Small Town, Strange World

Brought to Earth in a meteor shower and raised on a farm in the Kansas town of Smallville, Clark Kent is trying to cope with the everyday trials of a small-town teenager: high-school bullies, unrequited love and disagreements with his parents. Clark, though, has to contend with the added burden of responsibility of his super powers, as well as the side effects of his arrival - the alien meteor rocks that landed with him have an uncanny effect on those who come into contact with them. "Smallville" chronicles the early years of the boy who would grow up to be Superman as he struggles to hide his secret from both human villains and meteor-powered mutants. An in-depth, episode-by-episode guide to the show, this book not only covers topics such as the growth of Clark's powers, romantic intrigues between the characters and the ever-changing effects of those pesky meteors, but also examines the show in the context of the Superman myth. Encompassing every episode from the first, and much of the second, series, it offers an entertaining analysis of the programme's blend of comic book fantasy and adolescent drama.