Girls, villains, and x-ray vision; in the hit show Smallville, the teenage Clark Kent experiences a sort of superpuberty in his journey to not only survive high school, but become a true American hero.

• Author: Hinson, Hal
• Position: Arts - Brief Article

IN THE FIRST EPISODE OF THE WB SERIES SMALLVILLE, A teenage Clark Kent collapses at the feet of Lana Lang, the girl of his dreams. His books scatter onto the ground, among them a copy of The Portable Nietzsche. As Lana returns the book, she demonstrates that, like all well-rounded high school students, she is up on the philosopher Nietzsche and his idea of a "superman" weighing good and evil. "So which one are you," Lana asks, "man or superman?"

"I don't know," Clark sputters, still weak in the knees from her kryptonite necklace. "I haven't figured it out yet."

It's one twist in a series well stocked with surprises. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Smallville, a prequel to the Superman saga, is one of the few new shows this season to have attained breakout status. It's the second-highest-rated show on the teen-centric WB network, behind 7th Heaven, with 4 million households tuning in.

Smallville has succeeded because it has something few shows achieve: soul--that, and an intuitive feel for the zeitgeist, the current intellectual, moral, and cultural climate.

Set in a Kansas town that proudly advertises itself as "the creamed-corn capital of the world," Smallville peddles its own classic all-American corn. It's served with a pinch of Dawson's Creek angst, a hint of Buffy paranormality, and a fresh take on one of the most durable icons in pop culture history. The show is by no means perfect--thanks to some lame villains, occasional lack of humor, and cliched lines--but overall, critics and fans have round it a satisfying meal.

The show also benefits from what was left out: the red-and-blue costume. Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, a pair of screenwriters, had agreed to take a stab at a TV show based on Superman as a boy, but only if that meant the main character wouldn't be Superboy.

POWERING UP

Instead, Smallville operates with the motto "No flights, no tights." The concept that Superman's powers aren't fully operational from birth--that they come into existence gradually, as he moves into puberty--is the cornerstone of the series. It gives the story of the teenage Clark, played by 24-year-old Tom Welling, a powerful sense of discovery.

In an early scene, Clark is hit by a Porsche and is knocked off a bridge into a river. He walks away without a scratch and even rescues the driver: current friend (and future enemy) Lex Luthor. The shock and surprise Clark feels at his powers --and the sense of real panic--are genuinely...