erica durance

'Smallville' returns tomorrow night at 8PM ET on The CW, and no doubt fans will be glued to their couches for both the new episode and next week's highly-anticipated two-hour movie, 'Absolute Justice.'

The 'Smallville' online community has been buzzing about pictures of Michael Shanks as Hawkman and deciphering the trailer for hints about which other Justice Society of America members we might see. Fans probably also have seen the now famous picture of Lois Lane herself, Erica Durance in a certain red and blue costume.

On February 5th, those tuning in to Smallville will see the DC Comics characters The Justice Society in full costume (see picture). What they forgot to mention is that later on in the season we will see another familiar costume make the rounds in the Smallville universe.

Spoilers after the jump...

(S09E08) The whole alternate timeline or alternate future concept has been around sci fi for ... well, I don't know how long. The most famous example I can think of is the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," though I'm sure there are many more. We've already had alternate timeline stories in Smallville (such as Lana's "death" in the 100th episode), and now we have an alternate future story.

Although it used an old television and sci fi concept, this particular story served a dual purpose: it let the viewer know what happened to Lois between the 8th and 9th seasons and also let us know the stakes of a potential Zod victory (although we probably could have figured that one out on our own).

(S09E08) Wonder Twin Powers, Activate! Okay, so it wasn't so much the Wonder Twins as an homage to the Wonder Twins. Or Wonder Twins: The Next Generation. You get the idea. The blingy Gleek cell phone was a nice touch. Hell, the ringtone even sounded like an alien monkey.

Of course, the Wonder Twins were just gravy for the actual purpose of the episode: to further the legend of the Blur and heighten the Lois/Clark relationship. Like her predecessor in the 1990's Lois & Clark series, Lois is a smart cookie but really blind when it comes to secret identities. Speaking of cell phones, her ringtone for the Blur was very cute indeed.

(S09E07) If Smallville continues to produce episodes of good quality like tonight's, I may have to take back some of the things I've been saying about it. Seriously.

Tonight we got a lot of backstory and explanation about some of the stranger aspects of the Smallville universe. Why is Earth such a magnet for Kryptonians, dead or otherwise? Because Krypton has been observing Earth for a long, long time and designated the planet as a bolt-hole. We also learned more about that Kryptonian artifact that has been a mystery in Smallville for a few seasons now.

All this and no Lois, too.

(S09E06) Tonight's episode had everything but the metaphorical kitchen sink. There was a lot going on. We had the rather amusing attempt by Lois to score a morning show job, the start of Green Arrow finding his sidekick Speedy and a little more Tess/Zod action.

In all the years I've watched or read Superman in various forms, I've never seen him go on an online date. I would have enjoyed watching more of that, particularly with Lois whispering in his ear. Isn't it illegal to tape someone without their permission (unless you're the government)? What would Clark write on his profile anyway? " Can lift cars, run real fast and shoot lasers out of my eyes. No Kryptonite, please. Must love farm animals."

(S09E03) Who knew the Smallville zombie episode would turn out to be such a bummer? Our heroes did nothing but whine, brood, and talk about their lonely lives while the almost undead were chompin' on people's limbs.

Where were the fun Grindhouse-style action sequences with the good guys firing sawed-off shotguns and revving up chainsaws? Where were the decapitations? And where were the jokes? You'd think a show about Superman fighting zombies would have plenty of jokes.

I understand that every piece of zombie art can't be as fun and clever as Zombieland, or as gloriously gory as 28 Days Later, but I was hoping for something a little more off the wall here.

(S09E02) And just like that, Clark Kent returned from the dead. And all it took was the impossibly astute observation of a homicidal cyborg.

It's a shame that Brian Austin Green's John Corben, aka Metallo, was relegated to freak of the week status. Seeing him stick around to possibly become Clark's rival at the Planet and on the mean streets of Metropolis would have been fun.

As he proved during his stint on TSCC, Green's a talented guy who feels right at home kicking ass on a sci-fi show. He did a fine job here, even if the material he was given would make a Saturday morning cartoon script read like high art. But sadly, this ep was less about Metallo and more about Clark learning that dumping his friends and skulking on rooftops probably won't make him a better hero. (More on that in a sec.)

The cast and crew of Smallville showed up in San Diego at Comic-Con to talk about the upcoming 27th season of Smallville on The CW. Highlights included a new costume for the will-be Superman, but not the underwear-on-the-outside one we're waiting for. In keeping with the tradition of shiny leather and jackets, Clark's new look is black with a silver logo and a black cape trenchcoat. But it does sport the Superman logo (in silver), so that's progress.

Laura Vandervoort (Supergirl) is out, but Erica Durance (Lois Lane) is in 18 episodes, and we can look for that relationship to start a slow burn. Honestly, though, isn't everything on this show slow by now. Hell, Clark's going to be 40 before he starts flying around regularly.

Kryptonsite has posted The CW's new promo poster for Smalville's upcoming ninth season ... and damn, it's ugly.

My graphic designer friends could do a better job of picking this thing apart, but even a Photoshop noob like me can tell it was a rush job. First, lets get the obvious out of the way - that definitely ain't Erica Durance's body. (According to Kryptonsite, that torso belongs to Kristin Kreuk!)

Then we have Tom Welling's head, which was seemingly beamed in from an entirely different season than his body. Or is it just growing out of his jacket collar? Chloe and Green Lantern Arrow look fine, but those shots were definitely pasted in from a previous season's promo shoot.

(S08E22) Let me start with the obvious question: why is the middle name of the eldest Olsen boy the same as the first name of the youngest?

Obviously, the creators of Smallville wanted to create an unseen twist to the myth while at the same time giving a giant middle finger to the comic book geeks who are concerned that the show isn't following established continuity.

I'll give them points on the twist of having the elder Henry James Olsen not be the same James Bartholomew Olsen that later joins the Daily Planet (was the bowtie on the younger enough of a hint?). As much as I hate to admit this, it makes more sense for that because in the comics it is pretty well established that Clark and Jimmy have a far greater age difference than Clark and Henry James.

(S08E21) So my guess at having a big fight between the Justice League and the Injustice League in the season finale (with Doomsday fighting on the side of Injustice) didn't quite pan out. Still, it was a nice idea.

Let me start by asking: exactly what happened with Tess at the end? She's been working for Jor-El? It will likely be clarified next week, but still...

(S08E19) Lois is back, and she's as self-absorbed as usual. However, this time she's fighting crime dressed as a cross between Catwoman and a hooker dominatrix.

Oh, and she calls herself "Stiletto" because of her high-heeled boots. Why is everyone in this town so infatuated with wearing a costume? At least Lois can sew her own leather.

It's nice to see that Jimmy is still around. It's a pity he's taking a job at a criminal-run bar in order to afford his drug habit. Of course, that's not quite as bad as Chloe becoming an accessory to murder. I predict that she will likely meet her demise in the season finale. Or she will hook back up with Jimmy. Same difference.

(S01E18) So what did we learn tonight? We learned that Davis Bloome had a pretty crappy childhood. We learned that Doomsday is the Judas to Clark's Jesus. We learned yet again that the cops in Metropolis suck (why can Clark solve mysteries that they can't?). We learned that being an unstoppable monster doesn't necessarily preclude a person from using emotional blackmail to get his way. It's a good thing Davis is unaware of Chloe's link to the Justice League, or I doubt she'd still be breathing.

The episode started very retro with glimpses from the pilot. It was good to see Martha, Jonathan and Lionel again as a reminder of how things were.