Superman Blog

Superman #709 Review

Superman #709

I have to say that I’m enjoying the Grounded storyline these last two issues, but less because of Superman walking the earth, and more because of the details that Roberson is adding that make the read something that has been lacking from Superman for some time.  Last issue it was science fiction, this issue we get more sci-fi, a Flash vs Superman race, plus the return of Saganowhana (Super-Chief)!  Read on if you would know more.

The legacy connection continues with the hint that Saganowhana’s Manitou stone may be Kryptonian in origin, even though Superman doubts it, but seeing the shield on Saganowhana’s jacket and the reference to Man-of-Bats, is Roberson’s drawing the parallel of the World’sFinest Team, and actually making me want to see it, like he did with Crisis in Inifinite Eras.  Superman gets to interact with the Flash in a contrived, though still plausible manner, and they spend an hour talking at super-speed, so only actual seconds speed by.  When the Flash leaves, the storyline hasn’t been advanced an iota, but it was still fun read.

Roberson engages the Flash vs Superman speed question in an entertaining manner.  Superman can catch, and possibly beat the Flash in a race, but he’ll have to work for it.  The Flash is living at the speed of light, while Superman lives like a regular lad, until he dials up.  That’s an interesting and fair way to look at it, if you can stand seeing Superman hunched over and winded from chasing down the Flash.  The conversation they have while the waitress falls is classic, and what’s more, it brings sci-fi back to Superman.  These guys can exist at a speed where time seems to stand still, perceive events at attoseconds, it’s Silver Age goodness and its fun.

The trouble is that the story goes nowhere.  This issue would have been great inside of an 80-Page giant or annual, but for value, for those of us who have to decide what to buy and what not to, it just doesn’t provide any conduit towards closure.  The art is great, the colours, bright and inviting, heck, I even like the thought bubbles, but the story goes on, without any idea of where its going.  Hopefully Superman will end up in New York City before this is over and do something worthwhile, like walk up the Empire State Building.

Smallville “Icarus” Review

Even as the world grows darker around them, with the population becoming more and more hostile towards Vigilantes thanks to Darkseid’s influence, Clark proposes to Lois.  But the happy times don’t last long, as Oliver is attacked in the street by angry citizens, and Lois and Tess are interrogated by the Government, lead by a resurrected General Slade, who’s determined to either own Clark or destroy him.

Clark finally proposes to Lois, and everything is right with the world.  The fact that this all happens in the first few minutes pretty much telegraphs that things can only go downhill from here.  The proposal itself was nice, very romantic and lovey-dovey.  One thing I liked was that there was an adequate amount of build up to it.  It didn’t come out of left field, and like Oliver said, we all saw this coming.  So much emphasis has been placed on Lois and Clark this half-season, it was great to finally see them going for it, instead of dragging it out until the finale.

However, the rest of the episode suffers from the same problems that plagued “Supergirl” and “Patriot.”  It feels like they are trying to do too much, and are not hitting all the notes they should on some of these important storylines.

I’m not sure why the writers are so obsessed with their Vigilante Registration Act storyline.  It’s not that great or original a plot, especially since Marvel already did it a few years ago and called it “Civil War,” even down to having one hero, Human Torch, beaten up in the street by an angry mob just like Oliver was here.  Personally, I don’t enjoy watching stories about Governments abusing their power, because frankly that type of thing is all too possible in real life.

And they are not exactly subtle in dealing with the topic, either.  My favorite example is probably Cat Grant, who just blindly follows everything the Government says, right down to saying “Why are you all complaining about the security, they’re here to protect you,” in the most obnoxious way possible (hint, hint Air Line security issues).  Only to have her flip-flop later after a quick pep talk from Lois.  “You’re asking me to question everything I’ve ever believed in…”

I wish they would get off this kick, and get back to dealing with Darkseid directly, or maybe even spend more than one episode this season dealing with Clark’s transformation into Superman.  This felt like a repeat of last year, at least the first half, where Clark’s only contribution to the story was to woo Lois.  Yes, Lois is important to Clark’s future.  But she is definitely not the only thing that should be on his mind.

I’m still trying to figure out why Clark shut down Watchtower.  When people are coming after you, why do you shut down your main basis for communication and disband your operation?  I’m no war expert, but it seems to me that’s when you need to be at your strongest and most organized. That scene only existed so we could have all the heroes walk off sadly in the dark.  But with no solid plan or reason to back it up, it was just meaningless, especially since they were all back together by the end anyway.  It felt like pointless drama, for drama’s sake.  Another old-school Smallville staple.

Chloe’s return via flashback was nice, as were the 37 different reminders that she stole Dr Fate’s powers and can see the future.

But really, it was Hawkman who stole the show.  I liked Carter Hall so well in the episode “Shield.”  His Indiana Jones impression was much better than his Christan Bale Batman.  But here, he was magnificent.  The CGI wings did him a world of good, even if they did have to disappear when not in use.  That’s how he should have looked all along.

His death was very sad, but at least it wasn’t entirely pointless.  He was killed by Deathstroke after all, a major DC villain.  And he saved Lois.  Coupling that with his funeral, it was a good Hawkman episode, despite the whole dying part.

