2014 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

July 7, 2014: DC Denies Request to Use the Superman Symbol on Toronto Boy's Memorial

Jeffrey's Memorial Statue DC Entertainment has denied a request from a Toronto family to use the Superman "S" shield on a statue dedicated to the memory of five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin who died in 2002.

    A coroner's inquest last winter into the death of five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin caught the attention of an Ottawa man, who was moved by Jeffrey's plight and wanted to pay tribute to the boy.

    Todd Boyce raised money for a statue of Jeffrey and recruited Ontario artist Ruth Abernethy - known for a Glenn Gould bronze statue on a bench on Front Street in Toronto and a bronze of Oscar Peterson outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa - to design it.

    Boyce wanted to see Jeffrey depicted in a Superman costume, harkening back to inquest testimony from Jeffrey's father.

    Before his teenage parents lost custody of Jeffrey to his maternal grandparents the little boy was very energetic and loved the superhero, Richard Baldwin testified.

    "He wanted to fly," Baldwin said. "He tried jumping off the chair. We had to make him stop. He dressed up (as Superman) for Halloween one year... He was so excited. I have that picture at home hanging on my wall. He was our little man of steel."

    But DC Entertainment - home to the comic book superhero - will not grant Boyce permission to use the Superman logo on the statue.

The decision from DC Entertainment stems from the fact that they didn't want to the character of Superman associated with child abuse, as Jeffrey wasted away to the weight of a baby, locked in his cold and filthy bedroom in the Toronto home of his grandmother. His grandparents (and legal guardians) were convicted of second-degree murder in 2006.

A model of the statue, which has been completed (picture above), will now be changed to feature a "J" symbol for "Jeffrey" instead of the "S".

Source: Yahoo! News.



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