That’s right Smallville fans! The beloved TV show, which finished its run of an impressive ten seasons last May, is back for a confirmed eleventh season. But, don’t be expecting it to be hitting your television screens. DC announced that Smallville season 11 will be published as a weekly, digital first comic book, and will be written by show writer, Bryan Q. Miller. So far, there has been little art released, but the talent involved is impressive. Gary Frank will be handling print covers, with Cat Staggs on digital cover duty. Pere Perez, whose work I loved in the pre-reboot Batgirl series featuring Stephanie Brown, will be doing the interior art. So, by all appearances, DC seem to be taking this seriously as opposed to a low risk, poor quality experiment that would leave fans disappointed. The first issue is released on April 13th and weekly chapters will follow each week. There are also plans to collect all 12 chapters into print periodicals. Writer Miller has promised that each chapter will be like a ‘mega-episode’ or TV movie, so readers will definitely be getting their money’s worth, and it all sounds quite different to the monthly ongoing model comic readers are used to.
I really enjoyed the TV series, but was a little underwhelmed by the final season. Season 11, however, looks promising. The comic won’t be hindered by the small budget of the television series, which often had pretty hilarious special effects, and will never be dependent on the career choices of its cast, meaning that we’ll see more of Chloe and Lex, and, for better or worse, there’s a chance that Lana Lang may reappear. And since the universe of Smallville isn’t in regular DC continuity, we will get to see far more original characters and plots, which will hopefully lead to a more interesting read. I mean, I can’t be the only one who wants to read more about Oliver and Chloe’s married life. And, there is always the hope that characters that legally couldn’t appear in the TV show, such as Batman and Wonder Woman, could finally be introduced to the Smallville universe.
This project is in a similar vein to the continuing print adventures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who was last seen on TV in 2003 but lives on in an acclaimed comic series. That has led to two more printed seasons of Buffy. We can only hope that Smallville is as successful as it seems to have exciting potential. And, who knows, it may also be the title that finally draws some of those elusive new readers that DC has been so eager to court.
