Who is Clara Kent?
Hopefully, Clara's stories could be read by anyone, even people unfamiliar with the legend of Superman. This series should be able to stand on its own. But experiencing Clara would be a richer experience if the reader is familiar with the television show "Smallville" and the history of Superman.
Clark Kent was born on the planet Krypton. That planet was destined to explode. Jor-El, a scientist of that world, built a prototype space ship in preparation for building a larger ship for his entire family. But time ran out. He asked his wife Lara to get in the spaceship with their son Kal-El. She refused to leave Jor-El, so the baby Kal-El was sent to Earth on his own where he was found and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent. They named him Clark. Under the yellow sun that Earth revolves around, Clark grew strong and developed amazing powers. He grew up to become the super-hero that people call Superman.
Clara comes from an alternate universe -- a very common concept in comic books. Her universe was identical in every way to Clark's until Jor-El made one decision that changed everything. He met his brother Zor-El's finance and fell in love with her. She felt the same way about Jor-El and they married. Zor-El threw himself into his work. He visited Earth and other planets to research ways to stabilize Krypton's core. He built a machine that generated a dampening field that he hoped would stop the chain reaction that threatened to destroy Krypton. In the meantime, Jor-El and Alura had a daughter named Kayla. Jor-El began a prototype spaceship. The Guardians of the Universe sent the Green Lantern Tomar-Re to watch and protect Kayla because they knew that she would be important to the future of the universe. The reaction at Krypton's core grew worse. Tomar-Re sought a way to save Krypton. He found Zor-El's machine. It didn't have sufficient power to save the world, so he crawled inside of it to use his energy to boost the machine's power. Through force of will, he held the planet Krypton together for 3 years. By that time, Jor-El and built a large enough space ship for Alura, Kayla and himself to escape the destruction. But as the spaceship left orbit, Krypton exploded and a planetary fragment struck the spaceship. Atmosphere inside the ship was vented. Independently, Jor-El and Alura made the decision to cut off their air supply so that the other 2 could survive. They died. Kayla was trapped in the tiny ship between the bodies of her dead parents until she caused the ship to crash on Earth. She was found and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Six year old Kayla didn't understand any Earth languages. Through a misunderstanding, Martha thought that Kayla's name was Clara.
As a female, Clara's powers developed quicker than Clark's did. Also, having been raised on Krypton, Kayla was prepared for what to expect on Earth by Jor-El. She walks the path Clark walks in his universe, but with every decision she makes the two universes become even more different. This series is an exploration of how a series of choices can make the world a much different place. When I decided to make this series out of single story that I had written and forgotten ("Saved by an Angel"), I hoped that by some miracle I could get the producers of "Smallville" to make a companion series to "Smallville" -- "Smallville:AU," the life of Clara Kent. It would have the same supporting cast, the same guest stars, the same sets and often place Clara in the middle of the same events that Clark was a part of. Clark's destiny is written. Clara's isn't. The other element of this series was key to the first story I wrote -- can Lex Luthor be saved? When Clark saved Lex from drowning in the river, he interpreted his gratitude for Clark as undying friendship. When Clara rescues him, he interprets his feelings as love. I set myself a goal of writing 20 Clara stories to prove to myself that it was viable as a TV series. If I could come up with 20 stories by myself, a team of writers should be able to create enough stories to make a sustainable series. I over shot. I have written about 80 Clara stories so far and even a Clara parody and an alternate, alternate universe version of Clara. I even wrote a story where Clara and Clark get to meet each other.
I have probably already said too much here. I hope you take the time to read some of the stories. Enjoy!
Take Care,
David Hayes