Although, that ending was a little WTF?  It doesn’t really count as a cliffhanger if you don’t know what the hell just happened and what the stakes are.  That felt pretty tacked on.

Really, the whole episode was pretty unsatisfying.  Just like Clark zapping Slade to the Phantom Zone after he had already won and done all that damage.  That should have been an epic moment, but it was treated as an afterthought.  The commercial for next year doesn’t intrigue me either.  Clark loses his powers again?  In what way is that a novel concept?  He loses them every year anyway.  Hell, Blue Kryptonite has taken his powers away like four times this year already.

The sad thing is, I think this could have been an epic episode, on par with any of the best.  But it just doesn’t hit the right notes.  All the the keys are there, they just aren’t hitting the right notes.  Oh well, there’s always next year.

Smallville “Luthor” Review

Tess discovers that part of her inheritance from Lionel includes a Kryptonian relic that immediately transports Clark to a parallel universe, switching him with his evil counterpart “Ultraman.”  In this world, Clark was raised by Lionel Luthor, Lois and Oliver are engaged, and anyone who sees Ultraman in action dies.  Meanwhile, Clark Luthor threatens to kill everyone Clark Kent loves if Tess doesn’t hand over the relic.

Alternate universes have been done to death on television.  Hell, Clark even runs down the list of ways it’s happened to him personally (time travel hi-jinks, hallucinations, the Trials of Jor-El).  But I have to say that this one was head and shoulders above a lot of them, for several reasons.

Mainly, I appreciated the fact that this episode doesn’t fall back on a lot of the same tired tropes as those other ones.  Clark doesn’t spend the whole episode confused, wandering around shocked at every change like Jimmy Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Life. He gets with the program pretty fast.  Also, there is no drama on “our” Earth thanks to the actions of Clark Luthor.  This is another plus of having Lois know Clark’s secret.  Remember all the times Lana was pissed at Clark for his Red-K rages, and Clark couldn’t explain them?  Also, I love that THAT is the first place Lois goes in her reasoning.  “Red K?  Okay we can work this out…”  God, I love Lois.

But most importantly, this episode actually MATTERED!  Not a hoax, not a dream, not an imaginary story!  This episode opened the door of the Multiverse, one of DC’s most over-used and under-appreciated story-telling devices.  And not only that, but Lionel Luthor returns!

Sure, he’s not the proper Lionel Luthor, but that’s almost a good thing.  This way, we get the best of both worlds.  We get full-on Evil Lionel, without having to sacrifice all of the wonderful character development that made our Lionel a good guy.

I had my doubts about making Tess a Luthor a few weeks back.  I thought she was a strong enough character at this point to where a ‘revelation’ like that cheapened her.  However, now that I can see where they are going with this, I have to say, I love it.  It somehow feels less “desperate” turning her into a Luthor now that we’ve got Lionel and some version of Lex back as well.

Also, that scene between Tess and Clark in the end really drove home how “Superman” Clark is now.  Just like in “Homecoming” we see Clark finally understanding that sometimes the people around him need more than to just be pulled from a burning building to be “saved.”  Sometimes they just need him to be there, just like he was for Tess.  I really hope this gesture on his part goes a long way to solidifying her presences as a good-guy.

I’m a little annoyed that the universe-jumping device was Kryptonian, just like everything else, when there are so many other ways to do a story like this.  But the story itself was brilliant.  My favorite scene would have to be when Clark came back to our reality and found himself facing down the barrels all his friends’ guns.  I like that they can take care of themselves.  That must have been a sweet fight, though.

Oh, and I’m sorry, but I really don’t think alt-Oliver survives his last brush with Clark Luthor.  After all, he is Ultraman, and just like Superman, Ultraman ALWAYS wins in his own universe.

Superman Secret Origin 5 & 6 Annotations

Continuing on from the fourth issue, this week we explore the final two issues of Secret Origin, including Superman’s battle against General Lane, Metallo, and Public Opinion.

