Jonathan Kent: Dead again at 69
Thursday, October 9th, 2008Superman’s Dad, Jonathan Kent died of heart failure Wednesday in the pages of Action Comics #870, 69 years after he was introduced. Jonathan died shortly after saving Martha, his beloved wife from a missile fired at their home after Superman defeated Brainiac. Death may be no stranger to the world of Comic Books, but it is also far from the final end it is in reality. Counting various media (he also died of a heart attack in the 1987 Superman movie and the Smallville TV series), this is actually at least 3rd heart attack death of Pa Kent. He has died before in the comics too, only to be resurrected as the entire reality of the DCU was rewritten in the 80’s Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Martha and Jonathan Kent were first introduced in June 1939’s Superman #1, published approximately 1 year after Superman’s debut in Action Comics #1. They were a major part of the Superboy stories that followed the tales of the original Boy of Steel as he learned how to be the hero he was born to be.
This is not even the first time Pa Kent has died in a DC comic book. In the original telling of the Superman mythos, both Ma and Pa Kent contracted a rare tropical disease from handling a pirates treasure, both dieing before Clark left Smallville for college in Metropolis. The Kents returned to DC continuity in Man of Steel, a 6 issue retelling of Superman’s origin by writer/author John Byrne that explained Superman’s post-crisis continuity.
It was the humanity taught by his loving adopted parents that shaped a powerful force into a paragon of goodness. Without Jonathan and Martha Kent, Superman would NOT be the Big Blue Boy Scout we’ve all come to know and love.
Farewell Jonathan, for a fictional character, you were an inspiration in my youth, a shining example of the America of yesteryear and a wonderful parent. You will be sorely missed.
Comic book resurrections aside, barring another future reality reboot or an epic journey into the afterlife, Superman will most likely remain fatherless for the foreseeable future.
In other news that same issue also sees the return of the bottle city of Kandor, sans bottle. After defeating Brainiac, Superman first rushed Metropolis back into place and then took Kandor to near his fortress of solitude before its containment field failed. I look forward to the aftermath of 100,000 new Kryptonians.
At the very least we’ll see what Kryptonians were were NOT raised by kindly elderly Kansas farmers turn out like.
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