What in the world is it about guys and comic books? I ask because I have never come across a male of the human species yet who has not said, "I can't WAIT for the new [fill in the blank with a comic book/superhero name] movie to come out."

What in the world is it about guys and comic books?

I ask because I have never come across a male of the human species yet who has not said, "I can't WAIT for the new [fill in the blank with a comic book/superhero name] movie to come out."

Every time, the guys go to said movie on opening night, eager to relive their adolescence or whatever it is they're doing. The movie stinks to high heaven, but the males defend it valiantly, then halfheartedly, then finally let it drop quietly, only to refer to it later, after a safe mourning period, as a huge disappointment.

Now the same challenge comes to the small screen, with The WB's Smallville. It's a show about Superman as a teenager, played by Tom Welling (Christopher Reeve Jr., right down to the rosy cheeks)--coming to grips with his superpowers, making friends with future arch-enemy Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), and pining after the prom queen girl next door, Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) who's--of course--dating the star football player, Whitney (Eric Johnson), instead of our hero.

Interesting premise, contributing to the show's being praised to the heavens by critics before and after its premiere....Okay, except for me. I will be the voice of dissent in the masses of reviewers, because I tuned in expecting to be impressed and was, unfortunately, not.

Why? Several factors probably contribute to my unpopular opinion of the show. First of all, to get back to my initial point, I am not a guy who loves his comic books--heck, I am not a guy--and aside from a little Wonder Woman-envy when I was young (I wanted an invisible plane), I never was much of a fan of the genre. I did not run around in superhero Underoos at any point in my life. I have never argued whether Superman could whup Batman's ass or vice versa. Therefore, I must be missing the whole warm-and-fuzzy-feeling thing for Superman et al. That ensured that I got off on the wrong foot right away.

Second, I have watched Roswell...but I am certain that Smallville's Clark Kent, a brooding, dark-haired hero from another planet with emerging superpowers is intended to be entirely different from Roswell's Max, a brooding, dark-haired hero from another planet with emerging superpowers...er....

You get the idea. Remove the veneer of the revered Superman mythology, and you've got...well, Roswell. Why do we need two of the same show?

Third--and this is stripping away that pesky veneer again--no matter what superpowers we're talking about on a weekly basis, it's still a show about teenagers in high school, complete with dating angst and parental-issues angst and all sorts of other teen angst. You know--what a good chunk of The WB is all about.

The teen-angst plots are peppered with clever devices, such as Clark's first discovery that he can fly--waking up in the morning above his bed. As part of a hazing ritual, he's propped up in a cornfield like a scarecrow with a red "S" painted on his chest. (I'm not sure how, farther down the line, they're going to introduce the tights.) Those aren't bad.

The other "really cool" meant-to-impress element, which instead rubbed me the wrong way, was the large amount of computerized graphics and special effects. They're interesting, but because it's still a new technology, they stick out like sore thumbs.

I'm all for special effects, but they have to avoid calling attention to themselves. These scream "Look! We're using computers for really cool things! Look!" That makes me not want to look, especially when it seems like some director or producer said, "It's time for another really cool computerized special effect right about here. Somebody write one into the script."

Bottom line: If you're going to give a girl a box of butterflies, it's okay to use real butterflies, not some annoying Technicolor jobbies just because you've heard that computerized special effects draw the teen audience.

Back to the teen thing again. Who knows? Maybe, aside from being the wrong gender to appreciate this show, I'm also the wrong age. However, as a Gen-Xer, I did find one bright spot of nostalgia in the town of Smallville--Clark's adoptive dad is played by John Schneider, our dear long-lost Bo Duke.

Alas, there's no General Lee tearing down the dirt roads. If there were...now that would be some nostalgia worth tuning in for.

Jayne Denker is a thirty something writer who will work on just about any writing assignment, anyplace, anytime as long as it's something nifty associated with pop culture--especially GenX, of course--and/or entertainment. She is actually employed full time as a web content manager but also fills any free time she may happen to find on her hands with freelance writing assignments to offset the "manager" nonsense. Jayne lives with her husband and three psycho kitties (qu'est que c'est) in quite a small lakeside cottage in western New York state. When she's not writing or "managing," she enjoys loafing/watching movies, cleaning up after the psycho kitties, designing web sites, reading, and making magic. Contact Jayne

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