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Specifically Derf Backderf’s Facebook photos which show the event held on Saturday and the transformation of a dilapidated Cleveland park into a new, vibrant space, all honoring one of Cleveland’s not memorable citizens. The park has a plaque (above) but also six banners drawn by Joseph Remnant and designed by Pekar’s widow, Joyce Brabner, that tell […]

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Z2 Comics just made news last week with a new line of periodicals, and here’s their fall graphic novel line, courtesy of Publishers Weekly. The slate includes a collection of Koren Shadmi’s awesome webcomic THE ABADDON, as well as a new edition of Cleveland by Harvey Pekar and Joseph Remnent, and print editions of two Kickstarted projects: ASHES: A FIREFIGHTER’S TALE by Mario Candelaria and Karl Slominski; and PAWN SHOP by Joey Esposito and Sean Von Gorman.

“With the addition of three new books to Z2 Comics, the return of Harvey Pekar’s CLEVELAND to print and the recently announced launch of the Z2 Comics periodical line, this year promises to be our most ambitious yet. And it’s just the beginning,’ said publisher Josh Frankel.

The Eisner-nominated Cleveland was previously distributed by Top Shelf, but has sold out of its 10,000 copy initial print run, Frankel told PW.

We’ve admired The Abaddon (above) here at the Beat many times before; it’s gorgeous and getting it in a nice print edition is a real treat.

Here’s the full Z2 line-up:

 

ASHES: A FIREFIGHTER’S TALE written by Mario Candelaria with art by Karl Slominski.
(September 22, 2015; $19.99; 120 pages; black and white)

Matt always had an easygoing life. Girls liked him, his friends were more like family, and being a firefighter came naturally. Then the accident happened. Now, after the loss of his leg, Matt struggles to cope with his new handicap as he attempts to rebuild his shattered family and once budding career. A riveting tale about perseverance, hard work, and overcoming the odds, ASHES is a gripping tale told in stunning black and white.

PAWN SHOP written by Joey Esposito with art by Sean Von Gorman
(September 22, 2015; $19.99; 120 pages; full color)

A widower. A nurse. A punk. A Long Island Railroad employee. New York City is an ecosystem where everybody is connected, if only by the streets they walk on. This original graphic novel is the story of four people, in a city of eight million, whose lives unknowingly intersect through a Manhattan pawn shop.
Written by Joey Esposito (Footprints) and illustrated with a gorgeous mixture of watercolor and digital elements by Sean Von Gorman (Toe Tag Riot), PAWN SHOP explores the big things that separate us and the little moments that inexplicably unite us.

THE ABADDON written and illustrated by Koren Shadmi
(November 10, 2015; $24.99; 240 pages; full color)

Loosely based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit, THE ABADDON is the story of a young man who finds himself trapped in a bizarre apartment with a group of ill-matched roommates. He discovers that his new home doesn’t adhere to any rational laws of nature and comes to realize that everyone living in the apartment is missing crucial parts of their memories and identities.

CLEVELAND by Harvey Pekar and Joseph Remnant
(November DATE TK; Price TK; 128; black and white)

A lifelong resident of Cleveland, Ohio, Harvey Pekar (1939-2010) pioneered autobiographical comics, mining the mundane for magic since 1976 in his critically acclaimed series American Splendor. Legendary comic book writer Harvey Pekar’s collaboration with artist Joseph Remnant, titled CLEVELAND, was originally published by Top Shelf Shelf Comics and Zip Comics in 2012 and includes an introduction by Alan Moore. The book presents key moments and characters from the city’s history, intertwined with Harvey’s own ups and downs, as relayed to us by Our Man and meticulously researched and rendered by artist Joseph Remnant. At once a history of Cleveland and a portrait of Harvey, it’s a tribute to the ordinary greatness of both.

Disclosure: Just to be upfront, Z2 and The Beat have partnered on several events in the past, and they are an occasional client of my consulting company.

