Johns just stepped down from a ten-year run on writing JSA, during which it was consistently among DC's best titles. So, like all the fans, I was quite geeked when I heard that there was going to be some sort of Smallville-adapted version of the Justice Society appearing later in this season, and featuring characters Doctor Fate, Hawkman, and Johns' own Stargirl. This eventually turned into a two-parter, and that has in turn apparently become a first-ever Smallville two-hour movie coming in February. A first glimpse at a photograph of Hawkman from the story got on the internet this week, and added to fan excitement and speculation, given that the Hawkman pictured was one of the most faithful representations of a DC character to have yet appeared on Smallville. (Although the wings were not really big enough, I thought.)
So I was jazzed when I saw the preview aired with Friday's episode, featuring a glimpse of the mysteriously-helmeted Fate, but also a glimpse of the classic Alan Scott Green Lantern's ring, and the gas-masked visage of the Sandman, neither of whom had been mentioned to this point. An oil-painting glimpsed at the end of the preview, which featured most of the classic characters, and hinting at perhaps even more appearances, just leaves me with an absurd fanish glow.
The only thing lacking at this point is that I've never gotten around to getting a Screen Actors Guild membership, leaving me unable to have auditioned for the role of Doctor Fate myself.