich criminals who tried to hide from consequences with their money. Does he have anything other than that going for him? Not really. In these first issues, he’s just a guy with daddy issues and could’ve been any other Bat Family member. Heck the villain of the story Seer was moved to Batgirls.
DC had to take him out of Gotham and into New York to make anything unique about Jace. It allowed a focus on family dynamics and what Jace wants out of being Batman. To be a better example and help out the underprivileged who are taken advantage of. All while coming into how much of a burden the Batman mantle is. Although some of the dialogue like Lucius saying the word “represent” and the end of the first trade felt hollow.
Even worse people started to lose interest in the series. Partly because it ended up being just another generic Batman story and poorer marketing.
When you’re sharing space with THE Batman, you really have to stand out when sharing the same name. But since media insisted on just using Batman, curious readers were disappointed that this wasn’t the still active Bruce Wayne. A few more of them probably even felt like they’ve been tricked. This series still has its devout fans but it’s not making any bestselling lists.
The only reason it’s still running is because it’s a Batman title.
The Privilege of Icons
So there you have it, Jon had more marketing for better (like other comics and animated appearances) or worse while Jace had the Bat family trust fund. But to Superman: Son of Kal-El’s credit, it actually had a plan and was made to be a character story. I Am Batman on the other hand had no plans and is written more like a plot-driven novel. What really drives these series are the security of brand familiarity.
Unlike Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl which just try to make the most money out of huge uneven bets. Makes me wonder if that’s happening with Nubia.
Anyway thanks for indulging in this with me. Hopefully something better can come out of this mess.