Sayonara, Smallville: "Supergirl"

Incredible but true: This year, The CW's "Smallville" embarks on its tenth and final season, making it not just the longest-running Superman TV show ever but the longest-running comic book TV show ever produced. Bananas, right?

To celebrate its final year, we're teaming up our collective powers of dumb DCU trivia, long experience watching and writing about the show and general obsession with serial TV to bring you "Sayonara, Smallville" – a semi-regular feature where we'll review the most notable episodes of the season whenever we can. Everyone is invited to play along. (Welcome back after NYCC!)


Kiel: I think this may be the first truly awful episode of "Smallville" I've watched in a while. It's like a sobering reminder of why I dropped out to begin with.

Ben: Yeah, this was not a good episode – disappointing, because they started out pretty strong out the gate. And not every single thing about it was bad, but a lot, and generally not in a "so bad it's good" way either.

Kiel: No, it just screamed "TV budget" in the worst way...did you have a particular thing you hated most?

Ben: Well, I think I can somewhat answer that by saying "Smallville" has become a show for better or worse defined by its guest stars/DC cameos. The Fourth World stuff, Hawkman and the Suicide Squad made the first two episodes of the season pretty solid, but Supergirl...well, she's not the best.

Kiel: The one thing I always liked about Laura Vandervoort in this part is the fact that she's so pretty that the perfectly balanced features of her face look kind of unnatural. She really does seem alien to me, which is why she should be a great Supergirl and is someone who works well on the creepy as hell "V" cast, but this episode gave her (and pretty much everyone else on the show) nothing more to do than to A) regurgitate exposition on the big conflict of the season or B) state the metaphorical underpinnings of the season in stark, boring terms. In short: waste of a perfectly odd hot girl.

Ben: Haha. Y'know, the thing I like most about "Smallville" and Vandervoort's take on Supergirl is also the thing that ultimately tends to bug me the most. I kinda enjoy that they reverse the traditional Superman/Supergirl dynamic and have her as the stoic, experienced one trying to mentor Clark, and what you said about Vandervoort's penchant for playing alien and aloof makes her perfect for that. On the other hand, as a guest star, she kind of sucks the energy out of the room. Tom Welling is already pretty square-jawed and serious, so when you pair him with a Green Arrow or Impulse or even just Lois, it's a nice contrast, but with Supergirl, it's like they're just trying to out-grimace each other. In short: She's not fun. When she was part of the regular cast, the rest balanced her out, but when it's just her and Clark as the focal point, it bores me.

Kiel: I so wanted the scene where he tries to fly and falls to be funny!

Ben: That's a good example. They're both way too earnest for anything to be funny

Kiel: That "just listen to the wings of the butterfly and you can fly" shit made me want to bite into my knuckle I was so embarrassed for them. It was just awkward.

And here's my other thing with her: Early in the show, they had a fake Kara show up as sent by Jor-El (played by that chick from "Friday Night Lights" Mel had to escort around Wizard World Texas one year), and that episode was a lot of fun because she was so sinister, and we were learning this idea that Jor-El was kind of an evil fuck...a great twist on the expectation for how Clark becomes Superman. But later, when they brought the "real" Kara and Jor-El to light, they never really found a hook as good as that, so what the story becomes is "Jor-El the passive-aggressive dick and his ineffectual lackey Kara" -- it's like half of that good idea that they squandered on a blow off episode when they never thought they'd actually do that plot, and so all the drama or fun of those concepts is totally lost.

Ben: Was that actually Jor-El in the original Kara episode? I can't remember if he was a trick or not.

Kiel: Neither can I, and that's the problem. They've never found a compelling reason for him to do anything in the show except be unexpectedly evil. So who cares?

Ben: Jor-El on "Smallville" alternately fascinates and confuses me. I am intrigued by the idea that he's this cold counterpoint to Jonathan Kent and not necessarily so much a bad guy as an uncaring father whose a product of the sterile environment that was Krypton. However, like you said, a lot of times his motivation is pretty unclear and they lose that in favor of "he's just a dick." If they were consistent and stuck with "He's hard on Clark and willing to let the ends justify the means because that's just how Kryptonians are" it would be an interesting nature vs nurture deal, but it has gotten muddled. They did a time travel episode last year where young Jor-El came to Earth and was pretty much a decent guy. You should watch if only so you can explain it to me.

Kiel: Ha! I'll look for it! So, yeah...Kara did very little this episode beyond swoop in at the last minute and repel the unnamed Darkseid's murder of cosmic crows with a bracelet she got at Rue 21, which brings me to the next topic of discussion: What the fuck?

Ben: You're going to need to specify your "What the fuck" – There's a lot of ground to cover.


Kiel: I mean, you've got the New Gods – the fucking NEW GODS – and I know you can't do the full blown thing on TV without it looking stupid, but is the best possible way for you to show the greatest evil in the DC Universe a cloud of smokey crows who does something vaguely painful to a dude off camera?

Whenever I think of the New Gods being totally bad ass in man's world, I think of that scene in Morrison's Mister Miracle series where they hold the cell phone up to the girl's ear so she can hear the Anti-Life equation and the black bile that coms out of her eyes, nose and ears completely rewrites her sense of self...it's a totally unnerving scene that makes you feel awful and powerless that can easily be done on TV with a little creative camera work and some cultish, yet PG torture porn acting, and they blew it, man. What a waste.

Ben: Yeah, I mean, I think it was kind of a given that we were sort of waiting with bated breath to see how they'd pull the New Gods off visually and from an FX perspective on a show like this and unfortunately the other shoe dropped this week. Doubly unfortunate because I did get goosebumps from the Darkseid shadow cloud in the season premiere.

