Smallville (comics)

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Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Smallville is a fictional small town in DC Comics, most prominently featured in Superman-related stories as the rural Kansas hometown of Clark Kent (Superman) and the Kent family. It serves as a foundational setting for exploring Superman's formative years and his connection to ordinary, small-town life.

Key moments

1949First identified as "Smallville, USA" in Superboy #2, establishing it as the setting for Superboy's early adventures.
1986Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, Smallville was firmly retconned to be located in Kansas, solidifying its modern canonical place in Superman's origin story.

Narrative Significance

Smallville functions as a narrative counterpoint to Metropolis, highlighting the contrast between Superman's humble, grounded upbringing and his future as a global hero. It introduces recurring elements like the Kent farm, local high school, and early friendships that shape his moral compass.

Evolution of Canon

Originally vague in its geographic placement, Smallville's retcon to Kansas in 1986 aligned it with the 1978 Superman film's setting, creating cross-media consistency. This change helped modernize Superman's origin, making his roots more relatable to contemporary audiences.

Cross-Media Adaptation

The town's popularity exploded through the 2001-2011 Smallville TV series, which focused on Clark Kent's teen years. This led to tie-in comics and novels that expanded Smallville's lore, blending comic book canon with original TV series elements.

Overview

Smallville

first	More Fun Comics #101 (January 1945) (Unnamed)
genre	Superhero comics
type	Town
people	Clark Kent Jonathan and Martha Kent Lana Lang Pete Ross
locations	Kansas Kent family farm Kent General Store

Smallville is a fictional town in American comic books published by DC Comics. The childhood hometown of Superman, Smallville was first named in Superboy #2 (May 1949).

Location

Similar to the whereabouts of other fictional DC Universe cities, the location of Smallville was, originally, 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.[20] All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (1978) calls Smallville "a quiet town, nestled in the hills just inland from the eastern seaboard". Most sources since the 1986 John Byrne Superman origin reboot point the location of Smallville to be in Kansas. In Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (1977), an officially sanctioned fanzine with articles on DC Comics characters and series, Smallville was instead stated to be in Maryland.

A map of Legion-era Metropolis included in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #313 (July 1984) indicates that Smallville was believed by the 1980s to be somewhere in northeastern Pennsylvania or northern New Jersey, while incorporated into Metropolis proper at that time as a historical district. In revisions of the map published after 1986, this was retroactively removed to accommodate changes of Smallville's location in other titles, as detailed below.

In the Superboy story in Superman Family #195 (May–June 1979), Interstate 70 is shown as running through or near Smallville, as Lana and Clark drive along the highway. States the real-world Interstate 70 passes through include Utah, Colorado, Kansas (Smallville's usual post-Crisis location), Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland (cited in some pre-Crisis references as Smallville's location).

In the novel The Death and Life of Superman (1993), Jonathan and Martha Kent drive to Smallville from the Great Bend, Kansas, airport[21] which would put Smallville somewhere in central Kansas.

In the limited series The Kents (vol. 1) #11 (June 1998), places Smallville along the Arkansas River.

In Action Comics (vol. 1) #822 (February 2005) - "Repo Man Pt. 1", Smallville is placed approximately 55 miles from Salina, Kansas, and in line with Junction City, giving it approximately the same location as Dorrance, Kansas.

