A long, long time ago, as a devotee of the comic book medium, I swore never to watch Smallville.

Not because my agent, who recommended it, is a fan of Gossip Girl (It was in fact, she who put me up on Californication) but because the show’s creators wilfully tried to make an un-Superman show about Superman. Maybe it was a throwback to the aborted Superman Lives film, that threatened to team Nicolas Cage as Clark Kent (I know, right?) with Tim Burton and a giant spider (because they are nature’s most fierce killers – if you don’t know, holla at Kevin Smith), but Smallville deprived Kal El of both his trademark suit and powers of flight, essentially rendering the show Dawson’s Creek with Kryptonite Agita.

Castor Troy x Superman

Even Brandon Routh’s Man Of Steel in Superman Returns was more concerned with spying on his ex and dodging his paternal responsibilities by flying into space than punching bad guys.
Now – over the past few years, I have read excited comments on fanboy forums, as characters from the DC Universe have been drafted into the show. But none of these cameos, appears to have generated as much interest as the Justice Society of America’s in last night’s Absolute Justice episode. Hawkman, Sandman, Dr. Fate, the first Flash, Wildcat and the shadowy Checkmate organisation all made appearances. On top of all of this, the episode was written by Geoff Johns. For those who don’t know, Mr. Johns is the guy that DC go to when they want one of those all encompassing crossover year long epic story arcs that jumps into parallel dimensions (See 52). In short, he knows his stuff. There were Easter eggs galore (nods to the fans, for the uninitated) such as The Martian Hunter professing his love for cookies and the promise of a new incarnation of the JSA, but possibly the biggest shock of all was the revelation by Amanda Waller (played by Pam Grier – who deosn’t appear to have aged a day since Jackie Brown) that there is an impending Apokolips.

She makes me wanna get up and scream. Foxy.

No – I didn’t spell that incorrectly – it’s a reference to the New Gods, central characters in the DC Universe, which means that Darkseid and the Anti Life Equation are on their way to the CW. Way to guarantee another season! For those not sure what the Anti Life Equation is, Wikipedia describes it as “a mathematical proof of the futility of living”. Think Britian and US under Blair and Bush respectively and you’re pretty much there. It was written in full for the first time by Grant Morrison – if you need to know how much of a loon/ great writer this guy is, I recommend both The Authority and The Filth

loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side

It says something about the process of putting comic books on the screen, these days that even a major television studio is starting to feel the pressure to adhere more closely to source material, even if they do still take the occasional liberty. And in these reboot happy times, what’s to say that Warner Bros. might not be realigning Smallville as the definitive celluloid Superman story? Even if writer extraordinnaire, Mark Millar has supposedly put together a trilogy that will finally do The Big Blue Boy Scout justice (no pun intended).

So will I became a Smallville fan after Absolute Justice? Not likely. If a Doomsday cameo couldn’t win me over, they may be no hope for me. But will I take a passing interest in next season? Probably…