ISSUE FIVE

• Page 5: Superman finally teamed up with his two main supporting cast members.  Lois and Jimmy have been with Superman in virtually every adaption of his story outside the comics, and are pretty much the only human “sidekicks” in comics history to be awarded their own long-running titles.
• Page 8:  General Sam Lane, father of Lois Lane.  Pre-Crisis, he was a horse farmer living in Pittsdale.  Post-Crisis, Lane was transformed into a no-nonsense Army General, who raised both his daughters to be the sons he really wanted.  Lois’s tough attitude has been attributed to the harsh environment in which she was raised.
• Page 9:  As Superman buoys the spirits of Metropolis and improves the Daily Planet’s reputation, you can see people beginning to look up for the first time.  Also, a janitor is cleaning off the graffiti outside the Planet Building
• Pages 10-14:  John Corben, the future Metallo.  In most versions of the story, the character is a career criminal, this is the first time he’s been a member of the Army.  His relationship with both Lois and General Lane is not unlike that of Glenn Talbot from the Hulk comics, in that he serves under General Lane (General Thunderbolt Ross) who is always trying to fix him up with his daughter Lois (Betty), who is really in love with the hero Clark (Bruce Banner).  His stalker-ish obsession with Lois is also similar to the way Geoff Johns portrays Hector Hammond in Green Lantern: Secret Origin.
• Page 15: Lex says that the Parasite was created from the radiation extracted from a piece of Kryptonite.  Essentially, this makes Parasite a “Meteor Freak” like the kind seen on Smallville. There, Kryptonite had the unfortunate habit of mutating people, giving them powers and causing them to lose their minds.
• Pages 15-16:  Lex and General Lane working together ties into their relationship in the New Krypton, where Lane releases Lex from prison to help him stop the Kryptonian invasion.  Previously, General Lane had been seen as President Luthor’s Secretary of Defense, as which he “died” defending Earth during Our Worlds At War.
• Pages 17-18:  Note Lois and Clark’s eating habits.  Lois is eating a sub sandwich with fries, not unlike her ordering a hot dog early in the morning in Superman II. Clark is eating a sandwich with an apple and milk.  Martha would be proud.
• Lois mentions her mother being dead, which is a new addition to the character.  Previously, Ella Lane had been shown to be alive well into Lois’s adulthood.  Smallville also depicted Lois as having been raised by her father alone.
• Page 19: General Lane says that there have been numerous cases of humans with powers going all the way back to World War II.  This is the first and only hint of the Justice Society’s existence prior to Superman’s debut.
• Pages 19-21: General Lane has never really been depicted as a Superman-hater before Geoff Johns.  In the Animated Series, a character named General Hardcastle hates Superman because he is a “filthy alien” and therefore uncontrollable by the government.  He even teams up with Lex on several occasions trying to kill Superman.  There’s a lot of Hardcastle in this Lane.
• Pages 24-28:  The Animated Series movie premier ends with John Corben piloting a large mecha built by Lex Luthor in a battle against Superman.  No Kryptonite was involved, and Superman does a much better job there.

ISSUE SIX

• The initial cover used in solicitations for this issue featured Bizarro, who does not appear.  Also, this issue was very late, and some have speculated that a lot of it might have been re-written.
• Page 3: Lex builds Metallo in this version of events, which is new.  This makes Lex responsible for both Parasite and Metallo, and possibly even Bizarro in the future.  Lex’s line “He’s alive!” echoes various depictions of Dr. Frankenstein during the creation of his famous monster.
• Page 12: Our first look at Metallo, the cyborg killer with a Kryptonite heart.  Originally, Metallo looked just like Superman with a mustache, and simply wore street clothes.  After his death, Corben’s brother Roger underwent the same procedure to get revenge on Superman, and wore armor similar to what we see here.  John Byrne drew the most recognized version of Metallo, looking like a Terminator, a metal skeleton with bits of flesh hanging off it.
• Page 20: On Smallville, Clark beats Metallo using a similar technique of melting something lead-based over his chest to shield him from the Kryptonite rays.
• Pages 25-28: Superman and Lex squaring off outside Luthor’s office has shown up in multiple versions of the story.  This one, with Lex throwing something out the window in a fit of rage and Superman catching it, comes from the Animated Series movie premier.
• Page 29: Note that the revolving door of the Planet is now fixed, and Perry White looks a lot less haggard, with his hair slicked back and dignified.
• Lois names Clark as her competition, but it appears to be a much friendlier rivalry than past incarnations.
• Page 38: The old lady from issue 3, this time with a much better disposition, brings the story full-circle.
• Page 39: The phrase “Look!  Up in the sky!” began as the introduction to the radio series, and was adopted by the Fleischer cartoons, the Georges Reeves series, and is frequently used in most adaptions of the story.
• Pages 39-40: The story ends with Lois and Jimmy watching Superman fly away, like in the first Superman movie.

Well, that about does it for the annotations of the modern origin of Superman.  Thanks for reading, and again, if you caught anything we missed, please let us know, and will add it.

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Smallville “Patriot” Review

Green Arrow finally complies with the Vigilante Registration Act, in hopes of finding out what his allies are really in for when they sign up.  Elsewhere, when Clark tries to stop Aquaman and his new wife Mera from destroying oil rigs to outright defy the government, he learns that their real goal is not so different from his own.

Oliver’s plan to “scout ahead” on the VRA’s operation was not a bad one in theory.  As he pointed out, his identity is already public knowledge, and his compliance could only help ease the tension between the public, the government and the superheroes.

Unfortunately, the whole thing falls apart when no one thinks to form a back-up plan, just in case things went south, as they most certainly did.  There was really no reason for Oliver to walk blindly into that situation, especially when he has a whole team that could cover land, air and sea, (not to mention see through walls) to keep an eye on him and rush in to save him.

At first the character of Slade really bothered me in much the same way Checkmate did last season.  Why doesn’t it occur to the government to, you know, ask the superheroes nicely to join them.  Or at the very least, why do threats and waterboarding have to be their FIRST move in negotiations.  It doesn’t just make them look evil, it makes them look stupid.

