Superman Homepage

2009 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

July 14, 2009: Cleveland Screaming Tiki Super-Con Report

By David Cox III

I am David Cox III, Superman Homepage mild mannered reporter for the Screaming Tiki Super-Con 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. As a native of northeast Ohio it is exciting to have a new comic convention in Cleveland. The convention's theme was a celebration of his creation by two young Clevelanders back in the 1930s. The Super-Con was held in the Halle building downtown in the shadows of the now AT&T building which served as an inspiration for the original Daily Planet.

Walking along the streets to the Halle building one could almost imagine Superman swooping in from overhead, which is not as far fetched as it seems because scenes from the Spider-man movie were shot hear as well.

Going on in conjunction with Screaming Tiki was the Enginuityfest, an annual multimedia arts festival. A ticket to one got you into the other. The Super-Con was small but showed a lot of promise for future years. The dealers had plenty of Superman memorabilia on hand from the comics, to posters and prints, toys, and all sorts of knickknacks. The Siegel & Shuster Society had a booth, which included a larger than life statue of Superman for people to pose with. I know from overhearing one of the members speak that they are trying to encourage the creation of a Superman museum in the area to highlight his neighborhood origins and to increase tourism into the northeast Ohio.

Many of the super comic fans were in attendance in costume, which always makes a con especially fun. We had Rorschach and Silk Spectre from Watchmen, a couple of Green Lanterns, Wonder Woman, a bearded Superman, and a garrison of Storm Troopers recruiting for the Empire in the artist/creator alley. They tried to seduce my 2-year-old son to the Dark Side with a free cookie. Darth Vader, Han Solo, myriad Storm Troopers and Jedis were all represented.

The Super-Con opened on Friday evening July 10th. This evening's Superman events started with a short video tribute to Jerry & Joe. It highlighted the origins and legendary status of our favorite hero. It was created by Wolfepack Entertainment, a company of two young individuals who are very enthusiastic about Superman (even having Kryptonian glyphs tattooed on their arms) and superheroes in general. The tribute was short (5 minutes) and a solid introduction to the character for non-super novices. These guys are dying to get their hands on the rights to make a full length movie on the hero. Look for this tribute video to be shown here on the Superman Homepage soon.

The second Superman event of the evening was Super-Toons! A look at Superman in classic animation. The representative cartoons included "Goofy Groceries" the first cartoon appearance of a Superman-like character from 1941. It featured a cast of store items come to life including a "SuperGuy" doll that attempts to rescue a stuffed rabbit doll from a gorilla doll but the SuperGuy becomes a super baby at the growl of the gorilla. Other cartoons included "She Sick Sailors", a Popeye cartoon where Olive Oil is infatuated with Superman and Bluto impersonates the Man of Steel to win her over from Popeye. An early Max Fleischer cartoon was shown along with an early Mighty Mouse short (which was the first cartoon to use the opera-like style of singing and music), along with a few other early cartoons.

The Superman events of the first evening wrapped up with a DC Comics panel including writer Sean McKeever and artist Mike Gustovich. I was hoping for something a little more Superman thick in the discussion, but what we ended up with was a great intimate conversation between fans and creators. We learned the in's & out's of the business with great advice for aspiring creators (hint: write what you want and get it published somehow. Blind submissions only show you have an idea but say nothing about your ability to work on a deadline or to actually get anything published). Sean was great to hear from to get more recent looks at the biz. His Superman credentials include writing the second "Titans of Tomorrow" story line in the Teen Titans issues #52-54 starring Conner Kent as the tomorrow Superman. Just to be clear I really enjoyed both "Titans of Tomorrow" stories and was glad to meet one of the writers. Mike was extensive in his coverage of earlier days in the comic biz, the 1970s to 1990s. So in the end the panel wasn't what I thought it would be but I got a lot out of it.

Saturday was the big day. In the morning the renovations to the house Jerry Siegel lived in were unveiled to the public. The house went through $100,000 woth of repairs to help preserve the site for the future. The house is no longer blue and red but back to the original beige and green. In front of the house are now two fences, one with an original design Superman shield and the other with a short explanation of the house. A nice crowd came out to share the moment with the Siegel and Shuster relatives, the current owners of the house, City council members, the Glenville Development Corp, and others to celebrate. Not even the pouring rain could keep the red and blue fans away. The streets where Jerry, Joe, and Joanne (Jerry's wife and the original model for Lois Lane) have all been commemoratively named Jerry Siegel Lane, Joe Shuster Lane, and Lois Lane respectively. I am happy to see the pride in which modern day Clevelanders have in our city's creations. As the councilman said, when you think of Smallville, remember they are talking about Glenville. Glenville is where Superman was born. Glenville has many challenges in its inner-city position and has great, supportive representatives, but it is hard not to notice the hardships facing the other homes on Kimberly Ave.

Back at the convention, the Superman events included a showing of "Last Son", a documentary of his creation by Siegel and Shuster. It played at the nearby Hanna Theater. This is a very interesting documentary by Green Door Films. It covers Siegel, his father's death, in more detail than Shuster. What really impressed me about the film was seeing the reference material that Shuster used for some of his most iconic images of Superman. The film shows the actual photos from weight-lifting magazines that were the basis for the covers of Action Comics #1, Superman #1, and the Superman breaking through chains on the back of Superman #1. I was also struck by the clips from the Max Fleischer cartoons used in the film, not because of their rarity, but for seeing them on the big screen for the first time. The cartoons really make an impact when seen so large. I wish there was a more permanent venue to view these cartoons on the large screen to feel that way about them again. The screening was followed by a panel discussion with the living relatives of Siegel and Shuster, including Jerry's wife and daughter. Joe's family was a bit more distant. It was great getting to hear Joanne Siegel talk about Jerry and hearing the first person impression of his career.

Sunday the Super-Con wrapped up with a premiere of the movie "Heroic Ambition", a "Smallville" panel, and a tribute to Superman - The All American Hero, that ended the whole show. I was unfortunately not able to participate on Sunday due to family obligations (my wife is nine months pregnant and needed me one day out of the weekend at home). I did speak with Helen Slater on Friday shortly. It was her first trip to Cleveland and she was very taken by the enthusiasm that we take in celebrating a hometown creation. She was also grateful to learn more about the creators and their lives when they dreamt up Superman in their homes. Overall, a great convention and a good time in downtown Cleveland.

David Cox III

2009 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News

Listed below are all the Merchandise & Miscellaneous News items archived for 2009.

Back to the News Archive Contents page.

Back to the Latest News page.

2009 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

July 14, 2009: Cleveland Screaming Tiki Super-Con Report

2009 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News

New Superman Merchandise at DC Shop – Classic Covers, Smallville and Metropolis Collections

Superman Hot Wheels Cars and Trucks

Superman Journals, Notebooks and Notepads