The two-hour television event Smallville: Absolute Justice was awesome. Why was it awesome, you ask?
1) Seeing costumed crimefighters on television was fantastic. It was even more fantastic that the costumed crimefighter idea-something that people believe only works on the big screen-worked just as well on the small screen. Surprisingly, the costumes held up very well on television and actually looked believable (even though when pictures were first released, they looked a bit cheesy).
(Above: Dr. Fate and Stargirl, below:Green Arrow (l) and Hawkman)
2) Geoff Johns writing the script. This made it so that the show was for the already initiated (or at least half-initiated, like me). Usually, this is a negative, especially if this was a big screen movie. But for the show, it saved time and effort in explaining the complex relationships the characters have with each other (Who would have time to fully explain Hawkman’s reincarnation curse and how Dr. Fate is actually Hawkman and Hawkgirl’s son, also subject to that same curse? Who would have time to explain what/who killed John Jones (Martian Manhunter)’ family? Or even the origins of Golden Age Sandman’s powers, which stem from his brief stint in the world The Dreaming, acting in Morpheus (or Dream)’s place? It would take three hours at least to explain even half of the backstories.)
3. Phil Morris as the Martian Manhunter. For me, this reason is enough, but the fact that Morris is playing a green person further reiterates a common joke/criticism about comic books and cartoons that feature green people-the green folk are always black (with the exception of Beast Boy from the cartoon version of Teen Titans and with the addition of blue-gray Panthero from ThunderCats).
4. SEEING GREEN MARTIAN MANHUNTER! I mean, seeing the human version is awesome enough, but getting a glimpse of the real Martian Manhunter!? Now that’s just too much for words.
from hotn-caps.com
5. Chloe standing her ground against so many supers. I never really liked Chloe until this episode. Her spunkiness and resourcefulness has now become matured, and she can successfully be on the level of all of the superpowered folks and not really needing to be protected by them. That is refreshing, and more than I can say for Lois Lane, who, even though she talks a big talk, always has to be saved by Superman. That gets annoying.
6. The fact that I read that Tom Welling (the actor who portrays Clark Kent on the show) is now a co-executive producer of the show. I just thought that was cool.
7. Pam Grier as Agent Weller of Checkmate. She played Weller just right as a sneaky, brilliant, and conniving government agent protecting Americans against powers they are unaware of. Hope to see more of her(as well as the other superheroes) in the coming episodes
8. The heavy-handed allusions to the first half of Watchmen. For those who’ve read the graphic novel, they would’ve caught the upgrades to the first headquarters of the Justice Society of America-the oil painting of all of the greats in comparison to the picture of the first group of Minutemen in Watchmen, the left-behinds trying to reform the group a la the second group of Minutemen, all of the revered artifacts kept in storage, the weathered, old look of the first JSA meeting place (which reminded me a bit too much like the Minutemen hangout), the film that showed the first JSA which mirrored the opening sequence of the movie version of Watchmen, and even the way the show began on a dark street with a few bizarre purple and blue lighting choices created a concentrated look that the movie version of Watchmen had. Great allusions, overall.
9. Clark becoming more like Superman. After so many seasons of him whining and growing up, it was nice to finally see him as a proactive, matured man.
10. The episode brings about a hope for more ensemble episodes like this one. I know there have been episodes wehre masked avengers headlined (Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman), but I would love it if every episode from here on out had superheroes working together, the inclusion of more superheroes (Batman, perhaps? Wonder Woman, even? Dare I say Plastic Man?), more entanglements with Checkmate, Chloe meeting Barbara Gordon/Oracle (they both have the same job, right? If Batman ever did team up with the new group, it would be nice to see the dynamic Chloe and Barbara would have)-I guess what I’m trying to say is that the possibilities are endless now. The writers need to dig through the DC-lore, create some great episodes (and even throw some zany ones in, like, for instance, including Superman’s crazy Rumpelstiltskin-esque character Mr. Mxyzptlk in an episode), and just give viewers a fun ride for an hour. If that happens-as it seems like it will, since Zatanna will come back for next week’s episode, then I’ll make it a point to tune into Smallville every Friday.
I am an addict of Smallville and i watch every series and season of it. I love Lana Lang and Clark Kent.`,:
Lana Lang is very beautiful in SmallVille she is really an angel.’*.