DC Comics announced at New York Comic Con that Superman: Son of Kal-El will end in December with its 18th issue. The series only lasted a year and a half after being mired with controversy as writer Tom Taylor used the comic to push extreme left-wing political stories on several occasions.
Although the series is best known for turning the new Superman(Jon Kent) gay, Taylor also pushed storylines where the woke hero fought against “climate change” , “rescued undocumented migrants,” and even wore a facial mask to virtue signal over COVID-19 protocols.
Online response to Taylor’s run has been rife with criticism. Gabe Eltaeb, a former Superman: Son of Kal-El colorist who parted ways with DC Comics in protest of the publisher’s current political agenda, took to social media to address the cancelation of Taylor’s woke Superman run.
“1 year ago, I stood on principle and left @DCComics for their U.S. hating book by SJW narcissist Tom Taylor. I win,” wrote Eltaeb.
Eltaeb has since moved onto working on books like Eric July’s Isom #1, which made more than $3.7 million in sales. He is also the colorist on Alegiance Arts’Bass Reeves; a historical western story about a real U.S. Marshal who inspired the character of The Lone Ranger.
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While the ending of the series is a bellwether for how poorly sales appear to be going for the Superman: Son of Kal-El book, DC Comics, unfortunately, has not learned their lesson in forcing politics into the Superman line.
As announced this past weekend, DC Comics also revealed that Tom Taylor will be returning in Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent — which is expected to start in January of 2023.
The publisher remains committed to pushing their LGBTQ version of Superman in spite of poor sales that would’ve suggested otherwise. With the announcement of a reboot, it appears as if DC Comics is attempting to use speculators to force a sales bump with the all-new #1 issue.
While such marketing gimmicks have worked in the past, usually title reboots are done when there are changes in the creative team or the character. With Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent, it appears the editorial doesn’t want to admit the book’s abysmal sales in hopes they can make it continue through gimmicky, artificial sales tactics.
Adventures of Superman is only being billed as a six-issue miniseries, so it is plausible the publisher may be trying to give Tom Taylor one last shot before shelving the character. Still, opting to relabel the arc as a new miniseries — this far into a run, no less — is a strange move for DC.