Hello, my friends. Every hero has to forge their super identities in some way, shape and form, no matter how long it ultimately takes. For one familiar figure, that turned out to be especially true. As a result of this particular small screen venture, it was bound to get various kinds of tie-ins ranging from magazines and regular books to the massive amount of comics that would get published. To celebrate this momentous occassion, allow me to take you on this journey of personal growth as I welcome you to…
The Man of Steel is no stranger to having his own television show, whether it’s within live-action or in animation. While the character’s history within that realm dates as far back as 1952, we’ll be focusing on one particular program that came about during the early days of the 21st Century.
Before we do that though, allow me to briefly talk about the small-screen superhero program whose comics serve as the main subject for this historical look back into the past.
Its origin dates back to 1979 when then-Warner Bros. TV President Peter Roth tried to get a Superboy show made for ABC. He even considered trying to get a program focused on a young Bruce Wayne which also didn’t get made. To get this program going, he would hire Alfred Gough and Miles Millar to get it properly developed even though they weren’t big comic book fans. Eventually, it would premiere on October 16, 2001 on the channel formerly known as the WB (now merged with UPN and called the CW) before airing its final episode on May 13, 2011. While this series was initially on the air, there would be a handful of comics to coincide with it.
The show had its first tie-in comic published in September 2002 as “Smallville: The Comic” would up selling 29,577 copies. There would then be an 11-issue series that was released on a bi-monthly basis from March 2003 before concluding in November 2004. All 12 of these books would be presented in the style of a teen fandom magazine with various special features including (but not limited to) cast interviews, episode guides (at least for the first two seasons) and Daily Planet intern articles. Because of how lengthy this retrospective will become, I will only focus on the comic stories that resides within these issues. As for the kind of ventures that our main cast of characters faced outside of the main TV show, let’s venture to the Meteor Capital of the World and find out.
First up, we have “Smallville: The Comic” and its two comic stories as we kick things off with the initial dino-themed tale called “Raptor” (Writer: Mark Verheiden, Artist: Roy Allan Martinez, Colorist: Trish Mulvihill, Color Separations: Digital Chameleon). We open at Smallville High School where Chloe Sullivan is working within the school’s newspaper known as the Smallville Torch. She narrates about how the building may look ordinary at first glance, yet one can “start seeing the weirdness underneath” once you dig into the facility as she then references former football coach Arnold’s self-fiery demise (“Hothead”) to a telekinetic Justin Gaines crushing a past Principal with a car (“Crush”). As for how people like them got these random powers, Chloe then narrates about the now-infamous incident from 1989 when meteor fragments from Krypton smashed onto the Kansas-based town and ultimately imbedded itself within the surrounding area before getting exposed onto various individuals. Sullivan then narrates about how there’s a link there as she then mentions how Clark Kent is at least a “semi-decent thing to come out of that whole disastrous time” before he then comes in and tells her that they have to get going. From there, they join their science classmates for a field trip to an excavation site being worked on by Kansas University. It’s then revealed that Lana Lang is also working there before a young man rudely bumps his way past Clark and Chloe. She then narrates that the guy is Greg Fox and that he used to be a much-more well-behaved individual before becoming more of a miscreant over the last several months by using small explosives to destroy several mailboxes. He then continues his ill-bred attitude display before he’s then approached by Lex Luthor who mentions how he’s familiar with Greg’s father named Stan. While Sullivan narrates about how Kent and Lex are the most “unlikeliest” of friends yet it makes “as much sense as anything else” in their town, the young Fox then tells Luthor that he’s spent lots of time “wrecking people’s lives” before he heads out. Clark then comes in and asks Lex what he’s doing here, to which he says that this land has been in his family for years and that his dad was going to plow underneath it before the fossil of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was discovered underneath. They’re then met upon by Lana who saw the tense situation with Greg as she then asks them about it, to which Kent says that the young man’s father was fired from the plant a few weeks ago to which Luthor mentions that it was because Stan attacked the foreman.
Unbeknownst to all three of them, Greg attempts to get his revenge on Lex as he takes out a small M-80 explosive. Just as Lex learns from Lang that she knew the Fox family due to her used to being close to Greg before his father-son relationship with his dad disintegrated once his mom passed away a few years ago, Clark spots Greg from afar as the young man accidentally trips and drops his dynamite next to a crate full of blasting caps. Despite there being some shards of Kryptonite existing next to the live explosive, Kent manages to shield Fox from the blast. Afterwards, his friends rush over as Luthor mentions how that blast didn’t seem to remotely harm him to which Clark says that he got lucky yet wishes that he had reacted much sooner to which it’s then revealed that Greg was somewhat harmed by the explosion and had to get rushed to the hospital. Later, Chloe has driven Kent back to his home located on his family’s farm. From there, Kal-El brings up the incident to his parents named Jonathan and Martha Kent before he then mentioned how he felt weary following the blast. Despite it not being Lex’s fault at all, Jonathan still reminds his son that the young Luthor was still there to see it and that he’s always around trouble. Clark angrily says that Greg is the one who caused the incident and that his friend was only trying to help before he storms off, to which Martha then tells her husband to let their son have some space. As Kal-El enters the barn and reaches the space pod that brought him to Earth when he was only a baby, Sullivan narrates about how she would like to figure him out since she thinks that “he’s hiding something” yet also believes that it couldn’t be true since he seems normal to her. During this, Clark is then met upon by Jonathan who tells him that even though Lex is his friend, he’s worried over what would happen if he managed to discover his son’s secret. Kal-El assures him that he’s being careful, but he also relates to Luthor due to them being “different” in their own ways.
Over at the Smallville Medical Center (a.k.a. the town’s main hospital), Stan learns from a doctor that his son has some debris lodged into his cheek and that they’ll try to clean it very soon. Greg is then approached by his father and tries to apologize for his brash action, yet Stan slaps his son since he had intended to beg towards Lex in order to get his job back yet that opportunity has now been shot down. Greg then tells his boy to get his clothes since they’re leaving before we then shift back to the barn where Clark is at while Chloe narrates about how she’s gotten a “certain perspective” upon her longtime friend to know that Greg is still weighing heavily upon his mind. Just then, the young Kent is met upon by the youthful Luthor who then feels responsible for Greg’s action. Clark assures him that he was also informed by Lana of her past history and knowledge upon the Fox family, to which Lex then says that he won’t press charges on the young man despite also mentioning that Greg will have to overcome his own “limitations” in order to not get consumed by them since he relates to him since he also has a deceased mother and an uncaring father. Over at his house, Greg painfully wakes up before he makes his way to the bathroom. During this, Sullivan narrates about how she eventually pieced together what everyone involved in the excavation blast were doing the following night especially since she had developed a theory on the Kryptonite meteor rocks. Specifically, she sees them as more of a “weird, unearthly pathogen” and a “genetic marauder” that can reshape cells and enhance the sins of whomever it affects. She then mentions that she learned about that night’s incident from the police reports before we then shift to Stan hearing his son telling him that he couldn’t sleep. He then goes to check up on his son before it’s revealed that the otherworldly rock had transformed Greg into a humanoid raptor who then proceeds to murder his dad.
We then shift to several days later at the coffee shop located within the historic Talon Theater as Clark and Chloe arrive before he then asks his friend named Pete Ross if he’s seen Greg at school, to which Pete assumes that the young guy is still resting up at the local hospital. Sullivan then mentions in her narration that the Talon used to be a movie theater before Lana acquired it and had it remodeled into the town’s local coffee house and that it was a place that Lang’s parents met each other before they eventually lost their lives in the infamous meteor shower. Lana then heads into the storeroom in order to get more travel-size coffee cups before she finds the room in a complete mess as she calls out to whomever is hiding within the dimly-lit space. Greg then makes himself known before he shoves some shelves towards her. to which the ruckus could be heard from the main dining space. Lana then hides within the freezer in order to protect herself from the mutated Greg, to which Clark then sees this via his X-Ray Vision before he then tells Ross to call the police and proceeds to head into the back. Just as Kent reaches the darkened storeroom, he’s then approached by the humanoid raptor that is Greg.
Clark manages to throw him through the wall right before Pete and Chloe arrive, to which they then help Lana get out of the freezer. Kent then says that the being was actually Greg before Lang wonders why he would attack her, to which Clark says that he’s not sure. Ross then discovers a talon that came off of the mutated young man to which Sullivan recognizes that it belongs to a “Velociraptor Mongoliensis”. Either way, Kent says that Greg is out there somewhere and that he’s now dangerous. Over at LuthorCorp’s fertilizer plant, Chloe narrates about how even though she can’t prove it, Greg’s nervous system was affected during the field trip to the dig site. She mentions how Velociraptors were believed to have a “social intelligence” due to the mutated young man being able to make an “ill-conceive shout-out to Lana”, along with them being “ferocious” and able to have “complex hunting strategies” which is making for a grim combination with Greg’s hatred towards Lex. During all of this, the young man has broken into the facility and slaughtered several people along the way all while the young Luthor gets notified about the intruder. Back at the Talon, Lana mentions that she should’ve tried to talk to Greg before Sullivan gets a call from her father named Gabriel (or Gabe) who informs her that at least two guards were murdered at the plant. Shortly after Chloe mentions this to her friends, Clark runs off while claiming that he’ll get some help.
Back at the plant, Greg attacks a worker before learning that Lex is in his office as he then slaughters the poor worker. Over within his work space, Luthor wants to help his employees yet another worker tells him that it’s too dangerous given that the intruder is looking for him. Suddenly, Greg bursts through the door and blames Lex. Luthor recognizes him and even offers to help him out of his mutated form, yet Greg slaps him with enough force to knock him out. Suddenly, he’s met upon by Kent as he tries to leap towards him. Fortunately, Kal-El is able to toss him over through a wall and into some adjacent pipes. Clark realizes that there’s gas now pouring out and that they have to get out before Greg wearily asks him how he did what he was able to do given his massive strength, to which Kent says that he can relate to him since they’re “different” and that they’re changing without knowing why. However, Greg tells him that he doesn’t know what it’s like to be him and that he personally doesn’t want to go back before he uses his talons to scrape the wall. The resulting sparks ignites the gas before he gets consumed by the massive explosion and wound up completely incinerated. Afterwards, Clark is approached by Chloe who wonders why he didn’t call for help to which he says that he tried to talk to Greg despite it ultimately not mattering. Afterwards, he’s approached by Lex who asks him how he managed to escape from the blast to which Kent says that he was able to reach the hatch just in time. Shortly after Jonathan and Martha arrive to hug their son, the story ends with Sullivan narrating about how there’s no proof of Greg evolving in time to survive the explosion. Not only was it sad to her that it meant that she was unable to prove her meteor theory, but it also reminded her that the dinosaurs were ultimately wiped out by their environment just like how the young Fox ultimately met his end.
Last up for this book, we have a tale that focuses on Kal-El’s tragic frenemy called “Exile & The Kingdom” (Writer: Michael Green, Artist: John Paul Leon, Colorist & Separations: Melissa Edwards). We begin at the Metropolis-based night club called Patron Saint where Lex is at alongside some friends just as one of them asks him why he’s been hanging around Smallville for the last several months given how he was seemingly “unstoppable” within the major municipality. Luthor narrates about how even though people seem to think that they know the reason why, it wasn’t about a single thing. From there, we flashback to six months ago as Lex meets up with his father Lionel over at the main building of their company LuthorCorp. Once they reach the main office, Lionel brings up Sector B of his son’s fertilizer plant to which Lex says that it’s the most productive unit. However, Lionel merely sees it as redundant and wants his son to shut it down. Despite Lex informing his dad that hundreds of people would lose their jobs there as a result, Lionel simply says that jobs are being lost everywhere and that Smallville is no exception to a constantly “changing economy”. Lex then brings up how he’s made that plant profitable, yet believes that his dad likes hurting people in order to “stay in shape”. Lionel then tells his son that the town in his own “training ground” and that he’ll ultimately have to prove himself not just as a leader but as a Luthor, to which his own reluctance is why he’s been kept there in order to learn how “to make difficult decisions”. Lex then narrates about how his dad believes that his boy has made his home in Smallville due to him being “banished” there, which happens to be the same belief as several other people. Not to mention, he’s gotten used to holding back his own remarks on such matters. Later, he drives back to Smallville while narrating about the town and how its own citizens don’t have to make his “kind of decisions”. He then drives by Pete and Chloe as he wonders why Lex doesn’t just head far away from this town, to which she reminds her friend about how the young Luthor has gotten so used to his upper class lifestyle that he’s developed a liking for “quaint retro-Rockwell Americana”. Ross wonders if Lex is afraid of his father, to which Lana comes in & overhears him before disagreeing by mentioning about how there’s something about their town that “brings him back” as she then mentions how there’s something about Smallville that can only be found here.
From there, to which we then transition to Dr. Steven Hamilton’s secret lab where Lex arrives and mentions how he’s been financially supporting his work. Steven says that he’s been figuring out “the underlying properties of the meteor rocks” which makes it nearly worth living within this town. Luthor then reminds him that he got run out of Metropolis University for pursuing his radical theories about the area, to which Hamilton says that it’s where their work is at despite them sharing some hatred for Smallville. Steven then mentions how they’ll prove what these meteors have been doing to people since it’s been turning them into “corrupted versions of themselves”, to which he then shares his belief that they’ve been changing over the entire town. However, Lex tells him that they haven’t changed the whole town. From there, we shift to the Kent Family Farm where Clark has easily lifted an entire tractor searching for something before he places it back down. Shortly afterwards, Luthor arrives and asks him what he’s trying to find. Kent says that he’s been looking for the tractor keys, to which Lex then manages to easily find them hanging within a nearby shelf. As they head up to the barn’s loft, Clark then asks his friend if he’s alright. Luthor then shares how he has a difficult choice to make due to his father proving his own power over him, to which Kent assures him that he’ll ultimately do the right thing since he truly believes in his friend. As we then shift to Lex within his mansion at night, he narrates about how people have asked him why he defies his father’s orders and continues to stay within his fancy Smallville-based abode when the thrill & allure of Metropolis isn’t too far away. As he reads the newspaper, it’s then revealed that he’s sided with his workers and refused his father’s request to strip them of their job positions And so, the story & comic ends in the present with Luthor leaving the club and driving back to his home as he narrates about Steven was right in that people do change, yet not always because of “things that have fallen out of the sky”.
We now get to the initial series as Issue #1 has only a single comic tale for us to delve into, so let’s see a family crisis that’s been growing out in nature in a story called “Paterfamilias” (Writers: Mark Verheiden & Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Kilian Plunkett, Inks: Mark Morales, Colors: Jeremy Cox). We open in October 1989 where a father and son (the latter of whom is named Kenny) are out in the forest doing some deer hunting. After receiving some mild camouflage from his son, the dad sneaks his way towards the cliff in order to set his targeting sights on a deer. Just then, a entire herd runs past him before it’s soon revealed as to what they were fleeing from, which turned out to be a Kryptonite meteor as it crashes onto the father before it sends Kenny flying away from the impact. We then shift to the present day as Jonathan has helped Clark and Pete reach a stream in order for them to do some fishing along with them camping the night out there as well. Jonathan then heads back to his truck before he discovers that one of its tires has been punctured with a sharp piece of wood. Suddenly, he’s then approached by someone who smacks him over the head with a stick and knocks him out.
Back at their campsite, Ross (who had learned of his friend’s abilities in the Season 2 episode “Duplicity”) reminds Kent that his dad had brought him to these woods when he was a child in order to help him learn how to gain control over his powers yet this can now be his time to have some fun with them. From there, Clark proceeds to take part with various activities as he uses his Heat Vision to light their campfire, throws a rock into the air in order for Pete to time how long it stays up there and even use a tall tree as his own pole vault. For that last one, Kent accidentally flings himself off of a cliff and crashes near the base of a waterfall yet he assures his friend that he’s OK. Ross then tries to race him back to their campsite, yet Clark easily beats him there due to his own super speed. Pete then asks him how fast he can go, to which Kent then decides for them to test it out as he proceeds to dash while Ross hangs on to his backpack. During their experiment, they suddenly discover Jonathan’s truck still in its nature-based parking spot despite Clark having assumed that his father had left hours ago.
