Wow. What a great made-for-television movie this was, huh? If you haven’t seen the recent two hour special episode of Smallville on The CW entitled, “Absolute Justice,” then you really missed a great show. Before I talk about the show, though, I should tell you that this is one of those nerdy, comic bookish type of entries so if you’re not interested, then maybe you want to come back tomorrow!
I’ve been a fan of Smallville on The CW (formerly The WB Network) for a long time. It’s a fun show that gives the whole superhero genre some credibility, if you ask me (much like the Spider-Man and X-Men movies). This episode was a two hour made-for-television movie that focused on the original Justice Society of America’s (JSA) interaction with a young Superman, The Green Arrow, The Martian Manhunter, and the Watchtower (operated by Chloe Sullivan). The members of the original JSA that were in this episode included The Star-Spangled Kid, Hawkman, Stargirl, and Dr. Fate.
Anyway, the episode starts with Chloe being confronted by The Star-Spangled Kid before he’s killed by Icicle. Chloe, The Green Arrow, and Clark Kent then do some research and find out that The Star-Spangled Kid was one of the members of an old group of Superheroes called the Justice Society of America. This group was led by Hawkman, who gave up on leading the group years ago and appears to take pleasure in criticizing the younger generation of Superheroes (Clark and his buddies).
Hawkman alludes to the DC Comic book universe in the episode by referring to himself and his team as the Golden Age of Superheroes. He then talks about Clark and his team being the Silver Age of Superheroes. If I remember correctly (and I don’t really remember at all), that is the chronology that DC Comics uses in its comic books, too.
What makes the episode interesting is that it lays the groundwork for a lot of future possibilities. For example, the JSA seems to have all of the information on Kent, the Arrow, Sullivan, Aquaman, and a bunch of the younger generation of Superheroes. The writers could spend full seasons detailing the history of the old JSA as well as showing how the remaining members mentor the new generation. Plus, there’s that museum with all of the old Superheroes’ stuff in it – definitely a lot to talk about in that place. I was also intrigued at Tess Mercer’s involvement in this Checkmate group of villains that zeroed in on attacking the JSA as well as the information that Lex Luthor is still alive. There’s a lot of potential here and I hope that the folks at The CW realize that and urge the Smallville writers to explore the background of the JSA in future episodes.
The point of this entry was just to say that for a show in its ninth season, I think that Smallville still has “it” and I hope The CW supports the show and its writers. And if you can get your hands on the Absolute Justice episode, I would suggest giving it a try!
Leave a Reply