Do you prefer Smallville to officially be in the state of Kansas?

I'm not sure when this happened (though I immediately want to say John Byrne's MAN OF STEEL miniseries in 1986 is the culprit), but I dislike the fact that Smallville has a real specific state/province assigned to it. I liked it better when ALL the places in the Superverse were both fictional and hard-to-pin-down. I believe Smallville was initially a day trip away from Metropolis, or even one of it's outlying areas.

It just seems unnecessarily incongruous that we never get more real-world specific than "America" for the Superverse, except for Smallville, which, instead of being any small town USA (could be the nearest farm to you), becomes limited to one out of 50 states.

It's ultimately a small deal, I know, but it bugs me as a fan. Smallville should have remained generic and not tied down to any real state.

I've actually given this topic a lot of thought.

I think if you took away the precise state, and made Smallville something like Metropolis, Gotham City*, or the Simpson's Springfield in which the state isn't necessarily identified, you don't really lose anything. I do believe, though, that Metropolis is a coast city, and probably East Coast (no offense to our West coast; I know East Coast Bias has screwed you guys for decades, if not centuries), and I happen to think the kind of rural city that Smallville is generally portrayed as demands a middle-America setting. I also like the idea that Smallville is thousands of miles away from Metropolis, not something relatively close. That's a personal preference, so if you like having them closer together, don't bother having me explain my rationale. :p So, I'd say limiting Smallville to being in Kansas doesn't really hurt anything, either. However, it's been established as Kansas, and even though I say its precise state doesn't matter, I don't want that to mean you can play musical chairs with the Heartland states and start moving the city on a whim. Consistency here would be good; once your continuity says it's Kansas, stick to it.

*Gotham City might as well be in New York state, either as a fill-in for NYC or another big city that happens to be in NY state. The animated Batman movie [I]Sub-Zero[/I] actually gave Barbara's Gotham City address a Manhattan zip code, and New York state. I haven't kept close tabs on Gotham in the comics, so I don't know what's the official status on its location.

[QUOTE=DochaDocha;278719] I do believe, though, that Metropolis is a coast city, and probably East Coast (no offense to our West coast; I know East Coast Bias has screwed you guys for decades, if not centuries), and I happen to think the kind of rural city that Smallville is generally portrayed as demands a middle-America setting.[/QUOTE]

Living in Southeastern PA, I could easily see Smallville as a place like Lancaster. A farming community that you can get to from a major city like Philadelphia in about an hour or so. I'm pretty sure there are others along the East Coast, farm areas you could visit from a major city and be back before dark.

The Kansas version never sat right with me. It just seems too simplistic- if he grew up on a farm it has to be the mid-west- as if farms don't exist anywhere else in the country. The only thing worse was the TV show then moving Metropolis to Kansas, a real tail wagging the dog moment.

It was Superman the movie that first put Smallville in Kansas.

I prefer it that way. Probably because that's what I grew up with.

[QUOTE=Jon Clark;279789]Living in Southeastern PA, I could easily see Smallville as a place like Lancaster. A farming community that you can get to from a major city like Philadelphia in about an hour or so. I'm pretty sure there are others along the East Coast, farm areas you could visit from a major city and be back before dark.

The Kansas version never sat right with me. It just seems too simplistic- if he grew up on a farm it has to be the mid-west- as if farms don't exist anywhere else in the country. The only thing worse was the TV show then moving Metropolis to Kansas, a real tail wagging the dog moment.[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah, that's true of the Great Lakes states, too. I live in Chicago, and if you drive an hour or so east to Northwest Indiana, you'll find some Amish towns. I once took a scenic route through it, but then my dad said get back onto the Tollway. :o Obviously, Clark didn't grow up Amish, but there are agriculture areas not too far from some of these cities in the GL region.

[QUOTE=Jon Clark;279789]Living in Southeastern PA, I could easily see Smallville as a place like Lancaster. A farming community that you can get to from a major city like Philadelphia in about an hour or so. I'm pretty sure there are others along the East Coast, farm areas you could visit from a major city and be back before dark.[/quote]

That's what I'm talking about: You should be able to imagine Smallville as being the closest farming community to you, no matter where you are in the United States (or really elsewhere too, but esp in the USA).