Meanwhile, Jonathan wakes up and finds himself imprisoned alongside two other grown men. Just then, Kenny introduces himself to the elder Kent despite Jonathan not being able to see him. Kenny then says that he saw him with his own son and that his own dad is gone, to which he wants him to be his new dad as it’s then revealed that he’s invisible as a result of the Kryptonite meteor that claimed his own father’s life. Jonathan then recognizes him since he used to be friends with the grown man’s father named Frank and that he assumed that Kenny has disappeared within the meteor shower, but has actually been living alone out in the woods all this time. Even though the elder Kent reminds him that his own dad loved him, Kenny says that he’s been trying to get a new one and that the ones that he’s captured don’t love him. Jonathan then tells him about a cabin that he helped Frank build and that Kenny would’ve been surprised with it once it was done.
Just then, they hear Clark and Pete trying to find Jonathan before the former uses his X-Ray Vision in order to find his dad along with the other two prisoners inside the cave. Just then, Kenny smacks Ross with a stick and knocks him out. He then tries to take Kent out the same way, but Clark is able to withstand the strike as Kenny then tells him to stay away since he’s taken claim to Jonathan as his new dad. Kent then uses his X-Ray Vision to examine his surrounding area before he hears a noise and manages to spot Kenny via said vision who’s trying to attack him. Thankfully, Clark catches and throws him away before he helps a weary Pete up. Kent then uses his super strength to help his father and the other two prisoners out of the cage before Jonathan tells him to go “get the truck ready”. From there, Clark uses his super speed to reach said vehicle and even replace the punctured tire with an onboard spare with swift ease. Afterwards, all five guys proceed to get on the truck and head out unaware of the ever-invisible Kenny holding on to the vehicle’s underside. Later at the Kent Family Farm, Jonathan mentions that the other captured hunters had just been released from the hospital while Martha brings up how sad Kenny’s situation became after he lost his father. Clark then asks if there’s been any sign of him since then, to which Lex overheard as he came in and says that there hasn’t. He even informs them that he had a security team helping out the local law enforcement with the search and that despite them locating the cave, Kenny is still missing. Clark then tells his friend to keep them posted and that even though Kenny has made his mistakes, they’re still worried for him. Lex then says that even though he pities the misguided figure, there’re still far worse things than someone trying to raise themselves without a father. From there, Clark proceeds to ride into town alongside his dad.
While the young Kent tells Lana at the Talon Theater about his recent venture, Jonathan is about to head into a feed & fertilizer store unaware that the invisible Kenny is sneaking in behind him. Shortly after he makes his way inside, Jonathan then discovers that the owner named Hyrum has been knocked out before Kenny holds him up with a shotgun and forces the elder Kent to come with him. Back at the Talon, Lana asks about “the kid” who went after his father to which Clark says that Kenny’s at least 20 years old and that living without any sense of a family has seriously messed him up. She then says that even though the guy didn’t go through this the right way, he had least “had the right idea” since family is what they make it. Meanwhile, she has “a soon-to-be divorcé” (to which she’s referring to her biological father named Henry Small) who’s learned about “the biological daughter he never knew he had” (since Lana’s mother Laura was briefly separated from her husband Lewis in the mid-1980s and dated Henry before they ultimately conceived Lana, to which she then went back to her actual husband), yet they’re trying to make their father-daughter relationship work. Suddenly, Lana notices the Kent’s pickup truck heading off to which Clark super speeds away and chases after it. After using his X-Ray Vision to discover that his dad is behind the wheel while Kenny is holding him up at gunpoint, Kal-El manages to catch up and tries to leap on to the vehicle. However, Kenny slams his foot onto Jonathan’s which is on the gas pedal which causes Clark to get flung towards a roadside stand. Sadly, the elder man was selling Kryptonite meteors and the resulting radiation manages to weaken the young Kent. Fortunately, he’s able to borrow the guy’s cell phone as he proceeds to call up Chloe and Pete who’re over at the Smallville Torch. Through her research, Sullivan manages to dig up Frank Cavanaugh’s deed for a piece of property in the middle of nowhere. Clark realizes that it’s the cabin that the guy was going to surprise his son with before Ross brings out a map of the area as she then proceeds to help Kent super speed towards his destination.
Later, Kenny continues to hold up Jonathan as they make their way across a rickety forest-based bridge. While the invisible fiend talks about all of the father-son activities that they’ll be doing, the elder Kent says that he can never be his actual dad due to Frank being deceased. Just then, Clark shows up and says that he’ll have the same dour feeling of not having his father if Kenny takes his from him. Jonathan even chimes in and tells him that his mother passed away when he was a baby, to which Frank mentioned how you can’t replace anyone who’s gone yet they can be remembered forever. As such, Kenny’s dad remembered his wife by loving his son and that he would want his son to make him proud by not hurting anyone. While Kenny feels bad over all of this, the bridge had begun to give way unbeknownst to them as a support rope manages to tear apart before the construct collapses. Fortunately, Clark uses his super speed in order to catch & save both his dad and Kenny. Afterwards, the young Kent assures the invisible being that things will be okay. Later, they’re all back at the Kent Family Farm where Kenny is being taken into custody while Lex tells Clark that after his hearing the following day, he’ll help the troubled young man receive some proper care within the best mental health facility that’s available to them. While Kal-El wonders what would’ve happened if he never had his current parents, Issue 1 ends with the young Luthor receiving a call from the facility as it’s revealed that they’re going to put Kenny in an asylum where he’ll be constantly looked over with a camera and monitors while they have a mobile biotech lab on standby.
Issue #2 brings up a pair of comic tales, so let’s kick this book off with a harrowing scheme that’s looming over a local female-focused contest in a story called “Beauty” (Writers: Mark Verheiden & Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Renato Guedes, Inks: Oclair Albert, Colors: Jeremy Cox). We begin at the site of the 71st Annual Miss Smallville Beauty Contest where Lana notices that Chloe isn’t having any luck trying to talk to any of the participating ladies. Despite admitting to Lang that she doesn’t like beauty pageants, Sullivan says that her attempt to uncover any kind of seedy underbelly concerning “America’s most degrading pastime” is exciting since reporters are attracted to covering scandals. Lana then says that not every pageant is bad due to the potential college scholarship money that comes from it, especially since she used to take part in a couple of these several years ago. She then tells Chloe that even though she won’t comment on it, she’s more than willing to present her with those who would be more willing to do so. Meanwhile, Clark and Pete are helping out with the stage preparation as Ross notices how his friend still admires the non-competing Lang. Kent argues to his buddy about how he seems to have them working here just because he has his sights upon a particular contestant named Holly Gehrig. Back with Lana, she’s met upon by a competing friend named Rachel before she begins to get interviewed by Sullivan. Just then, Rachel’s mother named Brenda comes in and learns that her daughter is being reported on for a high school newspaper before she tells her girl that they’re leaving. Shortly after Lang informs Chloe that Rachel and Brenda take their competing in beauty pageants seriously, a loud scream suddenly emits throughout the building as everyone discovers that Holly’s dress and stuff have been ruined along with an ominous message being left on her mirror that says “Quit Now”.
After getting comforted by Lana, Holly then gets interviewed by Sullivan and tells her that she’s been competing in beauty pageants ever since she was eight which is also where she first met Lang. Lana then mentions that it was her first pageant and that her Aunt Nell saw her as someone who could upset the Gehrig Family’s win streak within the local contest since the mother and grandmother had previously won. Holly says that she didn’t let that family history bother her since she was competing in order to get a scholarship, yet now she’s not sure if it’s even worth it. Meanwhile, Pete thinks that it was either Rachel or Brenda who tried to sabotage Holly in order to make it easier for the daughter to win. However, Clark isn’t willing to make a judgment call yet and wants to leave the investigation to the police. Even though Kent is ready to leave, Ross says that he’ll stay put in order to finish rigging the lights as he then elaborates how it’s because his parents are pushing him into staying focused on his “Pre-Law Extension Class” and how his folks seem to have decided that he should ultimately become a lawyer. Later, Kent reaches his family truck out in the middle of the pouring rain before he’s then met upon by Lang. She then informs him that even though a few of the ladies have dropped out of the contest as a result of the sudden vandalism, Holly is still staying put. He then says that Pete will be relieved since Gehrig inspires him towards his “civic duty” since she’s the reason why he signed himself along with Clark up into volunteer work for the pageant. Back inside, Ross sees Brenda walking by while also carrying a note as he decides to follow her. He then sees her heading down towards a sub-level before she climbs down towards a lower level, to which he then follows afterwards. Suddenly, the hatch closes behind him and gets locked.
Later on at the Kent Family Farm, Martha asks her son if he knows where Pete is at since his mother has informed her that her boy hasn’t returned home and that she’s called the police to which Kal-El becomes shocked by this revelation. Meanwhile, Pete is trapped alongside Brenda as he learns of the note that was left for her. Specifically, the sender informed her that they were aware of the saboteur that attacked Holly’s dressing room and that they wanted to inform her in their location at 11 o’clock. She then tells him that she doesn’t know who gave her this note and that she wasn’t the one who sabotaged all of those would-be contestants. He then mentions how she and her daughter are very competitive, yet she says that Rachel doesn’t need to resort to cheating in order to win. With their location slowly getting flooded by an ever-increasing amount of floodwater, he then takes his turn at banging on the door in order to get anyone’s attention. Sadly, it’s still to no avail while the padlock continues to hold up. Over at the Talon and with 30 minutes to go until the pageant starts, Clark tells Lex that he’s searched for Ross but hasn’t been able to find him. Even though the police have informed him that he’s run away, Kent doesn’t believe that it’s his friend’s style despite his parents being constantly worried about his future. Luthor assures him that he can relate to fleeing from “overbearing parents” and that even petty struggles can be greatly serious towards “a vulnerable kid”. Over at the counter, Chloe informs Lana that she also hasn’t found Pete yet. Fortunately, she was able to dig up Rachel’s pageant application form as it mentioned that she wrote chemist in the spot where it asked her for her future career. Sullivan then mentions that whoever vandalized that dressing room was knowledgeable about acids and that Rachel is a front-runner for the pageant who wasn’t targeted. Even though Lang doesn’t believe that she wouldn’t stoop that low, she’ll still go talk to her. Later, she reaches Rachel’s dressing room and enters before she discovers someone marking something onto the mirror. Back at the Talon, Chloe lets Clark know that Lana went to talk to Rachel since they believe that she’s the one who’s been targeting the other contestants. Kent then mentions how Pete’s car never left the parking lot prior to his disappearance, to which he assumes that maybe his friend discovered something that he wasn’t supposed to. As such, he then gets worried for Lang. Back in the dressing room, Lana discovers who the culprit truly is as it’s revealed to be Holly who was affected by the Kryptonite meteors and is able to emit acid from her finger tips as a result. Lang demands to know what she did to Rachel’s mother, to which Holly says that she’s fine and that Rachel didn’t even notice that her mom was missing. She then reveals her motives in that she was feeling the pressure of being a third-generation winner and that this is her last year of eligibility before she melts the opposing desk and tries to singe Lana. Fortunately, Clark and Sullivan arrive in time before Lang tells her that it’s over since she’s not winning this pageant now. However, Holly melts a hole in the wall and escapes before Lang tells her friends that she’s captured Rachel’s mother. Kent mentions that she’s done something to Ross before asking her if she knows where they could possibly be held, to which Lana says that there’s several old tunnels underneath the stage and that hardly anyone knows about them. However, she does says that Holly is fully aware of them since she she practically grew up within the auditorium and that they used to play in them when they were children. Clark then tells his female friends to call the police while he goes to look for Pete.
Back within the deepest level, it’s almost completely flooded as Ross and Brenda are unable to budge the locked door open before he then regrets saying a harmful speech to his mother. She also mentions that her daughter told her that she never wanted to see her again before mentioning that Rachel isn’t interested in pageants since she wants to become a chemist. Just then, Kal-El reaches the sub-levels before using his X-Ray Vision to discover them trapped underneath the locked door. From there, he rips the lock off with his super strength before also ripping the door off and saves them. Back on the auditorium stage, the pageant is well under way as Rachel answers a question. Suddenly, the stage collapses before a stage light falls down and smashes while also setting a curtain on fire which causes the patrons to flee. Meanwhile, Kent confronts Holly backstage before he zips over to her and grabs her arm. She manages to get her acid touch onto him, yet he’s able to resist any severe damage before he tosses her across the area. With her last chance of winning the pageant now completely gone, she uses her acid touch to bring the whole building down. Fortunately, all of the patrons managed to get out in time while Kal-El was able to easily withstand the crumbling rubble. And so, the story ends one week later with the pageant resuming at an outdoor location and (presumably) Rachel winning it. As this happens, Clark and Lang mention in her conversation that Pete was able to reconcile with his parents, while also mentioning that Chloe had discovered that Holly got her powers from the Kryptonite meteor yet “how, why and when” are unknown. Lana then says that she used to be friends with Holly and that she regrets not staying close enough to her in order to prevent her turn to the dark side. Kent then assures Lang that they both changed when they each went on different paths and that it was a simple “fact of life” before they promise each other to never drift apart no matter where life leads them.
We then conclude this book with Sullivan chronicling her summer internship at a famous newspaper and what she came across during a proceeding investigation in a tale called “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Norm Rapmund, Colors: Trish Mulvihill). We open on the Daily Planet rooftop where she’s having a private lunch while narrating about how she has the best internship yet she’s also enjoying her brief half-hour respite. She then looks at her watch and notices that she’s exceeded her lunch time as she proceeds to run back down several floors in order to return to her desk located in the mailroom. From there, she proceeds to take loads of phone calls while also performing various tasks around the office. Just then, she’s met upon by an ace reporter that she’s smitten with named Ron who compliments her for her Intertech Research. Later, she’s at her temporary desk within the newsroom and right outside the Managing Editor’s office where despite Ron handing in her research, the M.G. named Grant McKinnon berates him for it having out-of-date figures. Despite Ron telling him that Intertech is hiding something valuable, Grant says that he’s lacking any proof that a major corporation is involved in a money laundering scheme with the mob before tossing the research out. Ron then leaves the office before Chloe assures him that she tried to find more recent data, yet he tells her to forget it since the research was merely background and that he doesn’t have any proof before he takes his leave. Afterwards, Sullivan takes her research out of the trash bin while narrating about how it was the best she could do given that she was restricted to a single computer within the newspaper’s basement. As such, she decides that a more direct approach is needed and that Ron deserves to deliver a better connection between the mob boss named Harvey Stitch and the Intertech CEO named Edgar Huff. After excusing herself for a lunch break, she reaches Huff’s outer office via “a hastily displayed high school press pass & a healthy dose of moxie” before she proceeds to poke around his secretary’s computer and discovers that he has a meeting at midnight located at the Metropolis Technology Plaza. Just then, Huff’s secretary returns and catches her at her desk before Chloe pretends to be with Corporate Security before telling her that she forgot to log off before leaving her work station. She then tells the secretary that she’ll let her off with a warning before proceeding to take her leave.
Later that night, she arrives at LuthorCorp alongside Ross since Lex is helping them out (much to Pete’s dismay) due to Edgar Huff managing to get Luthor kicked out of Metropolis University all because to a practical joke. It turns out that Lex is providing them with blueprints of the Metropolis Technology Plaza since LuthorCorp had completed construction on it two years prior and thus, it’ll help them sneak their way in. From there, Sullivan and Pete proceed to sneak their way into the facility while avoiding the various security details along the way. Eventually, they reach their prime spot as Ross decides to go around in order to hear any crucial details. Meanwhile, Chloe manages to take some pictures of Edgar’s illegal meeting before she’s suddenly approached by Harvey.