In other media

Television

The Superboy TV series (1988–1992) places Smallville in Kansas, stating it is where Clark and Lana grew up. The main action of that series takes place at the fictional Shuster University in Florida, named for Superman/Superboy's co-creator, artist, Joe Shuster.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997) places Smallville as a city in Kansas as well, with Metropolis located on the east coast.
Smallville appears in Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000). It was also in Kansas.
Smallville appears in Justice League.
Smallville appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Fearful Symmetry".
In the television series Smallville (2001–2011), the town's location is two hundred miles west of Wichita and southwest of Dodge City, implied by the series to be located in west Kansas.[22] The skyline of Metropolis is visible from high points of Smallville on a clear day. Though some episodes reference an hours-long drive from Smallville to Metropolis, characters easily—and frequently—traverse between the two towns. The headquarters of LuthorCorp are in Metropolis, and a LutherCorp plant is located in Smallville. Smallville is famous for a meteor shower that hit the town in 1989, and for the lingering effects of the meteor rocks on the town and some of its citizens. The meteor shower was a cover for the spaceship that brought Clark Kent to Kansas. It was later revealed that the meteor shower also brought Davis Bloome, also known as Doomsday, to Earth as well. The second-season episode "Lineage" gives its ZIP Code as 67524, which is the real life code for Chase, Kansas.
Smallville appears in the Young Justice episode "True Colors".
Smallville appears in the Arrowverse crossover event "Elseworlds", in The Flash 2018 episode "Elseworlds, Part 1". The power-swapped Flash and Green Arrow arrive on Earth-38 to enlist the help of Supergirl, who is visiting Superman and Lois Lane at the Kent family farm in Kansas following the arrests of Manchester Black and Agent Liberty. Supergirl and Superman help Flash and Green Arrow work on their swapped powers on the Kent farm.
It later appears in Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths". Superman, Lois Lane, and Iris West briefly visit Earth-167 (the setting of Smallville), whose version of Clark Kent is suspected to be the Paragon of Hope. They are teleported away by their Lex Luthor who discovered that this world's Clark gave up his powers.
Smallville appears in Superman & Lois. The married Clark and Lois, with their teenaged sons Jonathan and Jordan, live on a farm just outside the town in Rice County, Kansas.
Smallville appears in My Adventures with Superman. In the season one finale, "The Hearts of the Fathers", after Jimmy Olsen accidentally activated Superman's ship with kryptonite, Superman teamed up with Jor-El's hologram and Sam Lane to stop the invasion. In the season two finale, "My Adventures with Supergirl", after defeating Brainiac, Superman took his cousin Kara on Smallville to recuperate, where she is welcomed warmly by Superman's parents.

Film

Smallville was first placed in Kansas by the 1978 film Superman: The Movie,[23] although filming of the Kent family's agricultural land was done in Blackie, Alberta, Canada. The tag on the truck driven by Jonathan Kent in the first film had a Cloud County, Kansas identifier. Areas of Calgary were presented as Smallville in Superman III while the surrounding fields of the town of Baldock, England portrayed the Kent farm in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Smallville appears in Superman: Doomsday.
Smallville appears in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.
Smallville appears in Superman vs. The Elite.
Smallville appears in the films set in the DC Extended Universe:
Plano, Illinois was used in Man of Steel,[24]

Video games

Smallville appears in DC Universe Online. In the game, Lex Luthor has experimented on its citizens using Exobytes and Doomsday's DNA with Doomsday being trapped in a containment entropy cage in the barn near the Kent Family Farm. Jonathan Kent, Lana Lang, and Pete Ross are among the Smallville citizens that have been transformed into Doomsday-like creatures. Due to the experiments, Smallville has been practically destroyed.
Smallville appears in Lego DC Super-Villains. In the game's story, Gorilla Grodd, Killer Frost, Scarecrow, and the Rookie travel here in search for something to get them to space. Outside of the story, the player can freely explore the town and its surrounding areas.

Radio

The first time in any media that Smallville or the Kent farm were linked to a specific location was in The Adventures of Superman radio show. In the storyline "The Secret Rocket" (9/29/47-10/30/47), mention was made several times that young Clark Kent grew up on Eben Kent's farm in Iowa. The farmtown was unnamed in the story (as the name "Smallville" appeared for the first time two years later in Superboy (volume 1) #2); the nearest town named in the broadcast was the real-life Centerville.

Novels

Superman writer Elliot S. Maggin incorporated the Kansas location into the DC Universe in his 1981 Superman novel, Miracle Monday.
In the novel, It's Superman! by Tom De Haven, which is set in 1938, Smallville is placed in Osage County along U.S. Highway 75.

Smallville (comics)

WorldBrand briefing

Narrative Significance

Evolution of Canon

Cross-Media Adaptation

History

Pre-Crisis

Post-Crisis

Law and government

People

Features