Smallville Season 11 continues in Smallville: Alien. We start off with a very scared young Clark Kent not wanting to deliver a middle school essay in front of tons of people. His teacher tells Jonathan Kent that if he doesn’t read it, she won’t pass him.

Jonathan goes to have a talk with his son. Clark is worried that people won’t like what he has to say thus fears their rejection of him. After asking him if Clark believes in what he wrote and in himself and getting the affirmative; Jonathan leaves him with three things to remember, which Clark recites as he goes to the podium”

• Find your center
• Stand your ground
• Speak your piece

Clark’s essay is called “What’s so Funny about Truth Justice and the American Way?” (I think this might have been a title of a Superman comic). Anyways, I loved how young Clark was drawn here. Very cute.

A grown up Clark, in his Superman guise, is reciting those three things as he listens in to the world’s reaction of this announcement that he is an alien. All of it is pretty negative and getting to Clark. His thoughts are interrupted when his belt phone buzzes. When he opens it, he has a smile on his face. The text reads: “State your peace” .

The sender of said text is Lois Lane, who is in her Daily Planet office and while onnthe phone she receives a text back from “Tony’s Pizza” (i.e. Superman) that he loves her too.

With their text conversation over, Superman goes back to work. And he ends up rescuing a runaway express train in Japan. It appears something happened to cause it to derail but Tess doesn’t know what that could be.

Apparently the Japanese people are meeting this rescue with mixed feelings. For example, one man asked who asked Superman to save them as they could have been killed.

In Russia, a truck driver is listening to an audiobook of a Booster Gold motivational book, when a meteor crashes in front of him. When he goes to investigate, in the crater is a man dressed in black with an eye patch. Who could he be?

Later in the next issue we learn that this person is a Monitor from Earth 2 and is part of the team that destroyed Earth 2 and killed Earth-2 Chloe.

President Martinez alerts Superman about the meteor shower that brought Monitor to Earth-1. It was Superman that told Martinez what they were dealing with. During their meeting at the White House, we see an anti-alien protest happening.

At LexCorp, Lex is watching news reports on what happened in Russia. He Otis have some discussions on events that happened in “Hollow” and “Guardian”. Otis’ then alerts Lex on some stuff that was found from the dash-cam of that Russian trucker. Anyways, Lex makes the decision to fly to Russia

Meanwhile at Watchtower, a visibly pregnant Chloe, Tess, Clark and Lois are trying to figure out why the Monitor is here on Earth-1. Chloe wishes she could remember more of Earth-2’s memories. All she can recall is Lois being fried to a crisp. Lois hilariously jumps in to point out it was Earth-2 Lois’ that got killed. Anyways, Tess alerts the gang that Lex is taking off for Moscow. Lois is about to see if she can get on board that flight as press but Clark has a better idea.

We see Lex and Otis getting ready to board the plane when Otis informs his boss that he invited press along. Lex is livid until Otis explains that it might be good PR. The two men see who they think is Superman fly by and they wonder why he is doing so.

Clark is on board and tells them that it is perhaps to get him to behave. Clark thanks Lex for letting The Daily Planet come along while Lex says that Lois would have made better company. We see that Kara has super heard this conversation with her telling Watchtower that “they bought it.”

With Clark on board Lex’s jet (more on that later), Lois and Chloe are at the Daily Planet in issue 3. Chloe jokes to Lois about exposing her baby to the life of a newspaper reporter when talk turns to what Oliver has been up to. Chloe tells her cousin that Oliver has been busy using Queen Industry resources to help rebuild cities that have been affected by the destruction created by supers like what happened in San Francisco (the events of “Titans”). This rebuild is also to prevent criminals from taking advantage of the destruction.

Lois wonders why Chloe is hanging here with her at the Daily Planet and not with her husband. Chloe mentions that she is very bored but before we get an elaboration, Chloe asks Lois how Clark is.

Lois replies that he isn’t handling the hate and fear of his reveal very well. Clark then texts Lois an image of Lex reading his tablet where we then switch our action to Lex’s supersonic jet. Clark comments that he has never flown so high before while Lex comments his jet is not as fast as Superman.

Clark gets into reporter mode and starts asking questions on why Lex is going to Russia as that is where Superman seems to be heading too. Clark asks if it has something to do with what crashed there and if it is related to his attack of S.T.A.R. Labs. Lex is impressed with Clark’s line of questioning but still is evasive in his answers.