Fortunately, Pete manages to deliver a surprise punch onto the mob boss who ends up crashing through the skylight and into Huff’s meeting area as they spot the young sleuths. From there, Sullivan and Ross attempt to flee all while they avoid some enemy gunfire before they eventually get out of the building. Fortunately for them, Luthor was able to drive up to them in time and help them escape. Eventually, Chloe makes it back to the Daily Planet and leaves her new evidence for Ron before she’s called up by Clark much later on. With the evidence helping the story get published in the paper, she’s then met upon by Ron as it’s revealed that he’s already married to a woman named Reyna. The couple then takes their leave before Sullivan ultimately ends her call with Kent. And so, Issue 2 ends with her narrating about how she’s lucky with her investigative skills yet doesn’t finish it up with the fact that she’s unlucky in love.
For Issue #3, it comes with two stories that’re all about Lex. As such, the initial story has him dealing with being wrongfully accused of bumping off someone close to him in a narrative known as “Chimera” (Writers: Mark Verheiden & Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Renato Guedes, Inks: Oclair Albert, Colors: Guy Major). We begin at the Talon where Lang serves a coffee order to both Clark and Lex after they had just gone through the events of the Season 2 episode “Suspect”, which saw Jonathan being framed for seemingly murdering Lionel and while Lex would interrogate his assistant named Dominic Senatori, Kent discovered and defeated the true suspect who turned out to be Sheriff Ethan Miller since he was blackmailed by Lionel himself. Just then, the young Luthor would receive a call from a guy named Malcolm before he gets convinced to meet up with him in Metropolis. Clark then asks him why he’s heading to said city, to which Lex explains that he has a longtime friend who’s currently researching the hieroglyphics over at the Kawatche Caves and that he has a breakthrough. He then gets reminded by Kent that his birthday party is tomorrow before he proceeds to take his leave. Later, Luthor arrives at a rundown apartment building as he narrates about how the guy he’s visiting named Malcolm Barnes was his only friend throughout his prep school days. While other people claimed to be his comrades through the elite confusion of “networking and friendship”, Malcolm was “a scholarship kid” whom he could always trust. Following their school days, Barnes would lose himself to his “mathematical studies” and wound up within some tough times. As such, he hopes that decrypting the cave’s hieroglyphs would help his friend regain the confidence to get back on his feet. Lex then arrives at the apartment before he notices that it’s partially open as he proceeds to head inside. To his horror, he finds Malcolm stabbed before he discovers that he’s not breathing along with him not having a pulse. Luthor then begins to call 911 before he soon finds some key pieces of paper at his feet as he discovers that it’s a series of false e-mail messages sent from him where he blames Barnes for stealing valuable research from him and even threatens to kill him. As such, he steals all of those e-mails from the scene before the police manages to show up and he eventually takes his leave.
Later, he’s back at his mansion and tells Clark about all of this who’s shocked at his friend for swiping evidence before wondering why he didn’t just turn himself in since he’s innocent. Lex says that his father has told him that the justice system can be “easily manipulated”, especially by anyone who’s skilled enough to craft those forged documents along with stealing the dagger from his home in order to use it as a murder weapon. Kent then asks him if his friend’s death is affecting his own judgment, to which Luthor says that it could be. However, he doesn’t have many friends and that Malcolm was one of the only people he could always trust which is why he must discover the murderer’s identity. Suddenly, a tactical group of FBI agents smash their way in before placing Lex under arrest. Kent demands to know where they’re taking him, but they refuse as he uses his super strength to force the restraining agents off of him. As Luthor gets placed into a van, he then tells his friend to go home before an agent pistol whips him over the head. Clark then runs towards them, but he gets shot and is forced to fall over from the hit despite his bulletproof body.
Later, Lex finds himself within an interrogation room along with a pair of agents with one of them being named Gibson. Luthor initially refuses to talk without his attorney present, but Gibson simply smacks him before revealing that he & his own men are actually working with the FBI and that they’re actually military intelligence. He then mentions that Malcolm was also one of their agents before he demands to know from Lex what sinister plan he’s up to, especially since Luthor’s Swiss Bank account was recently emptied prior to Barnes’ murder. Instead, Luthor headbutts him before the other agent subdues him as Gibson proceeds to beat Lex up.
Afterwards, the young Luthor is then brought into another room where he gets placed in for the evening before he narrates about the revelation of Malcolm being an intelligence agent along with him losing his two friends. Just then, he notices someone about to come as he hides before the door open in order to attack the approaching figure. He soon discovers that it’s Kent as then asks him how he’s alive, to which Clark says that the armed agents had fired blanks at him before he found it weird and eventually followed them. With no one around to stop them, they begin to head out before Lex wonders why military commandos would even use blanks. Clark then says that those guys actually aren’t working with the military and that they don’t have any cooperation with the FBI as they discover that the “office” was actually built inside of a spacious warehouse within the Metropolis Warehouse District. The young Luthor then calls up the Swiss Bank and asks them for his current balance, to which he discovers that there’s no money in it. From there, he tells Kent that he can put a stop to this all by himself and that he wants his friend to head home. And so, Part 1 ends with him confronting Lionel in his bedroom while holding a gun up to him.
Before we continue this storyline, let’s first wrap this book up with a moment from the youthful Luthor’s even younger days as we saddle up and ride on in to a tale called “Vows” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Colors: Trish Mulvihill). We open at the horse stable where Lana is tending to a horse before she’s then met upon by Lex who gives her some of the Talon Theater’s revenues since she forgot to include them within a quarterly report. While she does offer to go back and get those figures for him, he tells her that it can wait since he had heard from “a certain caffeine junkie” that some tears had gotten into her coffee. She then realizes that it was Chloe as Lang elaborates how this day marks her parents’ anniversary, yet it’s gotten harder for her due to her learning about her mother briefly leaving her “dad” for the man who turned out to be her actual birth father. She then says that even if her deceased folks were still alive, she’s not sure if they would still be together or even still love each other. Luthor then brings up a Quarter Horse that he used to have yet sold him once his mother passed away, to which he then flashbacks to the old family ranch out in Montana as he’s reluctant to wear a hat that his mom named Lillian wants him to put on. He ultimately places it on his head before he mentions that his dad had a secretary buy the hat along with his doubt that he’ll be able to see his wife make one last visit to the ranch, to which Lillian says that his father isn’t comfortable in this area and that this won’t be her last time here. From there, she begins to roundup some cattle before Lex sees his father’s helicopter arriving.
During his conversation with Lionel, he mentions how his dad hasn’t attended their annual cattle drive for the prior seven years and that Lillian had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Shortly after her husband pleasantly greets her, the family heads out on horseback as Lex doesn’t want his mother to remotely buy his act. She then tells her son that she’s still glad for her husband making it here before she spots a fleeing calf, to which Lex rides off to bring it back. Shortly after he pulls it off, a rattlesnake appears and spooks Lillian’s horse which sends it into a scared frenzy. Fortunately, she manages to get saved by Lionel before we transition back to the present as the young Luthor mentions how that moment showed him how his mother chose to see her husband. Lex then tells Lana that his dad waited on her for the next several days before the young Luthor asked her if she was seriously going to allow “one act of heroism” make up for all of the various years of regret, to which Lillian told her boy that she would love his father for better & for worse as she then mentions how “Sometimes it’s worse, but today it’s better”. As such, Lex tells Lang that commitment can help love weather through tough times since it allowed Lillian to see the good in Lionel. In addition, it allowed Lana’s mother Laura to reunite with Lewis in order for them to stay devoted to each other throughout the young Lang’s first three years. After he assures her that commitment is real, Issue 3 ends with both of them paying respects at their deceased parents’ graves.
For Issue #4, we have another pair of tales that starts off with the second part of “Chimera” (Writers: Mark Verheiden & Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Renato Guedes, Inks: Oclair Albert, Colors: Guy Major). We begin with Lionel demanding to know what he’s doing here, to which Lex assumes that his dad is being naïve as he tells his father that he pushed three different guys to the brink of murder before one of them went over the edge (specifically, Sheriff Ethan Miller). The young Luthor then says that it wasn’t enough for his father since he couldn’t control his son, so he decided to murder Malcolm and frame his boy for it. Lionel tries to tell him that his notion is utterly delusional, yet Lex says that he contacted the Swiss bank and learned that all of his money is gone. Lionel then mentions that he was taken advantage of by sharing his account password over the phone, thus giving Lex a realization as he then contacts the Swiss bank via his father’s regular phone and discovers that he still has all of his money. However, he’s then informed that it’s being entirely withdrawn and that he’s too late to cancel it since the figure has the correct password. Shortly afterwards, a pair of police officers burst in and arrest Lex.
They then proceed to escort him down an elevator as he narrates about how his inadvertent exposure of a part of the entire illusion has helped Lionel remove himself from the list of possible suspects, yet the scheme is still elaborate for it to result with a simple robbery as he still has a desire to find out the true culprit and what they want. From there, he gets brought to a sub-level parking garage where a pair of agents are waiting to put him inside their van. However, he manages to beat the officers up before he tries to run away while the agents hop into their vehicle and drive after him. Fortunately, he’s able to elude them while they flip over and crash before he gets into a taxi and escapes.
With him needing a safe space to think things through, he tells the driver to take him to Smallville before he then begins to realize him. The guy then stops the cab, yet the young Luthor grabs him since he recognized him as one of the cops that arrived at Malcolm’s apartment as he demands to know why he’s doing this to him. Suddenly, the agents have caught up before they draw their guns at him as Lex tells the “driver” to step on it. He then manages to take cover and avoid the bullet barrage as he ultimately escapes before they reach a safe spot in order to interrogate the man. The guy says that he’s Mark Harrison and that he was working for those agents before he reveals that Gibson is behind this, to which Lex asks him if Gibson mentioned anything about working for either the government or the military. Mark says that he didn’t and that it wasn’t his idea since he’s “working for some rich dude” before concluding with the fact that it was all that he was told since it was “a practical joke between two rich dudes”. The young Luthor then asks him if the other rich guy had a name, to which Harrison says that there isn’t another man since it was just him and a group of actors from the Metropolitan Metropolis Players.
Lex then walks to Malcolm’s apartment while narrating about how this was all a cruel practical joke from the beginning despite him praying that his friend was actually deceased given how he didn’t want to imagine the alternative. Just then, he’s approached by Barnes who holds him up at gunpoint before asking his former friend and schoolmate why he did this. Malcolm explains that it was all for money since he doesn’t see the young Luthor as anyone who makes any friends and instead makes “contacts”, to which he then adds how he spent an entire decade waiting for him to “pay off”. Lex then realizes that once he grew impatient, he faked his own death by using fake blood along with some latex to hide his own pulse. However, Malcolm says that the true mastermind behind the plan came from “a certain gentleman” that he never met and that he was promised all of the young Luthor’s money from his Swiss Bank account. Lex then asks him what this guy hopes to gain from this, to which Barnes says that he personally doesn’t know or care. He then adds that once “the Brit” didn’t get what he wanted, he then informed Malcolm that the young Luthor was being dealt with. Barnes then asks him if this “irony” and “betrayal” stings, to which Lex admits that it did.
Later, Dominic reaches his limo and gets inside before he discovers that the young Luthor was waiting for him. Not only that, but Mark is also there as the driver as they all take off. From there, Lex reveals that he’s discovered his former assistant’s scheme which came about after being put in his place by Lionel despite years of work and the elder Luthor giving company control to his son. It turns out that Senatori was hoping that Lex would get pushed over the edge enough to murder his father and go to jail, thus giving him a clear path towards taking the reigns of said organization. He then adds how even though logic would’ve made Lionel the obvious mastermind for this entire plan, there’s a small fact in that he’s not British. Even though Dominic tells him that he’s been wanting to bump his father off for several years, the young Luthor tells him that they’re at war before he forces his deceitful assistant out of the in-motion limo. And so, the story ends at the Talon as Lex informs Clark that Senatori was arrested and that his attorneys are retrieving his stolen money. Kent admits how he thought that his friend would do “something more Machiavellian”, to which the young Luthor says that he hopes that his friend never goes through a similar betrayal. From there, he then gets surprised by his small group of friends with his own birthday cake.
As for this book’s final tale, Kal-El will proceed to share some extra detail upon a certain blackmail that loomed over him in a narrative called “Phelan” (Writer: Mark Verheiden, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Trish Mulvihill). We open at the Talon where Clark is meeting up with with Lex as the latter is eventually bound for Metropolis in order to thoroughly bring the Sam Phelan investigation to a close. Kent mentions his belief how the Metropolis Police had already closed his file upon his own demise from months ago, to which Luthor says that the guy was still a cop even though he was “dirty”. He then wonders why the man had his sights set on Clark despite not knowing the figure’s motives, Kent pretends to be unsure as well before he narrates about how he couldn’t share the truth with his friend since it involved him displaying his Kryptonian feat of strength. We then shift to the events of the episode “Rogue” where he saved a homeless man from a runaway bus and it ends up crashing into Kal-El without causing any kind of harm to him. Unbeknownst to him, Sam saw this heroic display before eventually tracking him back to the Kent Family Farm where he threatens to expose his secret to the world. However, he would keep the incident under wraps if Clark helped him deal with a “problem” within his department’s Internal Affairs Division. As such, the young Kent is forced to go onto a driving excursion with him.
During the ride, Clark tells him that he must’ve wanted to become a cop in order to help people before wondering what changed along the way. Phelan simply exclaims that maybe he just got fed up with following other people’s rules before they’re then met upon by a pair of drunken young men who speed and swerve past them. Kent wants him to contact somebody due to their reckless driving, but Sam isn’t willing to do so since it would reveal that he was doing “some unauthorized R&R” within Smallville. Suddenly, the men would lose control of their car and flip off the road before landing in a massive puddle. Clark tells him to stop since they need to help those guys out, but Sam is still unwilling to do so. As such, the young Kent grabs the wheel as they swerve to a stop. Phelan then tells him that he has five minutes before he speeds off and tells the world his secret as Kent discover that the driver is fine but his passenger (who turns out to be his brother) has been thrown from the vehicle. With the man pinned underneath and submerged, Clark manages to lift the car up and save the guy only to discover that he’s not breathing. Sam then comes in and applies CPR to him while Kal-El narrates about how he initially thought that the corrupt detective would just uncaringly leave him to die. However, Phelan’s continued effort would make the young Kent sense some buried desire to actually do something about it along with some semblance of the good man that he used to be within him. Fortunately, Sam is able to save the guy before he & Clark hear some sirens as they proceed to take their leave.
Two days later, Phelan would get gunned down by security after his attempt to make the young Kent steal Alexander The Great’s chest plate failed as the flashback ends with Clark narrating about the guy was finally out of his life. However, he couldn’t stop thinking about that singular moment where a cold-hearted man like him was capable of showing “a glimmer of decency” under the right moment. Lex then proceeds to head out as Issue 4 ends with Kal-El narrating about how even though that aforementioned moment gives him hope, he doesn’t think that he’ll ever understand anyone who’s like the deceased detective especially since the young Luthor had told him that dealing with someone that twisted makes one forever unsure about “what motivates them”.
Issue #5 also brings us a pair of narratives, so let’s delve into a moment after the Season 2 finale “Exodus” but before the Season 3 premiere “Exile” where our main Kryptonian has suppressed his regular self with an otherworldly piece of jewelry and fled the familiar Kansas town. Just as he makes his way to the main city, we’ll delve into the kinds of not-so wholesome shenanigans that he got himself into in “Sojourn” (Writers: Mark Verheiden & Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Guy Major). We begin with Clark riding into Metropolis before he arrives at a dive bar called the Blue Rose and enters it, revealing that he’s also wearing a ring with Red Kryptonite on it which suppresses his good-natured inhibitions. Despite a guy named Stick telling him that this establishment is private, his blonde-haired lady decides to go talk to the young guy. She manages to pick up his attempt to charm her before he says that he noticed how she was looking at him. Even though he then forces her to kiss him, she ultimately complies to his attempt.
