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| Smallville | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Superboy #2 (May 1949) |
| In story information | |
| Type | City |
| Notable people | Superboy (Kal-El) Jonathan and Martha Kent Lana Lang Pete Ross Superboy (Kon-El) |
| Notable locations | Kansas |
Smallville is the childhood hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. Smallville is the setting of many Superboy comics, which depict the original Superboy (Superman as a boy) defending Smallville from otherworldly evils and occasionally, the young Lex Luthor. Smallville is also the setting of the television series Smallville which similarly depicts the young Clark Kent. Smallville was first named in Superboy (vol. 1) #2 in 1949.
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[edit] History
In the earliest Golden Age Superboy comics, the name of Clark Kent's hometown is uncertain. Earliest stories would either show Clark's hometown as unnamed or even as Metropolis (or its suburbs). However, by Superboy #2, Smallville's name is permanently identified.
Smallville is retroactively shown as the Golden Age Superman's childhood hometown as well, as seen in the "Mr. and Mrs. Superman" series in Superman Family, as well as in New Adventures of Superboy #15-16. Unlike Earth-One's Smallville, Earth-Two's Smallville stays a much less prominent small town since the Earth-Two Superman was never Superboy. Additionally, the Kents never owned a general store on Earth-Two, but instead stayed farmers until their deaths.
Post-Crisis, Smallville's history (as well as that of the Kents) is delved into in the late 1980s World of Smallville miniseries.
[edit] Law and government
Smallville's police chief is Chief Douglas Parker, who in pre-Crisis stories is considered a close ally of Superboy. Superboy is capable of being contacted by Chief Parker (as well as Professor Lang, Lana Lang's father, and the President of the United States) via a secret signal lamp hidden in the Kent household.[1] Chief Parker exists in the post-Crisis DC comics, but his role is much less prominent.
A storyline late in the run of New Adventures of Superboy sees Smallville's town council propose building Smallville's first shopping mall, though the mall's construction is revealed out to have sinister ulterior motives. While the storyline is unfinished (the comic was cancelled before the story could be concluded), it does see Jonathan Kent decide to run for a city council seat to try to thwart the mall's construction.
[edit] People
Noted residents of Smallville include the Kent family Jonathan and Martha Kent, or Ma and Pa Kent as they were often called, and their adopted son Clark Kent; Clark's friend, classmate and sometimes romantic interest Lana Lang; Clark's best friend Pete Ross, and Smallville police chief Douglas Parker.
In the original Superboy comics, other noted residents include Professor Phineas Potter (Lana's uncle), archaeologist Lewis Lang (Lana's father), and the young Lex Luthor.
In post-Crisis comics, Conner Kent, the current Superboy, also lives in Smallville with the now-widowed Martha Kent. While not initially enjoying Smallville, Conner eventually changes his mind.
[edit] Features
Smallville is usually portrayed as an idyllic, small isolated American town, with an atmosphere resembling the settings of the paintings of Norman Rockwell. Its residents are generally very friendly, though in Silver Age Superboy stories, it also tends to attract various threats (from criminals, alien invaders, etc.).
Smallville's economy mostly consists of various locally owned businesses, along with various farms surrounding the town, including the Kent family farm. In the original Superboy comics, the Kent family sells their farm when Clark starts school, and open a general store in town.[2] Post-Crisis comics, however, show the Kents residing on their farm through Clark's adulthood.
Smallville has one high school, Smallville High School, which Clark, Lana, and Pete attend.
In terms of media, Smallville has had several newspapers mentioned over the years, including the Smallville Sentinel (shown in various stories in The New Adventures of Superboy) and theSmallville Times-Reader (in Elliot S. Maggin's "Last Son of Krypton" text novel). Smallville receives most of its television and radio broadcasts from a larger nearby city, though Superboy (vol. 1) #195 shows Smallville has its own radio station, WSMV.
In the original Superboy comics, a billboard outside of Smallville greets those driving into and out of town; the billboard features a picture of Superboy waving, with words next to it reading: "Welcome to Smallville, Home of Superboy."
[edit] Location
Similar to the whereabouts of other fictional DC Universe cities, the actual location of Smallville was, originally, never specifically stated in the comics.
Smallville's location varied widely throughout many stories, many of which placed Smallville close to Metropolis and Midvale, home of Supergirl. All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (notable for featuring the wedding of Legion of Super-Heroes members Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and published in 1978) calls Smallville "a quiet town, nestled in the hills just inland from the eastern seaboard.", although most recent sources point the location of Smallville to be in Kansas.
[edit] The Adventures of Superman (radio)
The first time in any media that Smallville or the Kent farm were actually linked to a specific location was in The Adventures of Superman radio show. In the storyline "The Secret Rocket" (9/29/47-10/30/47), mention was made several times that young Clark Kent grew up on Eben Kent's farm in Iowa. The farmtown was unnamed in the story (as the name "Smallville" appeared for the first time two years later in Superboy (volume 1) #2); the nearest town actually named in the broadcast was the real-life Centerville.
[edit] Amazing World of DC Comics #14
In Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (1977), a magazine with articles on DC Comics characters and series, Smallville was stated to be in Maryland. The Maryland location was supported in the actual comics with a map of Smallville and the surrounding area that was published in New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), which situated Smallville a few miles west of a large bay very similar to Delaware Bay (the same map placed Metropolis and Gotham City on the east and west sides of the bay.
