01/30/2004 Archived Entry: "Super Inconsistencies"
Smallville is a “retelling” of Superman’s early years so its taken a few liberties with what was established in Comic Book history. I don't mind most of the changes made; some have made the show more interesting than it could have been and some of them were completely pointless. Just so you know, I’ve decided to point out some of the differences that I know of.
Lana and Pete
They’re both supposed to be white for one thing and they’re supposed to be in a love triangle with Clark. Instead we got the Lana-Clark-Whitney and Lana-Clark-Chloe triangles. Pete is never supposed to find out about Clark’s powers but Lana does, and even with knowledge of Clark’s amazing abilities she chooses Pete over Clark (aaaw).
Chloe
Sorry doods, she never existed. There’re rumours that she’s Lois Lane’s cousin though.
Jor-El
In an episode this season it revealed that Jor-El had visited Earth and the Kents before ever sending Clark to them, and had decided that he wanted the Kents to raise Clark. This is the one change I really disagreed with. The fact that Clark was found and raised by decent, moral folk (instead of, say, the Luthors) was supposed to be a stroke of fate, not some “plan”.
The Luthors
Lex never grew up nor lived in Smallville, and he never met Clark before he was Superman. He was raised in the slums of Metropolis and made his fortune when he, at a young age, bought and collected super-life-insurance for his parents and then burned down their house. It was heavily hinted at in December’s episodes that Lionel did these things. So Lex was always a rotten kid and didn’t have this Vader-esque fall to the Dark Side. I don’t know how they’re ever going to get Clark to be Superman without Lex knowing it unless they mindwipe him again.
And if you’re wondering, the writers have said that the only time we’ll see Clark “in costume” will be the very last scene of the last episode of the series.
Replies: 11 comments
Smallville is an awful show...it seems to have little sense of direction and it is so repetitive...you'd be more productive trying to start a fire with two sticks in the snow...
Posted by dAN @ 01/30/2004 04:31 PM EST
trying to start a fire in the snow is probably a smart idea too ... especially if you forgot your mittens, hehehe
but ... seriously folks, the writers of smallville weren't allowed to completely follow the comics ... some sort of copyright deal and such ... that's why clark has this strange symbol and not an s on his chest ... if they completely followed the comics, what sort of creative license would the writers have? that'd be no fun .. you wouldn't get to develop characters ... you'd just have to slot them into the predetermined plan ... there'd be no suspense and such ...
Posted by melpie @ 01/30/2004 04:44 PM EST
uh, was there any suspense in say, LOTR? there are many places where people follow an already commonly known story and still have a good series/movie etc.
Posted by sbdep @ 01/30/2004 06:13 PM EST
I never learnt to appreciate the cinematographic version of LOTR sbdep...:P
Posted by dAN @ 01/31/2004 10:45 PM EST
You've still not seen Return of the King, Dan?
I've seen it twice and have notions of seeing it again soon.
Posted by Rayne @ 02/01/2004 12:32 PM EST
Nope...;)!
I'm too busy trying to start a fire with two sticks in the snow (without mittens).
Posted by dAN @ 02/01/2004 03:38 PM EST
my sympathies to you then... you fool of a Took for not seeing RoTK. Unfortunately I have only seen it once. :(
Posted by sbdep @ 02/02/2004 05:20 PM EST
oh god it just won't ever stop will it
Posted by Mike @ 02/03/2004 12:59 AM EST
"Lex never grew up nor lived in Smallville, and he never met Clark before he was Superman."
Well, sort of.
That's the current version of Superman, which DC Comics started over from scratch in 1986. In the decades before that, the official version of his biography was that he and Lex were once great friends when they were teenagers. Then Superboy (Clark had all his powers and a costume already) accidentally caused Lex's hair to fall out. Lex thought he'd done it on purpose, and grew to hate him, to the point that he became Superman's worst enemy. The writers of Smallville seem to have been inspired by that version of the story (for example, Lex losing his hair because of Clark's arrival on Earth).
"the writers of smallville weren't allowed to completely follow the comics ... some sort of copyright deal and such"
Um... no. Whether they copied the comics line for line and scene for scene, or they just borrowed bits and pieces here and there, copyright law would treat it exactly the same. Either way, they'd be copying the comics.
As it happens, Smallville is produced by the WB, which is part of the same company as DC Comics. They're free to use as much of the comics material as they want. The execs at Time-Warner would probably object if they got too far afield, but they're also free to make changes. (I think they've been interesting ones. And if you don't like them... then just ignore the show and enjoy the comics.)
Posted by Todd VerBeek @ 02/05/2004 09:11 PM EST
"That's the current version of Superman, which DC Comics started over from scratch in 1986. In the decades before that, the official version of his biography was that he and Lex were once great friends when they were teenagers."
Yeah, I know almost nothing of pre-crisis DC continuity. But that's nice to know. Also "Birthright" is making things so that Lex was in smallville as a kid again.
Posted by Rayne @ 02/06/2004 12:16 AM EST
You know, I've not been the biggest superman fan, but since watching Smallville, I actually pick up and read a Superman comic once in a while. The story is lacking in the first season, but it picks up quickly...
DC does have a say in what can and can't be done...I've heard they have restricted Lois and Clark from kissing so that there's anticipation for the movie. So there is a good deal of control over the tv series. In my personal opinion they need to make the superman comic a little less sci fi...all the galactic travel and such is a little hard for the casual comic reader to grasp
Posted by Trea @ 07/20/2005 12:43 AM EST