Smallville (DC Comics)

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This article is about Superman's adoptive home town. For the television series, see Smallville (TV series).

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Smallville is the fictional hometown of Clark Kent. Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, the town was protected by the first Superboy, before he began his career in Metropolis as Superman. Post-Crisis, the second Supergirl and third Superboy have spent significant time in Smallville. The TV series Smallville also takes place there. The town first appeared as "Smallville, USA" in Superboy (volume 1) #2 (1949).

[edit] The town

A billboard of Superboy, greeting drivers entering and exiting Smallville. From New Adventures of Superboy #16 (April 1981). Art by Kurt Schaffenberger.

Smallville is usually portrayed as an idyllic small American town, with an atmosphere resembling the settings of the paintings of Norman Rockwell. Its residents are generally very friendly, although for a relatively minor civic center its crime rate is unusually high.

Noted residents of Smallville include the Kent family (Jonathan and Martha Kent, or Ma and Pa Kent as they were often called, and their adopted son Clark Kent), Lana Lang, Pete Ross, and Smallville police chief Chief Parker. In the original Superboy comics, other noted residents included Professor Phineas Potter (Lana's uncle) and a younger version of Lex Luthor. The late Conner Kent, the third Superboy, lived in Smallville with Ma and Pa Kent, though he didn't quite enjoy it.

Smallville's economy seems mostly to consist of various locally owned businesses, along with various farms surrounding the town, including the Kent family farm. In the original Superboy comics, the Kent family sold their farm when Clark started school and opened a general store in town; the post-Crisis comics, where Clark never had a Superboy career, show the Kents as still residing on their farm when Clark is an adult.

Clark, Pete, and Lana attended Smallville's only high school, Smallville High School.

In terms of media, Smallville has had several newspapers mentioned over the years, including the Smallville Sentinel and Smallville Times-Reader. Smallville receives its television and radio broadcasts from a larger nearby city.

In the original Superboy comics, a billboard outside of Smallville greets those driving into and out of town; the billboard features a picture of Superboy waving, with words next to it reading: "Welcome to Smallville, Home of Superboy."

[edit] Location

The actual location of Smallville, like those of other fictional DC Universe cities, originally was never specifically stated in the comics. Smallville's location varied widely throughout many stories, many of which placed Smallville close to Metropolis and Midvale, home of Supergirl. All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (notable for featuring the wedding of Legion of Super-Heroes members Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and published in 1978) calls Smallville "a quiet town, nestled in the hills just inland from the eastern seaboard." In Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (1977), a magazine with articles on DC Comics characters and series, Smallville was stated to be in Maryland. The Maryland location was supported in the actual comics with a map of Smallville and the surrounding area that was published in New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), which situated Smallville a few miles west of a large bay very similar to Delaware Bay (the same map placed Metropolis and Gotham City on the east and west sides of the bay, respectively). Smallville was first placed in Kansas in the 1970s and 1980s Superman movies, although in the first one actual filming of the Kent family's farmland was done in Alberta and the surrounding fields of the town of Baldock, England. Superman writer Elliot S! Maggin incorporated the Kansas location into the DC Universe in his 1981 Superman novel, Miracle Monday. Comic writer and artist John Byrne also placed Smallville in Kansas in his 1986 rewrite of Superman's origin.

The 1990s limited series The Kents places Smallville in Eastern Kansas within about a days horse ride of Miami County.

In issue #13 of the Superman/Batman series (2004), Smallville is mentioned as being adjacent to the (equally fictional) town of Granville, Kansas. The name Granville comes from the 2000s television series Smallville (TV series)|Smallville; Smallville is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, which was called Granville until it was renamed in 1886, and Granville Street (a major arterial road in the city) as well as Granville Island (a small, man-made peninsula often mistaken for an island, serving as a market and tourist attraction) still retain the name. (The nearby rural suburban town of Cloverdale stands in for downtown Smallville in the series.)

In Smallville, on a clear day Metropolis is visible from the town. This seemingly insignificant fact is interesting to note since Metropolis is depicted as a city on the ocean with shipping ports. Therefore, it is geographically impossible for Smallville or Metropolis to be in Kansas. (However, the visibility of Metropolis from certain parts of Smallville has been acknowledged by the writing staff. At the time it was seen from Smallville, they hadn't quite 'placed' Metropolis yet). Furthermore, Metropolis is mentioned as being a 3 hour drive away from Smallville by Chloe Sullivan in Season 3, which gives a clue as to its approximate distance away. In another episode ("Fallout"), a map is shown with "Metropolis, KS" clearly labeled; it's in the southwest quadrant of Kansas, somewhere near the real-world location of Dodge City, while Smallville on the same map (marked with a star) appears to be a couple hundred miles to the east, near real-world Wichita.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman places Smallville as a city in Kansas as well, though Metropolis is located on the east coast.

In two Season One episodes, the zip code for Smallville, Kansas was revealed to be 66684 and 66645. In another episode, an envelope addressed to Lex revealed that the Metropolis zip code was 66624. The 66624 zip code in reality belongs to Topeka, Kansas.

The Superboy TV series also places Smallville in Kansas, stating it is where Clark and Lana grew up. The main action of that series takes place at a fictional college in Florida.

[edit] Other uses

• "Smallville, USA" is also a generic term to describe a relatively small American town.
• Starting in Season 4 of Smallville, it is a nickname given to Clark Kent by Lois Lane; this convention was carried over from similar uses by the Lois Lane character in Superman: The Animated Series and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

See also

• Talon (Smallville)
• Kryptonians
• Clark Kent
• Superman
• Kryptonite

[edit] External links

• Supermanica wiki's entry on Smallville
• Smallville en Español
• Smallville Wiki