This infuriates Stick as he slams his billiard stick onto him, yet Kent is able to easily withstand it before he grabs a beer bottle and crushes it with his own super strength before using the shattered container to intimidate the guy. From there, he proceeds to beat Stick up while also fending off the other toughs’ attempts. After having taken cover behind the counter, the woman peaks up and sees Kal-El’s results before she heads out to learn his name. He tells her that it’s “Kal” before she then reveals that her name is Chastity before she hops onto his motorcycle and rides off with him.
Even though she points out where her place is at, he decides that they’ll be staying at an upscale hotel. As for how he intends to pay for it, he reaches a bank ATM and melts the security camera with his Heat Vision before punching through the machine in order to steal some cash. Later as they hang out within their room, Chastity is getting undressed while she talks to Clark about how she also used to come from a small town. Even though she sometimes misses it, there’s only a single family member that she cares about which is her cousin named Mick. She then mentions that he “makes good money” while working for Intergang and that he’s at a place called the Echo Chamber before she gets into bed for a racy night of passion. Just as she mentions how she could get used to being with him, this makes Kent get mad as she tries to tell him that this could be a good thing for both of them. However, he only sees her as someone who just want something from him before he kicks her out of the room with her only covered by the bed sheets.
Over at the Kent Family Farm, Martha has just been released from the hospital (as a result of events from Season 2 where she somehow became pregnant despite her infertile womb and had just lost her potential baby as a result of an explosion caused by Kal-El inserting a Kryptonian key infused with Kryptonite into his space pod) and is being carried into the house by her husband Jonathan. Just then, she notices that there’s a message on their answering machine as it’s revealed to be an insurance agent named Bob Kendrick who wants to talk to them about the recent explosion on their farmland. While Martha assures him that their son will call them since he needs some time to think, Jonathan tells her that Pete had informed him about their boy putting a Red Kryptonite ring on before he left and that he blames himself for turning his back on him. Back in Metropolis, Clark arrives at the Echo Chamber club and is able to pay off a bouncer in order to get in. He then approaches the bartender and asks him about Mick, yet the guy isn’t willing to inform him. Due to a young woman approaching him, he decides to order a round of drinks “for all the ladies” along with the bartender having a special drink for himself as the guy is stunned by the immense payout. The young Kent then makes his way over to Mick who’s talking on the phone to his boss named Moxie Mannheim about some upcoming plans of theirs. Kal-El then mentions how he was with his cousin Chastity last night, which infuriates Mick before he has one of goons pin the young Kent to the table while holding a gun to his head. Clark then reveals his faux name of Kal while using his X-Ray vision to see their plans within their folder before he casually leaves them some money for them to use on more alcohol and heads out.
Back at the Kent Family Farm, Lana is meeting up with Martha before she spots Jonathan as he tells her that he’s heading out in order to find their son. She tells him that they don’t even know where their boy is at and that he still needs a home to come back to in addition to them preserving their newest harvest of corn, yet he’s still blaming himself for their child running off and that he can’t wait anymore. As such, he takes his leave just as Chloe arrives as she gives Martha some flowers. Lang and Sullivan then head outside as Lana mentions how it took Clark so long to mention his burgeoning relationship with her, to which Chloe tells her that he didn’t do that since they were too scared to inform her of it. Lang says that they were afraid of hurting her, to which Sullivan then demands to know once and for all if she truly loves him. Lana says that she does before Chloe tells her that she’ll see her at her house for dinner (since Lang was living with the Sullivans during Season 2) and drives off.
Later, Mick and his fellow goons are hanging out within an airplane’s storage space in order to do an international trade for “500 keys”. Just then, they’re met upon by a disguised Kal-El as the thugs aim their guns at him. Mick tells them to stand down since a stray shot will depressurize the aircraft before he and his men take out their knives and engage the young Kent. Clark is able to withstand their stab attempts while also biting through one of the blades before he flings all of them into the side, grabs their bag and smashes his way out as Mick and his henchmen are forced to hang on for their lives. After landing on the ground, he discovers that they were going to trade some diamonds as he then gives a devious smile over his newly-acquired gems. And so, the story ends with him riding back into Metropolis before he spots his dad over on the nearby sidewalk. Not wanting to get noticed, he puts his sunglasses on and begins to ride off. As for Jonathan, he had come from a meeting at the Metropolis Fidelity Insurance company with his claim having just been denied before he spots his son riding past him.
Let us now close this comic out with a former boyfriend who had gone overseas to serve his country but ultimately fell in the line of duty in “The Few, The Proud” (Writers: Clint Carpenter & Jake Black, Pencils: Pete Woods, Inks: Ron Randall, Colors: Trish Mulvihill). We open overseas where Whitney Fordman watches a video message from his former girlfriend Lana as she tells him that her feelings have changed and that even though she’s ending their relationship, she’s still proud of him and hopes that he makes it home. Shortly afterwards, he and his fellow soldiers get ordered by their superior to go to bed. As he crumples up his picture of her, we then transition to the next day where he and his unit are out on patrol while his letter to Lang mentions that he had received her video. While her message was painful for him to hear along with it being tough for him to accept, he still found her words honest. However, the real problem was that it was the kind of “truths” that he didn’t want to hear. During their patrol, a fellow soldier swipes Whitney’s Kryptonite necklace (which he initially gave to Lana) from him before their leader orders him to give it back to Fordman. Suddenly, they hear an explosion in the distance as the entire unit goes to check it out since they were just ordered to investigate. They then arrive at a village that was attacked in a hit-and-run scheme while they also mention how they’re on their own due to their air support being delayed. They then find some survivors, to which they then split up into small groups before they suddenly get attacked by a rocket-powered grenade which takes out a pair of their soldiers. With their initial leader being one of their comrades who was hit in the blast, the group finds themselves under enemy fire that they also can’t find out where it’s coming from. Whitney then asks his second-in-command what they should do, but the lieutenant isn’t sure before Fordman sees his Kryptonite necklace and decides to save their wounded leader while a few of his surviving comrades provide some cover fire. During all of this, Whitney mentions in his letter how he kept thinking of Lang in order to keep himself sane amongst the “destruction and sorrow”. While he sympathized with her on feeling “abandoned and lonely” for most of their lives, she ultimately reminded him that he’s not alone.
Back on the battlefield, Fordman manages to carry his wounded leader before regrouping with his surviving Marines. As they proceed to escape, Whitney manages to drive over to the surviving villagers in order to save them from an additional RPG while another one of his fellow soldiers gets shot. During this, Fordman mentions in his letter how he was closing himself off from those who badly needed him by holding on to Lana. As such, he left his home town in order to make a difference yet he thanks her for him making it this far and that he’ll always love her. Later, Whitney and company manage to get their wounded leader to a rescue helicopter as Fordman then gives the Kryptonite necklace to him so that he can give it back once he gets out of the hospital. Afterwards, they learn that the aircraft is overloaded and that the locals will have to be left behind. Fortunately, Whitney and his surviving Marines decide to stay behind so that the victims can be allowed to escape before they decide to meet up at their secondary Evac area, despite the fact that they won’t be able to reach it on their Humvee due to them not having enough gas. During all of this as well as the final scene, Fordman’s letter concludes with him deciding to let Lang go since he’s needed elsewhere. Even though he and his unit are in a tough spot, especially given how their escape ride never showed up which forced them to go on the run, Lana is still helping him get some good morale. With him having lived a petty life, he thanks Lang for helping him change and that he’s glad that she’s searching for happiness to which he hopes that she finds it. Back with Whitney and his small group of Marines, they proceed to make their way through the nature-filled area after they’re forced to leave their secondary escape spot due to another rescue helicopter not showing up. Sadly, Issue 5 ends with Fordman and his group getting attacked and killed by a few more bits of enemy fire.
Issue #6 also gives us a pair of narratives as the book’s first tale takes place after the Season 3 episode “Magnetic”. Specifically, Lex had been betrayed by his initial wife Dr. Helen Bryce and wound up stranded on an deserted island for three months where he was accompanied & accosted by a hallucinated friend. He was ultimately rescued and reconciled with his dad before he begins his psychiatric sessions with Dr. Claire Foster due to his deserted island experience still haunting him. As for Kal-El, he was finally freed from his rampage that was fueled from him wearing the Red Kryptonite ring. With his relationship with Lana strained as a result, he decides to call it off in order to be sure that she doesn’t get continually hurt as well. After Lang was just under the string of a magnetic Krypto Freak named Seth Nelson, she decides to forgo her attempt to win the young Kent back for now. With all of that setup out of the way, let’s finally get to “ID” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Guy Major). We begin with the young Luthor submerged within the ocean following his plane crash before he wakes up and swims to the surface via his survival instincts, to which he then hangs on to a floating piece of wreckage (most likely a wing tip) and calls out to his then-wife to no avail. He then takes out the compass that he had received from Jonathan Kent as a wedding gift before he swims away from the sinking aircraft. Eventually, he woke up on an island before he climbed up a cliff and discovered that it was entirely deserted before he eventually consumes what little water he could find. He then spent several days searching for more of it before his increased weariness caused him to pass out just as “something happened”, to which it’s then revealed that he’s sharing this past experience with Dr. Foster. While he suddenly saw that a man named Louis was on the island, Lex simply tells Claire that he found some water.
Meanwhile, Clark is riding within Pete’s car as Ross wonders why his friend isn’t sharing his secret with Lana. The young Kent says that he doesn’t want to put Lang in danger and that he’s already caused enough trouble. Ross rebuts how his friend has shared his secret with him and yet he’s “still standing” before mentioning how she probably still loves him and that the risk could be worth it. Just then, they notice some smoke coming from a building before Clark uses his X-Ray Vision and discovers that someone is holding another person up at gunpoint as he then tells his friend to call the sheriff. Inside the burning barn, the hooded gunman demands to know where the farmer has buried an item of interest or else he’ll scorch the farmhouse as well. Fortunately, Kal-El comes in and easily disarms the perp before throwing him aside. The thug then mentions about the oil drums as the blaze reaches them and causes them to explode, yet the young Kent manages to save the farmer from the blast before assuring him that the devious man is gone.
Back with the young Luthor, he continues to share his harrowing experience with Dr. Foster as he mentions that he had to tap into his primal and savage side in order to survive. Over in the flashback, Louis talks to him about his then-wife Helen whom Lex thinks is dead yet the guy taunts him by mentioning how she’s betrayed him. The young Luthor argues how it was his father is the true traitor and that he vows to get back at him, to which Louis says that he’s his sole hope of surviving within a “cruel world”. Some time proceeds to pass as Lex gathers some big sticks before climbing up the cliff to place them on there. However, he then spots Louis pushing some of those sticks off the side and says that he’s wasting his time since the fire on the beach should be enough. The young Luthor tells him that he’s not going to risk a rescue plane solely looking for a beach-based blaze, to which Louis says that there aren’t any planes and that his dad isn’t looking for him. Lex then grabs a stick and prepares to attack him with it before a piece of the cliff that he’s standing on gives way and he begins to fall. Fortunately, he grabs onto the side before Louis tells him about how his own father passed away from malaria years ago while also on a deserted island due to him spending way too much time trying to get back home and not enough on surviving. As such, he mentions to the young Luthor that he’s unable to survive on the island without him especially since he’s too focused on returning to where his father and even his wife would want to kill him. From there, Louis pulls Lex up to safety before the young Luthor mentions to Claire in the present how his time on the island “was a long three months”. Meanwhile, Clark is at the Smallville Police Station alongside Chloe as Sheriff Nancy Adams has him identify the suspect amongst a line-up. The young Kent points out the third man as Nancy says that he’s a petty thief named Roland Harmon. Afterwards, she heads out to get some papers for Clark to fill out prior to taking him home while allowing Sullivan to interview him. The young Kent then asks his friend if there’s something secretive about him that would scare her into not wanting to be near him anymore, to which she then essentially assures him that there isn’t.
Back in the flashback, the young Luthor manages to murder Louis before he’s approached by a fisherman as it’s revealed that Lex was the only one who saw Louis and that the fisherman discovered him via his beachside campfire. The young Luthor is then allowed to rest up below deck before he’s informed that they’ll reach the main port in the morning as the fisherman then takes his leave. Suddenly, he’s met upon by Louis who says that he’ll need him even more now since he won’t be able to take on his dad by himself yet they’ll be able to “crush him” together. Lex then demands to know what he’s already aware about his father, to which Louis says that Lionel has tormented him in the name of love and constantly criticized him while pretending that it’s merely jealousy. Not only that, he tells the young Luthor that his dad is deeply scared of how great his son can become and will try to murder him for it. As such, Louis says that he knows how he can help “make it all stop”. Eventually, the fisherman reaches shore as Lex and Louis proceed to head out in a taxi as the young Luthor says that his father gave him access to his own life savings which will allow him to return home without drawing any attention from the banks. However, Louis still doesn’t trust Lionel and tells Lex that he’s the only person whom he can trust. They then arrive at the airport as Louis says that they’ll murder his dad along with Helen before they each get their chance, to which he then says that they also can’t trust the Kents. Fortunately, the young Luthor pins him to the wall and says that not only does he not want or need him, he’ll never become like him while some bystanders notice that he’s yelling at no one. With Louis finally vanquished from his thoughts along with his present day admission to Dr. Foster that he finally said goodbye to three grueling months on the island and didn’t look back, he finally boarded a flight to Metropolis.
From there, the present day session ends as Claire tells him that she appreciates his candor over the many meetings that took place across several weeks. However, she senses that he’s still “holding something back” as she then tells him to be honest with her to which he agrees before she heads out from his mansion. Shortly afterwards, Clark arrives as he learns that Lex has heard about his heroic deed before getting asked if the attacked farmer named Brown truly had $250,000 buried within some milk cans that were buried in his cornfield. The young Kent confirms it since Sheriff Adams is making sure that the man’s money will properly be placed in a bank before mentioning why Brown was accosted, since his “loser son” mentioned it to “the wrong people”. The young Luthor then mentions how “nothing stays buried forever” since he’s been wondering if he should ever fight, to which he then elaborates on how it ultimately comes down to desire towards either having “the security of buried money” or bask in the reward of spending it. He then excuses himself in order to make a phone call to which Clark proceeds to take his leave. Later, he arrives at the Talon just as it’s closing for the night in order to talk with Lana. Specifically, he mentions how he hasn’t been good with “being open” and that he has his reasons for that. Although she’s hesitant about wanting to tackle this issue at this moment, he assures her that he’s not making any excuses. Just before he has the chance to explain however, the coffee shop’s phone rings as she goes over to answer it. Suddenly and unbeknownst to her, he gets approached by an armed Roland who had gotten out of jail via bail and now has every intention of bumping off the only witness to his crime. Harmon fires his gun before Kal-El easily resists the bullet, but it ends up ricocheting off of him and is now zipping towards Lang. Thanks to his super agility, he smacks Roland through the front window before using his Heat Vision to melt the shot. Later, the police arrive to arrest Harmon before Lana tells the young Kent that he never got to finish saying what he tried to tell her. He then struggles a bit to say something before he then tells her that there truly is some guy who’s ultimately right for her and that not only does he hope that she meets him, yet he makes her happy as he could’ve before he then takes his leave. Back at Luthor Mansion, Lex is having another therapy session with Dr. Foster as he finally confesses how he’s been seeing a fake person named Louis and that he represents a part of him that he’s nervous to confront. Even though he’s taking a risk with this confession, he’s still hoping that she’ll be able to help him stand up to his “darkest nature” in order to finally best it. She then assures him that his confidence won’t be misplaced before mentioning how he’s made some good progress. Before she heads out, she assures him that their conversation will stay between them given “the bounds of doctor-patient privilege”. Just as she takes her leave however, the story ends with her making a call about how she’s discovered a flaw within the young Luthor in that his “childhood episode” wasn’t as isolated of an incident as they thought while Louis continues to loom over him from his reflection.