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My friend Jamie Reigle is one of the world’s foremost collectors and purveyors of Superman memorabilia. I’ve mentioned him here before, and not only because he so kindly distributed hundreds (of the tens of thousands) of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman postcards over the years.

There were a lot:

In the summer of 2013, among the tributes acknowledging the 75th anniversary of Superman, the Cleveland Jewish News produced a special commemorative section; Jamie was profiled.

Mentioned and pictured: the page proofs of Boys of Steel signed by as many members of the Siegel and Shuster families as Jamie could round up.


His sons are named Kalel and Lex. I trust Jamie has a plan to prevent young Lex from using his genius for evil…and I know I’m not the first to make that joke.

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In October 2012, Cleveland, the city in which Superman was created, installed an exhibit about him in the airport.

In June 2013, Kansas, the state in which Superman crash-landed, will induct him (as well as Clark Kent) into its hall of fame.


What is your city doing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the world’s first superhero?

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After a talk I gave in Washington DC in November 2011, a woman named Janice Newman came up to me to say that her father had a dental office in the Cleveland building where, in the 1940s, Joe Shuster had his art studio.

I have a few photos of that building. Naturally I asked if she had more. Who has photos of where their dad worked, especially if we’re talking decades ago?

Well, Janice didn’t, but her mom, Renee Siegel (no relation to Jerry, apparently) did. Only one (taken in 1984 because the building was going to be razed), and a rather limited view, but still…that could have been the entrance Joe used.

Also, my friend Brad Ricca dug up another pic of Joe’s apartment building. It made the front page of the newspaper in 1955, and for a reason most unlikely (not to mention tragic).


Who knows how many more are out there, waiting to be revealed?

In 2009, the city and the fans commemorated the former site of this apartment building (demolished in 1975) with a fence displaying a blown-up version of the first Superman story.


Though I was not directly involved, I did encourage the decision-makers to incorporate at least one of the two known existing photos of Joe’s apartment building into the memorial. Though I like what was done, I must admit (and told them) that I was disappointed they did not take that suggestion. When I make mecca to such a site, I’d prefer to see something rare—something that immerses you in the past—rather than something I can see online. My disappointment lingers but ultimately, I’m thrilled that Joe’s place gets the super treatment. 

Jerry’s does, too:

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I'm back from Bouchercon! It was fun. And with 1200+ attendees, I still managed to miss some people. It's strange but true.

Opening ceremonies were at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--this picture is of me, being the tourist out in front.

The museum was amazing; I played hooky for much of the ceremony (apologies to the organizers...) to roam around. I highly recommend the place, if you find yourself in Cleveland.

Then on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. (yes, really), I was on a new author panel with a bunch of fellow newbies and Val McDermid. She was funny, we were nervous, and despite the early hour, a few hundred people showed up. So success, I say.

I'm pretty sure us attendees took over the city, because there were parties in just about every bar... Good times. I had a chance to meet fellow Harper authors, listen to some noir readings at the bar, and hear author Heather Graham rock it on stage.

The highlight of my trip? Going to the Cleveland Library--isn't it gorgeous? It's even more amazing inside.

And I was able to meet Annisha Jeffries, Children's Librarian Extraordinaire, also Princess Leia for Star Wars Reads Day. It's a great library--visit if you're there. You won't be disappointed.

Of course I came back with a suitcase full of books, which was the best souvenir ever. And I also took home a little crush on Cleveland. It's a cool city.

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The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate
I actually meant to review this one last year but didn't get around to it. This review is coming mainly from memory so bear with me. Josie was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, though she was far from any large bodies of water she fall in love with it and made a career out of it. Josie is the only Black senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In this way The Taste of Salt reminded me of Intuitionist by Whitehead. The novels are stylistically very different, however both feature a Black female protagonist in workforce positions that are predominantly held by men.

Since Josie is telling this story and because of much of who she is is defined by her chosen field, everything has a straightforward scientific analytical feel though the author is still able to give it a nice literary rhythm.