[quote]The Kansas version never sat right with me. It just seems too simplistic- if he grew up on a farm it has to be the mid-west- as if farms don't exist anywhere else in the country.[/quote]

It puffs up Kansas as the only state of importance within the Superverse. I say, keep Smallville completely fictional!


[quote]The only thing worse was the TV show then moving Metropolis to Kansas, a real tail wagging the dog moment.[/QUOTE]


Ugh. Had blocked out that part. Horrible end-result of logistically boxing yourself into one specific state like that. Neither Smallville (and NEVER Metropolis) should be in Kansas.

Smallville in Kansas and Metropolis in the state of New York that's how it should always be. imo.

Yeah, for me "Smallville" (the show) messed up my suspension of disbelief when you saw Chloe, Lionel, Lex etc. bouncing to Metropolis and back four times in any given episode...

[QUOTE=Francisco;281379]Smallville in Kansas and Metropolis in the state of New York that's how it should always be. imo.[/QUOTE]

Definitely disagree with the first part, but the second part is interesting. So, to you, is there a NYC separate from Metropolis (and Gotham) in the DCU? Are all three located in New York State? Seems a bit crowded.

[QUOTE=daBronzeBomma;281502]Definitely disagree with the first part, but the second part is interesting. So, to you, is there a NYC separate from Metropolis (and Gotham) in the DCU? Are all three located in New York State? Seems a bit crowded.[/QUOTE]
Yup In my mind New York city, New Jersey, Gotham and Metropolis are all neighboring cities. They're stuffed together lol.

I'm one of those guys who's not a New York fan, but I'd rather Metropolis was in NY state than in Delaware. Not sure why, but it bugs me when people insist that that RPG from the 1990's or whenever is correct to place Metropolis is in Delaware.

Personally, I like the idea of a Smallville that could be located in any state in the U.S. You should be able to believe that Smallville might be in upstate New York, or just south of Denver, or east of Seattle or deep Mississippi. It just needs to be far enough away from the nearest big city.

Think of Smallville like a more serious version of Springfield on THE SIMPSONS (granted, they've more or less recently winked at the idea that the town is really in Oregon, where creator Matt Groening grew up, but that never affects Springfield's inclusiveness).

Wait, Smallville is actually not canonically in Kansas? This is the first time I have ever heard of this. It is obviously a not very well advertised bit of trivia.

[QUOTE=daBronzeBomma;282204]Personally, I like the idea of a Smallville that could be located in any state in the U.S.[/QUOTE]

Including Hawaii and Alaska? :p

I'm a Missourian. That means I hate Kansas, especially the principal University there (curse their outrageously good basketball program and refusal to restart the Border War football game in Arrowhead!!!). I hated driving through there to get to Colorado (there's nothing after Dodge City! Nothing!) I find them immensely inferior to our proud state.*

Having said that, hells yeah Smallville belongs in Kansas. The Coasts get too much attention as it is, and the Midwest is a great place for the story, especially when you add in the move to Metropolis from there. First off, the Midwest is much less densely populated then the coasts but not nearly as empty as, say, the Dakotas or Wyoming. This means that Clark can hail from "flyover country" without necessarily being in "Po' dunk nowhere" and since the Midwestern accent, as well as the Great Lakes accent, is supposed to be the most neutral American, it helps obscure Superman's American origins. Secondly, the Midwest, while not "more American" than any other part of the country, is basically a huge, landlocked segment of Americana, giving some of Superman's acclamations a nice inclusive edge (we may joke about being Missourians and Kansans, but we ain't got nothing on other regions for their identities). Thirdly, I like the geographic expansion it adds to the DCU when canon. Pin-pointing Smallville in Kansas explicitly keeps a segment of America involved in the story, like how Chicago was an expansion for Nightwing before Forever Evil. I also live the idea of Clark and Lex both hailing from the Midwest, since it kind of helps the idea that their choices determined who they were and it implies the move to Metropolis was a choice by them specifically done to help change the world.

*[SIZE=1]Please note the writer is still in deep denial about having graduated from a Kansas High school and the excellent experience afforded him there before he returned to Missouri for post-secondary education. He in fact enjoys numerous aspects of the state, and though he still prefers Missouri and the SEC East football champion Tigers of MU, he does find their education system adequate, and actually has a soft spot for K-State and his numerous friends that attended that distinguished school.



KU can still bite me, though.[/SIZE]