Smallville And Clark Kent example essay topic

Smallville vs. other Superman series Man, throughout the ages, has looked to the stars with great amusement and curiosity. Wondrous stories are born of these magical, glimmering specs in the sky. Stories of tragedy, magic and heroism. These stories entertain and more, they give us hope. A tale of the stars like no other is the one of Superman, protector of planet Earth. As said by the Superman stories, Clark Kent was discovered by Martha and Jonathan Kent shortly after a meteor shower hit the town of Smallville.

Martha insisted on keeping the young boy and taking him into their family. Clark grew up on a farm helping out with chores and being loved by his human mother and father. The only difference with Clark's upbringing was that in the comics, he was just a baby when discovered by the Kents. In "Smallville" he was a boy about 6 years of age when he was found. This very scene I speak of has been played over and over in television besides the WB hit, "Smallville" (Kal-El). For example: "In the 1990's cartoon Pinky and the Brain, The Brain tracks down Superman's rocket ship and tries to raise Clark himself, with Pinky.

Fortunately, the super baby turns out to be too much for the Brain, as changing diapers requires an oxygen suit, and the tiny kid of steel uses his heat vision to blast the lab rat. Baby Clark makes his way back to the field where he landed and where the Kents find him". (Kal-El) The most famous version of this scene is shown in the Superman Movie with Glenn Ford playing Jonathan Kent and Phyllis Thaxter playing Martha Kent (Smallville). In this version the Kents find Clark and he displays his powers right away instead of demonstrating them over his teenage years like in the "Smallville" series. It was so smart for someone to answer everyone's questions as to how Clark grew up by giving them the front row seat to Clark's teenage years. Especially since in any other version of Superman all we knew of was when he was discovered and when he was already "Superman".

Martha and Jonathan Kent have changed in the stories as well. All of the Superman stories have the Kents as an elderly couple in their sixties (Superboy). The 1978 movie version shows the Kents older and so does the Lois and Clark TV series. It wasn't until the "Smallville" series that the Kents were much younger in their forties.

Anyone who knows the Superman story knows that Superman's rival is Lex Luthor. There are 2 main versions of Lex Luthor in the comic book universe, but in the early years Lex Luthor went through many phases. In fact at first Lex Luthor wasn't even bald. At one point he was bald and fat. He eventually would become a super evil genius; this is the version of Lex Luthor that had ties to Smallville and Clark Kent.

In "Smallville", Lex losing his hair is not directly Clark's fault. Lex loses his hair due to the meteor shower. The old comics show Clark and Lex as high school buddies (Lex). In the comic, Lex losing his hair turns out to be a result of Clark trying to put out a fire when they were youngsters. The loss of Lex's hair turns him against Clark in the comics. In "Smallville", Lex and Clark's friendship begins when Clark saves Lex from a car wreck and is ended when Lex refused to stop pursuing the investigation of the mystery of Clark Kent.

In the comics, Superboy's best friend was Pete Ross, and he did find out Clark's secret. Pete has changed from Caucasian (in the comics) to African American in the "Smallville" series. He was in love with Lana Lang and didn't leave Smallville until after High School according to the comic (Superboy). The TV Pete has left the show, at least for now, because his parents got a divorce and Clark's secret (powers) are too much of a burden. Lana Lang was Clark's heartthrob throughout high school.

She also has changed quite a bit in recent years. In the comics, Lana always has kind of red hair and there have been changes as to what happened to her parents. On "Smallville", the TV series, Lana's mom, was named Laura. Lana's mom and dad were killed by the Krypton ian meteor shower that hit the town of Smallville the day Clark landed on Earth. In other versions, Lana's parents were killed by either alien man hunters or a car accident (Lana). There was also never any mention of either of Lana's parents ever being unfaithful to one another in the comics like there is mention of it in "Smallville" (Lana).

In the comics, the movies, and the Lois and Clark TV series, Clark did not meet Lois Lane until he was in Metropolis. In the "Smallville" series, she comes to town investigating her cousin, Chloe's, death (Superboy). That is when Clark meets her in "Smallville". I have not seen the fourth season so I do not know what happens between Lois and Clark, I read that is how he meets her. The towns of Smallville and Metropolis, in the comics and movies, were always very far apart, like Chicago and New York.

Yet, in "Smallville", the towns are merely a few hours away from each other (Superboy). When Clark I've been asking myself why one would want to change an original when it is nearly perfect and already popular. I've come up with the perfect answer: to make it even more perfect! When "Smallville" first came out, it was not said that it was "the story of Superman". One had to watch the show to figure it out. By tuning into the clues on the show, it is obvious that the story is about Superman.

The fact that the young super man's name is Clark Kent gives way to the story. But as I shared in my presentation, I was never "into" Superman. In fact, before "Smallville", I didn't know anything about Superman, not even that his name is Clark Kent. All I previously knew was that he wears a red, blue and yellow suit! I was immediately hooked because the show struck my curiosity. I used to love watching a soap opera, General Hospital.

"Smallville" hooked me like the soap opera did. Each episode works off the next. Everything in the storyline is dramatic, one is never bored watching the show, and I believe the idea to put the audience in the front row seat to Superman's teenage years was genius. The producer worked off of Superman's already wonderful reputation to make a TV hit. That is why I believe "Smallville" has become so popular. To sum things up, there have been many alterations to the Superman legend over the years.

Changes have taken place in the storyline pertaining to Clark Kent's discovery, his parents, rival, best friend, heartthrob, and the towns of Smallville and Metropolis. I believe the show has become so popular because of the clever idea the show is based on. The show is based on how the Superman we know, grew up, learned of his abilities, and dealt with things every teenager deals with. Smallville Courtney TeschEN 242 Tu Th 1: 15-2: 45 pm Major Project Paper April 5, 2005

Bibliography

The Story of Superboy. 31 March 2005.
The Kents Discover Baby Kal-El. 31 March 2005 Smallville's Lex Luthor Origins.
31 March 2005.
The Story of Lana Lang... 31 March 2005.