Reign in Hell

Writer: Keith Giffen
Penciller: Tom Derenick, Stephen Jorge Segovia, Justiniano, Chad Hardin
Inker: Bill Sienkiewicz, Stephen Jorge Segovia, Walden Wong
Colourist: Mike Atiyeh, Dan Brown, Tom Chu
Letterers: Steve Wands and Sal Cipriano
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
There's a war in hell and all the world will feel the aftermath.  Lord Satanus and Lady Blaze concoct a plan to overthrow the current ruler of hell, Neron.  Starting their campaign in purgatory, they offer the damned hope, and break their way through to hell proper.  Once there, they enlist more and more of the souls paying penance and full on war starts.

Meanwhile in the human world, the mystical forces of the DC universe (DCU) have noticed these changes and are more than a little worried about what effect this will have on earth.  In separate splinter groups, and for their own reasons (some altruistic, some selfish) they descend to hell to seek what they need.  For some, this is a chance to cast out the demon bound to their human self, for others, it is penance for inflicting hurt on their power source, for more it is an opportunity to get back what hell has stolen from them.

Unfortunately for them, hell doesn't play by human rules.  These guys are stuck in hell and have to get out with their lives, health and souls intact.  War rages around them and they quickly realise what is at stake.

Smallville heroes - the non affiliates

Anybody who has been watching Smallville over the last few years will have seen a host of DC's characters imported from the comics world to the glossy, highly polished world of Smallville.  You may be wondering about the origins of these characters, what they were like originally and how their stories changed in the leap from comic to small screen.  And that's where we come in!  This is the second in a series of posts on Smallville's characters cast of heroes, villains and sidekicks, and the original characters that inspired them.  Today, the non affiliates!