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Action #1000: Alfred Gough on Smallville’s Role In The Superman Legacy

Smallville creator Alfred Gough discusses what it was like to have been a part of Superman’s 80-year legacy as Action Comics sees its 1000th issue released.

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The 1000th issue of Action Comics is released by DC Comics today, on a day that also happens to be the 80th anniversary of the release of the very first appearance of Superman in comics in April 1938’s Action Comics #1.

Generations of fans were introduced to Superman through these comic books, but for some, a first introduction may have been through other media, whether it’s the old George Reeves TV series, the film series starring Christopher Reeve, Lois & Clark... or Smallville, the WB/CW television series starring Tom Welling that aired for ten of those 80 years of Super-history.

To celebrate Action #1000, we reached out to one of the creators of Smallville, Alfred Gough, to ask him about what it was like to have contributed such a major part to Superman history. Nostalgia for Smallville, which left the air in 2011, seems to be at an all-time high lately, with fans traveling across the country to see series stars at conventions, recording podcasts, watching classic episodes on Hulu and DVD, and “always holding on.” It very well might be time for an Entertainment Weekly cast reunion photo shoot, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Here’s what Mr. Gough had to say:

“Being part of the Superman legacy is one of the great gifts of my life . When Miles and I created Smallville, our goal was to honor the spirit and legacy of the character while adding a new chapter to the mythology. We wanted to bring Superman into the 21st century in a fresh way. I think the reason that the character has endured for 80 years is because he can be reinvented for any era while still maintaining his core values. It’s a testament to Shuster and Siegel that they created a character in which everyone can invest their own hopes and dreams. That’s why we will always believe that a man can fly.”

Fans of what Al and Miles brought to Smallville might want to see their current series, Into the Badlands, which sees its third season premiere this Sunday, April 22 at 10PM on the AMC cable channel. A trailer can be found below.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Drew Droze

    April 18, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    Having known Al Gough for 4 years in high school, it comes as no surprise that his creativity and artistic qualities couldn’t have given a better addition to the Superman genre. He continues to add great entertaining stories and programs that capture the imagination for all generations… All the best Al

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Smallville

Smallville Ended 15 Years Ago Today

The final episode of Smallville aired May 13, 2011 on The CW.

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Do you know where you were on May 13, 2011?

If you were a regular visitor to KryptonSite back in the day, you know very well where you were – anxiously anticipating that Friday night’s airing of the final two episodes of Smallville on The CW. Would Clark finally put on the suit? How will Lex come back? Will Clark and Lois get married? Will Chloe change her name to become L– oh, never mind that one. 

Regardless of your thoughts on that finale, May 13, 2011 was a moment, and for a lot of us who stuck with the show for ten years, we really thought it was the end. We didn’t know the talented Bryan Q. Miller would be writing his own “Season 11” continuation comic soon after. We certainly had no idea we’d see Tom Welling as Clark and Erica Durance as Lois, in character again in the 2019 “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover on The CW. The KryptonSite Forums were certainly hopping, if you have any curiosity to see what people were posting that night.

And of course, now fans have the opportunity to see their favorite actors at conventions, including Salute to Smallville which has a big 25th anniversary panel planned for Gold Admission pass holders. (Though if you’re not Gold, trust me… there’s greatness for everyone else too!) KryptonSite webmaster and Editor-in-Chief Craig Byrne (that’s me!) has been lucky enough to have been a host of the event these past two years, and now is part of the team at Creation, making sure this event would be awesome. Creation has just listed a sale through Friday 5/15 where you can type in SMALL15 at checkout to get 15% off… one percent for every year we have sadly not had Smallville. So, definitely check it out! Many members of the show’s cast will be in attendance!

We’ve still got a lot coming up on the site to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show’s premiere… but as for today, the 15th anniversary of the show’s ending… have a good time… and keep holding on to Smallville.

And 15 years? WE’RE OLD.

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Smallville

Smallville 25th Anniversary Convention: All Weekend Passes Now Available

The Salute to Smallville 25th Anniversary Convention in Nashville has made all weekend admission pass tiers available.

