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

[daBronzeBomma]

Yes...where it is and has always been.

FALSE. Patently false.

From 1938 through 1978, there was absolutely NO mention of Kansas anywhere within the Superman mythos.

That relocation to Kansas was an eventual result of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE in December 1978. But, in the comics, that change to Kansas still didn't happen until 1986 with the John Byrne reboot MAN OF STEEL miniseries.

So, to recap, there was no "Kansas Smallville" in the Superman comics from 1938 - 1986, a full 48 years out of the character's 76 year history.

And rants about most states having a smallville are irrelevant. The Smallville is in Kansas. In the comics. Even on the show Smallville.

Meh. Smallville was fine for the first 48 years without being in Kansas. Smallville has not been in Kansas for the majority (63% of the time) of the character's existence. It was much more inclusive (and consistent with the other two fictional Super-places of Krypton and Metropolis) that way.

Why ignore 70 years of history.

That's a question you should be asking yourself.

[Custodes]

I recall it from Otto Bender, Superboy comics, in the 60s.

[Lorendiac]

I recall it from Otto Bender, Superboy comics, in the 60s.

Frankly, I have no idea whether or not any Silver Age Superboy stories ever said he lived in "Smallville, Kansas," but a friendly word of advice: I think you're going to need to cite the exact story before you can convince all the other people in this thread to take that assertion at face value.

[daBronzeBomma]

I recall it from Otto Bender, Superboy comics, in the 60s.

Then I question your recall. You'd have to provide proof, either with a link, screen shot or the exact issue #.

Richard Donner was the man who introduced Kansas to Smallville for the movie.

And it's Otto Binder, btw, not Otto Bender.

[Muramasa]

I like the idea of Smallville being in Kansas and Metropolis being a large East Coast metropolitan center because the distance makes Clark Kent's life changing move more significant. People in modern times travel farther than people did when Superman was created, and keeping Smallville and Metropolis close together would make Superman seem less worldly. How can a man fly off to have intergalactic adventures in outer space when his big move from adolescence to adulthood was a one hour Greyhound bus ride?

Kansas specifically sounds good to me because of the pop culture reference to Dorothy's "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Plus, why change it now after it's been in the pop culture mindset for decades? Whether the Donner movie or the Byrne reboot put it in people's heads, both were around 30 years ago.

[Lax]

I don't really see what all the fuss is about.

Smallville is on Earth, it is in North America and also within the United States.

If it's okay to use a real planet, continent and country, I see no reason why they can't use a real state within the real country.

[Jon Clark]

I don't really see what all the fuss is about.

Smallville is on Earth, it is in North America and also within the United States.

If it's okay to use a real planet, continent and country, I see no reason why they can't use a real state within the real country.

The more they nail down the location, the more they limit the location. If they need a governor in a story it's easier to use a generic one if you haven't established a state. While some of us might be able to let Governor Weisinger pass by without comment, some readers would ask why they didn't use the real Kansas governor and others would read the fictional Weisinger as a comment on the real man.

Same with geography. As someone familiar with Philadelphia, I remember being pulled out of a Captain America story with an address that would technically be in the middle of the Delaware River. I'm sure there are Kansans trying to figure out how Smallville fits into the state after 10 seasons.

[Muramasa]

The more they nail down the location, the more they limit the location. If they need a governor in a story it's easier to use a generic one if you haven't established a state.

Same with geography.

Movies usually make up a fake U.S. President rather than reference the real one.

As for geography, With a lot of movies being filmed in New Orleans and Louisiana these days, I can say that when they actually base the setting in the area within the plot, it can be hilariously wrong. I watched "Homefront" starring Jason Statham recently. The filming locations were obviously downtown New Orleans and rural areas along the river, yet the story called it Shreveport and Rayville, which is a town up north with no nearby waterways transformed into a boating community by the plot.

[PCN24454]

I thought Metropolis was officially in Connecticut.

[Sacred Knight]

I'm so used to it I suppose I'd lean toward yes, but I wouldn't freak out if it wasn't.

And holy necro I didn't realize this was that old.

[Talon1load]

Yes, Smallville is in Kansas where it has been established as being for at least the last 41 years. It’s not going to change, just let it go.

[Osiris-Rex]

In my head Metropolis is in New York, Smallville is in Kansas, and National City is in southern California. Even if no one says specifically that is where they are. Someone would need to come up with
a really good reason why they aren't.

[stargazer01]

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

I agree, it makes Smallville feel like a real town that exist somewhere in America, and I also appreciate continuity. I don't see how it hurts the mythos any way.

[seismic-2]

It works, because it's as if someone from Oz fell to Kansas instead of vice versa.

[SuperCrab]

If Smallville is in Kansas, I think they almost would have to make Metropolis a mid-western city, like a more built up New York-like version of someplace like Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, or even Kansas City. I purposely didn't mention Chicago, because I always see it's closest analog as Central City (Duh) and, secondarily, maybe Gotham, even though Gotham, like Metropolis (Complete with a Times Square-like area), is an obvious New York City analog, primary (Metropolis is a sort of bright side city of the future version, and Gotham is a more gritty nightmarish noir version). Putting Metropolis in the mid-west then leads to questions like why is there so much back and forth between Metropolis and Gotham rather than Metropolis and Central City, though, and whether their statue of liberty type thing is actually in one of the Great Lakes, where it's welcome to immigrants doesn't make a whole lot of sense (I guess Canadian immigrants would see it).

The other way to do it is to keep Metropolis on the east coast and make Smallville sort of in the northwestern part of a state Metropolis is a part of, or one state to the west- although if it's "upstate", it leads one to wonder why Clark had his family in that small town "upstate" rather than Smallville, given their proximity in that scenario. Maybe one state to the west works better, like it could be in Ohio.

Smallville often seems to strike me as, I don't know, a 2.5-4 hour drive from Metropolis (Close enough that things can happen like Lois or others driving out to check on Clark in some comics and then coming back the same afternoon, but far enough away that his parents don't just drop by on a whim constantly to drop off a casserole.), and Metropolis always struck me as the nearest major city, the natural place for Clark to go when he was ready to make his way in the world (And in continuities where Lex is also from Smallville, for Lex to do the same thing).