Lex then turns the tables on Clark and starts to ask questions to him about Lois and how they’ve been engaged for a while. To me this is a bit funny. What is the timeline here since the show ended to the “Alien” arc? Maybe one year tops and Clark and Lois were probably engaged for 6 months before they were supposed to get married so being engaged for almost 2 years is not that long but Lex makes it sound like they were already engaged for the 7 years. Anyways, Lex mentions how Clois has been engaged for a long time to which Clark replies that timing has never been right and we see images of the events of the “Finale” depicted with a corrupted Oliver throwing Clark through a window.

Lex then tells Clark to watch out for Superman considering the amount of stories Lois does on him. Clark says he trusts his fiancee to Lex. But Lex says it is Superman that shouldn’t be trusted. Little does Lex now.

Clark then asks Lex why does he hate Superman so much. Lex thinks this hatred stems from his old life. The captain then comes on the speaker to let Lex know of some pretty bad turbulence. Using his powers, Clark notices things and as it looks like he is about to change into Superman we find that he doesn’t have to as the Rocket Red Brigade saves Lex’s jet as they arrive in Moscow.

Meanwhile, President Martinez wants to speak to the Russian president but he doesn’t want but instead wants to speak to Lex as he wants to see how much he is willing to pay for the Monitor that they have captured.

The next issue is Superman free but instead we meet up with Batman and Nightwing again in Gotham City. The bulk of this episode has Batman fighting Bane and unlike Tom Hardy’s interpretation we actually can understand what this masked villain is saying. Anyways, during their fight Bane taunts Batman but he along with Nightwing as backup manage to temporarily defeat him.

Later, Commissioner Gordon has called Batman to a crime scene. It appears that a man dressed as Superman but wearing jeans instead of tights has been murdered. Gordon tells Batman that he believes that this could be a hate crime committed by alien-haters.

Meanwhile in Metropolis, to cheer a very bored Chloe up, Lois decides to take her cousin on a little field trip to Gotham.

We are back in Russia for the next issue. We see Lex and the Russian prime minister meet. The reason why the Russian prime minister allowed Lex to meet with the Monitor is because Lex helped out  Mikhail Mxyzptlk. What is really important is the meeting Lex has with the Monitor. They talk about Earth-2 and we learn the Monitor’s name is Ray-Lan. The crux of this conversation is that it seems that Lex and Ray make some sort of deal.

Meanwhile, Clark meets some of the members of the Red Rocket Brigade that were formed partly inspired by what Superman did in “Guardian”. In fact one of their members was on board that ship and was the astronaut that Superman rescued. Clark recognizes him and addresses him by name but quickly covers up how he knew his name. Clark wonders more about the visitor they have and Lex’s interest but Alexi can’t answer. Before they part, Alexi asks Clark to say hello and thanks to Superman, Clark says he will see what he can do. An alert is then sounded and the Red Rocket Brigade takes action with Superman not so far behind. It seems that Ray-Lan as escaped and actually wants to be hurt by the Red Rocket Bridgade.

We see the aftermath in Issue 7 and Superman is bleeding and Lex is pissed that he is just doing nothing. After Superman makes sure the Red Rocket Bridgade gets the medical attention that they need Superman soon takes off to the skies while Lex calls him a coward. But Superman goes above the clouds to soak in the sun’s rays to heal himself. While drinking in the rays, Tess calls and tells Superman that Moscow was scrambling their communication which was why Watchtower has been silent. Superman wants Tess to find out where the Monitor escaped to and how he was able to hurt him.

Back on land, Lex wants a status update from Otis but is interrupted when Clark stumbles out of the building and runs into Lex. Lex wonders if Clark ran away from the first sign of danger and tells Clark that even Superman couldn’t stop the Monitor..

Clark kicks into reporter mode and asks some pointed questions about the Monitor like why did Lex fly to Moscow for it and how did he escape. Lex likes Clark’s moxie and when Otis tells Lex that he has found where the Monitor is, Lex goes and asks the Russian premier for directions. However, the Premier tells them the area they seek has been abandoned for specific reasons and now washes his hands of the Monitor and so too the Red Rocket Brigade.

