Superman Through the Ages! Forum

I know Smallville is pretty much an alternate-Earth reality (isn't everything?).  I hardly watch it, but when I have seen it, something doesn't seem logical:

If Clark meets people who figure prominently in his adult life (Luthor, Lois, Jimmy in this season) won't they recognize later that Superman is the hick kid from Smallville named Clark Kent?

I know this doesn't have bearing on his early life, but have the producers like, THOUGHT about this?  I dunno, it bugs me.  Just put him in a costume and do the show this seems to be shaping up to be, the adventures of Superman

Lots of people have a lot of problems with the show...I guess to my mind, the show will end as it began, a Dawson's Creek with some super heroics thrown in, I don't think that even in the couple of years further that it may run will the producers even want to transition to a traditional Superman-like show.

What bothers me about the show is the characterization of Clark Kent.

Clark Kent is supposed to be a well meaning nerd who wears glasses.  Not a pretty boy jock that the girls swoon over.

I enjoyed Smallville for a while when Jeph Loeb was first writing/producing, because the special effects were top-of-the-line and the story was actually moving somewhere. For at least the last two seasons the show hasn't moved forward and the plots have stunk. It is stuck in alternate-reality Dawson's Creek mode, and for a guy who doesn't like soap operas, I am left with no reason to watch it.

I really stopped watching the show when I heard that Superboy was coming out on DVD though, because now I have another option.

Smallville would work if it stuck to even the premise of the MOS mini series and the current DCU (like if ONLY Lana knew Clark in Smallville and she knew of his powers), and even Lex being there is logical since he lived in Smallville on Earth One.

But now, Lois is there (and the actress, from what I've seen of her on the one or two episodes I've seen with her) is probably the best Lois I've seen in a loooong time.  Jimmy appears this season, too...  he can't possibly hide his identity, even if he wanted to!

The producers blew it big time... it was a good premise, but the way it's unfolded leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  They had created oppurtunities to make Clark into, well, Clark... but haven't.  There was an episode where Clark was blinded... he could have started wearing glasses after he regained his sight, but NOOOO!  The Kents could have stated something like "Well, Clark, with these powers you're getting, you should act a lottle more timid so as to not draw attention to yourself".... but NOOOO!

I need my coffee...

That's my problem with the show. Nothing ever changes.

Yes, Clark could have worn glasses. Chloe could have stayed dead for more than one episode. Clark's girlfriend who died could have had an impact on something, rather than being completely ignored in the next episode.

Clark can fly? No wait, he can't. Lana has moved to Paris? No wait, she came right back. Now the only drastic change I expect to see in Smallville is for it to go off the air.

I'm not that puzzled, I never really thought that the intent was to have a show with any particular tie to the comics...

It has action elements and ongoing mysteries, but it always seemed that soap opera realtionships were the real ongoing elements, Clark in love with Lana, Lana in love with Whitney, Cloe in love with Clark, Lana and Clark and trust issues, Lana and Lex, Lionel and Martha...

I would be really surprised if the intention is ever to show a Superman in the comics sense...

SOAP OPERA!!! THANK YOU!!!  That's what I felt the first time I watched the show.

I've caught it late nights on the weekends, never first run... not a reason to stay up for Smallville... that's the time I peruse Superman Through The Ages!  (Well, among other times...)

As long as I think of it as an Elseworlds, I can accept on its own terms as mild entertainment.  It's diverged to the point where I don't expect it to be about "the Superman I know and love as a modern-day young'un".  He's never going to be the guy wearing the classic cape and tights, and that's ok.

If you sift through all the WB er CW gobbledygook, a good story is  found. The plot just needs to be focused back on the basics. First, Clark needs to learn, now and then, to tell the truth and be honorable. Second, the only workable outcome involves an altered timeline and the Legion.

Given the show's "Dawson's Creek with Kryptonite", I'm not surprised that hte producers probably don't care about this facet, though guess Byrne didn't either with the "Clark the well known around Smallville all-star high school football jock doens't wear glasses until he moves to Metropolis and becomes Superman well into his 20's" bit in "Man of Steel"... always one thing that bugged me about the current "Clark doesn't have a Superboy career" stuff (granted, the no-glasses-till-adulthood didn't stop the Golden Age/Earth-2 Superman, but that version had an ordinary childhood devoid of being a football jock/fighting various menaces/other high-profile elements to help protect his identity...).

I had a dream last night... don't know why... but Clark, in Smallville, had on his Super-suit and was Superman, but everyone was like "Clark... why are you dressed in that stupid costume?"  And he was saying "Huh?  I'm not Clark... I'm Superman"

Weird... just out of the blue...

Aha!  More evidence that we're living on EARTH-PRIME -- Davidelliott's getting "mental images" of other-dimensional superheroes, just like the old Pre-Crisis DC Comics staff used to receive!   :wink:

Ha ha.. I actually think you're right!  Especially since I don't watch very much of Smallville!

I admit to liking Smallville, but I have no pretensions that it's coherent or logical in it's story-telling. I look at it as mindless fun, loosely based on the Superman mythos.

Same here and there's always a fun geek aspect like the Phantom Zone, Zod or Green Arrow showing up. Plus I like seeing the Daily Planet globe revolve every week!

I do love the daily Planet globe myself... 8) That doesn't quite make a series for me, but I do watch a few episodes.

I liked the "Run" episode, because all the Flash references made me smile and I thought the final scene was a good example of what two kids with super powers might act like when they hang out together.