"I'm a scientist. I like to get to the bottom of things, to state the working hypothesis quickly. Narrative is not my specialty. But when I stop to think about it, in some ways, telling a story is like science. Trying to understand how a system works, what makes it function or not function, that's part of what a story does. Nothing is unrelated to the things that came before it. it's true of evolution and it's true of a family."

The quiet life Josie has carefully built is tested when her brother Tick is released from rehab for the second time. Josie must return to her childhood home in Cleveland, a place she rarely visits because of all the bad memories. The families experience with addiction began with the father. Josie shares her story, from marriage to growing up in a house with an unpredictable alcoholic father. She also gives the reader insight into the early years of her parents courtship and marriage. The latter I believe is the scientist in Josie, trying to pinpoint that one moment or event that would change the course of her parents lives and her own in the process. The city of Cleveland is an essential part of the story as well, it's describe and visualized with purpose from its years of promise to the lean ones.

Southgate skillfully explores how addiction can destroy a families dynamic. What stood out for me most was the strength and pain of Josie's voice. Taste of Salt had a quiet beauty that I loved and a rhythm worth getting lost in.

An excerpt

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First read part 1 and part 2.

In February 2008, five months before Boys of Steel came out, I pitched my Jerry Siegel Race idea to the wonderful Glenville Development Corporation and they liked it. They earmarked a tentative month for the event. They sent the letter I’d written to the celebs. They suggested that we look for a corporate sponsor and mentioned one company in particular that was looking for a health initiative to fund. Running is healthy! I imagined that whatever sponsor we got would foot the bill for the race T-shirts.

I also pitched the Jerry Siegel Race to the organizers of the annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois, which I was planning to attend that June. Of course, that would not take place on the actual route, but would still be a sixth of a mile accompanied by John Williams.

Eventually, I even planned to do a third race in my town, sponsored by the local independent bookstore.

However, none of the races happened. Here's why:

Cleveland—It was hard for me to do as much as I wanted to do from afar and I wouldn't have asked anyone else to take on the responsibility.

Metropolis—A town official ended up nixing the race because the road chosen for the route would have had a cable (yes, I do remember it being a single cable) strung across it for another aspect of the Superman Celebration. That was a safety concern. (Somehow marathons with thousands of entrants and probably as many potholes, among other little bumps, go on anyway.)

Hometown—I was following up on too many promotional ideas at once and that one—though among my favorites—was set aside. I could tackle most of the other ideas on my own but that one would require help and, again, I didn’t want to burden anyone at the time.

Yet I remain determined to make a Jerry Siegel Race happen one day, particularly in Cleveland. In fact, I’m quite certain it will, and I’ll be running it with a big smile, in a hurry to get to one of those Superman mini-pizzas.

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First read part 1.

Jerry Siegel’s house is still standing (in the Glenville section of Cleveland):

Joe Shuster’s, alas, is not. This photo was taken about a year before its 10/31/75 demolition:

So technically, the race would be from Jerry’s house to the site of Joe’s apartment. That distance is a sixth of a mile (just shy of how far the first published incarnation of Superman could leap). I figured it would take the average person about four minutes to run. So this would be a race in which even non-runners could participate.

I was hoping that staging what I inelegantly called the Jerry Siegel Race through the largely impoverished neighborhood would be a spirit boost. Yet I also wanted to keep it as simple (and inexpensive) as possible. To do that, I wanted to get the community involved.

I planned to approach local radio stations to find one willing to “score” the race. Say the race was set to start at 3 p.m. At precisely that moment, the station would begin to play the familiar and stirring theme from Superman: The Movie. (Hey, I like to run to it.)

But I didn’t want to have to get into renting and setting up big speakers along the route. Besides, plenty of speakers were already there—in private homes. So in advance, we’d distribute flyers to the neighbors along the 9.5-block route. We’d announce the date of the race and encourage them to take part as a runner—or a DJ.

To be specific, we’d ask them to turn to the designated station(s), put their radios up to their front windows, open those windows, and at 3 p.m., crank up the volume. Voila—instant and continuous soundtrack, perfectly in sync. I’d never heard of a race like this and thought it would be quite electrifying to witness.

