This article is about Superman's adoptive home town. For the television series of the same name, see Smallville (TV series).

Smallville is the fictional town in the United States which Superboy protects and in which most of his crime-fighting adventures take place. It is also the town in which the young Clark Kent grows up before moving to Metropolis to begin his career as Superman.

The town

Smallville is usually portrayed as an idyllic small American town, with an atmosphere resembling the settings of the paintings of Norman Rockwell. Its residents are generally very friendly.

Noted residents of Smallville include the Kent family (Jonathan and Martha Kent, or Ma and Pa Kent as they were often called, and their foster son Clark), Lana Lang, Pete Ross, and Smallville police chief Douglas Parker. In the original Superboy comics, other noted residents included Professor Phineas Potter (Lana's uncle) and a younger version of Lex Luthor. Currently, Conner Kent, the current Superboy, lives in Smallville with Ma and Pa Kent, though he doesn't quite enjoy it.

Smallville's economy seems mostly to consist of various locally owned businesses, along with various farms surrounding the town, including the Kent family farm. In the original Superboy comics, the Kent family sold their farm when Clark started school and opened a general store in town; the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths comics, where Clark never had a Superboy career, show the Kents as still residing on their farm when Clark is an adult.

Clark, Pete, and Lana attended Smallville's sole high school, Smallville High School.

In terms of media, Smallville has had several newspapers mentioned over the years, including the Smallville Sentinel and Smallville Times-Reader and "Smallville Ledger". Smallville receives its television and radio broadcasts from a larger nearby city.

In the original Superboy comics, a billboard outside of Smallville greets those driving into and out of town; the billboard features a picture of Superboy waving, with words next to it reading: "Welcome to Smallville, Home of Superboy."

Location

The actual location of Smallville, like those of other fictional DC Universe cities, originally was never specifically stated in the comics.

Smallville's location varied widely throughout many stories, most of which placed Smallville close to Metropolis and Midvale, home of Supergirl. In 1970s Amazing World of DC Comics #14, Smallville was stated to be in Maryland. Smallville was first placed in Kansas in the 1970s and 1980s Superman movies. Superman writer Elliot S! Maggin incorporated the Kansas location into the DC Universe in his 1981 Superman novel, Miracle Monday. Comic writer and artist John Byrne also placed Smallville in Kansas in his 1986 rewrite of Superman's origin.

The town was first given the name "Smallville, USA" in Superboy (volume 1) #2 (1949).

In issue #13 of the Superman/Batman series (2004), Smallville is mentioned as being adjacent to the (equally fictional) town of Granville, Kansas. The name "Granville" comes from the 2000s television series Smallville; Smallville is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where there is a small island called Granville Island, as well as a major arterial road in the area named "Granville."

Other uses of the term "Smallville"

"Smallville, USA" is also a generic term to describe a relatively small American town.

External links

• Smallville Fansite
• Supermanica website's entry on Smallvilleang:Smallville