Rethinking Smallville– Lex the Web Comic #1
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Click pic to view web comic
* Panels taken from the photography of Smallville
In 2001, the story of Clark Kent’s early years living in a small town in Kansas and being best friends with Lex Luthor was a great premise, and if the writing hadn’t strayed from that premise in later seasons, it might have continued to be innovative and fresh. Unfortunately, the show has often suffered from lazy writing, contrived plot concepts, and a number of Kryptonian characters and artifacts that solve characters’ problems for them in quick, five-minute episode wrap-ups. Viewers might have tired of the weekly freak-of-the-week (which I affectionately refer to as “Kryptofreaks”) but the idea that Kryptonite can give you almost any power imaginable as long as it’s mixed with the right element (water, lightning… a snow globe…) is a little easier to swallow than a lot of the corny, badly thought-out Kryptonian mythos in the show. It’s a comic book series, after all, so you have to expect a little camp, but Smallville goes too far. Clark’s ship has healing powers? It, too, is allergic to KRYPTONITE? Kryptonians built a bunch of technology into a CAVE just under Smallville and scattered three stones around the world for Clark to find instead of having the Fortress of Solitude come from a crystal in Clark’s ship like it has in every other continuity? Jor-El can give other people super powers, take them away from Clark, and send Clark back in time but only ONCE? And hey, while we’re on the subject, why does Clark even need a Fortress in this show when he’s got a cave? Don’t get me wrong, it’s had it’s great moments. Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex Luthor was one of the most complex and interesting characters that had come along in a long time. His calculating business approach to every situation while simultaneously trying to prove that he wasn’t his ruthless, heartless father was a pleasure to watch for several seasons. But sadly, once the series decided he would finally completely embrace his dark side, he went from complex, scary-but-sympathetic to the 2-dimensional version he was in the comics, with the exception of a few episodes. These occasional moments of real creative genius (like the episodes featuring Perry White, the Flash, and Chris Reeve’s Virgil Swann) are what propel me to continue watching the show, although it’s become harder and harder, especially since the fourth year. This season, however, has surprisingly shown a lot of promise, which is ironic since it hasn’t been able to continue due to the writer’s strike. However, story points such as finally allowing Lana to learn Clark’s secret could have pushed the show in a more character-driven direction seasons ago, instead of rehashing the same scenes (Lana pushes Clark for information, Clark won’t tell her, Lana storms away angry or crying) in virtually every episode.So I’ve decided to step up and write a new version of the series. I’m premiering a monthly comic book that will explore a possible direction Smallville might have gone were it more character-driven and if it had stayed a little closer to original Superman mythos. I won’t mention these or any further plot elements I disagreed with, as they’ll become apparent in my version. I’m sure a number of other people have done similar projects in fanfics and email rpgs,but I thought it would be a fun challenge to not only rewrite Smallville, but to do it using only screenshots from the show.
You’ll notice that the first issue stays very close to the elements of the first season– in fact, I’m counting the majority of the first season as part of this comic’s canon. However, each subsequent issue will stray further from the show. I’d love any feedback whether you like or hate what I’m doing, and any suggestions for story ideas or arc direction would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy it!
LLAP
-Cap’n Logan
Continue to Issue #2
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