(I envisioned that we could also use the flyers to promote summer reading.)

Perhaps the station(s) that agreed to play the theme during the race would also help raise money by asking each listener to pledge a single dollar toward the cause. The tagline: "Help Superman's hood with a single buck" (playing off of "Leaps tall buildings in a single bound,"

0 Comments on The Jerry Siegel Race, part 2 of 3 as of 1/1/1900

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I made my shortest trip yet to Cleveland—about five hours on Ohio soil—to deliver my first keynote address. It was for a lovely luncheon sponsored by a small business resource organization called the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE). I was told they are part of the largest Chamber of Commerce in the country. I was also told to try the cheesecake, but didn’t have a chance. (I prefer chocolate anyway.)

Like any public speaker, I adjust my presentation approach depending on the audience. With Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, I emphasize the Jewish aspects when speaking at a Jewish museum or school and emphasize the Cleveland connection at Cleveland venues. I even pitched a science museum a talk on the scientific side of Superman. (They said no. Good thing. I have a feeble grasp of science.)

The COSE angle was Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as small business owners—or perhaps it’s more accurate to say home-based entrepreneurs since they (famously) did not retain full ownership of Superman.

A smaller first for me at this event: After the talk, I did a book signing and a woman asked me to make out a copy for her husband Frank. I usually sign "Best, Marc Tyler Nobleman” but in her book I absent-mindedly signed "Love, Marc Tyler Nobleman." I offered to fix it but she and I decided it would be funnier to see if he even notices. Love ya, Frank.

Check out the sharp artwork they used to promote the event.

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Joe Shuster, the artist who co-created Superman with writer Jerry Siegel, was in his seventh year when sister Jean joined him (and other brother Frank) in 1921.

Here’s the Shuster family in their new digs after the success of Superman (plus a photo of Jerry in his new digs):

Today, Jean is Joe’s closest surviving relative. Last fall, I sent her a copy of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman. Prior to that, she and I had not connected.

In October 2008, she wrote me a lovely thank you (and, when I recently asked if I could quote from it here, she gave me permission). Not only was I honored to have my first direct contact with a member of the Siegel or Shuster family, but I was touched that her handwriting reminded me of the only grandparent I had growing up, my dad’s mother, who passed away in 1998. (However, I am not saying this with any deeper significance. It seems almost all women of that generation have a shared penmanship.)

Excerpts from her note:

In early 2009, I mailed Jean the two photos I had discovered of the Shusters's apartment building of 1934. She had no photos of the building herself. Excerpts from her February 2009 response (which was typed, so not as fun to scan):

Thank you for your letter and especially for the pictures of our old apartment building. If you say you were exuberant in finding them, then I was thrilled.

The 1974 picture shows our front entrance on the side of the building. The upper left windows were where Jerry and Joe sat at the dining table where they created Superman. Those pictures bring back treasured memories of those days in the 1930’s where Joe and Jerry spent every day together creating.

With regard to a screen version of Jerry and Joe's story:

...will offer [Brad Pitt] a look at the screenplay to see if there is interest in playing the Joe Shuster character and/or in production. He would make a good looking Joe.

I’m glad my handwriting reminded you of your grandmother’s. Our generation is your history.

That last line struck me. And I loved her sign-off:

With good wishes for our future, Joe Shuster’s sister,

In July 2008, Cleveland hosted a joyous tribute to (and family reunion of) Jerry and Joe, dedicating Jerry’s newly renovated former home and unveiling commemorative fences at both that house and at the site where the 1934 Shuster apartment stood.

The fence at Jerry’s includes a sleek metal “S” done in Joe’s original style.

The fence at Joe’s features a blow-up of the first Superman story, from Action Comics #1.

I tried for months from afar to convince the committee in Cleveland to also include the photos of Joe’s former apartment building on his fence, since fans who make pilgrimage there most likely will never have seen the humble little structure in which Superman was first drawn. I was disappointed when (and still don’t know why) that didn’t happen.

