Review: Smallville Continuity #4

Smallville Continuity #4 came out this week, the final episode of this arc and this book and probably this continuity. I have been both eager for this issue and dreading its arrival.

I have absolutely loved this book as writer Bryan Q. Miller has created a deep, complex, and frankly classic version of a DC Universe. We had a heroic Superman with a strong Lois who was very much in love and involved in the adventures here. There was a League of super-heroes that  liked each other and enjoyed working together. There was a determined Supergirl. And there was Steph Brown Babs Gordon as Batgirl.  So I have been wanting to read this conclusion, knowing it would be great. But I also knew that its arrival meant the end of the book.

Miller has done a great job with pacing the last couple of arcs. The Crisis event at the center of this arc was basically ended last issue. That means all that is left is the wrap-up. And Miller does a great job looking around at this universe he has created and giving us an ending/new beginning for many of them. I was hoping for a nice coda to the book/continuity and Miller gave it to me. (Although, I was sort of miffed that Kara doesn't get much notice here.)

The art on the book is solid as done by Ig Guara and Marcelo Di Chiara, as they go walkabout to all the characters. I'll point out some of the panels that really struck me ... one in particular. And as usual, Cat Staggs gives us a great cover highlighting all these characters. I'll miss my monthly Smallville Staggs cover!

To wrap up this intro, there are enough open character plotlines here that make me think that Miller has more stories inside him. Maybe we'll get a one shot now and then?

The opening scene has Superman imprisoning the last of the Monitors. The Smallville Universe has been entirely recreated.  And Superman has imprisoned all of the remaining Monitors within a crystal matrix until the heroes can decide where and when and how they can be reconstituted and not be a threat.

As usual, there is a little metatext on Superman by Miller here. We hear how almost all Superman 'designates' never kill and those that do aren't here. We won't get a Goyer-like Superman willing to watch his father die, being taught to let a bus sink under the water, or snapping necks here. It's why I love this book.

I don't think Superman should kill either.

With the Monitor imprisoned, we get a tour of the major characters in the universe, a sort of wrap up to all the character plotlines we have loved reading these last years. All of these moments are superb. It shows how much Miller cares. It shows how three-dimensional they all have been in this book.

Steph Babs and Bruce have a final moment. After years of grimness, it was great to see Batman show some emotion. He admits that the joy that Steph Babs brought him actually saved him. He would have sunk deeper into darkness if not for her. How great a moment is this!! I loved it!

Steph Babs heads into space with the Green Lanterns. And Bruce finally meets Dick Grayson, the 'gymnast' we have heard about.

Both storylines come to a conclusion ... but open-ended.

Superman is able to overcome the fear of his alien heritage by those on Earth. He gives a speech at the White House about how he considers Earth his home and will always protect it.

We see Martha shedding some tears as she listens. She is a proud mother even if she can't admit it freely.

Tess Mercer became the electronic oracle in the book until she finally made a body for herself last issue, becoming the Red Tornado of the Smallville world.

Finally ... finally ... after all my years of reading comics ... a Red Tornado I would actually enjoy reading!

Here, Miller has her approach humanity even further. She has pseudo-skin. She eats and processes food for energy. And she loves. How great to see her and Emil begin a relationship!

With the Watchtower on Earth destroyed last issue, we see Tess head to the moon, the site of the new Watchtower, a true League HQ.

Great endings for these characters. But also with the sense that there are more stories here.

Chloe and Oliver join Diana in the DEO.

Oliver will train a bunch of new recruits the DEO have put together as a unit. Yep ... it's the Outsiders.

After all my worries that Oliver or Chloe or both were going to die, I was relieved to see them survive. And again, this is a logical ending for them. But also, the beginning of a new phase with possible new stories.

As for Lex, just when I think he is going to turn the corner in this book we see him literally eyeing the White House. Power corrupts. And there is a precedent for a Lex president.

What I love is how he misses Otis so much that he makes his new assistant adopt some of Otis' mannerisms.

And finally we have a blessed event. Chloe gives birth to a baby boy. And the gang all arrives to share in the happiness. This is Chloe's family now. And they decide to name the boy after a man they want their son to aspire to be like. They name him Jonathan ....

Hold on, it's dusty in this room. I need to wipe my eyes.

The one off note for me is the lack of a true ending scene for the Smallville Supergirl. There she is on the left (I'm assuming it's Kara).

I'll also miss the black body-suited, skull shirt wearing Diana!

And then my favorite scene and panel of the book. A scene of Lois and Clark alone and clearly in love.

I wondered if we might get the wedding here but I like this scene better. Lois asks Clark to fly here into the nighttime sky so she can parachute. (I love how she comments that you need great core strength to be carried along.)

But Clark says he will never let her go. And they kiss in the moonlight.

I can't help but look at this picture and 'feel' all the initial pictures of Superman and Wonder Woman kissing. It evokes that image. But it isn't Diana and Clark. It's Lois and Clark.

I hope it was intentional. I hope this was Miller saying that these are the characters that should be in that pose.

And I will miss my Lois and Clark moments that this book has provided me. 

I mean ... am I only seeing what I want to see? Am I transferring what I want the intent to be?

