SMALLVILLE'S CHLOE SULLIVAN JOINS THE SUPERMAN SUPPORTING CAST

[MattBrady]

by Troy Brownfield

Longtime Smallville viewers get a treat on March 12th. That’s when Superman #674 hits the streets, and Chloe Sullivan hits Metropolis. For years, the intrepid young reporter has been a favorite of viewers, and though hints had been dropped about her arrival in the DCU, she never materialized. Now, she’s finally joining up with the Man of Steel’s supporting cast in the comics. From the outset, Superman Editor Matt Idelson points the finger at series writer Kurt Busiek for bringing Chloe on board – “This was all Kurt’s idea, and it’s something we’d first talked about a couple of years ago.”

For his part, Busiek credits that fact that other members of Superman’s supporting cast have come from other media to the comics as his inspiration (Jimmy Olsen first appeared in The Adventures of Superman radio show in 1940 before being adopted by the comics a year later). “It made me think, ‘Yeah, and the next obvious choice would be bringing in someone like Chloe, but the problem with that would be...’ and then bam, a way to do it fell into place that I thought really served the book well, and made her a strong and useful and fun addition to the cast, one that would give us several elements to the cast structure that have been missing for years, but in a new and different way,” Busiek said.

But bringing a television character to comics does come with some hurdles. Even though they are owned by the same parent company (Time-Warner), DC had to get clearances with Warner Bros. as well as actress Allison Mack, both to use the character as well as to make sure the comic book version looked like “Chole,” but not exactly like Mack (likeness rights are a whole other ballgame).

Nor will the “Chloe” of the comics be a mirror version of “Chloe” of Smallville, Idelson says. “‘Our’ Chloe is clearly inspired by the Smallville character, right down to wanting to be a journalist, and being roughly the same age as the Smallville character. And she’s still Lois’ cousin. Beyond that, though, since she’s obviously a different age than Clark and Lana, she’s got to be her own, unique character.”

As Busiek explains, the differences are needed to prevent duplication.

“The problem we'd have faced if we brought her in with the same background as the TV show is that she'd fill two basic roles -- the Girl from Back Home and the Reporter -- and those roles are both pretty solidly filled in the adult Superman cast, by Lana and Lois. So she's got to have a different spin, one that lets her occupy a different role from either of them. She's the younger sister of someone Clark went to school with, not a classmate of Clark's herself. As a result, she's the new intern at the Daily Planet, fresh out of journalism school and itching to make a name for herself. That'll make her clearly different from Lois and Lana, and at the same time more familiar to watchers of the show.”

Idelson, while still playing upcoming stories close to the vest did confirm a few more key differences between television Chloe and comic book Chloe – she won’t have superpowers, and she doesn’t know Clark’s secret (“No way. No one in Lois’ family - save Lois herself - knows the secret.”). Oh, and while Chloe’s just introduced in #674, she features very prominently in issue #675.

“Superman is visible in all forms of media, and this isn’t the first time something from another medium’s interpretation of the character makes its way back to the comics,” Idelson says. “Kryptonite was actually introduced in the Superman radio show way back when. If anything, the door has always been open, and this is just the latest example.”

[Grievous]

said it before,

say it again,

kurt busiek is writing the best superman book on the stands, current, and from the last 10 years,

l love Grant morrison's All star, but it hurts my head.

I love Geoff johns Superman in ACtion comics, but the lateness curbed some momentum,
and his Green lantern and JSA are so strong right now that Action falls short between their combined greatness.

Kurt's superman,has it all, nice art, covers,

Great, diverse cast, new and young gods, jimmy olsen, lois lane, lex luthor and lana lang.

cool villains-new and old, The prankster, Arion,

I love kyber and subject 17.

and the unternet is easily the best new addition to the DCU in the lasy few years.

welcome Chloe, i hope you like and enjoy your stay

[Eldar]

Interesting solution almost like a female Jimmy Olsen.

[Bane122]

Eh, why not?

One of the best elements from Smallville to bring to the comics.

[AbacusComics]

Cool. I love Chloe in Smallville, it'll be great to see her in the comics.

I'm sure others will disagree. That's what Newsarama is for. lol.

[God-Man]

Sounds great to me!

[Rich L]

I think this is a good move - but I'm a little confused about the comics' Chloe:

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Idelson: "And she’s still Lois’ cousin.”
....
Busiek: “She's the younger sister of someone Clark went to school with, not a classmate of Clark's herself. As a result, she's the new intern at the Daily Planet, fresh out of journalism school and itching to make a name for herself.”

So which is right? And please don't say both as that would make the DCU a really small place - and I have enough of a problem with Lex and Clark being friends as children.

[BornToRun]

Not a big fan of Smallville, but I've never watched episodes that feature this character, so I suppose the only decent thing is to give it a chance before I go into my Internet-fan-bitching mode.

[superboy072]

Kurt Busiek being on Superman is a treat. He has brought consistently fresh ideas to a character that many writers have demonstrated is difficult to deal with. And he does not need to make his stories into big marketing booms to draw people in, he just has good stories.