However, the comic book pages do not fill the entire span of the large fence, so I am holding out hope that we may yet be able to add another panel with those photos. I feel it is the single most important piece of Shuster iconography to display there, since that is the actual site and those photos have not been published anywhere else except on this blog last summer and now in Craig Yoe’s book Secret Identity.

A final, somewhat related image: In 2008, Jamie Reigle of Super Collectibles (who’s generously been a nonstop promoter of Boys of Steel) asked any member of the Siegel and Shuster families he met to sign the title page of the unbound copy of Boys of Steel we’d sent before the book was released. I can’t read most of the names from the scan he sent me back, but here it is, visible only here and in Jamie’s private collection:

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The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer has finally acknowledged Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman. I was never given a guarantee that it would but I did assume that if only one newspaper in the world would take notice, it would be that one, the daily of the city where the story took place. It's a nice review.

Today I also learned that the book did not make the holiday round-up in People, though they did consider it.

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On Thursday, November 6, something happened in a small room at the Cleveland Public Library, Glenville branch, that made me even more excited about politics than I already was last week. Except it wasn't really about politics at all.

Glenville is the neighborhood where Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster lived when they created Superman in 1934. At the time, it was predominantly Jewish. Today it is predominantly black and poor.

Earlier that day I had spoken at the main branch, downtown. The audience was mostly young black people. I was expecting the same in Glenville. Instead I was ushered into a room where about 35 or 40 members of the adult community leadership organization were finishing up a meeting. They, too, were almost all black. Some of them were holding Obama signs—two days after the election. The purpose of the signs had switched from rool of persuasion to badge of honor.

I gave my presentation, hoping they would feel pride for the seminal event that had occurred in their neighborhood. They did seem moved by the story, which some had not known before.

Then my friend Tracey Kirksey, head of the Glenville Development Corp. and almost certainly one of the ten kindest people in the world, asked if she could say something. I said of course.

She proceeded to emphasize how Jerry and Joe were underdogs who had a vision and worked hard to see it come to pass. In succeeding, they bucked the odds and made history. Then she unexpectedly compared them to Barack Obama in spontaneous words so eloquent that I wish I had recorded them. The essence was that she felt she could tell her children that they could be president one day—only now, she finally fully believed it to be true. The others, of course, reacted with jubilation.

Of all the Boys of Steel experiences I've had since the book came out, this was by far the most profound. I felt so lucky to be in Ohio, in Glenville, for that moment.

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Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman is featured in the cover story of the Life section of USA TODAY...and appears in the top right of the front page!


The online version does not use the same art (unfortunately, that means no art from the book) but I think the text is unchanged.

The key point here is that my book is the first to correctly describe the death of Michael (sometimes Mitchell) Siegel, the father of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman.

Others have written that he was shot to death during a robbery of his clothing store.

He did die during a robbery, but because of a heart attack, not a gunshot. At least according to the police report, coroner's report, death certificate, and obituary.

And this was in 1932—six years before the fame of Superman—so there would be little reason for a cover-up. Just another tragedy for just another merchant in the pit of the Great Depression.

I tip my research hat to documentary filmmaker Brad Ricca, who discovered the truth about Michael Siegel's death before I did. However, I discovered it for myself before he told me he had, too!

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The Cleveland neighborhood (Glenville) in which Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman wants to acknowledge that. Part of the fundraising effort is an appeal to high-profile Superman fans via a letter that went out this week.

The celebrities:

* Howard Stern—mentions Superman on air quite often
* Jerry Seinfeld—featured Superman in almost every episode of his sitcom
* Jon Bon Jovi—Superman tattoo
* Nicolas Cage—named his son Kal-El, Superman's Kryptonian name
* Gene Simmons (KISS)—has a self-proclaimed "passionate" relationship with Superman
* Shaquille O'Neal—Superman tattoo
* John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting)—big hit song "Superman (It's Not Easy)"
* Joey Fatone ('N Sync)—Superman tattoo

The pitch:

Ask “Who is Clark Kent?” and most anyone can answer that it’s Superman’s secret identity. Ask “Who are Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster?" and you’ll probably get only shrugs and head scratches.

