EDITORIAL: The Smallville Generation

There are a population of people who grew up with Clark Kent. Smallville premiered in October of 2001, one month into my first year of High School. It also happened to be Clark Kent’s first year of high school, along with Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan, and Pete Ross. We were introduced to Lex Luthor. Fans of Superman knew how the outcome of these characters lives would end up (save for a great addition to the Superman mythos in Chloe). But the characters did not. And at the start of High School neither did we. We lost friends and gained friends and became the person we are today. We journeyed through our lives as we enjoyed watching Clark Kent journey through his. And what a journey it was. It was an abstract idea at the time to have a show starting with Superman’s beginning. It had never been done before and the majority of people most likely did not know of his history. But Alfred Gough and Miles Millar created a show where you cared about the characters and its place in the mythology. They did this by using so many characters from the comics and introducing them to the general population. Characters that comic fans thought would never be brought to life were- from the likes of Green Arrow, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter to Braniac, Doomsday and Darkseid. Though not all storylines stuck to the comics, they were interesting and kept the audience captivated. A show does not last for 10 seasons if it isn’t great. DC made something great out of an idea that was unsure, especially after the failed Birds of Prey. And that is why I am anticipating Arrow. Oliver Queen is about the Smallville Generations age and now we can journey through this period with that character. It’s a different time than 11 years ago and the show seems to adjust to that. Several characters from the comics have also been confirmed to be on the show already. It looks as if the creators are trying to build off of the successes of Smallville. Here’s to hoping they do.