This book then proceeds to wrap up with a comedic touch on a romantic yet fool-hearted attempt of a one-man double date coupled with a certain kind of sleight of hand in tale called “Magic” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Art: Jose Ángel Cano López a.k.a. “Kano”, Colors: Trish Mulvihill). We open at the Smallville Torch within Smallville High School as Clark tells Pete how he’s not sure about this “dream” that he’s living just as Chloe overhears them and mentions how her realization was about Ross’ scheme to date two young women at the same time. He then asks her how she knows about the ladies, to while Sullivan says that both Paige and Danielle had each mentioned their own upcoming dates with Ross to her. Although she confirms that both young women aren’t aware of Pete’s plan, Chloe ultimately calls him out on this stupid attempt before storming out. Later, Ross begins his double date scheme by meeting up with Danielle before escorting her into a horseless carriage. She then assures him that despite him wrecking his own car, she’s willing to use her mother’s car for the evening. Despite that, he closes the curtain before they’re met upon by a suddenly jolt of speed. Just as fast as it happened, they then instantly arrive at a picturesque field overlooking the town complete with a picnic setup for them. She then asks him how he did that, to which he simply exclaims that it was “magic” before she then mentions how they’ll need a fire. Unbeknownst to her, Kal-El is hiding within some nearby trees as he then uses his Heat Vision to ignite an adjacent campfire. Pete and Danielle then proceed to have their date while the young Kent patiently waits from afar before nighttime ultimately arrives. Ross then places her inside his “chariot” and says that it’ll get her safely home before he then promises to see her again tomorrow. From there, Clark proceeds to secretly super speed her back to her house before Pete gets into his car and drives off to his other date.
Later, he meets up with Paige before telling her that he wasn’t able to get her some flowers due to being “held up”. As such, he then asks her for her favorite to which she then tells him that she likes daises. With the young Kent hiding just around the corner from them, Ross then awkwardly informs his friend to get some daises from “Old Lady Johnson’s Front Yard”. As such, Kal-El uses his super speed to acquire said flowers and place them in Pete’s hand as Paige then gets amazed by their sudden appearance. Suddenly, they see a nearby building on fire and that a dog is trapped within the blaze. Pete then tells his date to call 911 before he rushes inside, to which his friend had already managed to save the noble creature. Clark mentions how fortunate it was that they were nearby, yet Ross sees this as his opportunity to increase his chances with Paige by giving her the dog before he heads out. During this, the young Kent mentions how the blaze is burning down Mr. Oldham’s store before he then gets the inferno under control. With the fire department having arrived to finish off said flames, Paige then mentions how brave Pete was for entering said blaze. Just then, Mr. Oldham appears as it’s then revealed that the dog named Sammy belongs to him before he retrieves him while Paige let’s him know that Ross saved his pet. Afterwards, Pete calls up Clark and mentions how an unexpected turn in his night requires him to get some “home-field advantage” in order for him “to seal the deal”. As such, he cancels the rest of his plan as it’s then revealed that the young Kent was working on a statue of Paige’s likeness formed out of the ice from his Freeze Breathe and being carved via his Heat Vision. Later, Ross and Paige are at the Talon as they share a kiss before she wonders about the “kind of guy” he truly is. Suddenly, he gets some water dumped on to him as it’s revealed that Danielle works there. Not only that, but she then tells Paige about how she found out that he was dating them both on the same night as both ladies storm off. And so, Issue 6 ends with him being approached by Sullivan who reveals that she was the one who informed Danielle about his scheme and that she should keep her job position a secret beforehand. As such, his humiliation is worth him keeping their friendship alive. Despite this embarrassing end, he simply mentions how they’ll be back since he’s “incorrigible” and “not picky”.
Issue #7 would also have two stories, but its first one would follow up on a particular spinoff series. Making its digital debut within the realms of America Online on April 29, 2003, the “Chloe Chronicles” was a web series that focused on Sullivan as she delved into mysteries that the regular show didn’t have the space to explore. While you can find this initial season on the Smallville Season 2 DVD set, you can also find and watch it online. Thankfully, this comic gives a summary of this small batch of episodes before leading into its tale so here’s a quick rundown. Spinning out of the eighth overall episode “Jitters”, it follows her investigating the death of a former LuthorCorp janitor named Earl Jenkins (played by the late Tony Todd) who became irradiated by the company’s Kryptonite meteor while working within a specific area called “Level Three”. In the actual episode, he tried to reach said lab and get a cure for his violent shakes that he got as a result of his radioactive exposure. However, the area was entirely cleared out and he was discredited. As a result, he took Clark’s classmates hostage while they were on a field trip to LuthorCorp before Kent and Lex’s intervention ultimately led him to get some medical treatment even though he ultimately passed away. Over in the web series (and with Pete Ross as her cameraman), Chloe would interview Earl’s widow named Belinda and would learn about her late husband’s connection to a dark conspiracy that’s linked to three prior Metropolis University professors. While one of them was Dr. Steven Hamilton (not related to Emil Hamilton who came along later) who passed away from violent seizures after being exposed to a liquified version of the meteor rock (over in the episode “Duplicity”), Sullivan would interview his former colleague named Dr. Arthur Walsh who became a high school biology teacher since then. Racked by his guilt-ridden conscience, he ultimately agreed to share his knowledge about said trio. She would also interview Dr. Donovan Jamison who became a high-end executive at a company called Nu-Tech, yet she wasn’t able to get much out of him. During both meetings, she notices a certain symbol upon their stationary. When she got back to Dr. Walsh’s office, she discovers that he’s been cleared out and that he was even offered bribe money to back off, even though he didn’t stick around for that payout. As we then shift ahead by several months, we now get to our featured tale called “Chronicle” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Guy Major). We begin at night as Chloe has just left Smallville High for the day and drives off before she calls up her dad in order to learn about what’s being served for dinner. Unbeknownst to her, an assailant was hiding in the backseat before he holds a knife up to her neck and tells her to pull over so that they can talk. Fortunately, she slams on the brakes which causes the guy to jolt into the dashboard before she manages to get out of her car and run for it. Unfortunately, the perp managed to swiftly & sneakily get past her in order to trip her up and pin her. He then says that he’ll turn her over so that they can talk, but she manages to spot a wound on his side as she punches it and manages to get up. Just as she’s about to get away, the man mentions that Arthur had sent him before she asks him if the doctor is still alive. The guy then says that he was informed that she would be the only one who would believe him before he then passes out from his wound.
Later, she brings the man up into the loft within the Kent Family Farm in order to get him some medical attention before she’s then met upon Clark. She then introduces her friend to the guy who’s named Carter Bickson a.k.a. “Bix” before the young Kent asks her about the man while also mentioning how both of his parents are out of town, to which she says that it’s why she decided to hide Carter there. Clark then asks about Dr. Walsh as she then proceeds to recap her series of interviews that made up the “Chloe Chronicles” before she ultimately mentions that Arthur and Steven were “anonymously funded” in order to apply the Kryptonite Meteor rocks into various kinds of experiments. Fortunately, Dr. Walsh became overwhelmed by his conscience and would leave in order to lay low as a high school biology teacher. When she was supposed to interview him, he suddenly vanished and that she didn’t know that he was still alive until Carter informed her about it. She then turns her attention towards Bix as she assures him that despite his recent action towards her, she’s been used to being in dangerous situations. From there, Bickson delves into his backstory which saw him leaving 18 months of military service a year ago. After flying back home, he gets picked up by a man named Webb who had been sending letters that informed him that he’s been tracking his career. Impressed by the details of what Bix had gone through during his classified missions, Webb decided to hire him onto his own “corporate espionage team of ex-commandos” called the Deletion Force.
From there, his first assignment within the group had them infiltrate Edge City High School which is where Arthur worked at. Specifically, he’s on “Effects Duty” as they’ll need to swipe any personal items that they come across before it’s revealed that they were the ones who cleaned out Dr. Walsh’s office with such professional detail. Despite him not even knowing who Arthur was back then, he still had his initial doubts since they weren’t just screwing up the guy’s career and life but they were wiping his existence out as well. With that measure, they made it seem like Dr. Walsh fled from the school under the cover of several false confessions to multiple affairs with some unnamed pupils. Also, they made it seem like he fled to Bangkok even though it’s actually his double while also giving his social security number to a corpse, emptied his bank accounts, wiped both his D.M.V. & I.R.S. records and even left a confession letter to his wife amongst their various devious activities. From then on out, Carter was a member of the team whether or not he still wanted to especially since he learned from a teammate to not be concerned about their target along with whomever hired them to carry this out. This would carry on throughout the next several months where they would erase any person, place or thing while also covering their vehicular involvement. While Bix mentioned that some of their targets deserved to get erased from existance, they were mainly wiping out some of the corporate elite’s dirty little secrets with a Grandville-based mission being the final straw for him. He finally spoke up on how they were handling live children, which resulted in Webb reassigning him to a low-level security job within a secret laboratory that’s actually Level Three. Although Webb had told him that the change was temporary, Carter knew that he was no longer trusted there and that it was only a matter of time until he was “deleted” much like Arthur. Just then, he’s met upon by a younger Dr. Walsh who had a slow-acting poison and thus had him get treated with a daily antidote. However, Bix was also forced to do horrid experiments upon him as well, thus forcing Bickson to live with this guilt over the next several months before he finally decides that he can’t take it anymore. He proceeds to tell Arthur that he’s leaving and that he’s even left something for him, to which Walsh discovers that it’s an image of him and his family. He then says that he’s been closely watched to the point where he’s not allowed to be near anyone that isn’t approved for him. Not only that, he then mentions how he spent his first five weeks here trying to figure out how to contact his wife and let her know that he was fine. However, she would hang up on him since she became disgusted by Carter. Bix is then told that he owes him a favor despite the fact that he wouldn’t be able to help him survive if they got out, to which Arthur simply tells him to share the word about this place and expose what’s going on here. Bix argues that no one would believe him, to which Dr. Walsh informs him to get to Chloe.
We then catch up to the present (revealed to be three days later) as Bickson mentions how the Deletion Squad is now after him and that they initially caught up to him in Metropolis, yet he managed to escape despite getting shot by them. Sullivan then asks him where the new Level Three is located, to which he said that the lab is mobile along with the Deletion Force’s safehouses. As such, they moved to a new location hours after he went Awol since Webb is fanatical about security and that he’ll compartmentalize it all in order to make sure that they never do anything about it. After receiving one of Clark’s long-sleeve shirts, Bix decides to head out in order to keep them out of danger. Fortunately, the young Kent tells him to stay put since he’ll be in a safe location and that he’ll also rest up. Just as Clark and Chloe begin to head out, Carter manages to share Arthur’s message to her: “More answers are coming home, where height creates the pressure that sustains life”. He then says that if she’s not ready for the truth, then she shouldn’t solve that riddle. Later, Kent and Sullivan reach the Smallville High Torch as Clark wonders if they should trust Carter since he wasn’t able to look him up within any Navy records. She then tells her friend that Bickson is legit since Webb would get him scrubbed from it and that his story fits with what they’ve discovered, which includes a Granville-based lab that could’ve been used by Pete Dinsmore to clone his deceased daughter Emily in (as seen in the Season 2 episode “Accelerate”) yet also mysteriously vanished. Kent then asks his friend if she was able to solve Dr. Walsh’s riddle, yet she says that she hasn’t especially since she believes that Lionel is somehow involved and that people that she’s cared about have gotten harmed every single time that she’s gone after him. She then mentions that she’s met a man who smuggles illegal workers into Kansas while she was at the Daily Planet, to which she then says that she’ll get him to help Bix flee to Mexico once dawn arrives. Back at the Kent Family Farm, Pete arrives and spots Carter within the barn. Mistakenly believing that the guy is an intruder, he calls 911 on him before Clark and Chloe hear from the police band that the officials are on their way to the property. However, Webb and his men have also gotten the transmission as he and his Deletion Squad arrive in town. Fortunately, Kent & Sullivan were able to return and sneak Bix away before the police arrived. Back with Webb, he hears from the police band that they couldn’t find any intruder at the Kent Family Farm before an associate informs him about how he’s showing a storage unit from an old deletion site within town.
As for Clark, Chloe and Carter, they arrive in front of a water tower before she mentions how it’s the answer to Arthur’s riddle due to how it distributes the vital liquid to Smallville and that “a certain billionaire” donated some money in order for it to get rebuilt following the infamous meteor shower of 1989. As such, she then says that the various factors connected to this site have formed a conspiracy that’s too dangerous for far too many people. Kent then spots a storage unit next to the water tower as he discreetly and easily rips the padlock off of it, yet he then notices that he’s starting to get weaker since there’s Kryptonite nearby. As such, he offers to stay outside and keep a look out while they head inside. From there, Sullivan and Bix discover the remains of the original Level Three as she proceeds to capture it upon her video camera. She then mentions that Lionel had initially tried to use the Kryptonite meteors in order to create a “super-fertilizer” before he notices how charred the remains are to which she says that they were within an explosion that caused the experiment to vanish while Level Three was simply “deleted”. They then discover that Nu-Corp is connected to this before Clark warns them that Webb and his men are approaching them. While Chloe and Carter hop into her car, Kent says that they’ll need to split up in order to escape as he proceeds to hide while they drive off. From there, the Deletion Squad arrives as they prepare to split up in order to purge the site while also go after their suspect. Fortunately, Clark uses his Heat Vision to disable their guns before he speeds over to slash their tires. As for the group, they assume that the stray bullets caused their tires to get punctured before Webb tells them to stash their weapons and get their F.B.I. badges ready in order to not draw any unwanted attention from the local police.
Later, dawn has arrived as Chloe meets up with the smuggler in order to help Bix escape. She then tells him that the truth will ultimately tear this massive conspiracy down and that maybe he’ll come back, to which he shares his appreciation towards it by kissing her forehead before climbing into the trailer’s secret compartment and heading out. Later, the story ends back at the Torch as Sullivan records a video journal entry about her investigation. Sadly, her new evidence for said probe has mysteriously vanished. Just then, she receives a video e-mail from Dr. Walsh as she decides to open it.
This comic then closes out with a tale about our familiar farm-based couple dealing with the unusual hiccups that comes with raising an otherworldly child in a tale called “Parenthood” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Thomas Grummett, Inks: Kevin Conrad, Colors: Trish Mulvihill). We open on a rain-filled day in town as Martha emerges from the local Savings & Loans center before joining her husband Jonathan in their pick-up truck (with the radio actually referencing his actor John Schneider). She informs him that the loan agent named Fred will let them make half-payments on their loans for the month which will allow them to get her car fixed. Jonathan says that he wished that their son was more careful, to which she then tells him that it was an accident. From there, we flashback to Clark and Pete playing basketball outside the barn. During their match, the young Kent manages to steal the ball before he leaps up and slams it into the basket. However, the ball proceeds to viciously bounce off the ground before smashing into the hood of his mother’s car. Clark manages to get the ball before using his super strength to pop the dent back into place as he and Ross head out, unaware that the ball ended up damaging her car in a way that gas is now leaking out of it.
Back in the present, Martha says that at least their son confessed to what he did once he realized that there was a serious problem. While Jonathan mentions how their boy means well, it seems like their kid saves them money on farm labor before he ends up spending that money on the accidents that he ends up making. Suddenly, their truck loses its grip on the road and slides off to the side before they discover that one of their tires was punctured. Martha then asks him if this is also their son’s fault, to which Jonathan says that she won’t find her umbrella before we have a quick flashback where Clark was tossing some hay onto the truck while using his mother’s umbrella to shield himself from the rain. He then gets told by his dad that Lana is on the phone before he super speeds over to the house, which causes the umbrella to get damaged as a result. Back in the present, Martha mentions that they can put their spare tire on in the rain. However, Jonathan tells her that their spare is also flat before another brief flashback shows Kal-El burning some excess shrubs with his Heat Vision. His dad then gets his attention, which ends up startling him and causes him to accidentally incinerate one of tires on his father’s truck. Back in the present, Martha reminds her husband that they were aware of the difficulty that came with raising someone from another planet before wondering if he has regrets taking Clark in. From there, we have one last flashback where Kal-El is about to head out to school before he presents his dad with his own switchblade. Clark explains how he noticed that it had a dull blade and that he used his Kryptonian physiology to sharpen it with his thumb. Jonathan expresses his appreciation for what his boy did before Kal-El takes his leave. As such, we shift back to the present as Jonathan says that he doesn’t remotely regret them finding “the best son a couple of parents could ask for” and that his actual regret is that Clark is their only son. Martha then mentions that their boy takes this road to get home from school and that he should be along fairly soon before they proceed to share a kiss. And so, Issue 7 ends with the young Kent and Pete driving by before Kal-El uses his X-Ray Vision to notice what his parents are doing as he then mentions how this is the one time that he would like to not see through walls before they pull up while Ross mentions to his friend that his powers can sometimes be a curse more than a blessing.
