DC Comics is canceling Superman: Son of Kal-El, a book series it launched last year about a bisexual Superman, amid poor sales.
The series’ 18th issue, due out in December, will be its final installment, the publisher announced at New York Comic Con, according to reports.
The series saw a 17-year-old Jonathan Kent, the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, take on a number of social issues including climate change, school shootings, and the rescue of “undocumented migrants.” The series even featured face coverings in an effort to help mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in fiction.
The teen hero of the series begins a relationship with a male friend named Jay Nakamura in the fifth issue. The series’ author, Tom Taylor, told the New York Times last October that Kent would be bisexual, saying, ‘The idea of replacing Clark Kent with another straight white savior felt like a missed opportunity.”
The first issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El was only the 17th best-selling comic in the month it was released, July 2021. It sold 68,800 copies, while the 110th issue of Batman sold 125,000 for fourth place.
The fourth issue of the series sold just 37,500 copies, earning it an abysmal 55th place in October 2021 sales.
While the series is slated to end, the Jon Kent character will live on in a new series, Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent. The six-issue miniseries, which will also be authored by Taylor, is expected to start in January 2023.
A DC spokesman denied that series had been canceled in a comment provided to National Review.
“The Superman: Son of Kal-El series was not canceled. Historically, there have been multiple titles that feature Superman, including Action Comics, Superman and Adventure Comics. It was always our plan to have Clark Kent return to the main Superman title and Jon Kent’s story is continuing in Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent,” the spokesman said.
Reporting from National Review.