I mean look: This is the show where Mr. Mxzyptlk was an exchange student and Brainiac was a college professor who looked like Spike from "Buffy." It's a show where until Green Arrow the identifiers for Flash or Aquaman were the color codes of their t-shirts. It's understandable that fans of the comics in particular would get antsy at being promised Doomsday or Darkseid. But I guess I do understand they can only do so much on network TV. I do agree it would have been nice to go psychological if you don't have the FX budget, but this is also still airing on a network where the biggest audience is tween girls. I guess it's a sign that for as much as Smallville has adapted to become a geek show in its later years as we've discussed, those teen soap opera roots still show. My only hope I guess is they're pinching pennies for a blowout finale where they can do the true Darkseid justice.

Kiel: No yeah, I hope they can make something happen. And in the last few seasons they've had some legit big moments where things have come together in a real bad ass and creative way. I honestly thought the Doomsday episodes I saw had a pretty intimidating monster on screen (the "Death of Jimmy" episode in particular)...but this week the thing that really screamed "you didn't think this through" was "Glorious" Godfrey. That guy was so milquetoast and ineffectual, and he's supposed to be whipping the public into a frenzy against superheroes.

I mean, we live in a world where Glen Beck is on TV every Goddamned day blubbering like a fucking crazy person in front of a chalkboard with a picture of Hitler taped to it, and people take him SERIOUSLY. In response, this show gives us a balding dude who sits around smoking in front of a microphone like some kind of community theater Eric Bogosian. FAIL.

Ben: Haha. I think we're actually going to have our first significant difference of opinion to date in this column here, although your argument there actually changed my mind a bit. What I will say is that the material he was given – which I'll get to in a minute aside, I actually thought the guy who played Godfrey was pretty decent. And I will educate you on him having just looked him up on IMDB.

Kiel: Please do!

Ben: His name is Michael Daingerfield and in addition to straight acting, he also does voiceovers, writes, produces, is a comedian and even an athlete! He was actually already on "Smallville" once back in 2003 as an assassin. But aside from that, he voices The Unicorn on "Iron Man: Armored Adventures," was on that "4400" show you liked and was in the friggin' Catowman movie!

Kiel: CRAZY! But you thought he did well here?


Ben: Yeah, I did like him here, not so much as the rabble rouser he was supposed to be, but I thought he effectively conveyed the possessed-by-Darkseid stuff. I liked his delivery of the creepy lines, like when he's in the limo with his publicist or talking to Lois. He had a good eerie calm and total confidence mixed with disdain. But I also thought he did a nice job of walking the line of being an effective portent of what Clark's up against while holding back enough that we get this is only Darkseif at like 40% tops. I can't imagine it's the easiest thing to be given the direction of "You're the biggest villain in the universe, kinda, but we need you to only be the first and thus weakest manifestation of him" and I did think Mr. Daingerfield did that.

Kiel: The end was much better, I'll give you that. And I will say that the only shot of the whole episode that had a legitimate sense of dread and creepiness was the one where Lois was wrapped up in that strangling mess of curtains at Club Desaad that for some reason reminded me of intestines...but I was still hoping for a little more effort here.

Ben: Right on about that Lois image really being the direction they need to go in with the Apokolips crowd. Hopefully they take a cue from that. I feel like with the bulk of the episode somebody read Final Crisis and missed a lot of the points, only seeing the "Oh, they like bondage" stuff when it came to the evil New Gods. I do not need to see sex fetish Mary Marvel on this show

Kiel: Holy shit, that would be epic in its madness though.

Ben: I wouldn't rule it out. By the way, how did Godfrey, let alone nigh omnipotent god Darkseid, not notice his limo driver and the bondage girl pouring candle wax on him both sounded exactly like Lois Lane, whom he had just had a confrontation with? Neither disguise was that good, and they had to be in that limo at least a little while

Kiel: There were a lot of glaring plot holes this week, even for "Smallville." I mean, the publicist scene where Godfrey goes "once the secret final chapter of my book hits the web tomorrow, it will start the dominos falling on all of humankind as the fear corrupts their souls" and she goes, "you so crazy...get some sleep. Laterz!" was there just to establish that he had a thumb drive in his pocket.

Side convo: how TERRIBLE was that publicist actress????

Ben: Oh she was the pits. As Megan likes to say any time we're watching anything and somebody that bad comes on, "Somebody has a cousin who's a producer..."

Kiel: The other thing that stuck out to me about the New Gods stuff was how Kara and Clark just keep referring to him as "a dark force" or "the darkness" or whatever, and I know that no one who's just watching this show on TV who doesn't read comics will be kept from the big villain's name until later in the show, but the language they used in its place just made the whole exercise sound silly.

Ben: It definitely got both noticeable and tiresome. I was disappointed that they so quickly established Lois (and to a lesser extent Kara) as incorruptible by Darkseid. Having Lois fall under his sway later in the season would have been both unnerving and a significant challenge for Clark in a way a Darkseid-possessed Green Arrow or Hawkman can never be.

Kiel: Well, here's what I was going to say on all that...we've discovered over the past two weeks how the two threads they seem to be building for this season are A) Clark might be corrupted by a dark power that will stop him from becoming the hero he's meant to be and B) the idea that to be a true hero, Clark has to step out without a mask and be accepted by the public. In this episode, we got movement on both those fronts, and not just a little tease of them, but a shit load of heavy-handed dialogue that just wouldn't give up until you knew that the so-called subtext was EXACTLY how the character's felt. Aside from being decidedly non-subtle (which you know I hate), the tactic did make it feel like these threads can't possibly be stretched out for the entire season, you know?

Ben: Yeah, I mean this isn't "Gossip Girl."

Kiel: Do you think they could throw a curveball where those themes don't last more than a five-episode arc or so?

Ben: No, you're right, it's only three episodes in and it definitely feels like we're being beat over the head with exactly what Clark needs to do in order to be a hero. Unfortunately, as appealing and appropriate as it is to have the final season of a long-running show be a parade of guest stars primarily from the run thus far, there's also the danger of the writers feeling like the best way to continue to pay lip service to their super story is to have each of these characters justify being part of the larger arc by kinda giving the same pep talk over and over. Obviously, Smallville has fallen into this trap pretty quickly.