Of course, at the end of the episode, we find out that Slade is corrupted by “The Darkness” or the “Anti-Life Equation” or bad mojo or whatever.  It really does help to know this, and makes his extreme actions a little easier to swallow.  I wish a similar thing had been done with the farming community from “Harvest.”

Aquaman returns, and this time brings Post-Blackest Night fan favorite Mera to the party.  I really like Aquaman, and was excited to hear about Mera being on here, but as with “Supergirl”, I kind of wish they had gotten a little more focus.  There’s some lip-service was paid to the fact that Arthur now knows his true identity as Ruler of the Seven Seas.   But the problem is, if you are just a Smallville-fan, and are not familiar with DC Comics, you would probably be pretty confused by this info-dump.  Who is Mera, where does she come from, why does she have powers, what’s Aquaman King of, are all questions that would be shooting through your head

I think the royal couple provided a nice contrast to Lois and Clark’s relationship.  My only problem was that Lois and Clark have been doing fine lately.  There’s been no build up about him keeping her out of his super-life that hasn’t already been addressed.  So this felt more like Drama For Drama’s sake.  Vintage Smallville.

Actually, quite a bit of this episode had a Vintage Smallville feel to it.  Clark doesn’t get along with other heroes, tells them what to do, gets sucker punched.  Pointless Drama and hurt feelings that come out of nowhere.  And the dialog!  Did anyone else notice the number of times the characters used a metaphor, or refer to someone by a nickname, or just dance around the same point for several scenes in a row?  This episode simultaneously felt rushed AND over-written.

However, I did really appreciate the “summation” Clark gives at the end, explaining all about Darkseid and what the big-bad situation is this season.  After hints being dropped here and there, we really needed someone to come in and explain everything.

All-in-all, it wasn’t a bad episode.  But it could have been a lot better.  The reveals about Aquaman should have been clearer and more universal.  He’s found his people and he’s their lost king, and this chick is his Queen.  Simple.  Slade’s extreme prejudice against heroes is understandable in retrospect, but Oliver’s stupidity and naivety are not. We’ve seen that the Government doesn’t like heroes and can’t be trusted before, LOTS of times.  But now their combining that with Darkseid, which is actually okay, since it now explains everyone’s extreme reactions.

Smallville “Abandoned” Review

There was so much in this episode, it’s hard to know where to start.  But in a good way.  Unlike “Supergirl” this episode was packed to the brim with important stuff, but this time they actually managed to get some character development in there.  In fact, all the “important stuff” that happened was important simply because it DID have an effect on the players.

First off, let me say how glad I am that the characters of Granny Goodness and Desaad are actually the proper characters from the comics, and not humans who’ve been “infected” with Darkseid’s power.  Now we see that Gordon Godfrey was an isolated incident, and that they, or Granny at least, have been on Earth, operating for over 20 years.  It gives the villains so much more weight to know that they’ve been here, waiting and planning, this long.  I just hope they are still proper “gods.”

I love Teri Hatcher for playing Lois’s mom!  She is the star of a hit TV show, she didn’t need the work or the exposure, so clearly she did it out of appreciation for the character and the part.  And amazingly, her appearance didn’t steal the show.  It wasn’t all about “Look, we got Teri Hatcher!”  It was folded wonderfully and beautifully into the narrative of both the episode and the season.  And not only that, but she did a wonderful job.  Kudos.

Seeing Jor-El and Lara in the Fortress, as they record a good-bye message to their son was astounding!  It is such a crucial piece of Superman’s story, and yet, Smallville had somehow managed to avoid it for 10 years (yes, I remember the scene in Memoria, but that was like five seconds).  And again, just like with Lois’s mom, it wasn’t just played for fan-wank, it actually had a bearing on the season-arc and the characters.  Clark sees a different side of Jor-El, and realizes the  guilt he carried by failing to save Krypton.  In that one instant, you saw that Clark finally related to his birth-father in a way he never had before, both men knew what it was to literally carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.

And of course, the week’s biggest reveal: Avert your eyes if you are SPOILER-squeamish.

Tess is actually a Luthor. She is the daughter of Lionel and Pamela Jenkins, Lex’s beloved nanny from the first season episode “Crush.”

I have to wonder though, was this always the plan for the character?  I think her being a Checkmate Agent and one of Granny Goodness’s Furies both came out of necessity, in the moment, as a way to get her further involved in the story.  But were the producers always holding this card in their hand?  I doubt it, otherwise I think we would have seen it sooner, in one of those other attempts to make Tess more involved.

Really, I’m not sure what to think about this reveal.  When I saw Tess was working with Checkmate, my first reaction was “Hell Yeah!  That’s awesome!” because it was mutually beneficial to both Checkmate and Tess.  And tonight, when we found out Tess had lived with Granny, I again thought it was a great idea, because it filled in more of her back-story, which has always been a little sparse.  But with the Luthor reveal, my first reaction was “WTF?!”  If for no other reason than the fact that I always imagined a romantic relationship between her and Lex, and now it turns out he’s her brother.

