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by R.J. Carter Published: October 28, 2002
If you had asked a non-comic book geek where Smallville was two years ago, you may have perplexed a number of people who didn't recognize it as the fictional Kansas town where Clark Kent grew up.If you asked them today, they'd reply instantly where Smallville is. It's on the WB. It's an unusual premise: Let's tell the story of a superhero before he became a superhero, and let's stretch it into a whole series. No costumes, no capes. Just Clark and Lana and Pete and Chloe... ...and Lex Luthor. You see, as much as Smallville is about the heroic growth of Clark Kent into Superman, it is also (and maybe even more so) about the tragic descent of Lex Luthor into villainy. The wealthy son of an industry magnate and the adopted child of a farm family, Lex and Clark make an odd pair, but--for now--they are the best of friends. It's heartbreaking, watching it all happen, knowing in advance where things will go and hoping nonetheless that maybe--just maybe this time--things will be different. It's a bit like watching a videotape of your favorite team losing the game after you know they've lost, and still cheering them on anyway. This comic captures the feeling of the show excellently, with Chloe's inquisitiveness, Lana's sweetness, Clark's innocence, and Lex's... well, even in the comic, Lex somehow always manages to get the best lines: Lex: I feel like I'm partly responsible for what happened at the excavation. That's from the first tale, "Raptor," by Verheiden and Martinez. It's narrated by aspiring journalist, Chloe Sullivan, and tells the story of a young abused boy who, during an explosion of his own making at an archeological dig, ends up with meteor fragments (no one knows to call them kryptonite, yet) imbedded in his skin, resulting in his later mutation into a reptilian raptor with a ravenous appetite for revenge against the Luthor family. "Exile and The Kingdom" is all about Lex. Michael Green takes the readers into the dark and scary place that is the mind of Lex Luthor, exploring why he chooses to stay in Smallville and defy his father. The answers will surprise and delight you. John Paul Leon's minimalist art style, darkly colored by Melissa Edwards, is perfectly suited to this story just as Roy Allan Martinez hyper-realistic pencils are to "Raptor." The issue also includes multi-page interviews with the series creators, as well as actors Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, and Kristin Kreuk, and even gives a peek into some of the events you can expect in Season 2. If you know someone who doesn't read comics but loves to watch Smallville, you'd be doing them a favor by picking them up a copy of this book. (But don't forget to get one for yourself!) |
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