Smallville’s comic series has done an incredible job of recreating the Green Lantern mythos and its connection to Parallax. Parallax, the greatest threat to the Green Lantern Corps, has taken many forms and has used many Lanterns as a vessel. However, in this alternate Superman continuity, Parallax has become a simple and dangerous threat thanks to the changes made to the villain’s backstory.
Smallville Season 11 is a comic book continuation of the hit CW TV series, Smallville, that explores Clark Kent’s first year as Superman. During his new adventures as Superman and in the digital-first miniseries Smallville: Lantern, he meets the Green Lantern Corps — and Smallville’s take on the Corps’ terrifying enemy, Parallax.
While the TV series included a version of Green Lantern in the two-part Season 9 episode “Absolute Justice,” that was the old Justice Society of America Green Lantern from long ago. Instead, the comics introduce a more contemporary version of the character, with John Stewart serving as Green Lantern in Smallville canon. Stewart finds himself taken over by the evil Parallax, and he is forced to battle the young Superman.
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Smallville Gets Right to the Point with Establishing Parallax
Smallville: Lantern by Bryan Q. Miller and Marcio Takara
Parallax is a far cry from the character’s original comic-book history, and that’s a good thing. The villainous parasite has had numerous inconsistencies in its backstory dating back to the early 1990s. Parallax was first introduced as Hal Jordan’s evil alter ego after he annihilated the Green Lantern Corps following Cyborg Superman’s destruction of Hal’s home, Coast City. Hal Jordan dropped the Parallax moniker later on and became the Spectre to atone for his sins.
It wasn’t until 2004’s Green Lantern: Rebirth by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver that Parallax was retconned into an ancient entity that possessed Hal Jordan, forcing him to become a villain because of its influence. But Smallville doesn’t waste any time introducing Parallax as a threat in their story and completely avoids the problem of convoluted retcons. It took nearly a decade for Hal Jordan to be redeemed after becoming Parallax in DC’s main continuity, but Smallville takes care of all that redemption in just a single battle. After all, if Smallville is known for anything, it’s Clark Kent’s powerful and inspiring speeches.
Smallville Explores the Parallax Threat – Without the Extra Baggage
Superman Easily Takes Care of the Notoriously Convoluted Parasite
Parallax takes over John Stewart, and he becomes a Yellow Lantern, but Superman snaps John Stewart out of his trance and gets the parasite to leave his body. Instead of dragging out the misery of John Stewart being a villain because of an evil “fear bug,” Smallville has the luxury of hindsight to realize that the complicated history is a waste of time in this refreshed universe. As an avatar of fear, Parallax deserves to be treated with respect and with fewer convoluted backstories.
Many supervillains suffer from the problem of having their origins retconned one too many times. By simplifying the Green Lantern Corps and its connection to Parallax as the Corps’ ultimate enemy, Smallville saves not only the characters but the fan’s investment. Fans don’t have to dig into decades of impenetrable history in order to understand Green Lantnern’s enemy Parallax; they can read a streamlined take on the villain in the world of Smallville.
Smallville: Lantern is available now from DC Comics.