Plus, I’m not sure how necessary this was at this point.  This would have been great when they were trying to sell her as a character.  But now, I think it actually hurts her.  It’s like everything either has to come from Krypton or the Luthors.  It would have been better if she had been the daughter of someone less obvious, like Virgil Swan, Christopher Reeve’s character.  I don’t know.  I suppose I’ll have to wait and see how it plays out next week.

But no matter how you slice it, this was a very important and very enjoyable episode.  That last thing kind of tripped me up, but I loved everything else, and for all I know, I’ll even like the idea of Tess as a Luthor eventually.

Smallville “Ambush” Review

General Lane and Lucy arrive on the Kent Farm to celebrate Thanksgiving, but Clark’s stance on the Vigilante Registration Act puts Lois in an awkward position.  Meanwhile, Oliver adjusts to Tess taking over the Watchtower and stumbles onto a plot by the Suicide Squad to assassinate General Lane.

Let me just say, for those of us who read the New Krypton saga that recently ran through the Superman comics and featured General Lane as a prime villain, how amazed I am that they were able to put more personality and depth into the character of Lois’s father in 40 minutes of television than the comics managed to do in over 60 issues.

I think that’s what made Lane bearable here.  He was tough and very aggressive, but his reasoning was sound, and probably most importantly, he had to the ability to admit he was wrong and change his mind.  I fully expected him, after the Blur saves Lois, to say that “The Blur probably put Lois in danger in the first place just so he could save her in front of me to win my support!”  You see that kind of thinking so often with this type of character, it’s gotten to be horribly cliche.  I’m glad they steered clear of it here.

One of the things the producers said about this episode was that we would get to see a little bit of what growing up was like for Lois with her sister Lucy,and that it would kind of explain her personality a little better, and I think it did a wonderful job.  In fact, this whole season has done wonders for Lois’s character, in my mind.  And I think because so much of what we see and learn about her is reflected in, and reflective of, Clark, that I don’t mind them putting so much focus on Lois, as I have with other characters in the past.  I mean, after Clark, she is the most important character in the Superman Mythology.

I was fairly impressed with Clark’s backbone when dealing with General Lane.  Although I think he probably could have made things easier by just laughing off the General’s abuse, in the end, his actions did lead to Lois making a breakthrough with her family.  I do have to object to his putting Lois in such a tough spot with her dad.  Family interactions are always tricky, and you really can’t judge how someone else deals with their parents, unless you grew up in the same house. But again, in the end everything worked out, so I suppose it was for the best.

However, I do wonder what that question was he asked General Lane at the end (he says in a sarcastic tone).  Obviously it looked like he was asking permission to propose, but that seems a little early to me.

The Suicide Squad is used masterfully here again, as in all their previous appearances.  I just can’t get over how much cooler they are than Checkmate.  Plus, the fact that they THINK they are on the same side as Clark and company was a huge twist in the story.  The framing device of having them track Lane added a ton of “super-drama” to what otherwise would have been a very action-lite story.

I enjoyed Tess and Oliver’s interactions in Watchtower, and I hate to think we won’t get to see that much anymore.  I understand Oliver’s fear about leading people back there, since all the other JSA and JLA members are attached to it.  But really, isn’t that place filled up with Queen Industries technology and money?  All it would take is one nosy accountant to figure it all out.

Overall this was a solid episode that managed to push Lois and Clark’s relationship a little further, without overdoing it on the domestics.  One quibble though, they mentioned Martha as being a senator like 8 times, but they couldn’t throw a line in there about why she wasn’t at home, with her son on Thanksgiving?  Say she’s working, or with Perry White’s family or something.  Although, we did get to see Clark finally in action while wearing his new suit, so I can’t complain about that.

Smallville “Harvest” Review

Upset at Clark’s over-protectiveness, Lois sets out to teach him a lesson, which ends up with both of them trapped by crazed townspeople ready to sacrifice Lois to their god.  Meanwhile, Tess watches helplessly as young Alexander slowly transforms into Lex Luthor.

The main plot itself was pretty predictable and mediocre.  I’ve seen this episode of Supernatural a few times now: insane townspeople, protecting some evil secret that keeps them young or helps their town flourish, killing random passerby’s and claiming it’s okay because their god told them to do it.

Thankfully, the interaction between Lois and Clark salvaged the story.  Now, if Lois had still been in the dark about Clark’s secret, then this would have very annoying.  But I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing them being open and honest, especially since so much of this show has been based around Clark having to keep his secret from people he loves.

The opening scene, where Lois lists off all the strange experiences she’s had with Clark over the years, and he confirms that they were indeed from Krypton, was very entertaining.  My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen Clark actually tell Lois he’s an alien.  Last week he told her he was the Blur, but that was really just the tip of the ice berg.  I know they show she clearly has no problem with it, but I think that’s a pretty huge chunk of mythology to handle off-screen.

Really, if there was ever a good excuse for a clip show, Clark summing up his whole life to Lois as he comes clean would have been a good one.

The premise of Lois “disobeying” Clark and then getting them into trouble is a tricky angle to play.  This isn’t the 1930′s anymore, and you don’t want to make Lois look like some ditzy damsel in distress.  However, they managed to cover that by having Clark and Lois help each other out throughout the episode.  This really helps to set up the relationship we saw in the Future World in Homecoming.