We've got a long way to go, and probably a lot more familiar faces who are going to show up and warn Clark about the dangers of fear and overconfidence, tell him about his potential, encourage him to step into the light, yada yada. Speaking of that last point, is it just me or did the big identity reveal of Green Arrow as Oliver Queen really...not feel like a big deal at all? I'm interested in seeing how it changes his dynamic, but it felt really tacked on,

Kiel: It felt like a $3 version of the end of "Iron Man" is what it fucking felt like. But I mean, setting aside it's general lack of drama (which I'm not blaming on my boy Justin Hartley, because his shirtless Akido routine this week made me fall in love with that big hunk all over again), I was at least encouraged that it felt like they were willing to change some things early in this season...a move for the better if you ask me.

Ben: Yeah, I agree it will lead to interesting things, and Hartley is best-equipped to pull it off, it's just unfortunate it was executed with so little build and finesse. Green Arrow/Ollie is definitely one of the best characters on the show, so I just felt like he deserved better. That said, I'm very intrigued to see the ramifications both for him and on his relationship with Clark.

Kiel: Well, I don't know if you saw the interview with Peterson and Souders my boy Erik Amaya did on CBR today...It's not very spoilery in terms of the whole season, more of a piece on how the 200th episode came together on creative terms with a little behind the scenes stuff on how they're constructing the guest stars for the rest of the year. But the pair play some lip service to making this one a big moment for Clark, so I'm interested to see if it ends up being on of those really good "turning point" episodes of "Smallville" where we get a lot of major story beats all together that help shape a bit of what's going on with the mythology.

Ben: Well hopefully that will be a step back in the right direction. I don't feel like this episode completely derailed things, but certainly it was a hiccup in the momentum they were building. You'll likely see more of the "You need to do this, Clark" stuff next week, but it will be delivered by James Marsters, which can make a pretty big difference. I know Kristen Kreuk will be appearing...in flashback, which once again will give me the opportunity to wag my finger at her, Michael Rosenbaum and Alison Mack for being too "busy" to drop by the show that made them for such a milestone. You know Sam Jones III would be there in a heartbeat.

Kiel: HA! I do think it's pretty funny that the plot of the episode is a high school reunion and no one that Clark went to high school with will be there. Maybe Whitney the QB will show up!

Ben: He died.

Kiel: HAHAHAHA!

Ben: Off camera. I'm serious

Kiel: Oh shit, it was in Iraq, right?

Ben: Yep.

Kiel: Damn, this show has been on a long time.

Ben: It sure has. I hope the other Ashmore twin who was a freak of the week is on and Clark's like "Jimmy?!"

Kiel: And then JTT pops out, and is like, "No fucking way!" and then giant explosions!

Ben: Hahahaha. Every kid who got shitty powers and Clark put down should just corner him in the parking lot.

Kiel: And ask him if he can get them a guest spot on "Hellcats."

Ben: Fun fact: IMDB tells me that Michael "Gordon Godfrey" Daingerfield was already also on an episode of "Hellcats." Somebody made a good impression...

So wait, was Clark a freshman or sophomore in high school when this show started? Because regardless, what school has six or seven year reunions?

Kiel: I thought of that too, but you can't assault this show with logic, Ben.

Ben: Well, to wrap up, I've got a special guest commentary from TJ Dietsch to close out this week's edition of "Sayonara, Smallville."

Kiel: Oh boy!

Ben: "Oh man, I loved the appearance of some character from the DC Universe the regular public doesn't know about"

Kiel: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! A brilliant observation as always from Mr. D.

Ben: The best part is this is probably the one week that comment will be a swing and a miss. But eloquent and well-stated nonetheless.

Strawberry Shortcake/Richie Rich by Matt & Ben

Among the myriad of announcements made this past weekend at New York Comic Con was that Ape Entertainment has acquired the rights to both Richie Rich and Strawberry Shortcake.

I'm not sure what Ape's submission policy is like, but that didn't stop myself and Matt Powell from getting busy ASAP...

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE/RICHIE RICH: FOR LOVE OR MONEY
By Benjamin J. Morse & Matthew A. Powell

Strawberry Shortcake has ever been a woman of the people; a gal with grit and moxie not afraid to roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty in order to get the job done. She's beloved by her friends, fulfilled by her work and proud of the reputation she has earned as Strawberryland's premiere pastry chef at the tender age of six. This has always been enough for Strawberry.

Until now.

The arrival of a mysterious stranger with golden locks and haunting eyes in the heart of Lilac Park has rocked Strawberry Land to its core. He remembers nothing of his past, save for two significant letters: "RR."

Strawberry finds herself drawn to the enigmatic newcomer and before long, inevitable romance blooms. But what will happen when she learns the truth about her new love? How will their relationship alter when he regains both his memory and his birthright?

This epic tale of honor, duty and the ties that bind the heart spills out into the seedy world of Richville, where everyone has a price and decency is a forgotten word.

Can Strawberry Shortcake and her new suitor bring light to Richville through the power of their affection? And what will become of Strawberryland when its greatest defender finds herself seduced by the glamor of a life she could only dream about? Can Blueberry Muffin fend off the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak without the aid of her best friend? And for Blueberry, has that friendship become...something more?

Strawberryland or Richville? Blueberry Muffin or the gold-tressed stranger? Hard work or a life of leisure? Love or money?

YOU MUST DECIDE, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE! YOU MUST DECIDE!!

We're going to need at least 12 issues for this. And Mike Perkins.

Looks Like Ben Is Buying A PS3 This Month

More info here.

Ben's original love letter here.

Come see us at New York Comic Con!

New York Comic Con officially gets underway tomorrow morning and your favorite Cool Kids will be in full effect!

