The Super-Sons are a pair of fictional characters appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. The characters were created by Bob Haney and Dick Dillin and first appeared in '' World's Finest Comics'' #215 (January 1973). The characters were featured in stories about the sons of

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

and

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. In 2017, DC Comics launched a ''Super Sons'' monthly comic book series featuring new versions of the characters, going by the names

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

( Jonathan Kent, the son of Superman and

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning ...

), and Robin (

Damian Wayne Damian Thomas Wayne is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. He was created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. Damian Wayne is the biological son of Bruce Wayne/Batman. His mo ...

, the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul).

Publication history

The Super-Sons first appeared together in '' World's Finest Comics'' #154 (December 1965). Batman's imaginary son was seen first in ''Batman'' #131 (April 1960), ''Batman'' #145 (February 1962) and ''Batman'' #163 (May 1964). The Super-Sons, Superman Jr. (Clark Kent Jr.) and Batman Jr. (Bruce Wayne Jr.), were college-aged versions of their

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

fathers. Their mothers are never referred to by name, nor are their faces ever shown. The Super-Sons look almost exactly like their fathers and wear identical costumes. The characters spoke with a slightly exaggerated version of the slang popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They regard each other as brothers since both understand the pressures involved in being the son of a living legend. Like his father, Batman Jr. has no superhuman powers and relies on athletic prowess and gadgets. Superman Jr., who is only half- Kryptonian, has power levels of only half that of his father. Although the very first Super-Sons appearance stated that these were actual stories in the lives of Superman and Batman, the final story in ''World's Finest'' #263, "Final Secret of the Super-Sons", written by Dennis O'Neil, revealed that the Sons were computer simulations and never existed. They later inspired the characters Joel Kent and Bruce Wayne Jr. in the three '' Superman & Batman: Generations'' comic book series. A Super-Sons story by Bob Haney was published in the comic special '' Elseworlds 80-Page Giant'' (1999). In "

Elseworlds Elseworlds is the publication imprint (trade name), imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that take place outside the DC Universe Canon (fictional), canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realities that ...

" tales, "heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places – some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist". Eventually, the Super-Sons reality would be named Earth-216 and designated a

Hypertime Hypertime is a fictional concept in DC Comics which first appeared in the 1999 '' The Kingdom'' limited series. It is a variation of the Multiverse concept that existed in DC Comics before 1985's ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' limited series and wa ...

reality unaffected by the

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

. The Earth-154 variant of the Super-Sons (and their fathers) appear briefly during the ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'' limited series, during which time Alexander Luthor Jr. of

Earth-Three Earth-Three, or simply Earth-3 or Earth 3, is a “partially-reversed” Earth, where supervillainous counterparts of the mainstream DC superheroes reside. It first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #29 (August 1964), and the concept has ...

warps reality in an attempt to restore the

multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...

. Their planet and countless other Earths later contract into a single "New Earth". In the limited series '' 52'', it is revealed that 52 identical parallel universes were created. During his attempt to consume the multiverse,

Mister Mind Mister Mind is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel. Created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics, the character made a cameo appea ...

alters each of the parallel worlds, creating distinct histories for each. According to ''DC Nation'' #89, one of these worlds is Earth-16, home of the Super-Sons. In September 2011, ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the Super-Sons ( Chris Kent as Superman and

as Batman) reside on Earth-16 as members of the Just—the sons and daughters of the classic JLA who have inherited a crimeless, utopian universe and so live as idle celebrities.

Publication history

Collected edition

In December 2007, DC Comics published a trade paperback collection of the series entitled ''Superman/Batman: Saga of the Super Sons''. It collects the stories from: ''World's Finest Comics'' #215–216, 221–222, 224, 228, 230, 231, 233, 238, 242, and 263 and ''Elseworlds 80-Page Giant'' #1. The story in ''World's Finest Comics'' #263 is written by Dennis O'Neil, all the others by Bob Haney.

