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Smallville

Kal-El

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Perhaps. But Tom Welling isn't Superman-worthy material. He never was. He's Clark Kent/The Blur, nothing more.
 

Kal-El

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Yes bob, unfortunately I never got past watching season 5. I've seen every episode up to season 7-ish on TV, and I own 1 through 5 on DVD. But the witch/possessed Lana storyline left such a bad taste in my mouth I even did something I never did before with Smallville: skip episodes!!! I've skipped everything that referred to Lana on the slipcase covers (which, in my defense, only had 3 or so left) and now have to watch the season finale(s).
After that, it's saving up to buy 6 and 7 on blu-ray, and we're back in business :)
 

MusicEd921

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Later Smallville was better. I have to say it is funny to see how many people say how much they love the show now that it is over. I feel like every time I turned around people were saying how terrible the show was. The finale was like every other finale of Smallville.....a bit of a disappointing cop out.

I'm not bashing the show as I did stick with it all 10 years. I'm happy we got what we got for the finale, but for a character that belongs to WB, they sure had a lot of problems getting their own characters on their own networks show.

Season 10 definitely had some of the best moments overall: Clark and Lois' first I love you in the barn, Clark telling Lois his secret, future Clark meeting past Clark, a real phone booth change, Clark wears the glasses, the rooftop ending! If only he wore the suit and fought Darkseid, then it would have been the greatest ending possible, but it went out in its own Smallville style (leaving you wanting just a little bit more).
 

njvc

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Kal-El said:
the witch/possessed Lana storyline left such a bad taste in my mouth

Totally agree. I stopped watching after these story threads started to emerge. The show peaked when he met Christopher Reeve IMO, and became desperate after that. I watched a couple of shows in later seasons and found them almost unwatchable - laughably bad in fact. Days of our lives/bold and the beautiful style bad. The early seasons while he gained his first powers, and had a complex friendship with Lex were excellent. The episode where the old lady has vision of the future, and sees lex as president and in the field of flowers as they all die and it starts raining blood comes to mind. Brilliant. But later? bleh. and the finale? Laughable. Did they slash the budget in half or something? Ok, that's my vent.
 

bionicbob

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I agree, the Lana/Witch storyline was a stinker. I pretty much almost called it quits too. But the season finale was so awesome, the Fortress of Solitude!!!!

But SMALLVILLE has always been an up and down show in quality and pay off. And everytime I thought I was done with the series, (read with Al Pacino voice) they would do something that would drag me back in!!!

I LOVE SUPERMAN!!! He is my number two Hero, right after The Bionic Man!

But I actually grew to enjoy many aspects of Smallville unique, separate continuity from the established comics. As the show went on, in many ways it became a series not just about the journey of Clark but about the Birth of the DC Universe.

The best part of Season 5 was the introduction of Brainiac, I thought that was well done. And season ender with Lex possessed by Zod was pretty epic by Smallville standards. I hated the idea of Jor-el killing Pa Kent. AI or not, that does not jive with the Jor-el I know. And I think the writers realized their mistake in this regard, as they definitely attempted retro-con Jor-el into a more supporting role in later seasons.

Season 6 is cool with the introduction of Green Arrow (essentially fullfilling the Superman/Batman relationship from the comics), rise of the Justice League, the hunting of the Phantoms, and I really like the Lex/Lana romance. (my brother-inlaw was married in the exact same church a year later, I kept looking around for Lex to show up. LOL!) I just wish Lex had really killed Lana, I think that would have been very dramatic.

Season 7 was a mixed bag, affected by the writer's strike. The introduction of Supergirl I had mixed emotions about. I loved Bizzaro! The Veritas subplot I don't really think paid off, though it was an interesting idea. I still to this day do not understand the season finale... Lex destroys the Fortress and kills himself? What was suppose to happen? How was the device suppose to control the Traveller??? For a final confrontation between Lex and Clark, I found it very disappointing.

Season 8 and DOOMSDAY. A little uneven, but I really enjoyed this season. I even liked the final showdown, however brief it was. Tess Mercer was a breath of fresh air, I really liked her. Plus the Legion of Superheroes!!! Though I absolutely hated the return of Lana! Lame! She is worse than any kryptonite.

Season 9 Zod and the Kandorian clones! A very solid season in my opinion. Though why they did not bring Supergirl back for an arc I still don't understand. But seeing Jor-el in the clone flesh and our first real look at Krypton before its fall was excellent! And the JSA episode was one of the best of the entire series!

Season 10.... I may be in the minority, but I LOVED the final season. Sure, maybe the overall DARKSIED arc did not pay off as we wanted (but that is Smallville for you), but I completely enjoyed all the small moments, all the comic book and Donner nods and the romance between Clark and Lois was perfect.