Lex decides to take Clark along for this excursion and not Otis because he feels that Clark is expendable and where are these former friends headed: Chernobyl

Meanwhile, in Gotham, Chloe and Bruce are meditating in the Batcave. Bruce is using this time to clear his mind about the case of the dead “Clark” that was found earlier. Talk turns to partners and how Bruce has Nightwing, Chloe has Oliver while Clark has Lois.

Chloe then asks why hasn’t Bruce taken Batman beyond Gotham. Bruce replies that Gotham still needs him and wonders when Chloe was going to pitch him to join the team. Chloe mentions to Bruce that something bigger is coming, the Crisis and they could use someone like Bruce’s help.

As Lex and Clark arrive in Chernobyl, the stumble across a huge whole in ground and when they enter it, the find a space ship.

In Issue 8, we see are in Gotham and Lois and Nightwing are talking. Nightwing asks Lois how come she isn’t freaked out about the other Clark being dead. Lois says she isn’t because she know that her Clark, the real Clark is safe and sound even though it is in Russia and under the threat of an alien menace, jokes Nightwing.

Nightwing decides to call this other Clark Dave and tells Lois from tests, Dave is human. Lois believes that this can’t be another Earth Clark because whether Clark is on blue or gold kryptonite, he would still be Kryptonian.

Soon, the two ladies are confronted by a gang of thieves that want their wallets and purses etc…From the looks that Nightwing and Lois give each other, we pretty much know that they won’t. As the two kick these thieves butts, Nightwing asks relationship advice to Lois. Since Lois and Clark are on the same page about everything and Lois points out that is because of what happened to them in “Isis”, Nightwing wants to know how they manage to balance their hero life with normal couple life. Lois assumes Nightwing is asking this because there is either a special super fella or super gal in her life, not that she is judging.

Nightwing says there is a guy, a normal guy but he always seems to be busy with his parents circus, a strong indication that her boyfriend is Dick Grayson aka Robin.

When it sounds like Nightwing might give up on their relationship, Lois tells her not to because it is relationships that allow them to make connections and without it they can get lost in their hero work. Lois tells Nightwing to have someone to love keeps them grounded and reminds them what they are fighting for. And as the two ladies take all these thieves down, Nightwing bows to her relationship sensei.

The two ladies manage to reach their destination where Dave was killed and they see a similar looking hole that Lex and Clark found in Chernobyl. Leading away from this howl are footprints burned into the ground that seem familiar to Lois but not in a good way.

Meanwhile in Chernobyl. Clark and Lex continue their investigation and talk turns to parallel Earths. Based on what the Monitor told Lex, he believes there are a lot of parallel Earths. As the search, Lex believes it would have been quicker if Superman was around to look through things. Of course, we know that Superman is there and we see Clark use his x-ray vision to see through stuff. The two eventually come across and room that has a really long cylinder in the room that contains a lot of Earths that look like globes and some of them look already dead. Clark says they are late for many of the Earths but Lex says they won’t be late for theirs.

Clark wonders why the Monitors just didn’t wipe their Earth first or let all the other Earth’s fall on them. The Monitor arrives to say that they’ve tried but humans have caused them the most trouble of all the planets they’ve encountered. When the Monitor looks threatening, Clark makes to protect Lex but it is Lex that moves in front of Clark when the Monitor yields his weapon and tells the two that they won’t live long enough to see the end of their Earth.

In the next issue, Batman and Commissioner Gordon are examining the body of the murdered other Clark Kent. Apparently Gordon is having a tough time identifying him while Batman is using some machine to ID the killer but share the info with Gordon.

Back at the Batcave, the ladies (Chloe, Lois and Nightwing) discuss places for Chloe to raise her child, when Batman calls Nightwing to tell her that he is going dark. Not liking that answer, Chloe and Lois wonder what Nighwing thinks but she has take off to meet Batman at Amusement Mile.

Batman is not happy to see his protege there and as the two argue, some bombs get tossed their way and Batman pushes Nightwing away but he gets caught in the explosion. Batman is okay but the culprit confronts them and it is a another Bruce in a Batman costume but his face looks Joker-esque.

Meanwhile, beneath Chernobyl, the Monitor continues to explain to Lex and Clark about destroying what he calls “Lower Earths” and started telling them about the destruction of other Earths. The Monitor continues to give chase to the two former friends and Clark mentions the murder of Earth-2 Chloe at their hands. Clark manages to temporary subdue the Monitor by using his heat vision (Lex is ahead of Clark). Lex starts to provoke the Monitor but Clark stops him as the Monitor continues to taunt. The men leave the ship and make their way back up the tunnel when the Monitor’s ship, presumably taking off, allows the men to reach the surface.The two men then run through the snow but the Monitor has caught up to then and opens fire on Clark. Clark then falls through some ice and starts to descend into the waters below. Lex dives in after him but we Clark’s shirt open to reveal his Superman suit and his glasses are off.

