Thursday, October 31, 2013

365 Comics...304: Smallville Season 11 Special #3 (2013)

With all the fun that Brian Q Millar has been having building another DCU within the Smallville Universe, it's become easy to forget that for ten years this was a TV show with a regular cast and a whole lot of characters passing through that a Smallville fan might want to know what's happening with them.  The Specials have allowed Millar the opportunity to write the main series unfettered by the TV show's cast by putting their stories into the spotlight here.  This issue covers the current status of the sibling rivalry between Lex Luthor and his sister Tess Mercer. 

If you missed it, Tess was apparently killed by a resurrected Lex in season 10, but managed to stay alive somehow in Lex's brain, as seen earlier this season.   Once her consciousness was discovered Clark an Emil Hamilton managed to transfer her into a digital persona, which has led her to question her existence somewhat.  On that same track, Lex has pondered the same, his memories still absent from his gap in living.  He's developed a big substance abuse problem and seems to be actively seeking an end to his mortality.   Lex has changed but deep down the spots are still the same and the ruthlessness emerges once more.

Millar knows these characters so very well,  and with full control over their destinies he's shaped them all into much richer characters.  The Specials may not be as fun as the ongoing, but they still offer the same great writing and commitment to character and world building as the main series.  Here Hank Henshaw,  the would-be cyborg Superman steals the show being literally nothing more than a talking head.

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