-Kiel will be steering the ship over at Comic Book Resources, covering the full breadth and width of the show, so check out his and his team's coverage.

-In addition to filing stories for Marvel.com, Ben will be co-hosting the Marvel.com Live live streaming video with Ryan "Agent M" Penagos and Grace Randolph all weekend.

-Kevin will be pulling double duty for both Marvel and CBR.

-And Rickey will be manning the DC booth throughout the show, so stop by, get one of the world's greatest high fives, and tell him how great his hair looks (it always looks great).

See y'all at NYCC!

Underrated/Overlooked: Silver Surfer: Requiem

The Silver Surfer is not the easiest guy to make work as a protagonist. I’m a fan of a character and think he’s a great creation, not to mention one of comics’ greatest guest stars—he really adds weight and that “oh shit, things just got real” factor to any story—but when he’s the focus, it’s a tough sell.

To this day, probably the best Silver Surfer story of all—at least top three—is his introduction in Fantastic Four where he turns on Galactus and helps the FF save Earth. The tale of a stoic alien realizing we dumb humans may be worth saving and more or less turning on God to stand up for us is pretty spectacular as far as star turns go.

Unfortunately, even the best stuff with the Surfer on a long-term basis seems to stagnate. The first handful of issues in his initial solo series by Stan Lee and John Buscema are seriously killer, but you reach a point where you can only sit through so much pathos about being trapped on Earth/separated from his true love, and the “I don’t understand why humans are so needlessly violent…but I will save them anyways” routine gets played out rather rapidly. I likewise enjoyed what Jim Starlin and Ron Marz did with the Surfer back in the 90’s, but even they were hampered by his fairly unbeatable power set and basic detached nature; the first problem kept him in space fighting cosmic gods and nothing else while the second just made him tough to relate to or even like that much.

However, while he may not make an ideal candidate for ongoing series headline status, the Surfer has inspired some pretty great one-off tales, and I think Requiem, by J. Michael Straczynski and Esad Ribic, may well be among the very best.

The story is not set in continuity and depicts what happens when the Silver Surfer learns he is dying and how he spends his final days. Though there is action, it’s less an adventure—the end outcome is never really in doubt—and more a character study of Norrin Radd and his alter ego by JMS. Say what you will about Straczynski—everybody does—but you can really tell when he truly loves a character because few break them down and show what makes them work better, and he sure as heck must be fond of the Silver Surfer.

In four issues, we see the Surfer’s final journey to Earth as he seeks out the Fantastic Four to learn his fate, more or less an extended conversation with Spider-Man, a final cosmic tale centered around an age-old interstellar conflict, and finally, Norrin Radd’s return to Zenn-La, his reunion with Shalla Bal, and his ultimate encounter with Galactus.

The Surfer does not talk all that much throughout Requiem. He’s not silent and we’re given a window into his thoughts on his own mortality, what he has accomplished, his legacy, his view on humanity and other topics, but only speaks when moved to do so, and his words have great weight; it’s a far cry from the philosophizing wonderer of Lee’s early stories, who was special in his own right, but seems like a far younger version of the character.

Instead, it’s mostly through how others view him that JMS paints his picture of the Silver Surfer. The FF agonizes over being unable to help him overcome his gravest ordeal in light of all he has truly given at great cost to his own existence. Spider-Man realizes he has been guilty of always viewing him as an outsider, only to learn through a simple chat he may have greater insight into humanity than most people could dream of. Two alien generals witness his awesome power and feel his rage at not being able to solve all the universe’s problems, and worse, not understanding why he can’t. The people of Zenn La revere him for his tremendous sacrifice on their behalf. Shalla Bal sees simply the man she will always love. And finally, Galactus shows that even the most powerful being in the galaxy can learn respect.

The story reminds us of the silent nobility that the Surfer had back in those first appearances. We see a man whose near infinite capacity for putting himself in peril so that other may have a chance to simply be is rivaled only by his frustration at not understanding why everybody else can’t see things as he does.

Perhaps the finest moment in the series comes in the second issue during the encounter between the Surfer and Spider-Man. At Spidey’s behest, the Surfer shares his Power Cosmic with another, the Web-Slinger’s wife, Mary Jane Watson, as a birthday present. There’s a great aside where after the Surfer introduces himself as Norrin Radd to MJ, Spidey mentally chides himself for never thinking he had a real name, never seeing him as a person. Following the experience, answering a question the Surfer had earlier about how he could do something to help Earth before he died, Spider-Man suggests he allows the entire world to see things as he does for just five seconds—maybe it will make a difference, maybe it won’t, but people will at least glimpse and know that there’s a better way to live. It’s a beautiful beat.

Indeed the whole series is beautiful thanks to Ribic’s painted art. He’s a deliberate and particular talent who we don’t see new work from with great frequency because he is so specific about what projects he chooses and then pours himself into them for years at a time. Requiem benefits tremendously from Ribic’s commitment and patience.

Just as the Surfer is a tough guy to write, he’s a challenge for artists, as it’s really just a naked dude painted silver. The true masters from Jack Kirby to John Buscema to Moebius and so on have been able to leave their mark on the character by rising to this and going all out, not taking shortcuts that are pretty clearly there. Ribic walks a perfect balance between giving the Surfer an ethereal glow particularly in his facial expression and portraying his fading sheen as dictated by the story as very much an all-too-real metal that dents and bruises. He both makes the character almost larger than imagination and so close you can touch him. His portrayal of the Surfer’s power feels every bit as epic as it should, and his delicate work on the moving final scenes make the grief come off the page.

And his Galactus is sick.

Silver Surfer: Requiem depicts the Silver Surfer with all the promise and majesty he displayed when he first sprang forth from the minds of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He fulfills his potential as a champion perhaps without fear facing his most trying and yet defining moments. And yet, good as the story and art are, I think they also show why the Surfer works best in small doses. This is a character you bottle up and save for special occasions, of which this is certainly one. It may be tough to make the Silver Surfer work, but when you can, it’s magic.