The longer that he, Geoff Johns, and Grant Morrisson are all writing Superman, the happier I will be.

[BornToRun]

Originally Posted by Rich L

I think this is a good move - but I'm a little confused about the comics' Chloe:



So which is right? And please don't say both as that would make the DCU a really small place - and I have enough of a problem with Lex and Clark being friends as children.

Sadly, I think that's the case. I also think that, following the lead of the TV show and of Birthright, Lex IS Clark's childhood pal, so bah. It is what it is.

[CaptainCanad]

She's about the only good thing about Smallville, so they might as well bring her in.

[Sluggo]

I don't really have a problem with this, but neither am I excited about it, not being a fan of Smallville. I agree with other posters that Lex and Clark growing up together is a horrible idea. It might work in the context of the TV show, but not in the comics.

I was planning on checking in on Superman with 674 anyway, since it's Renato Guedes's first issue, so I'll see how this works for me, too.

[Gordon McAlpin]

Originally Posted by BornToRun

I also think that, following the lead of the TV show and of Birthright, Lex IS Clark's childhood pal, so bah. It is what it is.

Were Lex and Clark buds in the '60s Superboy comics? Or was that just Superboy and Lex (pre-hair loss)?

[bugalugs1]

well, it's about time!!

[The Crusader]

I would have enjoyed seeing Chloe and Clark at the same age and their dialogue in the comics. I guess that will remain Smallville's exclusive perk.

[ultraaman]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

She's the younger sister of someone Clark went to school with, not a classmate of Clark's herself.

Did I miss something? Since when did Clark go to school with Lois? Is this a Birthright/Superboy Punch thing?

[Lukecash]

Originally Posted by Gordon McAlpin

Were Lex and Clark buds in the '60s Superboy comics? Or was that just Superboy and Lex (pre-hair loss)?

Lex and Superman didn't know eachother in the 30's. It was only after the Superboy books were popular, did Lex move to Smallville and became Superboys friend. Luthor was written as basically a child genius who was inspired by Superboys exploits.

At one point, Luthor was on his way of creating an antidote for Kryptonite poisoning. However an explosion in a lab caused his hair to fall out...which Luthor blamed on Superboy who rescued him.

His invenions to help man, sometimes didn't work as planned, and Superboy would have to stop it. Eventually Luthor believed that Superboy was acting out of petty jealosy.

[CodeGuy]

Originally Posted by ultraaman

Did I miss something? Since when did Clark go to school with Lois? Is this a Birthright/Superboy Punch thing?

He didn't go to school with Lois. Chloe is Lois' cousin and she's the younger sister of someone Clark went to school with.

[Lukecash]

Originally Posted by ultraaman

Did I miss something? Since when did Clark go to school with Lois? Is this a Birthright/Superboy Punch thing?

It's simple.

Lois had cousins in Smallville. However, instead of Cloe being a classmate of clark, she's the younger sister of a classmate of clark. She'll be Jimmies age.

[michaelman9]

This sounds like fun to me. I love her on the show and think that this is a good way to bring her into the comics.

Her being from Smallville and related to Lois brings her in but without having to retcon Clark's origin again.

[Knowbrainer]

About damn time.

If they had done it about two years ago and kept her as regular supporting character in the comics, I wouldn't have been too worried that Chloe wasn't coming back this season. After all, no one can deny the trend the past ten years of the comics and tv/movie versions of characters staying close to each other. Superman's marriage in the comics was originally held off until they could do it on Lois and Clark and do a big tie-in (which didn't happen).

Anyway, it's great to see my favorite thing about Smallville finally added to the comics. Who knows? If she's around the same age as comics Jimmy, maybe we'll see a romance there.

[Zared98]

As someone who has never, EVER bought a superman comic but who really likes Chloe on Smallville, this may bring me in. Which is obviously the point of it.

Mission accomplished DC, you sneaky buggers.

[cactusmaac]

It seems rather pointless to be honest.

Chloe serves as the Best Friend and Confidante\Ace Reporter in the show quite well and as noted, those roles have already been filled by Lois in the comics. Making her a go-getting young reporter who doesn't share any kind of friendship with Supes makes you wonder why they'd bother writing her in.

It would have been more interesting to have her back-story be the same as Smallville but for her to have been gone for years before slowly reconnecting with the crew. It's the relationships with Clark, Lana and Lois that make her special.

Still, Busiek's writing so it will probably be decent.

[gwangung]

Originally Posted by Sluggo

. I agree with other posters that Lex and Clark growing up together is a horrible idea. It might work in the context of the TV show, but not in the comics.

Ah, that's just inflexible fanboy thinking. It may not have been the case when YOU were growing it, but it certainly was the case when I was growing up. There's a certain symmetry to the best friends/worst rivals scenario that clearly can work for Luthor/Superman (Elliot Maggin may have had the best handle on it) and HAS worked in the past (see, for example RED SON for a non-traditional use of it).

Whether it can be workable now is a different story, but there's absolutely nothing that stops it from doing so.

[O.J. Flow]

...support this move, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out.