As an avid comic book reader, I have always been a huge fan of the TV show Smallville. On the show, we are treated to the path that a young Clark Kent takes from his adolescent years all the way to adulthood as he becomes the world’s greatest hero. We follow Clark through his failures and accomplishments as he tries to figure out the hero way. The biggest obstacle that Clark has had to face in his life  has been his love for Lana Lang. But with Lana having become a super powered Kryptonite based being, Clark has been forced to finally let go of her and move on. Here we are in Season 9 of the show, and after finally letting go of his feelings for Lana, Clark has been able to start his training to become the and only Superman. Indeed, this season we are treated to a completely different individual. As he has progressed into his training, Clark has changed his priorities in order to sacrifice for the good of the world. The beauty of this transformation is that Kal-El (Clark’s Kryptonian name) no longer deals with adolescent issues such as gossip, his first love or the senior prom. Clark is now busy with life issues such saving people, his job, his secret identity and beating the crap out of bad guys that threaten the world. His maturity is even seen in his attire; he no longer rocks a blue shirt and red jacket when’s he out saving the world. He has substituted instead for a Matrix style all black get up. Clark rocks a long black coat, a black t-shirt with his family crest on it (the S on the Superman costume), black pants and black boots. If he was looking for street cred, he now has it. He looks more intimidating and is starting to rock the “don’t try testing me” Superman swagger. This season seems like it will be filled with intrigue. The residents of Kandor have been released and now reside on Earth (somewhat similar to the current Superman arc in the comic book, give it a read) but have yet to make themselves known. They are led by General Zod; hence their silence and anonymity are not expected to last. I cannot wait to see what obstacles will be thrown at Clark and how he will cope with them. In the last episode (Season 9, Episode 2), Kal-El was able to take down John Corben (alias Metallo) and save Lois Lane in the process. Kal-El is now a full fledged hero on a collision course with General Zod and his Kandorian followers. I couldn’t possibly be more excited about this. I will try to update you the developments as the season goes along.