I’ve always been fascinated by superman comics. Especially his big bulk, ability to fly, superhuman strength amongst all his special abilities. The famous catch phrase that is mentioned at the beginning of every episode – “It’s a bird, It’s a plane…Its SUPERMAN” followed by the “Superman..man of steel” song is something hard to miss. The success of the comics lies in the fact that, while every sci-fi writer has majorly demonized aliens or made them into a childlike character, the makers of Superman Seigel/Shuster, gave it a human look and feel. Even though the character has superhuman strengths and abilities, the restraint shown by that character in abusing or exploiting its powers makes it more alien. Major part of the comics is dedicated to Superman fighting foreign monsters, but his most famous villain is Lex Luthor – a human. If one comes to think of it, Lex can be seen as someone who is as worried as the next person about the dangers involved in living with someone who has destructive powers like Superman. Even though that character proves himself to be trustworthy and a savior of human race, the fact that all it takes is one single instance of anger that could result in catastrophic damage is possibly a cause that many may find noble and reasonable. But amongst other things, caring for fellow humans was least of Lex’s worries and hence he is branded as an evil person all throughout.
Any hit comics character will have an obvious “origins” angle to mint, with Superman being no exception. In fact, most of DC comics heroes have such a dark past life that right from the color palette with which they are drawn and printed, their back stories will be mostly dark and sad. Superman series being the notable exception where right from the time he crashes onto the Kent farm and gets adopted as Clark Kent, his back story has more human elements and sentiments that would compete with that of any regular human kid. Smallville drama series, set at the time when Clark is a teenager about to complete high school, coming to terms with his powers, identifying most of his abilities with absolute bewilderment as any human who would be as surprised if they suddenly realize their extra abilities one after another. Across the first two seasons, Clark gets to know about his abilities, having already grown accustomed to his super speed and super strength across several episodes. He gets more worried about mistakenly harming someone near and dear. His parents Martha and Jonathan, being the pillars of support are equally worried in ensuring a normal childhood for him at the same time not wanting the world to know about his abilities due to any mishap. He has his childhood crush in a girl next door, someone else in his gang who has not so secret crush on him, his best friend from childhood who inadvertently knows about his powers and last but not the least, his would-be super villain in future – Lex Luthor. In fact, across the first 3 seasons, Lex seems to be the hero of the series with bulk of characterization and scenes written around him. His one-upmanship relation with his dad, his insecurities as a kid and never dying curiosity about the meteor shower that changed his life forever get as much detailing as Kent. In fact, it is with Clark Kent he has the best of his relations and gradually his curiosity takes him to the other side.
Before realizing I have already crammed through 4 seasons and the series is possibly the best adaptation of a comic book. It closely mirrors the comics and brings in emotional element to each episode and character, typical of DC comics. I love this series and thoroughly enjoyed every episode till now. Of course, it becomes a bit tedious to see the entire 45 mins and I do some hop skips jump in between. But nevertheless, a good show. Be it the guy who plays Clark Kent (Tom welling)or Lex (a fantastic Michael Rosenbaum) or even the guy who plays Lionel Luther, the casting has been top notch to say the least. A decent watch for those who follow Superman comics.
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