But the best part of the episode, by far, was the story of Tess and Alexander.  Connor Stanhope returns to play young Alex, and he is amazing to watch.  Several other actors have played Lex at various ages, and while none of them have been able to eclipse Rosenbaum’s portrayal, Stanhope has come the closest, having played the role four times previously.  He pretty much IS young Lex is my mind, and he brings a layered intensity to the role that was desperately needed at this critical juncture in the Kid Lex storyline.

Tess has been trying to give Alexander enough love and support to keep him from turning evil, but all that seems hopeless as more and more of Lex’s memories are bleeding through.  Alexander pretty much nailed her to the wall when he summed up her desire to save the world by attaching herself to powerful men, earning a slap in the face in return.

I had kind of thought that young Lex having hair would entice Michael Rosenbaum to return to the role, since he wouldn’t have to shave his head this time around.  But the ending kind of negates that.  However, it was masterfully done and most chilling. If Rosenbaum doesn’t return, here’s hoping Stanhope stays on and simply plays Lex Jr.

It’s not without precedent in the comics.  Crisis on Infinite Earths features the son of Lex from a parallel universe named Alexander Luthor, who ages rapidly.  Also, in the 90′s, Lex developed cancer from his Kryptonite Ring, and had his brain placed in the body of a healthy young clone, and called himself Lex II.  They’ve managed to keep this story on a slow burn, not rushing it, but at the same time, not dragging it out, either.

Just like most everything else this season, the pacing of all these stories has been perfect.  But we still don’t see Clark in his new suit.  What’s the deal with that?

Smallville “Isis” Review

“Just another Friday night in Metropolis!”

Hilariously enough, I was thinking the same thing several minutes before Oliver said that line to Tess.  It was when Clark saw Lois, currently possessed by the Egyptian Goddess Isis, inform him of her acquisition of Lois’s body, and then fly off.  I’ve often complained about how the normal half of the show’s formula is forgotten in all the craziness, but one thing I do love is when these characters make statements that reveal how much this type of thing has actually BECOME their normal lives.

Honestly, anything following last week’s tremendous episode was going to be a slight letdown.  If for no other reason than that you can’t improve on perfection.  However, tonight’s episodes had quite a few highlights of it’s own.

Yes, the Lois-gets-possessed-and/or-wears-a-sexy-outfit trope has been done many, many times before.  But frankly, at this point it’s almost become a staple of the series.  But unlike previous episodes, this one actually had something to do with the overall theme of the season.  Isis’s devotion to and search for her husband Osiris clearly mirrors Lois’s love for Clark, and acts as a dark mirror to how something as strong as love can turn destructive.

However, I’m not sure why Clark would use that as an excuse to keep his secret from Lois.  It wasn’t his fault she was possessed, and in fact, she was saved BECAUSE of her connection to Clark.  A more tangible reason would have been Clark was afraid Lois was becoming too devoted to him, and might one day be willing to sacrifice the world for him like Isis.

I will say this though, in spite of all the chuckling we get at the various Lois-possessions, Erica Durance can really pull them off.  Every time she plays someone else, she nails it, and makes them a very distinctive character.  Faora, Silver Banshee, Future Lois and now Isis.

Cat Grant was just as annoyingly adorable, or adorably annoying, as she was last time we saw her.  Although I have to say, I like the way her character is used, and especially her interaction with Lois.  You really need a goat-character at this point, who knows nothing and can be used to stir up trouble and be made into a fool, especially since all the main cast members are in on each other’s secrets.

Oliver also tries to prove his love for the missing Chloe by embracing his superhero image now that the city has embraced him.  I’m glad we didn’t have to go through a whole long arc about Oliver dealing with negative public opinion while pouting.  That would have seemed possible giving the “Broken Arrow” storyline from last year.  But luckily, Oliver goes full-on Tony Stark, complete with the promise of Arrow-Girls.

Even though Oliver is still in love with Chloe, Tess still seems to be carrying a torch for him.  I feel like they’ve been underusing Tess this season.  This is the first time we’ve seen her to any large capacity since the season opener.  Once again, I’m amazed at Cassidy Freeman’s acting ability.  Her reaction to Clark and Oliver’s trust in her, followed by her scenes with Alexander were heartwarming.  They really need to use her more, and give her more episodes like this, where she is so much more than just a schemer.

Clark and Lois’s conversation at the end of the episode was very surprising.  I thought they would try and drag that storyline out to at least mid-season.  But kudos to them for not denying us the goods.  But really, after Future Lois and Clark last week, there was no good way they could have put this off without making Clark look like the world’s biggest idiot/jerk.

Although I do have one question.  Are we ever going to see Clark actually DO anything in his new suit?  We’ve only seen it twice in four episodes, and all Clark’s done is stand around in it.

Smallville “Homecoming” Review

“So what are you, man or superman?”

