Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it’s the original Supermen in their Ohio home town.
It’s apt that the pride of Ohio should be chosen to represent Metropolis in the new Superman film which will be out in our cinemas in July.
David Corenswet will be the latest to pull on the Clark Kent specs and skintight blue and red cossie.
Following in the footsteps of Bud Collyer, Christopher Reeve, Nicolas Cage and Henry Cavill among the dozens to have channeled their Man of Steel.
Few though, outwith Superman Superfans will know of the original Supermen, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Two Cleveland teenagers with a passion for science fiction and comics, who created the first superhero in 1932.
Get in on the Action
Fans can, of course, can visit the site of their family homes.
‘This is the house where Superman was born,’ reads a sign hanging on the fence in front of 10622 Kimberly Ave, where in 1932 18-year-old Jerry Siegel invented the Man of Steel.
The apartment house where Joe Shuster, who illustrated Superman, lived is now a vacant lot, but the fence around it has been hung with 2×3-foot metal panels.
They reproduce the cover and first 13 pages of Action Comics #1, the first Superman story, which was published on April 18, 1938.
Rightly, you get a handle that Cleveland is the home of Superman from the moment you touch down at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
With a display of memorabilia, while there’s another display at the Cleveland Public Library, where Siegel and Shuster both drew inspiration.
And you can also visit the observation deck at the Terminal Tower.
On a pedestal
The Siegel and Shuster Society, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating Superman’s creation in Cleveland, is spearheading the planning of Siegel and Shuster Tribute Plaza outside the Huntington Convention Centre of Cleveland.
The project will feature a Superman statue designed by a local artist; statues of Siegel, his wife Joanne (upon whom Lois Lane was modelled) and Shuster.
The original Supermen in their Ohio home town.
And a phone booth famous for the hero’s quick costume changes.
So there’s already a lot of Superman for the Superfan already in Cleveland .
And super flights out from Ireland’s national airline carrier.
Out to the Metropolis of the Oo Es of Eh with Aer Lingus.
But with this summer’s anticipated Superman blockbuster the Ohio metropolis is readying itself for even more spotlight.
The new Supermen
With the city’s filming locations including:
- Public Square, including the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument and surrounding buildings, was transformed into Metropolis’ bustling centre.
- The Leader Building stood in as the exterior of the Daily Planet.
- Key Tower became the headquarters for the fictional Stagg Enterprises.
- The Cleveland Arcade where Superman and Lois Lane kiss beneath the historic glass ceiling.
- Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, hosted an explosive action sequence.
- Cleveland City Hall transformed into Metropolis’ City Hall.
- Detroit–Superior Bridge is featured in a high-intensity confrontation.
- Ontario Street and the former Cleveland Greyhound Station were part of fast-paced street scenes.
- PNC Plaza offered dynamic urban visuals.
- Terminal Tower appeared in sweeping skyline shots of Metropolis.
- Superior Avenue, temporarily renamed “Concord Street,” was reimagined as a major city thoroughfare.
- Headlands Beach State Park in Mentor, about a 30-minute drive east from downtown, was used to depict a vintage U.S. Army base.