2003 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives
June 17 2003: Holy Kryptonite - there's life after comics
Published by the L.A. TimesStephanie Simon visits a place where they legislated fantasy to replace reality.
For the past few days everyone was a kid in the town of Metropolis sitting at the southern tip of the state of Illinois. Fathers and grandfathers sat outside long past midnight, debating plot twists in comic books. They spent way too much money on toys. Middle-aged men pulled on blue tights and red capes and forgot about their paunches. They puffed their chests and flexed their biceps and felt, for a moment, like heroes.
All this because the Illinois state legislature, seeking to boost tourism, officially recognised Metropolis as the Hometown of Superman in 1972. DC Comics sanctioned the boast. And the town raised $120,000 for a five-metre bronze statue in front of the courthouse, now called Superman Square. There's also a green boulder Kryptonite "meteor," a safe distance away.
And the 25th annual Superman Celebration has just ended. It drew more than 20,000 fans of all ages - more than doubling the population. Some came for the rides and the corn dogs, some for the arm wrestling competition. But most came for Superman.
They flew in from California and Hawaii, Texas and even Australia, wearing Superman T-shirts and visors and capes. They drove for hours from Michigan, Kentucky and Ohio, in cars emblazoned with Superman logos. From Florida, South Carolina and New York they came to honour the comic world's oldest superhero - a defender of truth, justice and the American way for 65 years.
Steve Leslie, in full costume - boots, briefs and all - thrust his arms joyously into the sky, as though to take off in flight, when two little kids ran up to ask for a photo. He is 51. He wears a hearing aid. He admits he could use a few more muscles. But for this day, in this town, he could live out his dream. He almost felt he could fly. "I've been a Superman fan since I was a kid," he said.
"I like what Superman stands for," said Paul Jouvenat, 27, a graphic designer from Dallas. "He stands for morals. For strength of character.'
Though edgier superheroes sometimes mock him as the "big blue Boy Scout," Superman holds his own in two TV shows today: the animated Justice League and the teen drama Smallville which traces Clark Kent's adolescent angst.
The X-Men may have flashier costumes. Batman definitely has better gadgets. The Hulk might even, possibly, be stronger, though that's hotly debated in online forums. Superman, however, has endured in part because he's a straight-up good guy.
"The comics today are dark and double-edged, but Superman is always clean-cut. Plus he can fly, and he has a secret identity. What more can you ask for?" said Gary Lindgren, 47, an appliance designer from Michigan.
"I don't want to say it's a religion, but he is an inspiration. It's amazing what Superman means to people," said Jim Hambrick, who moved from California to Metropolis with a 750,000-piece collection of Superman memorabilia to found the Super Museum.
Metropolis does not look much like the big brooding city where Clark Kent works as a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet, when he's not zipping around the universe fighting crime. A faded riverfront town of about 7000 set amid farmland that stretches flat to the horizon, it looks more like Mayberry - or Smallville, the fictional Kansas town where Kent grew up.
"Metropolis is like Mecca for Superman fans. You have to come," said Steve Younis, 31, a graphic designer who came from Australia.
Don Shackleford, a 42-year-old freight loader, drove from Xenia, Ohio, in a vintage wool costume. He was sticky with sweat. But he couldn't stop beaming. He had been a Superman fan since his grandfather yanked him over to the couch to watch reruns of a black-and-white TV show when he was three. He still feels the magic. "Superman always does the right thing," Shackleford said.
Many middle-aged fans say they've been hooked since they watched Christopher Reeve soar to the rescue of decent Americans everywhere in the 1978 movie. The special effects brought to life the hero they had imagined since childhood. And it prompted them to go back to the comic books they had collected as kids, back to the old TV series with George Reeves, back even to the first Superman films, starring Kirk Alyn, in the late 1940s.
"There's an instant camaraderie," said Younis. "Superman does what he does because it's the right thing to do. He has no ulterior motive. And Superman fans everywhere are very similar in their morals and in their ethics, in the way they welcome people."
Civic leaders here learnt just how much the Man of Steel has captured the public imagination when the man who had long played Superman at the festival announced three years ago that he was hanging up his tights. The local newspaper - The Metropolis Planet, of course - called for volunteers. The story was picked up by the Associated Press and ran in papers worldwide.