And then the ending ...

With Lois drifting to Earth, the 'Boy Scout' answers a call from Tess.

But from now on he wants his call sign to be changed.

"This looks like a job for Superman."

What an ending! I have talked a lot about how this book has been the place for me to go when I wanted a more classic take on Superman and his role in a DCU. Why not end it with one of the most classic line uttered by Superman!

I obviously loved this issue and this book and this universe. I don't think I need to belabor the point.

So all I have left to say is thank you to Bryan Q. Miller, Cat Staggs, and all the artists who worked on this book over these last years. I am sad to see this end. That's the biggest compliment I can give a comic.

Overall grade: A

Review: Smallville:Continuity #1

Smallville:Continuity #1came out in print last week and continued this comics unbelievable steady streak of quality. This is the final Smallville 'episode' and the series has been over for the digital crowd for some time. But I still like to feel the pages between my fingers, so I am delayed in my coverage.

We knew from the first issue of this comic that we were headed to a Crisis. And now, after building up momentum through the last several arcs, we are finally there. There is something of a sad finality to this episode knowing that none are planned afterwards. And I can only praise Bryan Q. Miller, as I seem to every month, for bringing me a fun and heroic DC universe and for making me care for the Smallville continuity more than I did while watching the show.

Here, Miller and artist Ig Guara start the episode out with a bang, showing the effects of a Crisis through time, bringing a couple of classic COIE moments, and ending with an inspirational scene for Clark which reminded me why I love the character.

I have 3 more issues and 3 more months of this comic. I am going to savor it.

We start out in the future where the Legion, while on a rescue mission, come across an all too familiar white wave of energy erasing the universe. Here we see the first homage to Crisis on Infinite Earths. The unmaking of the universe is happening in all times at once.

As for Superman and Lois, they finally made it back to their Earth after a few detours. And with some yellow sun rays, Superman gets rejuvenated.

But the Crisis is already happening here. I love the tenacity of Superman here. "It is never too late to make a difference!" Fantastic!

Unlike prior Earths though, the Monitors are using blue crisis energy. They aren't destroying this world. They are breaking it down in order to reboot the whole thing. And that brilliant idea came courtesy of Lex.

I don't know if I understand the Monitor's motivations are here. Why are they doing all this? Am I forgetting some key moment? I mean, the Anti-Monitor craved power. That I understand.

And I suppose Lex, who has been reborn and is still frustrated by his lack of memory, probably would welcome a reboot even if that means dying and coming back.

Throughout all of this, I have started to see some cracks in Otis' loyalty. Will he eventually betray Lex?

The Monitors have arrived. And they first place they have unmade is Washington D.C. The heroes there are able to slow down things enough to get the president out of there. But this is a loss. The city is gone. There is that blue energy, breaking down a city into its components. Yes, Lois and Superman are going to fight to save the planet no matter what. But this is personal. General Lane and Senator Kent both live in D.C.

Again, why the Monitors would agree with the reboot idea is something I still need to wrap my head around. Will Superman be in the new version of this universe?

It is the end of days. That means some tough decisions need to be made. Diana decides she needs to warn Paradise Island of the threat. She might never see Steve Trevor again. So she says goodbye to her special secret boy.

Hey look ... Wonder Woman! At least a recognizable one ...

I would love to read a Bryan Q Miller Wonder Woman book.

How about another great and classic Crisis moment!

Does anything say Crisis more than all the heroes together in a satellite or headquarters, preparing to team up? This reminded me of the famous Monitor satellite scene from Crisis on Infinite Earths #5.

Love it!

Despite all the action happening, despite the world being unmade around them, Miller does a good job giving us some nice character moments. We should see how these characters we have come to love would react to what's happening.

Here Chloe is weary by all the near-apocalypses she has lived through. What will it mean for her baby?

I also like how, especially in this issue, Miller references many Smallville episodes. I have to assume this magic tears moment actually happened at some point. Fans of the show must be appreciative of this internal continuity.

And here is a great Tess moment. I have liked the arc that Tess' character has been on in this book, killed, reborn as living data, acting as something akin to Oracle.

But here, Oliver wonders why she hasn't created a tangible body for herself. Maybe she is scared of feeling again, of being physical again, of being vulnerable again. The second panel with Tess small and alone is a great image for this point.

Will Tess make herself a body and somehow be sacrificed? Hmm ...

This Smallville book has really embraced a sort of classic take on the DC heroes here. This isn't the New 52. The core of these characters are pretty solid here.

Here, Superman and Batman try to figure out a way they can defeat the Monitors without killing them. How do you end a war without death?

These are two heroes who hate when people die. It would be easy to say that a 'zero body count' is an impossible mark. That they should go in with lethal force. But that would be easy. Instead, they make more coffee and keep thinking. They don't kill.

And then this page where Clark, on the Planet roof with the other heroes, rallies them to battle. This includes another panel where the American flag.

Can I say, I love that this is Clark giving this speech and not Superman. I wish I could verbalize why. Maybe it is that I think that Clark is the real identity. Maybe because he is fighting for Earth, being in this identity carries more weight. But I thought this was great.

The stage is set ... bring on the Crisis.

Overall grade: A