Thursday, July 31, 2008

Supermonth: Whence "Smallville"?

Anyone know when Lois started calling Clark by the nickname "Smallville"? I think I first encountered it in "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," but I'm not sure if it premiered earlier than that.

In any case, I like that it has since been adopted as a multi-media Lois trope. It is, somehow, particularly illustrative of her character, I think.

Input?

5 comments:

Jason said...

I can't say as to when, but I'm pretty sure she used it in the Animated Series as well. I 'll have to dig into Man of Steel later tonight to see if it was used in there, but it seems to me that it could've originated there.

Tom Foss said...

I'm pretty sure it was used in "Lois & Clark," even if that wasn't the first usage, and that predates the Animated Series by three years or so. I hadn't thought of checking "Man of Steel" yet, though.

zoom said...

Lois never called Clark "Smallville" on L&C the New Adventures of Superman. She did say "He's from Smallville, I could not make that name up" and said he was from "Nowheresville" and once called him "Farmboy" and even "Lunkhead" but not Smallville. *heh*

The nickname "Smallville" began on the animated series in part 2 of the first episode Last Son of Krypton in 1996.

First use in print was Superman Adventures 2 – December 1996 – Scott McCloud/Rick Burchett – Based on the animated series, which debuted September 1996 – written by Alan Burnett/Paul Dini

First comic book not based on the Animated Series was in Superman for All Seasons – Book 1 – Spring – December 1998 – Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale

First use in continuity was in Superman #151 – December 1999 – Jeph Loeb/Mike McKone

The only time it's been used on a live action show has been, appropriately enough, on Smallville when Lois Lane joined the cast in 2004. In the episode Gone she walked into the bathroom to brush her hair while Clark was taking a shower and he protested. She replied, "Don't start with me, Smallville, I'm not the one taking the marathon shower."

That's the evolution of the nickname to this point, I believe.

Tom Foss said...

Wow, that's very informative. Thank you, Zoom, I bow to your expertise.

Tom Foss said...

Rookie, I'm leaving your obvious spam comment, because it's like two steps away from "I think Smallville is a pretty cool guy. Eh whines a lot and doesn't afraid of anything."