"The next day we had all three phone lines ringing constantly: Did they need to send videos? Did they need to send photos? We had guys calling from Japan, from Germany, from Australia," recalled Becky Lambert, the festival co-chairwoman.
The winning entry came from an aspiring actor in Los Angeles, Scott Cranford, now 35. Not only did he have Superman's chiselled jaw, but as it turned out, he was a superhero aficionado who had designed his own universe of comic-book characters and created a superhero colouring book for kids. He was so excited to play the part in Metropolis that he postponed his wedding.
Cranford prepares year-round. He reads all the Superman comics so he can keep up with the storylines, in case a smart-aleck teen tries to trip him up.
More important, he pumps iron to make sure he fills out the costume: "They always punch you in the stomach or squeeze your bicep really hard to see if the muscles are real. You can't get away with foam."
Los Angeles Times
2003 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News
Listed below are all the Merchandise & Miscellaneous News items archived for 2003.- January 10, 2003: Smallville Soundtrack Cover Revealed
- January 11, 2003: New Justice League and SuperFriends DVD Covers
- February 2, 2003: Dynamic Forces Celebrates 10th Anniversary With QVC UK!
- February 5, 2003: New Superman Action Figures
- February 5, 2003: New Superman & Supergirl Shoes!
- February 17, 2003: Hear the Smallville Soundtrack Online
- March 1, 2003: Superman Returns to the GameCube and GBA
- March 6, 2003: Justice League and Smallville Trading Card News
- March 20, 2003: DC Direct Superman Action Figures Sold Out!
- March 28, 2003: New Superman Ride Opens in Texas!
- April 3, 2003: DC Comics Superhero Month Sweepstakes
- April 13, 2003: Pre-Order a Signed Copy of Noel Neill's Book
- April 15, 2003: Justice League at Burger King
- April 23, 2003: Justice League Team Up With Sargento Snacks
- May 5, 2003: EA Wins Superman Rights
- May 5, 2003: SupermanWoman Stage Play
- May 5, 2003: Superman Returns to Cleveland for Fundraiser
- May 7, 2003: Sweden Blocks Idea to Name Baby Superman
- May 14, 2003: Superman - The Stupidest Superhero?
- May 15, 2003: Superman Fundraiser a Success!
- May 22, 2003: Mythology by Alex Ross
- May 25, 2003: Bob Holiday to Perform at Superman Festival
- June 12, 2003: Superman fans visit Metropolis for annual festival
- June 13, 2003: Super Fans Fly to Metropolis
- June 17 2003: Holy Kryptonite - there's life after comics
- June 24, 2003: Countdown to Wednesday Comic Book DVD
- June 24, 2003: Cool Collecting's Second Annual Superman Celebration
- June 26, 2003: Hawaii Superman Convention Announced
- July 3, 2003: The Texas Superhero & Villain Collectors Show
- July 8, 2003: Win a Dynamic Forces Shopping Spree!
- July 9, 2003: Ohio Historical Superman Marker
- July 9, 2003: Dynamic Forces and QVCUK Heat Up the Summer!
- July 11, 2003: Midway Announces Next Generation Console Justice League Game
- July 21, 2003: Oprah Defeats Superman
- August 1, 2003: Curse of Superman... Radio Interview
- August 2, 2003: Australian McDonalds Super Heroes McHappy Meals
- August 4, 2003: New Superman Watch from Fossil
- August 19, 2003: No Superheroes in Melbourne
- August 27, 2003: Steve Younis in Superman: Metropolis #7?
- August 29, 2003: Texas Superhero & Sci-Fi Collectors Show
- September 13, 2003: Jay Morton, Coined Superman Motto
- September 17, 2003: Jim Lee at New York is Book Country 2003
- September 23, 2003: Ed McGuinness to do Animated Series
- September 25, 2003: Super Museum Featured on Discovery Channel
- October 2, 2003: Jollibee Justice League Toys in the Philippines
- October 27, 2003: Superman Watch Auction to Benefit CRPF
- October 31, 2003: Have a Super Halloween!
- November 1, 2003: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE!!!
- November 2, 2003: Online Kids Comics at AOL
- November 9, 2003: Monogram Lands DC Bobblehead Deal
- November 12, 2003: Justice League: Chronicles on Game Boy Advance
- November 25, 2003: Fossil Release New Superman Phone Booth Watch
- December 18, 2003: WizKids Announces DC HeroClix Second Expansion
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