Superman Comics

[Thomas]

Chloe Sullivan, a character created for The CW's Smallville television series, will be appearing in the DC Universe for the first time next spring.

Chloe will be Lois' cousin in the her DCU version and will likely debut in April's Superman #675.

Allison Mack, who plays Chloe on television, told The Continuum she was excited to see her character in Superman's comic-book world and even the film franchise.

"The idea that if anybody plays this character in the future or if she's in some other projects, they'll have to look like me or have a likeness of me is really cool," Mack said. "Really cool

It's been rumored for years, but now it's official. I'm so happy about this. It'll be interesting to see what Chloe could be like in the future. I may defiantly buy this issue.

Also, I love her quote, because I agree, it must be very cool to be the first portrayer of a character that could become iconic to the Superman mythology.

[KingofCretins]

Well, I doubt she'll be quite the same character in a lot of ways, namely that her and Clark can hardly be BFF from Smallville with her knowing about his powers and his identity without a pretty substantial retcon, even for DC. They should save her for a canon reset.

[DigitalLeonardo]

Cool, its kinda what happend with Harley Quinn and Renee Montoya when they appeared on Bruce Timm's Batman The Animated series. They are now both very detailed and canon DCU characters with a large following.
I mean Montoya was pretty much the star of 52, so I think there is a good chance Chloe could make her own mark in the comic universe.

Though I agree, she will need an entire new backstory.

[Ehlwyen]

Personally I am thrilled that Chloe will become a character in the comics. Allison Mack has done such an amazing job bringing the character to life and making Chloe a fan favorite. I'm glad Allison's getting the recognition by Chloe being introduced into the comics.

I'd love for someone to remind me when this comic is released.

[KingofCretins]

Definitely have to pay attention, since there are, like, 5 monthly Superman titles I think (Superman, Man of Steel, Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, and Superman/Batman).

Which direction would you rather see them go in? Establish her as the youthful character she actually is, even though Clark and Lois are basically locked in as always between the age of 30 and 35? Or age her appropriately to still be their peers?

[Thomas]

by Troy Brownfield

Longtime Smallville viewers get a treat on March 12th. That's when Superman #674 hits the streets, and Chloe Sullivan hits Metropolis. For years, the intrepid young reporter has been a favorite of viewers, and though hints had been dropped about her arrival in the DCU, she never materialized. Now, she's finally joining up with the Man of Steel's supporting cast in the comics. From the outset, Superman Editor Matt Idelson points the finger at series writer Kurt Busiek for bringing Chloe on board ? "This was all Kurt's idea, and it's something we'd first talked about a couple of years ago."

For his part, Busiek credits that fact that other members of Superman's supporting cast have come from other media to the comics as his inspiration (Jimmy Olsen first appeared in The Adventures of Superman radio show in 1940 before being adopted by the comics a year later). "It made me think, ?Yeah, and the next obvious choice would be bringing in someone like Chloe, but the problem with that would be...' and then bam, a way to do it fell into place that I thought really served the book well, and made her a strong and useful and fun addition to the cast, one that would give us several elements to the cast structure that have been missing for years, but in a new and different way," Busiek said.

But bringing a television character to comics does come with some hurdles. Even though they are owned by the same parent company (Time-Warner), DC had to get clearances with Warner Bros. as well as actress Allison Mack, both to use the character as well as to make sure the comic book version looked like "Chole," but not exactly like Mack (likeness rights are a whole other ballgame).

Nor will the "Chloe" of the comics be a mirror version of "Chloe" of Smallville, Idelson says. "?Our' Chloe is clearly inspired by the Smallville character, right down to wanting to be a journalist, and being roughly the same age as the Smallville character. And she's still Lois' cousin. Beyond that, though, since she's obviously a different age than Clark and Lana, she's got to be her own, unique character."

As Busiek explains, the differences are needed to prevent duplication.

"The problem we'd have faced if we brought her in with the same background as the TV show is that she'd fill two basic roles -- the Girl from Back Home and the Reporter -- and those roles are both pretty solidly filled in the adult Superman cast, by Lana and Lois. So she's got to have a different spin, one that lets her occupy a different role from either of them. She's the younger sister of someone Clark went to school with, not a classmate of Clark's herself. As a result, she's the new intern at the Daily Planet, fresh out of journalism school and itching to make a name for herself. That'll make her clearly different from Lois and Lana, and at the same time more familiar to watchers of the show."

Idelson, while still playing upcoming stories close to the vest did confirm a few more key differences between television Chloe and comic book Chloe ? she won't have superpowers, and she doesn't know Clark's secret ("No way. No one in Lois' family - save Lois herself - knows the secret."). Oh, and while Chloe's just introduced in #674, she features very prominently in issue #675.

"Superman is visible in all forms of media, and this isn't the first time something from another medium's interpretation of the character makes its way back to the comics," Idelson says. "Kryptonite was actually introduced in the Superman radio show way back when. If anything, the door has always been open, and this is just the latest example."

So, she'll be Jimmy's age, I wonder where they're going with this? I'm glad they're keeping some things smiler, the journalism, the internship at the Plant, she's from Smallville, and she's Lois' cousin. I would have hate to seen a total transformation of her.

[modifiedblind]

Superman Comics

I've been keeping up with Smallville for this season and the last and I like Chloe so I'd want to read the Superman comic but is it necessary to read previous comics? I get having to know something about Buffy to get into the comics, is it the same for Superman? I mean 5 different comics monthly? I guess I could ask the comic book store guy, although he seems a bit distant whenever I go in there, its all dark and he sits in the back behind this huge desk.. Erm, yeah sorry I got off on a tangent, I need to find a new comic book store, obviously. Does anyone really keep up with all the 5 different monthly comics? Seems like it'd be difficult, I love Spiderman as well but he seems to have a bunch of different comics too. Anyway, my question is above if you could help me. Thanks!

[DigitalLeonardo]

You don't really need to be reading every month. But I would keep an eye on http://dccomics.com/ and check out the previous issues discriptions, just to clue in.

Though if you are only going to be reading for Chloe, I don't think needing to read previous comics is very needed.

[KingofCretins]

I don't know if they still do it, but back when it was just four titles (early to mid 90s), they actually had a number on a superman shield on the cover so that you could see what order the story was told in. The four titles were telling one story. Same thing on Batman. They still have their integrity as separate books, but they always make sure to give you a touch of exposition if you missed something important. The titles were scheduled to come out once a week.

There isn't any DC or Marvel comic that can't be read independently of others, though, unless it's an organized event like "Infinite Crisis" or "Civil War".

[Wolfie Gilmore]

I'd recommend reading "Superman Birthright" as a general Superman comics intro with the Smallville audience in mind.

[Ehlwyen]

I merged this thread and the Chloe makes her debut threads. All comic discussions can go in here.