Sayonara, Smallville: "Shield"

Incredible but true: This year, The CW's "Smallville" embarks on its tenth and final season, making it not just the longest-running Superman TV show ever but the longest-running comic book TV show ever produced. Bananas, right?

To celebrate its final year, we're teaming up our collective powers of dumb DCU trivia, long experience watching and writing about the show and general obsession with serial TV to bring you "Sayonara, Smallville" – a semi-regular feature where we'll review the most notable episodes of the season whenever we can. Everyone is invited to play along.


Kiel: So...where to start this week? Big story stuff or little story stuff?

Ben: I think the place to start is mentioning you interviewed Keri Lynn Pratt. What was she like?

Kiel: Oh yeah! It was fun. I'll totally admit to having a crush on her annoying voice.

Ben: Haha. Dude, she was on Brad Meltzer's show "Jack & Bobby" for its one season back in 2004-2005.

Kiel: I totally asked her about Meltzer! But she had no nerdy stories about him, just a word that he's a nice dude and a good writer. I didn't even unclude the quote in the final story because it didn't add anything.

Ben: It's funny, because Matt Long from that show played young Johnny Blaze in "Ghost Rider," Logan Lehrman was almost Spider-Man and now she was Cat Grant. And half the cast is on "Mad Men" now, but that's neither here nor there.

Kiel: With actresses on shows like this, it's hard to ask anything that's big picture either in terms of the broad story (which she'll have no clue on) or the mechanics of how the show is made stuff (which she barely interacts with), so mostly you have to hope they put some thought into their character, which she seemed to do in the form of reading up on the comics and then completely not playing up the "dragged through the mud" life Cat Grant's been given in the comics.

Ben: Anyways, she's popped up on a bunch of shows I watch like "Veronica Mars" and "Brothers & Sisters," so it was interesting to see her here, interesting to read your interview and interesting to hear a little about the mechanics of it.

Bot now, I guess I'd segue that into what you'd call the "small stuff" of this episode, that being a bit of what we touched on last week with how this really is almost a live action Justice League Unlimited now, with Cat, Hawkman, Deadshot and the rest of the Suicide Squad all putting in appearances this week, plus a quick nod to (presumably) Glorious Godfrey to further along the Fourth World/Darkseid stuff. Want to hit those characters one at a time?

Kiel: For sure. To start with Cat, I wasn't even aware until I did my interview that they HAD a character on the show called Catherine Grant last season for one episode, which is to my mind the third time "Smallville" has twice introduced a Superman cast member with the second time being the more acurate portrayal.

Ben: Huh, I definitely did not know that either. What were the other two? Is one the whole Jimmy Olsen mindfuck?

Kiel: Oh man I guess that makes four! HAHA!

Ben: Explaining that deal to people is crazy, yet it was also one of the most brilliant swerves ever.

Kiel: The other two were Dr. Emil Hamilton who was a burnt out LuthorCorp scienctist who helped Clark discover the secrets of meteor rocks in the early seasons before being killed. Now we've got the helpful Dr. Hamilton who works at the hospital played by dude from "Battlestar Galactica."

Ben: Oh yeah, I remember original Doc Hamilton. I always figured the new guy was Hamilton, but since they only ever call him Emil, I wasn't 100%. And I never watched "BSG," so your reference means nothing to me.

Kiel: Then there was fake Kara/Supergirl who showed up played by the chick from "Friday Night Lights" in like Season 4 who eventually was replaced by the real Kara (AKA the chick from "V" who I met once at Fan Expo) who will again show up later this season.

Ben: Yeah, that Supergirl thing was a blatant swerve. Anyways, as much as I thought Keri Lynn-Pratt gave her all, I was not a fan of this incarnation of Cat Grant. It was a pretty clear case of the writers needing a character to convey a plot message ("People are turning against super heroes! Clark needs to emerge from the shadows!") and just tacking a familiar name on her.


Kiel: I thought the twist of her actually stealing the name from the TV personality but being more like the "real" Cat in having a kid and all was a little interesting, but that was more plot manuvering than it was real character work, which she needed pretty bad.

Ben: Yeah. She was clearly a one-episode character brought in to move the plot along, which is fine, but I was a little bummed out both because it was an actress I liked, and the character is generally cool (I confess I had no idea there was a previous Cat Grant until you just told me). And to be fair, nobody will ever match up to Tracy Scoggins' one season of brilliance as Cat on "Lois & Clark" way back when.

Kiel: Oh man! Season One "Lois & Clark" is the best "Lois & Clark" for sure. I hated new Jimmy.

Ben: I tried re-watching season one a few years back and felt like it didn't hold up, but I really want to give it another shot maybe after this ends. I loved that show. And for some reason Deadshot being on this week reminded me that Antonio Sabato Jr. was a weird version of Deathstroke on that show. Random.

Anyways, I did like the subtle introduction of Godfrey and the fact that they're seemingly going to use a rough adaptation of the plotline from Legends, which appropriately is where the Suicide Squad was introduced. I like that there is an impetus not only for Clark to be a hero more publicly, but one who inspires trust and doesn't dress like he's in "The Matrix."

Kiel: I didn't even catch the Legends reference! But that makes sense. It was really weird. I know that "Smallville" has taken to doing kind of "one off genre" episodes in the Peterson/Souders era (noir, J-horror, soap opera, etc) and this one felt like they wanted to turn Deadshot's stuff into a kind of "modern Western" thing, which was kind of lame, but the broader story turns around it that you mentioned all worked for me so I went with it.

Ben: I have to say that "The public distrusts vigilantes and thus Clark must become the hero they can look up to" appeals to me way more as an uber arc than "Clark must overcome an inner darkness in order to become Superman."

Kiel: Agreed.

