Charles Skaggs, Mild-Mannered Reporter for the Daily Planet

Okay, maybe not "mild-mannered" but you get the idea.

If you happen to swing by your local Best Buy or Target today, you may notice a certain complete series gift set for the television series Smallville, based on the legendary DC Comics character Superman.  And if you check out the set's special features, you might notice that it includes a Daily Planet newspaper from DC Comics that highlights important storylines from the show's ten seasons.  This edition of the Planet has somehow managed to time-travel back from the year 2017, where it was last seen in "Homecoming," Smallville's 200th episode, when Clark passes a newsstand full of papers with the headline "Superman Saves the Day!"

Pretty cool, right?  Well, guess which huge Superman fan got to disguise himself as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper?

Thanks to project editor Ben Abernathy and my Generator Rex editor Michael McCalister, I was able to contribute four newspaper-style stories for this special edition of the Daily Planet.  As someone adopted as a baby by two kind and loving parents and growing up in the midwest, Superman has always been one of my favorite comics characters and the opportunity to add something, however small, to that legendary creation by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster means more to me than I can properly express.

Sadly, my name doesn't appear in any of the bylines (Some hacks named "Clark Kent" and "Cat Grant" take all the credit), so here's a list of which stories I wrote...

• "Metropolis is Alive with Signs of Urban Growth" (Front Page) -- An exploration of the city of Metropolis and its various districts and boroughs.  Superman trivia geeks should love this one.
• "Kent Addresses VRA Stance at Fundraiser" (Page A3) -- An update on Martha Kent's political career as a Senator of Kansas and a rundown of the Vigilante Registration Act storyline from Season 10.
• "LexCorp Stock Climbs Despite Turbulent History" (Page B1) -- The history of LuthorCorp and LexCorp, especially LuthorCorp's impact on Metropolis and the role it played in various episodes.
• "Q&A: Scott Communications CEO Outlines Future Plans" (Page B1) -- A Q&A style interview with Alan Scott, a.k.a. Green Lantern from the Justice Society of America, that recaps events from the "Absolute Justice" TV movie and explores the character's background.

I had such a great time writing these stories and even if I never get the chance to write anything involving Superman again, at least I was able to contribute something to the character that has meant so much to me since I was five years old.  So thanks again to Ben and Michael for letting me live part of my Superman dream.

Looking up in the sky...