Issue #8 kicks off its pair of stories with a tale that takes place during the second volume of the “Chloe Chronicles”, which initially debuted on America Online from April 14 to May 26, 2004. Not only are all seven episodes available on the Season 3 DVD, but so is this particular tale. As such, allow me to recap this season which leads into this narrative. The first six episodes see Sullivan getting Arthur’s video message where he informs her that Level Three is being shut down and that the higher-ups no longer see him as useful to them. For his final request, he wants her to find his family. She manages to do so as she then shares his video message to them, to which he then tells his wife Kayla and their son Max to not believe the higher-ups’ cover stories about his disappearance before he then mentions some fishing trips to his son that they never got to do in which they’ll find some answers there. However, Max mentions how “there is no fish” before Chloe acquires his tackle box and finds a USB Drive hidden within his lucky lure which contained a secret code: “GHOST NECK SS 942565362509”. Thanks to a key call from his mother, Sullivan’s cameraman Pete discovers that Ghost Neck was the name of an old cemetery just off of Route 8. They then make their way to the graveyard before she then discovers that the numbers in the code also count as map coordinates. It ultimately points them to the grave of Sara Strasberg before they return to the Torch in order to look her up. She was from Smallville and was attending Metropolis University before she disappeared during her junior year, to which her corpse would get discovered several weeks later along the side of a highway. Interestingly, she wrote some Kryptonite Meteor stories for her college’s paper before she vanished. She then mentions how Dr. Donovan Jamison had some charges of “white collar crime” hanging over him while he brings up during a interview with some reporters (which included Sullivan) that his secretary was a puppet in all of this. Unfortunately for him, Nu-Corp’s executive board unanimously voted him out. Not only that, his lawyers couldn’t discover who the puppeteer was before he eventually took a plea deal that wiped him of his pension. Ever since his trial, he hasn’t been seen. Later, Chloe would interview the secretary known as Rebecca Jones who had blown the whistle on him and was now the company’s Vice President of Operations before she’s then asked about Sara. Although Rebecca initially claims to have never known Strasberg, Sullivan mentions that Sara had gotten a scholarship in her own name from Nu-Corp around the same time that the former secretary used to work for Donovan. Jones then explains that Dr. Jamison grew fond of Strasberg’s Metropolis University stories on the meteors and that they struck up a friendship during his teaching tenure at the school. Chloe then received a text message from a contact over at City Hall and while most of the police report was missing, it did have the name of the police officer who discovered Sara’s corpse which turned out to be Wink Waid. She then proceeds to interview him about what he found out when he discovered Strasberg’s corpse, to which Wink says that the coroner’s report claims that she lost her life via seizures. However, the autopsy couldn’t find out what caused those. Fortunately, Waid does reveals that Sara had red algae stains on her clothes, her hands and even within her fingernails. Not only that, but the only place that had red algae at that time was a crater pond over in Birnam Wood. He then draws Sullivan a map of said woods before she and Ross make their way to said area in order to discover what brought Sara here on the day that she was murdered. As they make their way to their destination, somebody seems to be spying on them. Worried that they may be lost, Pete treks off on his own before she eventually catches up to him at the pond. He then vanishes again before she then gets kidnapped which then leads into our featured story “Exploit” (Writers: Clint Carpenter & Mark Warshaw, Dialogue: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Guy Major). She discovers that it was Donovan who dragged her and Ross into a secret underground facility and that he was the one who was following them in the woods. Dr. Jamison says that he won’t hurt them as he then tells them that he just most likely saved their lives. He then leads them into an elevator before he says that his recent arrest wasn’t a coincidence and that his former secretary isn’t “astute” enough to have the proper evidence against him, since there’s some people who’ll do anything to get what he’s hiding down here. Pete then asks him where they’re at, to which Donovan says that this is a “cutting-edge research facility” that Dr. Steven Hamilton had called “The Dungeon”. Chloe realizes that he worked with Dr. Walsh and Dr. Hamilton here as Dr. Jamison mentions how it’s located underneath a pond. He then says that this location provided them with “absolute privacy” and “a steady supply of meteors”, to which Sullivan calls him out from their prior interview on how Nu-Corp research didn’t have anything to do with those space rocks. They then arrive at a specific sub-level as Donovan then explains that a large meteor had created the pond that’s above them and had burrowed itself deep into the bedrock. While it did used to be within the massive hole that’s beneath them, Dr. Jamison and company managed to mine it all up in a matter of months. He then tells Chloe that they’re not getting their video cameras back since the defunct project needs to stay a secret before he then asks her what led them to this area, to which Sullivan says that it was “a trail of breadcrumbs” that came courtesy of the late Sara Strasberg whom Donovan recognizes as the young woman who lost her life via the same meteor-enhanced jitters that plagued Earl Jenkins. He then says that Sara was a “junior colleague” before explaining that their DNA maps and chemical formulae wouldn’t be able to drum up significant attention. Not to mention, their “in-supply meteor supply” was starting to dry up. Fortunately for Dr. Jamison, Strasberg’s journalist background and vast knowledge of the meteor strikes were helpful to him since her documentation of their work helped them find new sources of raw meteors. In return, she was allowed to write an exclusive story on their research. However, she managed to inject herself with one of their formulas and wound up suffering from excessive jitters before she lost her life. He then says that it was wrong to dump her body on the side of Loeb Bridge Road, but they didn’t want that kind of exposure on them.
Sullivan then asks him what he’s discovered and why it needs to be kept a secret, to which Donovan leads them into an atrium while telling the youngsters that he’s working to nullify the dangers that the meteors are causing especially since Greg Arkin a.k.a. Bug Boy (from the episode “Metamorphosis”) has been reduced to a mere bug. While Dr. Jamison mentions how the jitters are the most common side effect of being exposed to the meteor rocks, he needs to study all of its various and harmful effects if he’s going to control them. He then says that he tried to continue his work after Level Three was shut down, but his research became stagnate. As such, he took his position at Nu-Corp in order to gain the financial backings for his endeavor which saw him secretly maintaining this secret lab, prepping for future breakthroughs and even collecting specimens to which he then reveals another Krypto-Freak that he’s captured as it’s revealed to be the shape-shifting Tina Greer (from the Season 1 episode “X-Ray” and the Season 2 episode “Visage”). Because he wasn’t able to cure her of her powers, Tina’s corpse has been kept here instead of her being allowed to live out her life. Donovan then leads our youngsters into a massive freezer where he’s keeping the heat-absorbing Sean Kelvin (from the episode “Cool”) within ice and as his own research specimen. Sullivan is initially spooked by the guy’s appearance, especially given the bad experience and near-fatal encounter that she had with him. While Dr. Jamison mentions that Sean is still alive, he intends to thaw the young man in order to cure him of his ability since he needs some time to do so. Chloe then asks him how he can remotely be close if his research has hit a brick wall, to which Donovan says that he discovered Dr. Hamilton’s papers several months ago and that he’s been able to make the discoveries that Steven never could thus allowing him to make such rapid progress. However, other people wanted Dr. Hamilton’s papers and they even tried to flatter & bribe them from him. When that didn’t work, they fabricated an indictment onto him. With him being too close to a breakthrough, he accepted a plea deal and fled to this lab. Sullivan then tells him that this is one story that she just can’t sit on, to which he then says that it’s the reason why he confided in her since exposing this lab to the world would be far too dangerous. As he then leads Chloe and Pete into a storage room, he says that everything in this facility could be used by those that he sees as less than benevolent and only when he finishes his work will the threat be eliminated. He then says that the men who followed them should be out of the general area by the morning, which is when he’ll allow them to leave before he locks them inside. Ross then asks her if she remotely buys Donovan’s explanation, to which Sullivan says that the guy is walking an ethical tightrope yet a proper cure could’ve been there to help Sara and Earl. Pete then mentions how even if Donovan does have good intentions, he’s still basing his scheme on Dr. Hamilton’s theories. From there, they manage to escape from the room via the roof before making it back to the hallway. Afterwards, they proceed to split up in order to search the various nearby doors.
Chloe then reaches a security room before she finds a security tape and plays it, to which it then reveals a crucial conversation between Dr. Walsh & Dr. Jamison as Arthur calls his co-worker out for progressing way too fast, especially since Donovan was the one who injected Sara with the formula and ultimately got her killed. Dr. Jamison tells him that he would be clawing at him if the compound had worked before demanding to know where her body is at, to which Arthur says that he left it where someone will find it and contact her family before tending his resignation. Suddenly, Sullivan is met upon by Donovan before it’s revealed that he has the jitters as he attempts to strike her. She manages to evade his attack before he then says that he was controlling the meteor’s effects and that he chose to give himself the jitters. Not only that, but he plans to incorporate Greg, Tina and Sean’s abilities into himself. He then attempts to harm Chloe with his jitters, yet Ross managed to disorient him by slamming a chair upside his head. She then grabs the key security footage before they proceed to run for it, all while Dr. Jamison chases after them.
They then find themselves at a storage unit with no way out, to which Pete then mentions his discovery that the cargo entrance has been sealed. They then drag some heavy boxes down in order to barricade the door, yet Donovan is able to break through with his violent jitters. Ross then tries to strike him with a pipe, yet Dr. Jamison slams his foot into the ground and disorients him with a fissure. He then confronts Sullivan who tells him that Dr. Walsh would’ve torn his entire operation down with a single call to the police and that it was Arthur himself who helped her onto this investigation. Donovan then continues his attacks towards her before he eventually corners her.
Fortunately, she manages to toss a nearby spray can of highly-volatile machine lubricant before she then takes cover behind a table. Due to his jitters, the can proceeds to violently explode and cause the whole facility to start going up in flames. After she discovers that Pete is okay and that there’s no time to retrieve Dr. Hamilton’s papers, the narrative ends with them making their escape. From there, it leads into the last episode of the Chloe Chronicles where they’re met upon by Lionel in his limousine before the lab goes up in one final explosion. They eventually make it back to the Torch as Sullivan explains that both Dr. Jamison as well as Dr. Hamilton’s papers didn’t survive, since the lab was flooded by Wade’s Pond. She then says that even though Donovan was psychotic, he was still a hunted man and his research was even more hunted. Even though it was probably not much of a coincidence that they were met upon by the elder Luthor, the true puppeteer’s identity may not be as mysterious as they thought. Despite having this grand story to potentially share with the world, she’s decided to sit on it since she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if it meant that she enabled Lionel to harness the same kinds of powers that Dr. Jamison had discovered. Fortunately, she managed to turn in the security tape that she retrieved and that if he ever did resurface, he would be forced to do loads of explaining about his illicit activities. From there, the episode ends with her saying that this investigation is ongoing and that she won’t be doing this alone.
We now get to the book’s other tale which delves into the younger Luthor’s time being locked up in a narrative called “Captive” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Artist: Renato Guedes). We open with a few images from Lex’s recent past before he has his dream of his mother Lillian blaming him for killing his younger brother within a nightmare. He then wakes up within his cell in Belle Reve Sanitarium where an orderly is allowing him to go to the main ward in order to receive his medication. During this, it’s revealed that he’s been imprisoned here for a few days as he then claims to not remember being released from solitary confinement. With the fateful image of his initial meeting with Clark when Kal-El saved him from drowning in his car flashing by, he then gets reminded of his upcoming group session. Eventually, he joins them before mentioning that he won’t be staying long. Suddenly, Clark bursts in as he helps him escape. After withstanding the orderly’s taser guns, Kal-El then smashes through the wall and easily takes care of an officer who tried to approach them in his vehicle before they take their leave. It’s then revealed that Lex is still imprisoned and in his group session as he then says that he’s only here because he discovered that his dad Lionel had murdered his own parents. To keep that detail a secret from the public, the elder Luthor conspired with his son’s psychiatrist named Dr. Claire Foster in order to get Lex locked up. In his narration from when he initially learned about Clark’s powers (before he lost them to electroshock therapy), he mentions how he knew that their destinies were connected and that his “friend” needs somebody with the right vision to guide him. While he’s in the lunch line, he narrates about how it’s been a whole month and yet Clark hasn’t visited him as he then wonders if his parents are keeping him away.
Back in reality, Lex asks an orderly if he had sent his message to his friend. The guard had decided not to, to which the young Luthor says that his comrade may not know where he even is. The orderly then reminds him that his dad isn’t locked up in here despite him blowing his parents up, yet Lex says that he told the doctor that he was wrong and that his father is actually a good man. In his narration, he mentions how holding on to the truth has severely scrutinized his drug regimen yet he can’t be cowardly now since he hopes that Clark will get him out so that they can go bump off Lionel. Back in reality, an inmate that had managed to get the last available pudding has it swiped from him by another unruly inmate as a riot breaks out from it. Just as he retrieves the pudding and manages to return it to its proper owner, Lex narrates about how envy makes them covet & hate and that his friend has the kind of self-power that all humans want. He admits to never really helping him and that he wanted to use him, to which he admits that Clark was right to hide his secret and stay away from here. He then vows to respect his secretive powers for as long as he lives. We then shift ahead by “seven weeks” as we have a few series of events where he attends another group session before he eventually gets his medication. After an inmate says that he felt some wings growing from his back and that he jumped, Lex narrates about how if he would sound that crazy if he tried to tell anyone about Clark’s secret. He then questions if he truly saw the feat of super-strength that his friend displayed as he’s then about to take his medication. And so, Issue 8 ends with him being told how he has a visitor stopping by the next day and that his name is “Kent” as Lex excitedly narrates about how he knew that his comrade would come.
Although Issue #9 does contain two stories, they’ll actually be playing out at the same time and from different perspectives. As such, let’s open this book on the heroic side with a tale called “Secrets” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Guy Major). We begin at Luthor Mansion where Clark meets up with Lex in order to borrow the keys to the Talon Theater. The young Luthor sees this as gaining “afterhours access” for a “non-business” endeavor, to which he begins to calls up the repurposed coffee shop’s co-owner Lana in order to inform her about this. The young Kent cuts his call off before informing him that he wants to present her with a special surprise before she moves to Paris (which happened in the Season 3 finale), to which Lex ultimately gives him the building’s key. Later, Clark arrives at the Talon with some flowers as he unlocks the front door. To his surprise, he sees a trio of thieves that had already broken in before he tells the perps that he’s calling the cops.
While two of the thugs begin to slip away, the other one takes out his gun and threatens to use it. Fortunately, the young Kent manages to evade this imminent danger before he manages to reach the entire thuggish group. One of the perps uses a pipe to smash his bag full of flowers, to which Kal-El gets angry with the guy for ruining his surprise as he responds by grabbing the pipe and tosses the fiend across the alley. Another thug tries firing his gun at him, yet Clark manages to deflect the bullets back towards their vehicle as they hit a side mirror. After using his Heat Vision on a fire escape in order to defeat a few thugs, the remaining perps manage to get inside their vehicle as he begins to run after them. Just then, he’s met upon by Lana and Lex as he informs them about what just happened. The young Luthor then tells them to contact the sheriff before he heads inside to see what had occurred within the building. Clark then tells Lang that he’s alright and that the thugs got away before he calls up the police in order to mention the break-in. Afterwards, Lex returns and mentions how it doesn’t seem like anything was stolen. He then tells Lana that they’ll delay her signing over her part-ownership of the coffee shop for now before he then begins to return to his mansion for a brief meeting, to which he also vows to return if the sheriff needs a statement from him.