Ben: Because really what sets Superman (and I guess Captain America) apart from most heroes is that they do need to be concerned with their public image as opposed to just doing their job. So if that's the direction this season ultimately goes, it definitely feels like a very appropriate way to segue everything that has come before on "Smallville" into the true beginning of Clark as Superman.

Kiel: And I think that this thread for Clark is one that (as they started to develop here) puts him in a position where he has to choose the job or Lois, which is something they can get more done with over a 22-episode season or however long this will last.


Ben: The Clark and Lois stuff is actually probably what's working least for me two episodes in, so let's touch on that. My first problem is simply that I'm confused. Number one, I'm still unclear why Lois ran off to Africa rather than be with Clark. She's afraid of overwhelming him with questions? She feels like she'll get in the way more now because she knows? I don't feel like it's been adequately explained. I'm also not sure who knows what. Hawkman said Clark doesn't know Lois knows, but Lois knows Carter Hall is Hawkman, and Hawkman knows Lois knows...I'm a bit lost there.

Kiel: I don't know if she knows he's Hawkman, but I haven't seen all the Hawkman stuff from last season. I think that she just put together that he works with Clark when he was like, "So you know about Clark's powers, huh?"

Ben: I'm definitely concerned Lois knowing the secret could hurt the flow of the season. It feels like she should have ended the show still not knowing so Clark would have to make the choice you mentiooned earlier. I'm blanking on what Lois was up to in the JSA episode last year, but when Carter Hal showed up in Africa, she definitely seemed to recognize him. I don't know if that's because he's a famous archaeologist or what.

Kiel: And as for why she left, the way i read it is that she got rejected...plain and simple. He didn't say he wanted her there so she decided to move on with her career. I know she's got all these mixed feelings to work through about knowing Clark's secret, but I don't think one necessarily has to directly influece the other if that makes any sense.

Ben: Ah, ok, that makes sense. So since he's not ready to tell her, it's tough for her to be around him. I can get that a little more (I still don't love it).

Kiel: What I did feel tonight was the idea that by the end of the season, they may not end up in the classic "Lois and Clark...they don't know each other's secrets" thing as much as it may become what it is in the comics: they're a couple, and he's a superhero.

Ben: That will be interesting to see. It could certainly go either way.

Kiel: It'd be a big choice for them to make, but it's not like we haven't already gotten years of the "Will they, won't they?" interaction in this iteration of the characters.

Ben: Or she'll die and we'll learn that her younger sister is the real Lois Lane.

Kiel: Not impossible!

Ben: Seriously man, that Jimmy Olsen thing was fucking genius and I appreciate it more all the time.


Ben: Can we talk Hawkman a bit?

Kiel: Go!

Ben: Michael Shanks/Hawkman was my fucking MVP this episode. In the JSA episode last year, he was all "I'm angry!" and just yelled at Green Arrow a lot, but he totally nailed the aggressive side of the Hawkman character. Here, he still had the gruffness, but he definitely tapped into the suave and worldly Carter Hall stuff and his dynamic with Lois was great. It was clearly an encounter she needed as a character, but as a viewer, I felt like I needed it too, and they delivered. He gives a helluva pep talk.

Kiel: I'll admit...I thought he SUUUUUUUUUUCKED last year in the JSA episode. Not only was the costume fucking redonkulous, but it was a text-book example of how dialogue on a comics page can make perfect sense coming out of a drawings mouth but sound awful when spoken by real human beings (though Geoff did a good job with Stargirl and Fate) but he was much better here: actually likable and showing off a little range. I'm wondering if I'll like him as much next time he puts on that dopey chestpiece.

Ben: You absolutely will not, but that's OK. I hear you. It's hard not to look like a jackass in that costume, but he did as well as he could. But yeah, I dug out-of-costume Carter Hall probably a lot more than Hawkman. And I love the fact that he almost kissed Lois because like every super hero on this show goes after Lois. It was funny because back when Lana was around and Clark-Lois wasn't an option, she got with Aquaman and then Green Arrow. I wish comics Lois had torrid affairs with the rest of the Justice League before settling down with Clark.

Kiel: it would make those Thanksgiving dinner issues WAY more interesting.

Ben: Right?

Ben: One of the 52 Earths needs to be a swingers world. Just putting that out there...and now backing away.


Ben: Deadshot! I had mixed feelings on this one. He's a character I really love in the comics, so it took some getting used to here. I wasn't expecting him to show up in red an yellow, but the "modern day cowboy" bit as you described it threw me for a loop. By the end I thought it was pretty OK. The guy who played him did a good job the few times he got to talk. Obviously he wasn't a very credible opponent for Clark on his own, but I guess he did get his job done.

Kiel: My entire history with Deadshot amounts to: "Villains United," that one "Batman" arc Geoff did with Scott McDaniel and an issue of Peter David's "Aquaman." From that, I surmise he's an assassin that maybe sleeps around a bit? There's still room on the show for him to mack on Lois is I guess what I'm saying here.

Ben: HaHa! Well-played. He's been played a bit different in recent years, but his Suicide Squad deal was always basically that he was a super slick killer who you never quite knew if he had a death wish or not, which made him interesting. And also, Batman always claimed he "pulled his shots around him," which was a curious aside John Ostrander wrote in.

Kiel: But here's my question for you:

Ben: Shoot

Kiel: Is that weird skull and bones sigil thing an actual logo for the Suicide Squad, or is it something invented by the show? I spent the entire second half of the episode trying to figure out if they were teasing the Squad or the New Gods before realizing a general audience wouldn't care until the final reveal anyway.

Ben: I was actually going to comment on that! It is a logo that has been used exactly once for the Suicide Squad "reunion" mini that Ostrander did a couple years back. It never existed back during the book's long original run and is not only a new thing, but one that's barely been used, so that caught me by surprise but I definitely recognized it.

