Saturday, 28 March 2015

The Emergent JLA

I have watched Smallville as far as Season Six, Episode Eight. Of the original Justice League of America membership, four have so far appeared:

Superman;
Flash/Impulse;
Aquaman;
the Martian Manhunter.

That leaves:

Batman;
Wonder Woman;
Green Lantern.

These three have all been dramatized but not in this continuity yet. They are also major figures. However, it seems that Green Arrow and Cyborg, who have also been introduced, will be charter JLA members in this continuity. Looking ahead, GA, Aquaman, Cyborg and Impulse will ask Clark to help them against Luthor in Episode Eleven called "Justice."

Friday, 27 March 2015

Smallville: Static

A fourth escaped Zoner is tackled by Clark but killed by another super-powered being leaving a trail of Oreos - the Martian Manhunter.

Jimmy proves to be good with something, radio frequencies. Now we know how he is going to make that signal watch. It also means that he is able to rescue Lex and Lana although Lex had previously written him off.

Lex and Lana are closer and he proposes to her although he is still lying to her. Lionel has covered for Lex in his absence and now wants a piece of the meteor freak experiments.

More parts of the Superman myth fall into place but the distrust that will doom several relationships continues to grow.

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Smallville: Rage

How do DC characters celebrate Thanksgiving? We know of three households:

Jimmy Olsen is with his mother but texts Chloe Sullivan that he misses her;

Lex Luthor and Lana Lang are at the Luthor Mansion with domestic servants in attendance and Lana very quiet, not yet having told Lex that she is pregnant;

at the the Kent farm are

Martha
Clark
Chloe
Lionel Luthor
Oliver Queen
Lois Lane.

What a combo.

There is a Green Arrow series within the Smallville TV series so it does not matter that the Arrow TV series is a different continuity. Ollie, wanting to be an indestructible champion of justice like Clark, makes excessive use of a fast-healing drug but learns better so that costumed crime-fighting continues undisturbed. GA not only steals from the rich but also stops muggings.

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Smallville: Fallout

The acronym BRAINIAC is used for the first time. Kryptonians used English?

In the Silver Age, The Fortress of Solitude was a hideout built by Superman but it became a Kryptonian construct in a Christopher Reeve film and in John Byrne continuity. In Smallville, that construct is Jor-El's repository of all knowledge.

Kal-El's destiny is not to catch bank robbers or to promote Truth, Justice and the American Way but to prevent civilization from being destroyed on Earth as it was on Krypton. To do this, he must accept some training laid down by Jor-El but must first capture several Phantom Zone escapees. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor sees himself as protecting Earth from alien threats...

This one episode makes the entire Superman series seem like a single story.

Addendum, 26 Mar:

Jimmy Olsen interviews Lex Luthor.
Clark has now fought three super-powered Zoners, only one of them Kryptonian.
The Kryptonian, Raya (a potential Supergirl?), escapes from the Zone but dies.

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Smallville: Reunion

Excelsior College! Warrior Angel! Back to Oliver Queen outside his GA role!

An unpleasant story of immature conflicts and long delayed revenge. Why do we have to be immature before we can be mature? Young Lex was prepared to settle for pretended friendships.

Oliver Queen has matured enough to do good in the world, to apologize to Lex and to accept that 
his apology is not well received. Queen is making his own sub-series within the Smallville series.

Chloe coins the term "Zoners." I do not know whether this nomenclature has been used in other continuities? Zoners are loose on Earth but I prefer stories about Lana, Lex, Oliver, Lionel, Martha, Chloe, Jimmy, Clark and Lois. And did I mention Chloe, Lionel and Oliver?

Unlike Lex, I would never revisit my secondary school. He tells Lana that he attends reunions to make business contacts. I realized afterwards that that was supposed to be one of the uses of the school where I was indoctrinated and alienated.

Green Arrow In Smallville

This is the sequence of events:

in Season One, Episode One, the headline of a Daily Planet read by Lionel Luthor proclaims that the Queen Industries CEO is missing, believed drowned;

in Season Six, Lionel meets an "Ollie," who, we learn, is Oliver Queen, CEO;

at the end of that episode, Queen shoots green arrows accurately from a longbow and turns out to have been responsible for the abduction of Lex, but this was because he was researching super powers - and he had ordered the kidnappers not to use violence;

in the following episode, he attends a costume party in what we recognize as a Green Arrow costume complete with mask and is introduced as Oliver Queen;

we see that he can use the bow but maybe needs to improve his accuracy;

in the next episode, a green hooded archer wearing dark glasses raids a party and steals jewellery from Martha Kent (so will this be a villainous opposite number of GA?);

Lois Lane tries to stop the thief whom she later headlines as the "Green Arrow Bandit;"

Chloe says, "Drop the 'Bandit'";

it turns out that this guy steals goods bought on the black market and donates to charities;

Clark learns that the thief is Oliver Queen who in turn learns of Clark's powers;

Clark and Ollie keep each others' secrets;

Ollie suggests that Clark should be more pro-active with his powers.

Thus, we get a new GA intermediate between hero and villain.

Relationships

I post about a TV series based on comic books because I am not currently reading any comics interesting enough to post about. That should change when Marvel Comics starts publishing new Miracleman material by Neil Gaiman.

In Smallville Season Six:

Chloe Sullivan is with Jimmy Olsen;
Lana Lang is with Lex Luthor;
Lana previously dated Clark;
Lex was married but the marriage was annulled;
Lois Lane is with Oliver Queen;
Lois has also dated Arthur Curry;
the widow Martha Kent is getting closer to the widower Lionel Luthor;
Clark...

Chloe and Lionel were specially created for this continuity:

Lex had a father before but not this one;
Lois may have had cousins before but not this one.

Way to go (whatever that means).