Smallville Season 11 #13 (2013)
by Bryan Q. Miller & Daniel HDR
cover by Pete Woods
After the Smallville TV series ended with its 10th season, a follow-up comic ensued with the appropriate title of Smallville Season 11.
And the Legion shows up.
Before the actual review, I have to start with a rant.
While I wasn’t a big fan of Smallville, I love the idea of continuing a TV show that was cancelled with a comic book. While it can be a bit of fanfiction, this series has some legitimacy considering it’s written by one of the writers of the TV series.
Not only I appreciate that, but it’s also a great way to gain readers from people who don’t typically read comics. So why am I going to rant here?
Because researching this series was a nightmare! The comics were first published digitally and THEN into a paperback, considering that depending on which source you’re looking at this series either has 19 issues or 69, because the digital version is just the paper version split into multiple parts. The series COULD have been easier to follow because the issues are split into fairly independent mini-arcs, sort of like old movie serials… but they screw it up because SOME arcs are in the middle of others, so you can’t even read the digital versions in order!
To make matters worse, after the series ends there are several miniseries which are just “Smallville: Subtitle” without any indication on which order you’re supposed to read them.
You think the constant relaunches and #1 of modern comics are confusing? Try making sense of the publishing schedule of the Smallville sequels.
This stuff is confusing and infuriating FOR ME, and I overanalyze this stuff for fun! I cannot imagine how completely lost a fan of the series unfamiliar with comics must have been, AND THAT WAS YOUR PRIMARY AUDIENCE!!!
But let’s see what that audience could find here.
The TV series introduced a ridiculous number of characters, mostly with terrible costumes. But the comic obviously doesn’t have that problem, so we can have an almost accurate Booster Gold and a flawless Blue Beetle.
The reason for Booster Gold’s involvement is that, like the comics version, he has a Legion Flight Ring. I haven’t seen the Booster Gold episode in Smallville so I don’t know if it was there in the TV show as well, or if it’s an addition from this comic follow-up.
We next move to Clark and Lois, who are… uhm…
Guys, your show was already cancelled, there’s no reason to introduce gratuitous fanservice to stay on the air.
From what little I’ve see of the Lois Lane and Clark Kent in the show, they had good chemistry.
Lois is busy on her subplot; since that’s in one of those arcs that is inexplicably published in the middle of the story, I won’t have to talk about it.
Meanwhile Booster Gold contacts Clark (he knows he’s Superman, I assume because Booster is from the future).
You might remember from their Smallville episode that in this continuity the ring is also a time machine, and it brings both Clark and Booster Gold into the 31st century.
It’s seen better days.
Since Skeets, Booster Gold’s robotic buddy, was left in the present, he has a bonkers idea to find him.
He goes to see Tess Mercer, who in the TV show was Luthor’s half-sister, who I guess at some point was turned into a kind of artificial intelligence?
Don’t ask.
Skeet’s plan? BUY LAND FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.
Only to show up FIVE PANELS LATER.
See, this kind of manic Silver Age madness is exactly what Smallville was always TRYING to do, but it lacked the budget for it.
For example: how did they make 10 seasons of a Superman show without him saving a spaceship even once???
We catch up on our first Legionnaires. As you saw with Clark this comic is not even trying to have the characters resemble the actors (Superman doesn’t look like Tom Welling AT ALL), but I see the slightest possible try with Lightning Lad.
We also see this reality’s version of Brainiac 5, which was just a reprogrammed Brainiac. Couldn’t they AT LEAST make his skin green for the comic!?
The whole point of the Legion episode was that they learned the no-kill rule… but apparently Lightning Lad needs to be constantly reminded.
There’s barely enough time for a Legion reunion before Superman is arrested.
With Earth now being at war with New Krypton, a huge generational ship.
Skeets saves them, because Skeets is awesome.
With the Legion on the run and needing to take a disguise, Clark looks a bit like Kent Shakespeare.
So Smallville manages to avoid keeping him in a costume even in comics!
Clark naturally thinks the Legionnaires called him back for help, but there’s a problem: none of them actually made the call.
Nice easter egg with Lightning Lad playing with a baseball: it’s likely the same one Clark gave to him as gift in the TV episode.
It’s a pity that they decided against giving Brainiac 5 his green skin, because honestly he DOES feel like Brainy. Especially in how little respect for Booster Gold he has.
“New Krypton” is actually the colony Argo, which can trace its origins back to the show.
Of course the United Planets rejected New Krypton. When was the last time they had a good idea?
Not that Earth’s government is any better, considering that its Prime Minister is keeping a Legionnaire prisoner.
Something that Superman really doesn’t like…
…considering it’s his cousin!
Smallville Season 11 #14 (2013)
by Bryan Q. Miller & Daniel HDR
cover by Pete Woods
You know what, this is a great Supergirl costume! I prefer versions with a skirt instead of pants, but this is a neat compromise.