As for the question about budget. Yes, the look of the show definitely began to change after seasons 6 or 7, less and less exteriors/on location shooting, more and more set pieces... and the reason for this is standard tv practice. The budget remains pretty much unchanged over the course of 10 years but the salaries and production costs go up and up and up with each new season, thus you get less bang for you buck on the screen.

I have actually begun rewatching my Smallville sets, taking notes for a future planned Superman edit, and show still shines and captures the viewer.
I think it will be looked back as a classic genre show. I definitely think it will stand the test of time better than LOIS & CLARK does.:)
 

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Got my taxes filed today. Which is awesome. And went to Target and saw something that I really couldn't pass up. So I went and bought the Complete Series set of Smallville. It is definitely an amazing set for sure. (Only had Season 7 and 8 on DVD before) Which when I did the math it came out to about $26 per season. Which is pretty awesome.

And the fake Daily Planet newspaper they have with the set is pretty awesome as well.
 

Kal-El

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I still have season 5 edit planned that chronicles the rise and fall of Brainiac. Writing out witch/possessed Lana, so that Clark searches for, and retrieves, the keys immediately, is a far better angle too. Lana's "boyfriend" and psycho mum was a serious dud too. Series only got better after that. Queen, JLA, Doomsday, ... superb viewing. Although that had its flaws too. Super powered Chloe AND Lana? HELL NO!
 

bionicbob

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smallvilleseason11cover.jpg


Issue one of SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 was released digitally today.
I believe the paperback collection comes out the first week of May.:)
 

LastSurvivor

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ssue one of SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 was released digitally today.
I believe the paperback collection comes out the first week of May.:)

Indeed Bob... this is on my "must buy and read later list"... I still haven't finished watching Season 10 yet! lol
 

Kal-El

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I think you mean "sample first and buy later if it's any good" :)
 

LastSurvivor

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Kal-El said:
I think you mean "sample first and buy later if it's any good" :)

:) well Kal-El, I actually mean I will buy it and refrain from reading it until I've finished watching Season 10. I'll collect the comics anyway - yes, I'm that much of a fan ;)
 

Kal-El

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Just read the first issue. A complete rehash of the Superman IV opening sequence in space... Only this time, he doesn't speak Russian (yet). The art looks okay, but Tom Welling looks ridiculous on paper, suit and all!
 

Uncanny Antman

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Welling looks ridiculous as Superman period. It's amazing the difference it makes when you're casting a young Clark (Welling = good) and someone to play adult Clark and Superman. (The 'disguise' version of Clark, that is. The glasses look okay on Welling, but the slicked hair looks like shit.)
 

Kal-El

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Here's my uploaded proof:

wellingsuperman.jpg


The entire comic reeks of amateurism. I've never seen such simple drawings. The bodies and such are okay, but all the faces look terrible. An attempt to make everything far too realistic, to have it bridge closer to the Smallville series. As if it's not easy to have experienced comic book artists draw a convincing Tom Welling... A number of A-list artists could have pulled it off overnight, yet they chose to go with something like this!

I honestly don't know if it's a normal procedure for digital comics, but the comic itself is no more than 15 to 20 pages, and has one or two panels at the most, on every page. It looks, and reads, like a toddler's comic book.
 

Uncanny Antman

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To be fair, it is Smallville. ;)

P.S. I was never disputing that illustrated-Welling looks funny. I meant to mention that but got caught up in a mini-rant. Sorry 'bout that.
 

Kal-El

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No need to apologise, because I do agree. But from a general point of view, i.e. being in love with all comics JLA, Superman, Batman, etc... related (including the artists that draw them), this just doesn't cut it for me. It's so unbelievable sub-par compared to the rest, that I really couldn't care less. Unless they wrap up this storyline, and bring in proper artists for the remaining ones.
 

bionicbob

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I am not a fan of the Digital Format, so I think I will reserve judgement until I pick up the first "full" issue at the comic shop in a couple of weeks.
 

bionicbob

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Okay, just picked up issue one.

I actually liked it.

The art is serviceable. It did not strike me as amateur-ish. I did not really expect to see exact actor likenesses, as that is too time consuming for even the most experienced skilled artist. It also occurred to me DC may not have paid for the rights to use the actors' likenesses, as they can be fairly expensive, and this does not strike me as major title DC is heavily pushing.

The story does not read like a regular Superman comic. It reads like Smallville. Which again I completely expected since the author is one of the show's writers and that is what is was hired to do. The story itself is fairly light, all introduction and set-up. But there enough elements that I was left intrigued and will be picking up the next couple of issues to see how things develop.

Is it a great comic? Nope. But is better than the current run of JLA or Superman, both major DC flagship titles and both major disappointments when one considers the hype and talent involved.;-)
 
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