SMALLVILLE's Chloe won't get a comics version, after all
DC Comics's VP Dan DiDio revealed last week that the long-awaited plan to add Smallville's Chloe Sullivan to four-color continuity has been nixed.
DC Comics had announced in December that they would introduce a popular character from the TV series Smallville into mainstream comics continuity. In fact, the synopsis, at DCComics.com, still reads as follows for Superman #674, due out March 12:
"Clark and Lois...[have] relatives coming to visit--namely, a certain blonde cousin of Lois's from Smallville. It all sets the stage for a major new addition to the cast in next month's anniversary issue! Can you say 'Chloe Sullivan'?"
Judging from comments made by DC's VP Dan DiDio, it appears that the plan fell through.
"Chloe is an exciting character on the television show, and we had hoped to work her into DC continuity," DiDio told Newsarama last week, "but unfortunately, the stars did not align properly, and even though we had announced it, she will not be appearing in any of the issues of Superman or Action Comics."
Portrayed by blonde cutie Allison Mack, Chloe Ann Sullivan was created expressly for the WB's Young Superman series Smallville. She served as a "Lois Lane archetype"--the show's dogged investigative journalist--and has existed independently of the canonical DC Universe.
Chloe's "anointing" as an official DC character had been long sought by die-hard fans, and excitement was building toward Superman 674. As some 'Net posters have commented, this event was getting them to buy Superman comics again. Others, however, were a bit relieved by the latest announcement.
"Chloe is my favorite character on Smallville, but I'm not sure she would have added much to the Superman [comics] mythos," admitted EDWARD BROCK in his posting at Superman Homepage.
AQGALAXY stated in the Kryptonsite Message forum: "I am somewhat happy since DCU!Chloe didn't seem like SVChloe."
Indeed, Superman writer Kurt Busiek acknowledged to Newsarama that some changes were necessary to make the comics Chloe unique among Clark's supporting cast. "The problem we'd have faced if we brought her in with the same background as the TV show is that she'd fill two basic roles--the Girl from Back Home and the Reporter--and those roles are both pretty solidly filled in the adult Superman cast, by Lana and Lois. So she's got to have a different spin, one that lets her occupy a different role from either of them...She's the new intern at the Daily Planet, fresh out of journalism school."
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However, DC Message Board poster ARTHURCURRY2 has no interest in a comics version of Chloe, because he finds the TV version uninteresting. "She has no superpowers, she's lame, your regular white blonde stereotypical chick that [appears] in almost every damn teenage television drama."
Others have more practical concerns: the debut issue is due out in under two months, so wouldn't it be finished and ready for publication? Cynics point to this as another example of DC's recent editorial bungling and scheduling mishaps.
But, while there are no official details as to why the "stars did not align properly," fans are theorizing that Busiek's new version of the character may have strayed too far from the model, or even that Smallville creators Al Gough & Miles Millar pulled the plug on the idea.
"When told about the character appearing in the comics, one of [the creators] said that [Chloe's] appearance in the comic did not guarantee that she would survive on the show," posted MOTA at Superman Homepage. "You can find that quote at Kryptonsite.com."
In the meantime, fans actually can find the "real" Chloe in comic form by pulling out their back issues of the Smallville tie-in comic series.
[Thanks to Kryptonsite for the link. Thanks also to INLOVE_WITH_CHLOE at the Kryponsite Message Forum, to ROGERWHITSON and JHNJHNSN2002 at Superman Homepage Comments, and to Wikipedia.]