I haven’t seen any of the Smallville episodes with Supergirl. All I know is the insane fact that in this universe she debuted as a hero BEFORE HIM.
And I’m guessing the writers thought it was also dumb, before if I understand this correctly she was kicked off to avoid upstaging him. In-universe, even!
That lead Supergirl to go into the future to join the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Given that Clark was never officially a member, it means that in this reality she joins first!
Also our first additional Legionnaires with cameos from, on the left, the Smallville Wildfire and Dawnstar. The others aren’t super clear from this panel.
Supergirl recalls when, after discovering New Krypton, the Legion was sent in a diplomatic mission. We add to the roster Karate Kid, Ferro Lad (in the most atrocious costume he’s ever worn) and Star Boy. The latter is attempting a Netflix Daredevil Season One cosplay.
The mission is sabotaged by Earth’s government.
We also have Sun Boy in a reaction shot.
After Supergirl is done with the flashback, she’s shown the way back to New Krypton with “gravity buoys” to guide her in space. That’s a neat bit of worldbuilding!
Turns out that she wasn’t only a prisoner.
And speaking of spies, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy have infiltrated New Krypton.
They stop a couple of Earth spies from bombing New Krypton.
The Kryptonians don’t appreciate their intervention…
…until Superman shows up.
Meanwhile, we’re given an explanation for why Booster Gold had a Legion ring.
By stealing it, of course.
We should get more scenes with any versions of Brainiac 5 and Booster Gold. I cannot imagine these two being friends in any reality.
Seriously, Brainy is just savage here!
Which is a bit ridiculous since THIS Brainiac 5 is just a reprogrammed version of the original Brainiac, who did MUCH WORSE.
Technically speaking, Supergirl has left the Legion at the moment.
But back to Superman: it’s not unusual to see him worshipped in the future, but this feels particularly earned considering that without him there wouldn’t be any Kryptonian society left.
Despite what it might look like, however, New Krypton doesn’t worship Superman.
They’re looking for Faora, of all people!!!
Who I will eventually cover in the Superman retrospective, believe me.
Now I haven’t seen any of the Smallville episodes where she appears, and I’m trusting the comic will eventually explain why she’s worshipped as a goddess in the 31st century.
But to give you an idea of just ABSOLUTELY WILD Smallville got in its later seasons, I’m just going to quote Wikipedia’s article on Faora.
Faora appears in Smallville, portrayed by Sharon Taylor. This version is a native of Kandor, loyal follower and wife of Major Zod, and co-creator of Doomsday who has a younger sister named Vala and was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone as a disembodied wraith. In the eighth season episode “Bloodline”, Faora escapes, possesses Lois Lane (portrayed by Erica Durance), and battles Clark Kent until Kara Kent exorcises Faora from Lane’s body. In the ninth season, Tess Mercer uses a Kryptonian device called the “Orb” to create clones of several Kandorians, such as a young Faora and Zod. After she and Vala are taken by Amanda Waller, Faora offers to join Checkmate, but is killed by Zod, who learns too late that she was pregnant with their baby.
Additionally, an alternate timeline version of Faora’s clone who acquired Kryptonian superpowers appears in the episode “Pandora”.
I remind you that Smallville did ALL O THAT when they barely had any budget.
Meanwhile, things are so tense that the Legion decides to gather all its members.
Which means that this scene, which is happening two-thirds into the arc, is actually the prologue.
Time travel, everybody!
And I think this is a good moment where to take a pause.
Does any of this show up in any regular continuity?
Earth being taken over by a xenophobic regime is the basis for the Retroboot.
SHOULD any of this have happened in regular continuity?
As mentioned we should get more scenes with Brainiac 5 and Booster Gold, plus I really like the concept of those space buoys.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Skeets leased land for a thousand years to get himself buried there to meet Booster Gold… FIVE PANELS LATER. I can absolutely see that in a Silver Age comic!
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
This is waaaay better than I expected.
The artwork is a bit awkward at times, mostly where you can see they’re TRYING to get some resemblance to the actors. And the xenophobic Prime Minister needed a bit more background.
But other than that I liked basically everything! Shockingly, for a spin-off of an almost-Superman show… there are several times where this actually FEELS like a Legion story!
If I have to be honest, I enjoyed this Legion more than the few Retroboot stories I’ve read.
I suggest checking out these issues. Just be aware that figuring out exactly WHICH are the ones with this storyline is not very easy.
We are Legion
10 active members
-Cosmic Boy
-Saturn Girl
-Lightning Lad
-Brainiac 5
-Wildfire
-Dawnstar
-Karate Kid
-Ferro Lad
-Star Boy
-Sun Boy
1 resigned member
-Supergirl