Smallville Gets a Perfect Tribute in Superman Comics (That Fans Could Miss)

Warning: Contains spoilers for Action Comics #1064!

DC’s latest issue of Action Comics contains a fun Easter egg for television’s Superman origin series, Smallville. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it tribute to the beloved CW series could be a hint at what’s to come for the future of Superman comics as the House of Brainiac event begins.

Action Comics #1064 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval begins with Lois Lane’s day off as she crosses paths with much of the Superman supporting cast. When Lois and Clark finally get together for yoga in the park, she asks him about the Smallville sweatshirt he’s worn for the workout.

In the context of the issue, this would most likely be just an old sweater from Clark Kent’s hometown. However, the font and distress of the letters in the Easter egg’s single panel is clearly in line with the logo used for all ten seasons of the television show Smallville.

TV’s Smallville Has Been Referenced and Expanded in the Comics Before

TV Fans Needs to Check out the Smallville Season 11 Comic Series

The Action Comics reference is a short and sweet tribute to the CW’s Smallville, but it’s not the first time the TV series has crossed over into comic books. The most direct example is the extension of the series in Smallville Season 11, which ran for 19 issues. The series hadn’t been off the air long by the time Season 11 began, as the show ended in 2011 before the 2012 comic kicked off. With more time now passed and the success of the Batman ’89 and Superman ’78 comic-book series, the Smallville universe is a great candidate for a nostalgic revisit in comic-book form.

Main DC continuity has also previously taken inspiration from Smallville’s 217 episodes of Superman storytelling. The series introduced two kinds of kryptonite, black and silver, to Superman lore, and it established the effects they would have on Kryptonians. Black kryptonite was the first Smallville creation to appear in comics in Supergirl #2 by Jeph Loeb, Ian Churchill, and Norm Rapmund, splitting the hero into two contrasting versions of herself. The CW series has clearly been on DC Comics’ radar recently, as the show’s Krypton-connected Kawatche Caves appeared in 2023’s Fire and Ice: Welcome to Smallville.

Is DC Celebrating the First Live-Action Brainiac Before the Villain-Focused Event?

Smallville featured many of Superman’s foes during its ten-year run, including the first live-action depiction of the supervillain Brainiac. Smallville’s Brainiac first appeared in the series’ fifth season, portrayed by Buffy and Runaways alum James Marsters. First posing as a professor named Milton Fine, he later revealed himself as the Kryptonian artificial intelligence Brain InterActive Construct and was subsequently rebooted as Brainiac 5. As the end of Action Comics #1064 features a countless number of the villain’s variants — kicking off House of Brainiac — it’s possible that Marsters’ version gets referenced during DC’s latest Superman event.

Smallville still has a devoted fan base over ten years since it left the air, with its lead actors Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum currently hosting the rewatch podcast Talkville discussing the series episode-by-episode with special guests. The extensive 200+ episode run provides a rich and dense depiction of Clark Kent and DC lore filled with occasionally cheesy CW charm, so it makes sense for the comics to reference and find inspiration from the show. Action Comics’ sweatshirt reference is a perfect tribute to Smallville as a cozy throwback to Superman’s hometown and origin series.

Action Comics #1064 is available now from DC Comics.