TEEN TITAN
On Smallville (2001-present), Clark Kent (Tom Welling, left) is like many teen heroes on The WB: beautiful, beset by adolescent frustrations, and burdened with a heavy secret. The series tries more for realism than the old Superboy comics did; Clark still crushes on Lana Lang (Kristen Kreuk) and maintains an uneasy friendship with the troubled Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum, right), but there's no cape, no tights, and no blatant heroics that would expose the secret known only to Clark's adoptive parents (John Schneider and Annette O'Toole, who played Lana Lang in 1983's Superman III). Clark's pal Chloe (Allison Mack) became so popular that she was written into the comics. Welling was reportedly passed over for the big-screen role of Clark Kent in Superman Returns so that he could keep the character alive on TV. After all, this Kent fella, despite all the stories that have been told about him so far, still has a long future ahead of him.