When Lana Lang first asked that question in Episode 1, Season 1 of Smallville, none of us thought that Clark Kent would still be trying to answer it ten long years later.  Through its ups and downs, Smallville has continued to be a show about a young man trying to find his place in the world, whether he really is just a man or a superman.  And though the search for the obvious answer has taken some time, nowhere has it been more evident that Clark Kent is indeed a Superman, in every sense of the word, than in this, the 200^th Episode of Smallville.

One of Smallville’s weak points has been that, at times, it loses sight of the balance between normal and fantastic, of man and superman, that made this show such a success in the first place.  It forgets how vital these characters can be, and how important emotion is their story.  Other times, it chooses to move focus away from the main character himself, hoping to prolong his journey by making it the background feature in stories about his supporting cast.

But tonight, it was all about Clark Kent.

Despite having been relatively competent these last few seasons, a number us were concerned when Clark again took the backslide this year, allowing others to shake his fortitude and push him down into the despair that was all too common in the middle years of the series, a despair and lack of faith that we thought we had moved away from.

Tonight, we lean that all this time, Clark has only been covering his grief and self-hate with a false face of bravado and confidence.  He “acts” like the Superman we all know and love, but really, deep down, he is still hurting for the losses and mistakes of the past, and fearful about the future.

Brainiac 5 arrives, having reformed thanks to his interactions with Clark and the Legion, to pull these skeletons out of Clark’s closet and force him to deal with them head-on, in a great time-traveling therapy session.

So many of us, myself included, wished we could just ignore the mistakes of the past middle seasons, and indulge in the goodness of the recent years.  “Sure, Clark sucked for a long time, and he turned things around pretty much out of nowhere.  So what, let’s just enjoy it.”  That would have been the easiest things for the writers to do.  But they went a different way.  They chose the harder path, and addressed the show’s dark years.  Rather like Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison are able to take horrible continuity and make it into great compelling stories, the writers managed to actually “explain” the bad times, and use them as a proper springboard for the future good times.

And what a future it will be.  I don’t think I have seen any other version of Lois and Clark that I have liked better.  We got a great taste of it at the end of season 9 in Clark’s prophetic dream.  But here we get the whole meal.  Has there ever been a better Lois Lane?  Smallville has proven definitively how Lois should be as the wife of Superman.  So many comic writers get their marriage wrong; making many fans wish it would disappear.  And yet Smallville manages to make Lois indispensable.  Future comic writers should be required to watch this episode to see how to write Lois properly.

And there are just no words for how great Tom Welling was as Future Clark Kent.  I mean, just watch it for yourself.  It’s all there, what we’ve waited ten years to see.  The self-confidence, the charm and strength.

The only problem is the same one I had with Clark’s dream last year.  I desperately wish we could get the chance to watch THAT show, with these actors playing THOSE roles.

Even though Brainiac 5 was the big reformer this week, I think it was Greg Arkin, Bugboy from Season 1, who really drove that point home.  Just the very idea that the meteor freaks love Clark for saving them from themselves is astounding.  Like something out of All-Star Superman.  From the world-destroying super computers all the way down to the lowliest meteor freak, Clark finally gets to see the positive influence he’s had on others.

This also applies to his relationships with Oliver and Lois.  The emotion there was so real!  Oftentimes it feels forced, like an afterthought.  But the simple images of Oliver and Lois, alone, because Clark hates himself too much to reach out to them was so touching.  And then, he actually does something to fix those problems.  How much more Superman can you get?

This episode was perfect.  That is the only word to describe it.  Perfect in terms of pacing, character development, dialog, fan-service, respect for the Mythology, and a perfect understanding of who Superman is.  I am simply astounded, blown away by how good this episode was.  It just makes me wonder, why can’t they all be this good?

Smallville “Supergirl” Review

Kara returns to Earth to combat Darkseid, who is jumping from host to host, praying on their worst fears and turning them evil.  His first victim is Gordon Godfrey, a radio talk-show host who begins a campaign against the superheroes, the Blur especially.  As Lois goes undercover to expose Godfrey’s secrets, Kara reveals that Darkseid’s true target is – Clark!

While a lot of really interesting stuff goes on in this episode, I can’t help but feel like they would have been way more interesting if they each had their own episode.  Kara returning and becoming a public superhero is cool.  Darkseid arriving on Earth and taking control of people is cool.  And Oliver Queen outing himself as Green Arrow at a press conference is cool.  But sadly, when you cram all these happenings in together, no one of them has the impact they should have.

Kara’s return felt pretty weak.  There’s no discussion about where she’s been or about the fact that Kandor, which she went into space to find, has been on Earth this whole time.   Instead we get a sloppy retcon about her looking for her mother.  The fact is, there is no good reason Kara didn’t return last season, beyond scheduling conflicts in the real world.  And trying to pretend at this stage really hurts the continuity of the show.

Also, her reveal as a superhero was about 50x less impressive than it was built up to be in the previews and interviews leading up to this episode.  Not to mention the minds of every rabid fanboys who spit blood when it looked like Kara was going to actually be named Supergirl before Clark was named Superman.  The whole Supergirl Returns story would have been a great episode.

