As the eighth season of "Smallville" begins its run on the CW, fans are being introduced to some new characters. The season premiere, "Odyssey," gave us the debut of Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), the acting CEO of LuthorCorp in Lex's absence. With the season's second episode,"Plastique," another new face will enter the fray. Davis Bloome, played by Sam Witwer, is a Metropolis paramedic with a dark and terrible secret... lurking within him is a deadly, rampaging monster. Like Tess, Davis is an original character created just for "Smallville," but with roots in the Superman mythology. The creature he becomes, Doomsday, originated in the comics, and made a claim to fame that Superman's other enemies could only dream of - he actually killed the Man of Steel.
In 1992, DC Comics announced that they were doing the unthinkable. They were killing off their flagship character. The "Death of Superman" storyline ran through all four of DC's Superman comic book titles, plus Justice League of America. The story saw Superman engaged in a brutal slugfest with Doomsday, a hulking monster whose only motivation was wreaking death and destruction. The saga culminated with Superman #75, a special issue sealed in a black bag, in which Superman was literally beaten to death by his relentless opponent. Superman was absent from his own comic book series for several months before ultimately being resurrected, returning from the grave to carry on his neverending battle for truth and justice.
But, just as Superman was destined to return, so was his unbeatable foe. Doomsday has popped up multiple times in the comics since his historic fight to the death with Superman. Some notable follow-ups include "Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey," a rematch which delved into the origins of the monster (he was actually an early Kryptonian experiment in genetic engineering gone horribly awry), and "Superman: The Doomsday Wars," in which Brainiac bonded with Doomsday, giving the once-mindless monster some amped-up intelligence.
In the late 1990s, Warner Brothers tried multiple times to bring Superman back to the big screen. The property passed through the hands of many different screenwriters and directors, each with a different idea of how to revive the franchise. Several of these versions were adaptations of the "Death of Superman" saga, and would have included Doomsday. One such script, titled "Superman Lives," was written by filmmaker Kevin Smith, known to many fans for his "Jay and Silent Bob" films. In Smith's script, Doomsday is brought to Earth by Brainiac, and unleashed to kill Superman as part of a bargain between Brainiac and Lex Luthor for control of the planet. The project never made it to the screen, but the script can be found on the internet for fans who are curious about what might have been. (http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/superman-lives-script.html)
An animated Doomsday made multiple appearances on Cartoon Network's "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited" series, though here he never succeeded in finishing Superman off. His debut in the two-part episode "A Better World" saw Doomsday lobotomized by the heat vision of an alternate-reality version of Superman, the leader of a darker, more ruthless version of the League known as the Justice Lords. Then, in "The Doomsday Sanction," the creature's origin was explored. This time out, Doomsday was interpreted as an imperfect clone of Superman who had evolved into a monstrous killing machine. Doomsday's voice was provided by Michael Jai White. White is no stranger to comic book roles... he played the lead role in the 1997 "Spawn" movie, and, more recently, he portrayed the mobster Gambol in "The Dark Knight."
In 2007, Warner Brothers and DC Comics released the direct-to-DVD animated movie "Superman: Doomsday," a loose adaptation of the comic book storyline of Superman's death and rebirth. This time out, the monster's origin was glossed over, and the creature was simply accidentally unearthed from an underground tomb by a LexCorp excavation project. The brawl between the title characters was beautifully animated and one of the highlights of the film.
The character's adaptation into the "Smallville" universe will mark the first time that Doomsday has had a human counterpart. Exactly who Davis Bloome is and how and why he transforms into Doomsday is a mystery that will surely unfold as the season plays out. Clark has faced other villains possessing sheer brute strength before, such as Titan (played by wrestler Kane) in the episode "Combat," and the bone-crunching phantom zone rogue (played by Batista, another wrestler of course) from "Static." Clark has even been killed and resurrected before, in the fith season episode "Hidden." It remains to be seen if the "Smallville" version of Doomsday will live up to his comic book roots and prove to be Clark Kent's most deadly adversary yet.
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A New Face In Town: Davis Bloome
In 1992, DC Comics announced that they were doing the unthinkable. They were killing off their flagship character. The 
But, just as Superman was destined to return, so was his unbeatable foe. Doomsday has popped up multiple times in the comics since his historic fight to the death with Superman. Some notable follow-ups include 
The character's adaptation into the "Smallville" universe will mark the first time that Doomsday has had a human counterpart. Exactly who Davis Bloome is and how and why he transforms into Doomsday is a mystery that will surely unfold as the season plays out. Clark has faced other villains possessing sheer brute strength before, such as Titan (played by wrestler Kane) in the episode "Combat," and the bone-crunching phantom zone rogue (played by Batista, another wrestler of course) from "Static." Clark has even been killed and resurrected before, in the fith season episode "Hidden." It remains to be seen if the "Smallville" version of Doomsday will live up to his comic book roots and prove to be Clark Kent's most deadly adversary yet.