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We are as excited as everyone else around here for Creation Entertainment’s Salute to Smallville convention in November as it will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the show! KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne (that’s me!) is back to co-emcee the event with good friend and fellow enthusiast Derek Russell from The House of El. Guests for the show include Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Erica Durance, Laura Vandervoort, John Glover, Sam Jones III, Helen Slater, Eric Johnson, Erica Cerra, Adrianne Palicki, and Phil Morris, with hopefully more to be announced!

Before today, only the highest-tier (and most expensive) Gold admission passes had been available for the November 6-7 event which will be happening in Nashville, Tennessee… but now, Silver, Copper, and very affordable General Admission passes are now being offered, making it a great time to hop on and plan a trip for later this year!

Salute to Smallville will feature Q&A panels with cast, autograph and photo opportunities, meet and greets, and much more…. and it’s a great opportunity to meet other people who loved and enjoyed Smallville as much as you have! For many of us, we’ve been watching for a quarter of a century!

Check it out – let’s get this event sold out!

 

DISCLAIMER: When he’s not working on websites for himself, Craig Byrne works on graphics and websites for Creation Entertainment, and as mentioned before, he is also one of the hosts of this event!

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April Fools

[APRIL FOOL’S 2026] The CW To Air Smallville 25th Anniversary Special (Exclusive)

The CW will be returning to the superhero game with a 25th anniversary special devoted to Smallville.

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NOTE: This is an April Fool’s Day post and the elements mentioned within are all a work of fiction… as far as we know.

The CW will be paying homage to one of its classics at a time when their current direction has been going far, far away.

The network, which was home to Smallville as well as such fan-favorite shows as Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash, Arrow and more, has mostly gone the way of acquired TV from other countries, reality TV, and sports since the Nexstar organization took control of The CW and reduced owners CBS (now Paramount) and Warner Bros. (soon to be part of Paramount themselves) to being minority share-holders… but that looks to change. Exercising their right to dictate at least part of the programming, and perhaps a precursor of things to come from The CW once the Paramount/WB merger happens, The CW has scheduled a Smallville 25th Anniversary TV special to air in June, five months before the actual anniversary which will hit in October.

The special will feature interviews with series stars Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Erica Durance, John Glover, Annette O’Toole, Laura Vandervoort, Cassidy Freeman and Justin Hartley and it will be hosted by Supernatural actor and Entertainment Tonight correspondent Matt Cohen. Creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are also a part of the special, which will additionally include archival interviews and footage from the time of the series’ original run. The “SV25” logo created by Derek Russell for The House of El has been licensed by the special’s producers to be seen in the special. Fans including the author of this article were also interviewed for the feature, with interviews having been conducted at one of last year’s conventions. Never-before-seen deleted scenes from episodes of Smallville – ones that aren’t even on the DVD box sets – are expected to be unearthed.

If that’s not enough, the Smallville 25th Anniversary Special is rumored to have footage from the top-secret Smallville: Wall of Weird (working title) pilot episode that was shot last November for a streaming service. While it appears the project was completely buried in the wake of the Paramount/WB merger, we are told that the first episode was a hybrid of a reboot and a sequel, featuring Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, and Erica Durance in supporting roles with appearances by Kristin Kreuk and, for some reason, Eric Johnson, and that it was best described as “Smallville meets Stranger Things,” with a young cast investigating the strange occurrences in Smallville in the decades after its two meteor showers. Unfortunately, this might be the only footage we ever see from the series because of the previously-mentioned merger; additionally, there apparently are some legal/rights issues involved as well as a hesitation to have yet another take of Superman in live-action media while James Gunn has his movie franchise. Also, in a world where even Hulu has passed on new Buffy and Starfleet Academy is gone after only two seasons, it seems the studios and streamers are just afraid to take that risk. Take a look at some photos from the Smallville: Wall of Weird pilot shoot here, leaked by director James Beeman himself!

Currently, The Smallville 25th Anniversary Special: Always Hold On To Smallville is scheduled to air Friday, June 19. If it does well, perhaps we’ll learn more about some of these other projects. What do you think? Leave some comments below, come talk about this on the KryptonSite Forum, and be sure to read this link before you share this big news.

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