Later, Sheriff Nancy Adams and her fellow officers arrive before Lang asks about the flowers scattered around the alley. The young Kent tells her that he brought them in order to decorate the Talon as his going away present to her. While she appreciates the sentiment, she can’t accept the single white rose that he’s trying to give her since she mentions how it’s “too soon” and “final” given how she doesn’t leave for Paris for a whole week. Just then, they notice that the young Luthor has already returned and is looking over the damaged roses. As Clark approaches Lex, the latter mentions that he’s spotted five spent shell casings amongst the flowers. The young Luthor then admires his friend for foiling a robbery, but then he also mentions how odd it is that the police were only able to discover two impact sites. After being asked where the other three impact sites are at, Clark claims to not know due to the hectic nature of the situation and that those three remaining shots could’ve went anywhere. Lex then mentions how there’s some blood on the fire escape before asking him if the ladder was already down when he got there, to which the young Kent continues to say that it all happened too fast. The young Luthor then points out the pin that holds the ladder on the fire escape and brings up how it appears to be “melted”. Even though he has no idea about it, he mentions how he’ll give the sheriff’s office access to America’s “top independent crime lab”. From there, the story ends with him asking his friend to accept a call from them. The young Kent then mentions how he’s unsure how much help he could be, yet he’ll still provide some assistance before his friend mentions how this is a mystery that they’ll finally be able to solve.
Let us now see this situation play out from a different perspective in a particular piece called “Lies” (Writer: Clint Carpenter, Pencils: Jim Fern, Inks: Lary Stucker, Colors: Guy Major). We open within the “Room of Obsession” where Lex gets notified that Clark is waiting for him in his personal library. From there, the young Luthor meets up with his friend as the scene plays out like before with the young Kent wanting to borrow the keys to the Talon in order to give Lana a surprise prior to her leaving for Paris. Just as Lex mentions how it’s not his personal business, he then notices someone called “lodestone999” trying to talk to him on his computer before mentioning how they’re not playing around and that the Metropolis Police will be far more patient instead. Despite this ominous digital conversation, the young Luthor still gives Clark the keys to the former theater.
Later, Lex picks up Lana who has the deed to their repurposed coffee shop before he then asks her if she’s ready for the upcoming inspection prior to them signing over the business to its new owner. She assures him that she finds this nice and that it’s her equivalent of delivering “one last goodbye”. He then asks her what the young Kent thinks about this, to which she says that they haven’t really discussed it since Clark wants her to stay yet hasn’t given her a reason to do so. As such, Lex shares his admiration towards her choice to leave town and move to Paris before telling her that she’s “destined for great things”. Suddenly, they spot the aforementioned thugs’ vehicle fleeing from the Talon before they come across the young Kent trying to go after them. Just like before, he tells them about the attempted break-in before the young Luthor has him call the sheriff while he checks over the building. After he sees the perps’ attempted tampering with the business phone, he then calls up some specific people and orders them to meet him at his mansion in ten minutes no matter what they “agreed on”.
Later, he’s met upon by FBI Agent Frank Loder before giving him something that he found within the business phone as Frank discovers that it’s a bug. Because the corrupt agent works for him, Lex says that he’s not allowed to spy on his friends. Agent Loder says that it wasn’t him as he reminds the young Luthor that he doesn’t “pay enough taxes” for even the agency to acquire this kind of tech. Just then, Lionel comes in as Lex tells his dad that he’s interviewing Frank for the role of his new butler. The elder Luthor then excuses him in order to talk to his son as he notices and asks him about the devices laid out in front of him, to which Lex says that he met a “security sales rep” who tried to sell him some of their gadgets. Lionel recognizes one of the devices as a video camera that uses fiber-optic technology in order to deliver an undetectable source of live video feeds, to which Lex discovers that his own father had bugged the Talon as he then wants to know if his scheme has anything to do with Clark. Lionel mentions that the young Kent has spent lots of time with his son before mentioning that he’s “already learned far more valuable” things about him. Lex tells him that Clark had stopped the hired goons before they could finish installing that spy tech, to which Lionel says that it’s preciously what happened in order for the young Kent to outwit some armed men and leave them in a “bewildered state”. Later, Lex is back at the Talon where he meets up with Sheriff Nancy Adams and her fellow officers as he tells them that he’s unsure of what went down in here before he’s allowed to look within the nearby alley. He then reaches the crime scene as he spots the blood on the fire escape ladder, along with some specific bullet shell casings. Afterwards, he’s met upon by Clark as they have the same conversation about the young Kent being “unsure” about the unusual places that some of the bullets went to, the blood on the fire escape ladder and the melted fire escape pin. And so, Issue 9 ends with the young Luthor getting the young Kent to agree to talk with the nation’s “top independent crime lab” in order for them to solve this mystery.
For Issue #10, we only have one comic story to cover here. As such, let’s focus on our familiar pair of young ladies embarking outside of the notable Kansas town where they’ll come across something that allows their dark rebellious sides to shine in a story called “Rampage” (Writers: Clint Carpenter & Dan Thomsen, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Guy Major). We begin within a laboratory where Lex tells Dr. Brody that he’s been fired, to which the guy argues that the enzyme that he had extracted came from a cave parasite capable of delivering “a remarkable effect on the human adrenal gland”. The young Luthor then tells him that he was supposed to explore the potential power that lied within the Kawatche Caves, yet he failed to do so. Dr. Brody argues that because of the parasite’s unearthly composition, its producible enzyme is abnormal yet could be useful to them. Specifically, it helps the human body produce loads of adrenaline for the parasite to feed off of. As such, he wanted some time in order to experiment upon a host that doesn’t have the parasite with them. This manages to interest Lex enough as he then gives him a whole day to produce some results prior to tomorrow morning before taking his leave. From there, Dr. Brody then proceeds to inject his enzyme into his chimpanzee named Lester. Later, Chloe is on her way to pick Lana up in order for them to shop at an outlet mall over in rural Kansas. Suddenly, Lester emerges in front of her car as she slams on her brakes yet ends up hitting the chimp. She then heads over to check up on the being while calling the local sheriff’s office to report the incident, to which Lester then suddenly leaps up and injects her with the enzyme before fleeing. Just as she hangs up and acquires the injection gun, the enzyme then begins to affect her. Back with Lex, he discovers the lab in a wrecked mess along with Dr. Brody’s lifeless body before he calls his security team to clean it up before they contact the police. Afterwards, he finds the parasites and places them in a briefcase before heading out.
Meanwhile, Sullivan has picked Lang up as the latter plans out the stores that they’ll check out. Unbeknownst to her, Chloe has drifted into the opposing traffic lane before Lana notices in time in order to steer them away in time. Lang then calls her out for her stunt, to which Sullivan then pulls another crazy maneuver. Lana then attempts to unbuckle her seatbelt in order to be rid of this suddenly insane behavior, yet Chloe manages to bring the injection gun from underneath a folder and injects her with the enzyme as both of them have now become affected. Over at Luthor Mansion, Lex is met upon by Sheriff Nancy Adams as she asks him about what he was doing within that lab. He simply explains that it was for “scientific research” before he asks her if she has any leads on their killer, to which she reveals that Dr. Brody lost his life from blunt force trauma while the bite marks found on him weren’t human. Also, the facility was locked on the inside and that there wasn’t any signs of a break-in as the assailant escaped through a window that it broke after busting out of its cage. He then asks her if the lab monkey is the murderer, to which she mentions how Sullivan is currently their only lead. Nancy then mentions that it was Chloe who reported a traffic accident which did involve a monkey. Sheriff Adams then brings up how Clark had informed her that Sullivan is currently out of town with Lang and that they haven’t been able to contact her. From there, the young Luthor tells the sheriff to keep him updated as he then proceeds to call her up.
Back with the infected young ladies, they arrive at the Bernie-based outlet mall as they make their way inside a clothing store before Lana comes across a purple dress that she likes. However, the last available one that’s in her actual size was picked up by another woman as Lang becomes enraged as a result of the enzyme before she uses said dress to slam the lady across the store. Lana and Chloe then share a devious laugh as they prepare to head out before they’re then confronted by a security officer who looks to discipline the former for her agitating action, yet the ladies are able to humiliate the man by stripping him of his uniform while also taking his gear. Back in his mansion, he learns from his assistant that the tech guys weren’t able to retrieve the research notes due to Dr. Brody’s hard drive being “a total loss”. Lex then tells his tech people to keep cracking while also maintaining their efforts at contacting Sullivan, to which he then discovers a key article about a woman lifting a car to save a trapped baby before he asks for his pilot to prep his personal helicopter.
Back with Chloe and Lana, they’re at a diner as a male clerk brings up how attractive Lang is to which Sullivan then begins to comment how good-looking she is as well. Lana then brings up how she never thought that her friend would admit her attraction to her as they then begin to share a kiss, yet they notice the male clerk is looking at them with immature excitement over seeing a pair of women smooching as Chloe delivers a fierce punch which sends him flying towards a pinball machine. Another guy attempts to retaliate, yet Sullivan manages to pick him up and throw him through the window. After both ladies head outside, the crowd then attempts to gang up on them as a massive scuffle breaks out. During this, Sullivan notices that her car is getting towed before she and Lang shake the base of a nearby water tower in order for it to fall over and soak its citizens.
Later, they reach the junk yard that Chloe’s car was taken to as Lana tells her to look in the junkyard while she distracts the service worker by talking to him. From there, Lang uses her enzyme-enhanced strength to lift a car that the man is working on before she attempts to have some illicit “fun” with him. Just then, Sullivan noticed what she’s doing before she imposes her interest on the guy over her friend’s as she then punches Lana with enough force to send her flying into the junkyard. From there, a fight breaks out between them as Chloe mentions how she’s fed up with being sold out “for every cute boy that looks twice” at Lana, to which Lang brings up how she’s tired of Sullivan assuming that every single thing that she does is part of a conspiracy to make her miserable. After disorienting Lana by striking her with a pipe, Sullivan picks up a refrigerator in order to crush her friend with it. Thankfully, the enzymes in their systems finally wears off as they both don’t recall their harsh behaviors or how they both wound up within the junkyard. As such, they get into Chloe’s car before they drive off back to the outlet mall. Meanwhile, Lex is in his personal helicopter as he learns that animal control has managed to capture the rogue chimpanzee and that it’s also “personally healthy & normal” with no signs of its brash behavior. They then arrive at the outlet mall as he learns from the Bernie-based citizens about the destructive rampage that was caused by our main ladies, along with the fact that they knocked out the phone lines in order to prevent them from calling the police. The young Luthor then decides that the authorities aren’t needed as Issue 10 ends with him calling Sullivan who assures him that she and Lang are just out shopping.
We now reach the end of this initial series as Issue #11 closes out with a singular story that sees Kal-El dealing with a monstrous menace from a foreign country while also dealing with own responsibilities. As such, let us make out way into “Nature” (Writer: Dan Thomsen, Pencils: Tom Derenick, Inks: Adam DeKraker, Colors: Guy Major). We open in front of the Talon Theater at 5:30am on a Tuesday morning where Clark is confronting a being who’s been mutated by the Kryptonite Meteor. The young Kent mentions in his narration that he had been tracking this perp all night long and had been laxing on his other responsibilities as a result. Despite taking a hit from its Krytponite spit, Clark manages to use his super speed in order to reach a light post, rip it out of the ground and then wrap it around the mutated being’s mouth. As he spots the approaching police, Kal-El then uses his Heat Vision to melt the street and keep the perp at his spot in order to be properly dealt with while he dashes off. By the time that he returns to the Kent Family Farm, the rain has begun pouring as Martha then mentions to him that he missed last night’s dinner. Not only that, but there was also a call from Smallville High that informed his folks that he’s failing at math. Clark says that he hasn’t had any time to look over the last few chapters, yet she tells him that the excuse won’t fly with his dad and that he’s waiting for him in the barn since he’s prepping for the incoming storm. The young Kent then mentions how busy he’s been and that he’s doing his best, to which Martha tells her son that he’s got loads of potential and that his father is only being tough since he wants him to “do great things”. She then sends her young man on his way while she takes care of the acidic damage to his school jacket. Soon enough, Clark meets up with his dad as Jonathan tells him that he missed his morning chores. The young Kent says that there were other things that he had to take care of, yet his father tells him that those exact things are what they need to talk about which ranges from his song’s “morning disappearing act” to “football”, “parties” and “girls”. Clark tries to explain himself, but Jonathan doesn’t give him a chance as he then tells his boy that the forecast is predicting a foot of rain by sundown and that they have to build a retaining wall in order to keep the crops safe. To make sure that he doesn’t tend to other things, Jonathan then tells his boy that he’s grounded. Frustrated by this, Clark then says that he’s going out for a run in order to clear his head. Despite his father’s protest to this, the young Kent assures him that he’ll make it class in time since he’s “not allowed to let anyone down”.
From there, Kal-El proceeds to super speed across the country as he then winds up dashing through Mexico before he suddenly keels and falls over within a heavily-forested area. He then comes across a black monolith with a familiar green rock jammed into it as he then hears a group of men confronting a mysterious being called Lowtax. The creature manages to slash through several of the guys before they’re forced to retreat to their village, to which one of them then notices Clark wearily lying on the ground. Due to the embedded Kryptonite, he’s not able to get to his feet as the man named Kimduk notices this and manages to help him up. Kal-El then gets severely scratched on his back by Lowtax, yet Kimduk is able to carry him to safety since he believes that the young guy is their only hope. Back on the Kent Family Farm, Martha tells her husband that Sheriff Adams has informed her about the floodgates being opened and that they must evacuate since sacrificing the lower farmlands is the only way that their town can be saved. Jonathan doesn’t want to bail water from out of the loft since he wants to get the retaining wall started, yet Martha says that Clark is missing since she also learned that he didn’t go to school today. Jonathan then blames himself for being hard on their kid, to which Martha assures him that their boy is aware of how serious this storm is even though something else has come up. Jonathan then mentions how the floodgates haven’t been opened since he was six and that it nearly bankrupted his own father. Martha then reminds him that it didn’t happen since he survived and that they will to, yet Jonathan isn’t willing to sacrifice his corn to the eventual surge of water while Martha then wonders where their son is. Back with Kal-El, he wakes up near a guy who then introduces himself as Remington “Remy” Carmichael. Clark then asks him where he’s at, to which Remington says that he’s in a tribal village within the Amazon. As for Remy himself, he was sent here by his newspaper in order to cover “the regional infighting” to which he finds exciting. Carmichael then notices how quickly Clark’s wounds on his back have healed before he then mentions that the tribe had noticed how he made “a volcanic rock glow green”. Kimduk then comes in as Remington mentions to the young Kent that he was allowed to sleep in said man’s bed, to which Clark says that he doesn’t see himself as a deity and he’s only lucky before mentioning that he has to return home. Kimduk then tries to give him a dagger while saying in his native language that he’ll be able to help them defeat Lowtax, to which Remy mentions to the young Kent that he wants his help in order to vanquish a vicious beast that’s slayed several of his men this morning. After learning that he’s been here for at least a few hours, Clark then says that he has to go. Even though Carmichael says that both he and Kimduk took him as a “an individual of outstanding character”, Kal-El says that his family’s farm is in danger.