Super Sons (2017)

DC Comics presented a new version of the Super Sons in 2017. The two central characters are

, son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, and Jonathan Kent, son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Damian is 13 years old, while Jonathan is initially 10 years old. The advance releases describe them as "best frenemies forever" who will save the world together "if they don't kill each other first". The series was launched in February 2017 and ended in May 2018 with 16 issues and one Annual. ''Adventures of the Super Sons'', a 12-issue miniseries serves as a continuation of the ''Super Sons'' series, with Peter Tomasi as the writer and art by Carlo Barberi and Art Thibert. The first issue was released in August 2018, while the final issue was released in July 2019. DC Comics released a digital-first series, ''Challenge of the Super Sons'', from December 2020 to April 2021. They were also featured in four one-shot stories: ''Superman & Robin Special'' (2022), "Back to School" (''DC's Saved by Belle Reve'' anthology) (2022), "Trick or Treat" (''DC's Terrors Through Time'' anthology) (2022), and ''Flash'' #797 (2023). Damian and Jon appear as adults in Tom King's ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' (2023), in a series of back up stories that take place many years in the future. Superman (2018) issue #16 features the reunion of the Super Sons. This issue marks their first meeting since Jon spent five years on

and aged into a teenager, significantly altering their dynamic. ''Superman'' #16 is later collected in the trade paperback Superman Vol. 3: The Truth Revealed.

Bizarro Bizarro () is a supervillain or anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in ''Superboy (comic bo ...

versions of the Super Sons named Robzarro and Boyzarro, collectively known as the Bizarro Boyz, appear in the four-part story "Boyzarro Re-Death". Both the team name and character names were influenced by fans on social media. Another alternate version appeared in the '' DCeased'' comic book series, in a world where a corrupted version of the

Anti-Life Equation The Anti-Life Equation is a fictional concept appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Various comics have defined the equation in different ways, but a common interpretation is that the equation may be seen as a mathematical proof ...

has infected most of Earth's inhabitants with a zombie-like virus. ''Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent'' also featured a version of the Super Sons, where Prime Earth's Jon Kent teamed up with Damian Wayne from the world of ''

Injustice Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situation, or to a larger status quo. In Western philosophy and jurisprudence, injustice is very commonly—but ...

''.

Collected editions

Graphic novel

The Super Sons, Jon Kent and Damian "Ian" Wayne, are featured in a three-part graphic novel series by author

Ridley Pearson Ridley Pearson (born March 13, 1953, in Glen Cove, New York) is an American author of suspense, thriller and adventure books. Several of his books have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Literary career Pearson became the fir ...

and artist Ile Gonzalez. The first book, ''Super Sons: The Polarshield Project'' was released in April 2019. Book two, ''Super Sons: The Foxglove Mission'' was released in November 2019. The third book ''Super Sons: Escape to Landis'' was released in October 2020.

In other media

* A reimagining of the "Super Sons" appears in the television series '' Superman & Lois'', in which Lois and Clark's teenage sons, Jonathan Kent and Jordan Kent, are played by Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin. * '' Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons'' (2022) is a CG-animated film starring Jack Dylan Grazer as Jonathan Kent and Jack Griffo as

, who join forces to save the planet by becoming the Super Sons that they were destined to be. Part of the

DC Universe Animated Original Movies The DC Universe Animated Original Movies (DCUAOM; also known as DC Universe Original Movies or DC Universe Movies or DC Animated Movies) are a series of American direct-to-video superhero animated films based on DC Comics characters and stories. ...

, it was released by Warner Bros. Animation in October 2022.

References

External links

Operation Super-Sons

on Obscure Characters in the DC Universe
''Detective Comics'' #231
on GCD
''Detective Comics'' #231 synopsis
on DC Indexes * * Super-Sons entry at DC Comics Database, a

Wikia Fandom (formerly known as Wikicities and Wikia) is a wiki hosting service that hosts wikis mainly on entertainment topics (i.e., video games, TV series, movies, entertainers, etc.). The Privately held company, privately held for-profit Delaware ...

database on DC characters. {{Batman Batman characters Batman spinoff titles Characters created by Dick Dillin Characters created by Bob Haney Comics adapted into animated films Comics by Peter J. Tomasi Comics characters introduced in 1973 DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics superhero teams Elseworlds titles Superhero duos Superman characters Superman spinoff titles Team-up comics Teenage superheroes