I'm beginning to think that the Suicide Squad and Checkmate are going to be that "third way" group that Sean always raves about how much he loves like Destro on G.I. Joe or The Rat King in Ninja Turtles. They're going to be the JLA's enemies for the bulk of the season, and then they'll all need to team up to take down Darkseid and friends. That's my prediction. And I wouldn't be shocked if Chloe ends the series joining them as a version of Oracle or something.

Kiel: That's actually a pretty solid theory. Want to hear my big prediction/wish for the end of the season?

Ben: Please.

Kiel: OK, so originally the thing they always teased with "Smallville" was "no tights, no flights" meaning he'd never wear a costume or fly in the show. That went way out the window a few years ago when the shift towards DCU/JLA went full blown, but I remember going to a panel for "Smallville" back at San Diego in like 2003 when I went where the producers said the final image of the show might be Clark in the costume for the first time, taking a leap off the Daily Planet building and flying out over the city...I thought that would be a really nice, poignant image for them to wrap on all things considered, but now I think that won't work at all.

So my new prediction or at least my hope for how the show ends is that they just say "Fuck it" and put him in the Routh costume with like five or six episodes left and end the whole shebang with a full on "Superman Vs. Darkseid" mini event type story. We've already seen him do everything BUT fight as Superman. Why save it until the very, very end?

Ben: So no "last image of the show" prediction, but you think he'll don the suit to fight Darkseid?

Kiel: I think that if they don't do that, it's a MAJOR missed opportunity at least.


Ben: I wonder how much they're going to use the "new" costume that debuted at the end of this episode as a stopgap to hold off on the Routh suit until the finale. I could see that thing getting shredded in battle with Darkseid and he needs to switch to the real deal.

Kiel: I don't know. Like you, I like that better than the Matrix shit (reminds me of the "Kelly/Ferry" Superboy outfit) but its inclusion is a bit weird to me.

Ben: It surprised me. The logical side of me (which I really need to put away when watching this show) wonders how Clark acquired such a slick red leather jacket with his fucking symbol on it, but I guess Oliver could have made it for him. I'm definitely suspending disbelief quite a bit more even than I did in the early days of the show as far as everybody not getting his secret identity when he's saving Cat or knocking out Deadshot or whatever.

Ben: My pick for final shot of the show? The pretty iconic bit we've seen many times over the years where Lex Luthor is sitting in his office and Superman taps on the window to do the "I'm watching you" bit. I'd end on Lex--played by Michael Rosenbaum--looking angry but then smiling after Superman leaves, knowing the neverending battle has begun, and then Tom Welling flying off into the sunset. Those characters, those actors. Bring the show full circle.

Kiel: Another great pick. Man, let's hope they don't screw this up

Ben: Fingers crossed.

Kiel: One other thing I wanted to mention: I'm pretty sure you didn't notice this, but the whole "Let's discuss Clark's fate by bringing up Nietzsche" is TOTALLY a callback to the pilot (or at least one of the first three episodes) where Clark and Lana had a very similar discussion
Kiel: I just love how this show can now play off its own mythology as much as DCU canon in telling stories.

Ben: Oh I certainly had no idea. That's great though. Yeah, ten years of continuity is a lot. I still can't believe this is a show that started off about a kid in high school and now he's getting ready to fight evil space gods.


Ben: I've got just a few more quick things, mostly in regards to the Suicide Squad; the first being that after this week I'd say I'm 99% sure that guy who tortured Ollie and sprung Deadshot is Rick Flag.

Kiel: For sure it is.

Ben: Which is cool by me...the second is that I could not be less thrilled that jailbait Plastique is still in the mix. Not one of my favorite characters.

Kiel: HA! Was she in the show before now?

Ben: She was introduced in her own ep, which boggled my mind because it's fucking Plastique, and then she led a proto-version of the Squad I think the season before last against Doomsday (it didn't go well). She's just kinda annoying. That said, their exist strut with Flag's line about the Suicide Squad showing them how it's done is great.

Kiel: Yeah, solid ending which I think will pique the interest of non-fans,

Ben: I was worried the Squad's inclusion in this season would feel tacked on with all the returns of old characters, intros of Fourth World stuff and push towards the end in general, but it's actually fitting in really nicely.

Kiel: The long-term potential was set up much better by this ep than the premier, I think.

Ben: That there are these darker vigilante types out there does a nice job creating the environment Clark needs to transcend as well as planting the seeds of discord between him and Ollie given how Green Arrow has always wanted to be more pro-active. It fits into the long-term stuff because it creates the kind of more morally grey world where Darkseid can be a real threat. And sets Clark up to finally take that plunge into full-on Superman mode because he sees where the other path leads. I really do credit the crew for either using Legends as the perfect source material here or just coincidentally hitting the same story beats.

Kiel: Yeah, I get the feeling that the Darkseid stuff won't blow up big until a good six or seven episodes in, if that, and I'm more than happy to wait for it to creep up while the public is tearing itself apart over the vigilante thing.

Ben: My one totally nitpicky thing was whether or not the Squad tagged other heroes besides Clark, Ollie and Hawkman in scenes we just didn't see, or if for some reason they just went after the three of them. Because if they don't have tabs on like J'onn, Impulse, etc., they're gonna be pretty fucked.

Kiel: Yeah...I bet we'll get another "wall of TV screens" check in on the other Leaguers from one side or the other really soon.

Ben: That would make sense. Of course I have to end on the fact that Chloe seems to be gone from the show for the time being, and the one time overflowing cast list at the front of the credits is now down to four. It's crazy that the regular cast of Smallville is now Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Green Arrow and original character Tess Mercer.

The Kents, Lex, Lana, Lionel, Jimmy, Zod, Doomsday, fucking Pete Ross--all GONE.

Kiel: "Featuring a cast of dozens of budget DC superheroes"

Ben: Haha. Again, how far we've come. And as with Kristen Kreuk last week, I'd love to know what was so important that Alison Mack couldn't hang in there for 20 more episodes or so, but I suppose so it goes

Kiel: But yeah, it's crazy they've held it together...testament to the casting of Clark and Lois, i think.