Same with Oliver revealing himself as Green Arrow.  That is a MASSIVE thing to happen in the series (assuming it sticks, and there are no mind-wipes or reversals planned).  And yet the lead up to it was pathetic and forced.  He’s worried about letting the people he loves fight his battle for him, so his solution is to reveal his secret identity, exposing them to danger from every villain and criminal he’s ever stopped?  How is that better?  It just felt like pointless drama, and what’s worse, there was no build up to it.  It just came out of nowhere.

Clark doesn’t fare much better, looking like some kind of pigheaded jerk demanding to be the one who gets to save the world.  I really hated it back in the day when Clark was too scared to fulfill his destiny, but then we got two years where Clark actually moved forward and did stuff.  Now it’s like he’s gone too far, and he’s obsessed with being Superman.  I appreciate the gusto, but really it’s too much.  And what was the deal with Clark shouting at Godfrey to tell him where Lois was like three times?  Did he forget he has x-ray vision?

Godfrey totally stole the whole show.  Or I suppose I should say Godfrey/Darkseid.  I’m not sure about Darkseid being some evil spirit that possesses people (who should be New Gods) and turns them evil as well.  That seems like a pretty big departure from the original concept.  But really, if you ignored the fact that it’s SUPPOSED to be Darkseid, it was actually very well done.  Especially the voice of Darkseid when it came through Godfrey.  Perfect.

I can’t help but think that if Godfrey had been a recurring villain, in about three episodes, these plots would have been a lot smoother.  One episode isn’t really enough to feel the impact of his anti-hero hate speech on the city, and Supergirl, Green Arrow and Darkseid could have each used the elbow room.

Nothing in the episode is bad.  It just feels like three half episodes squashed together.  Like the season premier, there’s way too much going on, so nothing gets any real attention.  They need to slow down, take a deep breath, and stop over stuffing the episodes.  And stop making Clark look like a prick.  The important thing here is to focus on the characters, and have them actually be characters, not just talking heads that shout their motivation at each other to move the plot along.

Smallville “Shield” Review

Lois arrives in Egypt where she meets Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.  While the two discuss the pros and cons of loving a superhero, Clark tries to save his new reporting partner Cat Grant from the assassin Deadshot, and Oliver tackles the Suicide Squad in hopes of finding Chloe.

I actually missed Chloe a lot more than I thought I would.  It was pretty easy to take a character like her for granted all these years, first as Clark’s annoyingly nosy friend and partial love interest, all the way up to her role as Watchtower, the “Oracle” of the Smallville Universe and Green Arrow’s apparent “true love.”  Even though her disappearance drove a lot of the action, the hole she left was fairly large.

Luckily, the character development on the remaining cast jumped considerably from last week, as we were able to actually focus on Clark and company, and not all the crazy stuff going on around them.

This new Cat Grant, with hilarious call-backs to the “original” Cat Grant of last season, opened up a new side of Clark’s personality, that of the annoyed co-worker.  It’s great to see Clark not being perfectly polite, as it rounds out his character.  Also, his growing concern over the anti-super hero movement showed another side of him as well.

Cat herself was pretty annoying, but that was the point.  Her one-sided argument regarding costumed heroes made me wish Clark would explain the whole “They have loved ones to protect” angle to her “What do they have to hide?” questions.  But luckily he was able to drive that point home later.  Also, are we taking guesses yet as to who her son’s father is, since he seems to be a really bad guy?  Given that the fact that he murdered her son in the comics, wouldn’t it be wild if it was Toyman?  Just putting it out there.

Carter Hall was about 100x more enjoyable here than he was in the Absolute Justice episode.  Making him grim and insulting just didn’t do anything for me, and I was on the verge of actively disliking him.  But I found this side of his character to be much more interesting and appealing.

Lois knowing Clark’s secret led to some great interaction with Carter, and their discussion about her being either a burden to Clark or the one who makes his destiny easier to bear brought some vital points to the surface.  I found their openness and honesty regarding their secrets to be a breath of fresh air, and it really made Lois seem like an important character for Hawkman to be spilling all his secrets to her.  And the use of Nietzsche to get the word “Superman” in there was a great callback to Lana’s question to Clark in the first episode of the series, “Are you man or superman?”

The Suicide Squad has instantly become WAY more entertaining and threatening than Checkmate was last season.  Checkmate was all talk, plus they were annoying.  That last scene with the Squad made them look pretty bad ass, plus they got the job done.  The return of Plastique was a surprise, but fits into the overall theme of this season, which is celebrating the show’s past.

Clark’s new costume at the end came as a shock.  On the one hand I am SO glad to be rid of the Matrix/Punisher look, but on the other hand, any suit besides than the classic one, having unveiled it last week, is going to disappoint at this stage in the game.  The new suit looks like a fancier version of Clark’s classic Smallville duds, red jacket with blue pants.  I don’t know if a long red coat would have worked, but the shorter one looks a little informal now by comparison.  Maybe a long trailing scarf, like Cyborg 009?  No, scratch that.

All in all, this was a fantastic episode.  So many different storylines to play with, and none of them felt forced or skimpy.  I pray they can keep this level of quality going all season long.

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