[edit] Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #313
A map of Legion-era Metropolis included in Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #313 (July, 1984) indicates that Smallville was believed by the 1980s to be somewhere in northeastern Pennsylvania or northern New Jersey, while incorporated into Metropolis proper at that time as a historical district. In revisions of the map published after 1986, this was retroactively removed to accommodate changes of Smallville's location in other titles, as detailed below.
[edit] The Death and Life of Superman (novel)
In the novel (1993), Jonathan and Martha Kent drive from the Great Bend, Kansas airport to Smallville,[3] which would put Smallville somewhere in central Kansas.
[edit] Action Comics #822
In "Repo Man, part one", Smallville is placed approximately 55 miles from Salina, Kansas, and in line with Junction City, giving it approximately the same location as Dorrance, Kansas.
[edit] Superman/Batman
In Superman/Batman #13 (2004), Smallville is mentioned as being adjacent to the (equally fictional) town of Granville, Kansas. The name Granville comes from the Smallville television series, which is filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver was called Granville until it was incorporated and renamed in 1886. Furthermore, Granville Street (a major arterial road in the city), as well as Granville Island (a small, man-made peninsula often mistaken for an island, serving as a market and tourist attraction), still retain the name (the nearby rural suburban town of Cloverdale stands in for downtown Smallville in the series).
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
- The Superboy TV series also places Smallville in Kansas, stating it is where Clark and Lana grew up. The main action of that series takes place at the fictional Shuster University in Florida, named for Superman/Superboy's co-creator, artist, Joe Shuster.
- Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman places Smallville as a city in Kansas as well, though Metropolis is located on the east coast and Superman must fly between the two locations using his super-speed.
- Smallville was featured in Superman: The Animated Series.
- In the television series Smallville, Metropolis is visible from the town on a clear day on the top of a water tower. It has a population of 45,000. In two Season One episodes, the zip code for Smallville, Kansas was revealed to be 66684 and 66645. In another episode, an envelope addressed to Lex revealed that the Metropolis zip code was 66624. The 66624 zip code in reality belongs to Topeka, Kansas. In Season 3, Metropolis is mentioned as being a three-hour drive away from Smallville by Chloe Sullivan, which gives a clue as to its approximate distance away. During Season 6 in the episode ("Fallout"), a map is shown with "Metropolis, KS" clearly labeled; it is located in the southwest quadrant of Kansas, somewhere near the real-world location of Dodge City, while Smallville on the same map (marked with a star) appears to be several hundred miles to the east, near real-world Wichita. However, by the fifth season, when most of the episodes feature many scenes in Metropolis, the main characters routinely and quickly travel between the two cities by car several times a day - such as Chloe Sullivan, who works in Metropolis at the Daily Planet but lives in Smallville - implying that the two cities must indeed be close enough for Metropolis to be visible from Smallville. At the beginning of Season 7, the death certificates issued to Lana Luthor and Chloe Sullivan identified the city of Smallville as being located in Lowell County, Kansas. However, no such county exists in the real Kansas. Also in season 7, a map shows Metropolis as being in the same location as the real-world Kansas City. Jonathan Kent is elected a State Senator in Kansas just before his death in Season 5 of Smallville, after which Martha Kent takes his place in the State Senate. Though characters mention a "commute to Topeka," should Jonathan or Martha take the Senate seat (thus implying that it is the State Capital), Martha Kent also mentions going to meet with the Governor in Metropolis. Accordingly, Smallville would likely be located either between or within driving distance of both cities, and this implies that Metropolis is not too far from Topeka itself.
[edit] Film
- Smallville was first placed in Kansas by the 1978 film, Superman,[4] although actual filming of the Kent family's farmland was done in Alberta and the surrounding fields of the town of Baldock, England.
[edit] Video games
- Smallville appears in DC Universe Online. In the game, Lex Luthor has done an experiment where he has experimented on it's citizens using Exobytes and Doomsday's DNA with Doomsday being trapped in a containment building near the Kent Family Farm. Due to the experiments, Smallville has been practically destroyed.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Superman writer Elliot S. Maggin incorporated the Kansas location into the DC Universe in his 1981 Superman novel, Miracle Monday.
- Comic writer and artist John Byrne also placed Smallville in Kansas in his 1986 rewrite of Superman's origin.
- The 1990s limited series The Kents places Smallville in Eastern Kansas within approximately one day's horse ride of Paola, Kansas, which is located in Miami County. The tag on the truck driven by Glen Ford's character in the film had a Cloud County, Kansas identifier. Some websites state that a Smallville once existed in Cloud County, northwest of Concordia and south of Norway, of which nothing remains but an old railway station, but there seems to be no record of this on Kansas historical sites.
[edit] Novels
- In the novel, It's Superman! by Tom De Haven, which is set in 1938, Smallville is placed in Osage County along U.S. Highway 75.
[edit] Other uses
Smallville is also a nickname given to Clark Kent by Lois Lane. Adaptations of the Superman mythos that feature Lois using this nickname include the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Superman: The Animated Series, and Smallville.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Superboy (vol. 1) #88, April 1961
- ^ Superman #146, July 1961.
- ^ Stern, Roger. The Death and Life of Superman. Bantan Books: New York. 1993: 286.
- ^ "Sanderson, Peter. "Superman Returns Twice." Comics in Context. 2006". Quickstopentertainment.com. http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2006/07/28/comics-in-context-139-superman-returns-twice/. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
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