We then shift back to the Kent Family Farm as Jonathan and Martha continue to build their retaining wall, yet she expresses her fear on how it won’t be enough due to how hard the rain is pouring down. She then says that if they don’t evacuate soon, then the roads will become too washed out. Worried that their son isn’t going to make it back in time, Jonathan says that he would’ve liked some more help. Martha tells him that they can head to the Talon in order to dry up, to which Jonathan agrees as he then tells her to bring the truck around so that they can load their equipment up. She then trips & falls into a massive puddle before she gets up and sees some construction vehicles arriving to help out, all thanks to Lex. He then mentions how odd it is that his friend isn’t here, to which Jonathan says that they don’t know where he’s at. Despite that, the young Luthor then provides the elder Kent some help from the provided crew. Back in the Amazon village, Clark is out with the two guys before Kimduk mentions that Lowtax isn’t an ordinary beast. As such, he offers to share his story along with how the young Kent is connected to this with Remington serving as his translator. From there, Kimduk tells of a great instability that befell their land several years ago. With the various tribes having previously lived amongst each other in peace now clashing against each other, Lowtax would serve as their village’s greatest fighter with his various victories helping to bring lasting peace. With Lowtax as their warrior’s Sachem (paramount chief or leader), Kimduk served as their lieutenant. However, Lowtax’s emboldened honor started to make him brash and impudent with him even openly mocking their chief who had valued the peace that they had worked hard in order to obtain. As such, Lowtax had planned to murder their chief in his sleep. While Kimduk could’ve helped the chief escape under the cover of night, he decided to prevent his forthcoming coup and instead fight Lowtax. Thanks to Lowtax being consumed by his overconfidence, Kimduk was able to defeat him which caused his conspirators to see him in this lowly light which in turn caused him to lose support for his coup. Lowtax and his loyalist supporters were then exiled from the village where they were forced to survive out in the wild. Suddenly, the whole area found itself within the Kryptonite meteor fall as Lowtax would get fused with a panther as a result of the otherworld rock. From there, he would first slaughter his loyal supporters before he remained close to the monolith that gave him his powers while also sparing the village from “his barbaric wrath”. Later, the chief would become ill and pass away before Kimduk replaced him in the role a few days afterwards. He then mentions how the prior chief had warned him before his own death that his ascension would infuriate Lowtax, yet it would also bring them “a savior” who could “command the energy of the green sky rock” before we shift back to the present day. Remy then mentions that Lowtax has twice attacked the outer walls and has become a grave menace, yet Kal-El still isn’t willing to help Kimduk out since he’s too burdened by his responsibility to his own family back home.
Before the young Kent begins to head out, Carmichael manages to give him a special shirt as then tells him that there’s no shame in leaving those villagers to their fates given how nothing should come between him and his family. Suddenly, Clark’s super hearing picks up Kimduk in trouble as he decides to help him out after all before he uses his super speed in order to reach him. With Kimduk pinned by Lowtax, Kal-El manages to arrive in time as he proceeds to fight the fierce beast. During their scuffle, the young Kent narrates about how he still has loads of noble things to do and that he’s unsure if he’ll be able to even do them in time. He then gets flung over to the monolith where the embedded Kryptonite begins to weaken him. Just as Lowtax is about to finish him off, Kimduk manages to impale the creature with his dagger. While Clark is helped away from the area, the defeated Lowtax then proceeds to unmerge himself from the panther. Kimduk then scolds him from bringing destruction upon them when they only wanted peace before he then mentions how the fiend’s own power wasn’t enough to best their protector, to which he then discovers that the young Kent has vanished.
From there, Kal-El manages to run back to his family’s farm as he discovers that all of the corn had been wiped out by the excess water that was unleashed from the floodgates despite the help of some construction vehicles provided by Lex. Later at Luthor Mansion, Lex has the Kents warming up by the fire as they mention how his generosity was able to save several lives before Clark finally shows up. He then apologizes for not being there to help, yet the young Luthor says that mother nature simply has some challenges that no man is able to overcome. Back in the Amazon village, the villagers celebrate over the peace that they’ve recently acquired. As for Remington, he types on his typewriter about how he saw “a man with an overwhelming gift” and that he had traveled over several continents in order to flee from his burdening destiny, yet he still had to face it with high stakes. Although his decision had hurt his most loved ones, he never got to see the good that he had done. As such, it serves as Remy’s account to let him read it some day and learn that “he acted as a hero”. And so, the series ends as the Kents stand over the washed up remains of their cornfield as Clark had informed his parents about his overseas heroics. Martha tells their son that he still made the right choice, to which Jonathan agrees with her in that those villagers needed him since his “gifts” are truly a “blessing” that everyone should be entitled to benefit from. Kal-El then decides to make up for the washed away crops as he then uses his super speed to swiftly plant several more corn stalks.
Overall, these comic tales ranged from humbling extra adventures to slightly expansive stories that’re connected to certain moments from the show. With the main stories from the first three featured issues, they fit in line with Season 1’s villain-of-the-week format in which Kal-El would go up against someone who got their powers as a result of them being exposed to the Kryptonite Meteors especially since there’s a pattern within these stories at least of their featured foes struggling with some sort of parental issue. Greg and his explosive-based habits from “Raptor” prevents his dad from remotely receiving any kind of additional chance at rejoining LuthorCorp as he suffers some minor abuse along the way before mauling him once he becomes a humanoid dinosaur, followed by Kenny in “Paterfamilias” who becomes mentally fragile over the years due to the Kryptonite Meteor both robbing him of his father while also giving him permanent invisibility. With Holly’s own issue from “Beauty”, the years of constant pressure and failures from past generations to finally win a local beauty contest has led her to try and eliminate any close competition she may have before her plan ultimately falls apart and she succumbs to her own self-destruction. While Clark, his friends & Lex each had their own connective strength that helped them strive, survive and move forward with their topsy-turvy lives, those featured individuals didn’t have them and were overwhelmed by these unlikely circumstances that lead to their own downfalls. As far as expansive material, there’s plenty of that in spades “Exile & The Kingdom” highlights Lex as he tries to differentiate himself from his dad since he doesn’t want to be as ruthless as Lionel. Because of when this initial book came out, he still has some semblance of hope to him given his still active friendship with Clark along with a mini-discussion that Lana, Chloe and Pete have about him being drawn to Smallville. They never explicitly say it, but it’s possible that they see the young Luthor trying to ground himself and stay connected to the common folk. Yes, it still shows him employing Dr. Steven Hamilton for his devious studies upon those otherworldly meteors. It shows that he’s still not without his own dark side that will gradually build up as the TV series goes on, but he still has enough of a noble compass that’s still active. “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” serves as a fun mini-adventure where Chloe goes on a perilous reporting excursion since she was interning at the Daily Planet in the Summer that took place between Seasons 1 & 2. While her own self-assignment continues to show the reporter’s drive that would greatly serve her long after her time of actually being a reporter would eventually pass, it was also fueled by her desire to romantically impress Ron Sullivan since she was helping him with the featured Stitch & Huff story and that she wasn’t yet aware that he was already taken. Even though she wouldn’t find her romantic connection until Oliver Queen a.k.a. Green Arrow (and even Jimmy Olsen) came along, this standalone journey still provided some thrills that allowed a beloved character to shine without the initial safety net that is Clark. “Chimera” is a two-parter that plays into Lex’s personal paranoia while a former LuthorCorp employee teams up with Lex’s traitorous assistant Dominic Senatori in order to purge him of his finances before Dominic installs himself as the company head while faking the young Luthor out with actors pretending to be FBI agents. As he works to unravel this conspiracy that’s against him, it manages to feed into his paranoia which hampers him for a while. Once he captures one of the participating actors, things finally become clear for him before he manages to regain control and properly punish the two masterminds for what they’ve done. The mystery plays out in a decent clip and it filled with enough twists and turns to fit within its format. The details of this scheme are fully presented by the end and while Dominic’s comeuppance feels like a tame mafia style way of him meeting his defeat, Malcolm does receive the proper punishment even though it’s off-panel. Either way, it’s still another compelling read which features an ultimately tragic character. Speaking of which, “Vows” sees him sharing a tale with Lana on how they both have complicated histories with their parents. Specifically, they share the fact that their mothers are willing to stick with their husbands despite different circumstances. While Lang’s mother is the more shameful one due to her leaving her husband and having an affair with another man before rejoining her husband in order for them to raise Lana as their own, Lillian is still devoted to Lionel even though he hasn’t been living up to the regularly expected status that Lex would’ve liked. Both ladies had their reasons for doing what they did and they both seem to go against common sense from the child’s perspective, yet it still resulted in both of them having some semblance of a childhood as a result. Even though this part of their lives weren’t as clearcut as they would’ve liked, it’s a shade of grey that they’ve learned to live with just like how we all have our own complications that we must deal with. The story was a bit melancholy, yet still wasn’t dour as it still left itself on a nice note. “Phelan” also shows off an uncertain shade as Sam Phelan has Clark wrapped around his finger for a time, yet he ends up showing his former heroic side once an unexpected incident comes their way. Even though Sam would put Kal-El and his family through a hectic ordeal, his last semblance of decency shined just enough to prove that he was once had some form of honor before he mostly lost it along the way. From what this story shares with us, the grind of his job has worn him down and it’s likely that he suffered from some kind of injustice from someone whom this narrative never points out yet he mainly never recovers from. Even though it’s something that Kal-El isn’t able to wrap his head around at that time, he’ll ultimately experience this villainous decent through Lex via a complicated series of events. With some good pacing throughout this isolated incident, it makes for a good companion piece to the episode “Rogue” and allows Phelan to not be as wholly evil as he ultimately becomes in said entry. “Sojourn” serves as a nice bridge between Seasons 2 and 3 as Clark goes on some mischievous ventures in Metropolis, all while suppressing his good-natured side via the Red Kryptonite ring. It’s ultimately his encounter with Chastity before he purposefully encounter her cousin Mick and gets his first experience with Metropolis’ organized crime. He’ll eventually encounter more of this once Season 3 rolls around, but at least this gives its audience a taste of the rough big city life that awaits him while his friends and family attempt to get him back. With some engaging moments and nice pacing, it’s a narrative bridge that’s worth crossing once one gets done with Season 2. “ID” expands on his time on a deserted island following his initial marriage. Yes, the Season 3 premiere “Exile” would depict his time on the island while being haunted by the imaginary Louis Leery. This comic would expound on that via Lex’s psychiatric sessions while Clark deals with his fractured relationship to Lana along with a perp whom he prevented from stealing a farmer’s hidden money. Obviously, the young Luthor and his primary plot from this story took more precedent given his struggles upon the deserted spot of land. Also, Louis would be right about Lionel & Helen betraying him once he returns and discovers his father’s murderous past which would get him institutionalized. That comes later though, since the presented story ultimately becomes vital towards that as well as his tough survival skills, his determination despite Leery’s hallucinated taunting and a dark side that would continue to get feasted upon as a result. It balances itself out well with Kal-El’s story, yet remains at the forefront of its book. “Magic” is more of a comedic tale featuring Pete and serves as another example (just like in “Superman IV: The Quest For Peace” among other films and shows) as to why you never try to balance two different dates with two different women around the same time since it leads to needless complications. He does get his comeuppance thanks to Chloe who served as his warning towards this kind of sleazy activity, even though Clark helps him out from the shadows as a good friend. It works best as a humorous lesson for all of us to learn from, especially since it plays out at a reasonable level for any reader to enjoy. “Chronicle” and “Exploit” serve as solid expansive tie-in stories to the Chloe Chronicles, especially since they help flesh out the larger narrative from both seasons. Through her initial encounter with Carter Bickson, she manages to solidify her initial findings from Dr. Arthur Walsh and discover a deep connection to Level 3 via Nu-Corp and Dr. Donovan Jamison. Through the location of a murdered college student, it leads to her discovery of an underground facility and the aforementioned corrupt scientist who planned to exact the abilities of past meteor-infected folks for his own purpose. Between the web series and these narratives, they make for a compelling mystery and allows Sullivan to shine no matter if either Clark or Pete is accompanying her. Either way, they provide an enhanced experience that makes the vast investigation flourish. With “Parenthood”, it’s basically showing off some unexpected headaches that Kal-El is giving to his Earth-based parents given his abilities. Ultimately though, they agree that he’s been more than helpful given how they’ve raised him up right and it’s the kind of satisfaction that all parents should strive for when nurturing their young. It’s ultimately a heartwarming tale that’s breezy, yet still packs a heartfelt punch. “Captive” deals with the mental turmoil that Lex is going through while he’s been held within Belle Reve. At this point, he initially knows about Clark’s powers (though he’ll ultimately forget that once he gets electric shock therapy) and that he hopes his friend will visit him at some point. Not much occurs here given his restrictive environment since the only major action scene is him imagining that Kal-El is helping him bust out. As such, its small story format mainly serves as a way to get across the young Luthor’s state of mind and feelings at that point in the entire TV series. The somewhat lax pace fits this particular story and allows its readers to be placed in the proper mood for this light read. For the last three issues, they’re less of a direct connection to any particular episode in the show and more of an extra adventure. The dual tales of “Secrets” and “Lies” starts out on a simplistic level from one perspective before some hidden details get revealed within another. From Clark’s P.O.V., “Secrets” sees him busting up a break-in at the Talon as he uses his powers to foil their scheme while his flower-based surprise for Lana prior to her leaving for Paris at the end of Season 3 gets ruined by them. He manages to keep his super-powered methods of defeating the perps vague enough, even though he promises to help Lex by informing some top investigators in the end. Once we get to “Lies” however and we then see this from the young Luthor’s point-of-view, he ultimately learns through Frank Loder that his own father had those thugs bug the place since it was part of his continued observations of Clark from afar. The way that this story interlocks with the prior tale makes sense for the most part, yet didn’t feel as resolved in a self-contained style since this is one narrative within an ongoing series of threads. On its own though, it’s decent for what it is as both stories provided enough compelling content to keep readers interested throughout. “Rampage” primarily focuses on Lana and Chloe as they unintentionally have their good-natured sides subdued by a compound made outside of their control before they end up causing a lot of trouble in a different part of Kansas. While their mischievous actions primarily take center stage here, it’s when the two ladies fight each other that some form of interesting idea pops up in that they let an inner hatred for each other that they regularly suppress come to the surface. Specifically, Sullivan’s jealously of Lang’s more-successful love life and Lana falsely thinking that she has some conspiracy to make Chloe suffer and that her friend believes it. Nothing is really done with it and the ladies don’t really face any consequences for their unintended actions. As for Lex, he’s mainly in the background trying to get this situation that he caused under control before it eventually resolves itself after causing some hectic hassle to others. This ultimately makes for some decent comedy, yet it’s among the more narratively weaker entries from this series. Finally, we have “Nature” which sees Clark dealing with multiple crises and being forced to choose which one he has to take priority over. While his personal ordeal of saving the farm’s corn stalks from a massive downpour is understandable, the Amazon-based situation that he accidentally stumbled into helps him learn that there’re far bigger situations that lie far beyond the borders of his town. The backstory for Lowtax was nicely handled as the meteor rock fits into his plight of absolute power corrupting absolutely, Lex gets another moment to display his good intentions back home and Kal-El gets to flex his superhero stuff away from America in order to continue to own progression towards becoming the famous Man of Steel. All-in-all, this tale concluded the series on a nice note as it was backed by good writing, neat pacing and solid artwork. Speaking of the latter, the art for each story ranged quite a bit. Some were really professional & captured the actors’ likenesses, some like “Captive” were more of an atmosphere-like mood, while some like “Exile & The Kingdom” and “Magic” worked well enough despite being a bit too sketch-looking. Despite the range of artistic presentations, they still helped their stories get presented in a good and helped get across the important details that needed to be delivered. In the end, these made for a unique look back at this range of moments from the first half of the 2000s and are worth checking out along with all of the other pieces of content that they also contain. As such, give all 12 issues a read and light a torch onto the level of enjoyment that they provided you.
Even though we’ve managed to cover the initial comics that came out during this show’s decade-long run, we’re not even close to being done. Come back next time as we soar past the TV program’s initial end in order to see what further adventures Clark has gone on now that he’s finally embraced his famous superhero persona. Until then, keep your eyes on the skies and look sharply for a familiar red & blue blur!
Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) and all related characters are owned by DC Comics.