Ben: Absolutely the strength of Tom Welling and Erica Durance in their roles is really something. And not to be undersold is how much juice Justin Hartley has given the show. I'm sure it was at least a discussion over whether or not adding Green Arrow as a regular cast member to a Superman show was a sensible idea, but man, that gamble paid off huge.

Kiel: They will have booths at Wizard World Comic-Cons for as long as they want them.

Ben: Tom Welling has "Hellcats" to produce, Kiel, he has no time for signings. Anyways, strong episode this week in the long term set-up department, some good stuff with Lois-Hawkman as well as the Suicide Squad, and the Cat stuff wasn't perfect, but that's still a pretty decent batting average. Next week: Supergirl returns!

Kiel: Oh God, I'm going to have so much fun with that!

6 Things Ben Got Into This Year

Following in Kiel’s mighty footsteps, I wanted to also endorse a half dozen neat things I discovered and found to be rad over these past 12 months as part of our two-year blogiversary. I don’t think any of these will come as any great surprise—or perhaps I am indeed an enigma wrapped in a mystery more than I believe—but maybe my endorsement this time around gives somebody that last little push to give something cool a shot.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS
Silver Age Marvel has always been a big gap in my comic book reading repertoire until quite recently. One reason is simply that I didn’t have access to the material—even at Wizard our Marvel library started a lot later than our DC stuff—and the other was that I’d sampled old school X-Men and Avengers comics as those were my primary franchises and didn’t really fall in love with them (ditto early Justice League). However, over the last couple years over at Marvel we’ve been re-releasing the Masterworks series in paperback, and thus I’ve had the opportunity to sample the classics. This will shock nobody, but wow, those original Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four runs got their reputations for a reason; the fertility of incredible characters and ideas as well as the frankly stunning Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko art is just jaw-dropping. I also really took a shine to the Stan Lee/John Buscema Silver Surfer series and was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed the Captain America series from Tales of Suspense. Next up for me is giving Doctor Strange a try as well as continuing to wait patiently for the Warlock stuff to come around.
PARENTHOOD
I wasn’t sure what to make of this show when it came on—Rickey loves the original movie but I don’t remember it that well—but it has rapidly become one of my absolute favorites on TV. I’m a sucker for family dramedies with talented big-ass casts, in part because I have a very entertaining extended family myself, and since “Brothers and Sisters” has been running out of steam a bit, this came along at the perfect time. I’m happy to see Peter Krause on a good show (since I suffered through the unevenness of “Dirty Sexy Money”), I’m loving seeing what all the fuss was about in regards to Lauren Graham, I’m shocked at how much I enjoy Dax Shephard’s work, and it’s always nice to see Craig T. Nelson on television. That’s just scratching the surface of the great group of actors on this show, and not even getting into brilliant scripting, the clear improvisation, the heartstring-tugging stuff, and the dynamite chemistry—just a pleasure.

DAYTRIPPER
I’ve spent a good bit of blogging real estate this year talking up Daytripper, but now that the series has wrapped, I think it warrants at least one more solid praising. Credit where credit is due: this book wasn’t on my radar at all, but Ryan Penagos recommended it to me after the first issue came out, I borrowed from Rickey (I believe) and then bought the rest of the series, seriously eagerly anticipating each installment. Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba created something really beautiful here that I feel like is going to be a timeless work and something I personally look forward to putting on my shelf. Death is a very hard subject for me to deal with or even think about, yet these guys had me devoting time to doing just that every month, and ultimately I do believe I made a little bit of peace with how much living a full life and really appreciating those you love ultimately matters more than anything in the end; can’t speak highly enough of this book.

RING OF HONOR WRESTLING
I’ve never stopped watching pro wrestling, but prior to 2010, I think it had been about seven years since I’d been to a live show. My buddy “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels has tried to remedy this fact in recent years, but I always indisposed whenever he came to town. Finally, back in May, I not only had the fun of Chris joining myself and Megan for lunch at the Saddle Brook Diner, that night I went and saw him perform at Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor V at the Manhattan Center in New York City. There and then again on September 11 for Glory By Honor IX, I had a real blast rediscovering how awesome live wrestling can be via the great product ROH puts on. There’s just something real cool about watching guys who are awesome at what they do and pretty damn fearless put on an incredible show while surrounded by passionate and vocal fans who are totally into it. Getting to hang with the boys after the shows was really a dream come true for me as well, as I’ve always been totally fascinated by this bizarre fraternity that is pro wrestling, and love getting to be even a fringe part of it every few months.

MARVEL ALL-AGES BOOKS
I’ve been pretty openly complimentary to Thor: The Mighty Avenger in particular recently, but that’s really just the crown jewel in the awesome all-ages empire of titles Nate Cosby and his band of miscreants have carved out at Marvel. I’ll admit I used to chuck away the bulk of my Marvel Adventures books in my comps, but once Paul Tobin took over MA Super Heroes with that killer regular Avengers line-up of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Invisible Woman, Black Widow, Vision and Nova, I was hooked and started gobbling it up. When that got re-launched alongside MA Spider-Man, I gave that a shot as well and it’s more great stuff. Those are seriously three of the most enjoyable comic books on the market right now, and I don’t think it matters how old you are as far as digging them; “all-ages” really does mean for all ages in this case. Beyond that, you’ve got Pet Avengers, Power Pack and so on—all great stuff. Roger Langridge, Paul Tobin, Chris Eliopoulos, Chris Samnee, Ronan Cliquet and the rest of the talented crew Nate has assembled are hard-working dudes (and ladies) who love to have a good time and the fruits of their enthusiasm are some of comics’ true gems right now.

AMY’S SOY CHEESE PIZZA
As a guy who gave up pizza about five years ago when I learned I was lactose intolerant and has suffered without it ever since, I cannot thank whoever Amy is enough for this glorious creation.