Holding Out For a Hero

Lately it seems my life revolves around comics.

DC (National, at the time) comics paid the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, $138 in 1939 for the rights to the character. They went on to milk the shit out of Superman (along the way brushing off Sieget and Shuster's idea for a younger Superman and a year later marketing the Superboy comics) while Siegel and Shuster slid down a long financial spiral. They died in poverty and virtually unrecognized for their contribution to American literature.

What many people don't realize is that Superman started HERE. Siegel and Shuster were based in Cleveland, they met at Glendale High School. It's been posited that the SBC tower downtown was the model for the Daily Planet. Metropolis was and still is a mix of Cleveland and New York. And we as a city have done NOTHING for them. They have an Ohio Historical Marker upon which Jerry's name is misspelled. Metropolis, Illinois has a museum and a huge statue. We have done nothing. Worse than nothing.

A couple of years ago, Jerry Siegel's widow came to Cleveland, as per his final requests. He'd been cremated, and specified that half his ashes stay with her, and half come back home to Cleveland. One of my professors walked with her around the city, clutching his urn. (a pretty sweet carved collection of all the comics he'd written over the years) The kicker? NO ONE WOULD TAKE THEM. Not only was his greatest creation stolen from him, not only was he forced to live in nearly unbearable conditions, not only did he die never knowing if he would regain his rights to his character, but even after he died, no one but his family wanted him.

This makes me want to cry. These men made it possible for Christopher Reeve to be the hero he was. They gave us a reason to believe a man could fly. They invented the modern superhero, one of the most enduring icons of all time. Millions, billions of dollars have been made off their creativity and our city doesn't want their writer's remains. At a time like this, when Cleveland is trying so hard to reinvent itself, isn't a little Superman exactly what we need?