Back in Russia, Otis is worried about Lex as he is unable to communicate with him. Otis gets it in his head to steal a Red Rocket Brigade suit to go after Lex. At Chernobyl, just before Lex can reach Clark to save him, the Monitor pulls him out and talks about Lex’s survival instinct and expects him to start begging for his life. Lex disagrees and asks why the Monitor killed Clark. The Monitor then seems gleeful at the prospect of killing Lex and taunts him with his encounters of other Lex Luthor’s and how they would see this Lex as pathetic. Lex then wants to ask the Monitor a question and that is why is he so bothered by the presence of Superman.

Speaking of which, we see Superman stop the Monitor from killing Lex and then uses his heat vision to keep Lex warm. After Superman rises above the clouds to soak in the sunlight to allow him to heal.

Superman then receive a call from Emil at S.T.A.R. labs who updates him on way the Monitor can hurt him without the presence of kryptonite or red sunlight. Emil and Tess believe that the Monitor can hurt Clark because he isn’t from here but because Lex set him free, they are unable to study him. So Superman decides that he needs to improvise in order to defeat the Monitor as he heads towards his ship.

In the penultimate issue, we are back at Amusement Mile and Batman and lets call him Joker Batman are preparing for battle. Joker Batman and Batman share witty repartee as they fight and Nightwing joins the battle but she gets stabbed by Joker Batman. Batman manages to take down Joker Batman who talks about how is Earh was going to be destroyed. Just before Batman takes Joker Batman to Arkham, he mentions to Batman how on his Earth, he killed his parents.

Back at Chernobyl as the Monitor is calling his ship to him, Superman grabs the Monitor, removes his arm weapon and takes him down even though Lex wants Superman to kill him. But the Monitor’s ship starts to open fire but Superman goes in the belly of the beast and takes down the ship while Otis in the Red Rocket Brigade suit, rescues Lex.

Meanwhile, we see that the Monitor has been impaled by rebar and an apologetic Superman closes his eyes.

Later at Metropolis General, Clark is at a recovering Lex’s bedside. Lex is surprised that Clark is still alive but Clark mentions that Superman saved him. Lex than apologizes to Clark for dragging him on his fool’s errand and his quest to know about his forgotten past. Clark pretty much accepts his apology. Lex then feels Clark being all judgemental and sense that Clark has been that way with him before. Clark mentions Lex’s need to save the world conflicts with his ego and more often not results in him ending up in the hospital.

At Watchtower, Lois is pissed at an article that Cat Grant wrote about the events that happened in Russia that accuses Superman of being on the side of the Monitor. Clark tries to calm his fiancee down by saying at least Cat didn’t accuse the ship as being his but Lois says that she does. Chloe thinks Lois is mad because Stern didn’t run her Gotham story or that the D.E.O. got to that situation first.

Lois defends herself saying all this cover-up is a conspiracy and people need to know what is coming. Clark believe Lois has a point but for now the world has to believe what happened in Gotham was a Superman-related hate crime.

Lois apologies to Clark for what she said but Clark said there is no need and talks about what the Monitor said about the destruction of several Earths. The whole team believe that the “Crisis” is only a matter of when it is going to happen.

Bruce then comes into Watchtower to say that he will emerge from Gotham to help join the fight. Bruce is happy to see Clark alive and well and tells them team that John Jonzz has taken care of Joker Batman. Lois then asks how Barbara is.

Bruce tells Lois that she is on the mend as we have a panel of Batman observing Barbara on a date with who we assume is Dick Grayson.

Meanwhile at the DEO quarantine zone, Steve Trevor is overseeing Emil’s examination of the Monitor’s body. Diana comes in and notices that something is missing from the crime scene. It is the Monitor’s comms device and the wonder where it went. At Lexcorp, we see that Clark has it and is doing experiments on it and actually results in Lex using it to communicate out to the other Earths or as he calls it multiverse. Lex asks whoever is out there of a chat as we see a lot of Earths being destroyed.