Before Metropolis, Smallville, and Krypton, Superman came from Cleveland. The world’s first comic book superhero was created by teenaged writer Jerry Siegel and his artist friend Joe Shuster, who lived 9.5 blocks from one another in the Glenville neighborhood. For too long, we in Cleveland have done little to pay tribute to our red, yellow, and blue legacy.

For this year’s 70th anniversary of Superman's debut, the city is beginning to change that. Among our plans:

* restore Jerry Siegel’s former home
* place matching markers at Jerry's house and the site of Joe’s former apartment building (demolished in 1975)
* install honorary street signs Siegel Lane and Shuster Lane
* host a Siegel-and-Shuster-themed race and block party to promote good health and community spirit
* erect a larger-than-life statue of Superman flying off a building in the center of our business district

Your fondness for Superman is no secret. And while none of us in real life have “powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men,” we all have the power to do great good in different ways.

We are working to raise $x by September 10, 2008 to pay for the two commemorative markers we would like to erect this fall. We would be super-thrilled and super grateful if you would help us reach our goal—any amount is deeply appreciated. Any money we raise in excess of the final cost of the markers will be redirected to the fund for the Superman statue. We will gladly provide documentation itemizing how all contributed money spent and list your name as a sponsor on all marketing and media materials. And of course, if we do reach goal, we’d be honored if you would join us for the race, block party, and marker unveiling. After all, where else will you get to run a sixth of a mile to the stirring John Williams theme from Superman: The Movie or snack on organic mini-pizzas in the shape of Superman’s emblem?

The response:

Cross your fingers that there will be one.

Meanwhile, please spread the word! To contribute, e-mail me and I'll send you the right way.

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On my January 2007 photo research trip to Cleveland, my second stop (after Jerry Siegel's Kimberley Avenue house) was the house he moved into after Superman was a success.

The snow was still falling as I parked in front of it at 4 p.m. I didn't need images of this for my book, but I am a completist, so I took a couple of steps onto the snow-thick driveway and began to take pictures.

Then the front door opened.

A smiling man called to me to come inside.

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"Are you the appraiser?" he said.

I could have pulled a Lois Lane and lied so I'd get to go in, but I told the truth—and still got to go in.

I was quite surprised to find myself standing in my second former Jerry Siegel house in one day. The man graciously showed me around. He had not known the co-creator of Superman used to live there. I thought that might help up the list price. The only aspect of the house that dated back to Jerry's time in it (early 1940s) was a (refinished) bathtub.

However, I am not a complete completist because I didn't photograph that.

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Common sense says a writer does his research before writing the book. I first visited Cleveland, the setting of Boys of Steel, in January 2007—nearly two years after I wrote (and sold) the book.

However, my mission was to gather photo reference for the illustrator. I wanted the images in the book to be as authentic as possible, though most readers would not know one way or the other. My first stop would be 10622 Kimberley Avenue—the address of the still-standing house where Jerry Siegel lived when he thought up Superman in 1934.

I wanted to get in to take photos so I didn't want to show up unannounced. I did not know that the family now living there regularly and kindly lets people in, nor did I know that certain comics professionals could have given me the family's name and phone number.

In advance, I wrote a letter to the unknown occupants, including my cell number. I planned to drive immediately from the airport to the house; if no answer, I'd leave the letter and hope they'd call me before my four-day research trip was over. (I'd mailed the house a similar letter in August 2005 and hadn't heard back, but that lacked urgency because I wasn't in town at the time.)

I landed in a snowstorm. I arrived at the house mid-afternoon. It was so cold my digital camera pretty much shut down. I didn't expect to see anyone outside, so I was happily surprised that a woman was scraping ice off her windshield right across the street from 10622.

I trudged up to her. "That's Superman's house," I said, pointing to the one painted red and blue and displaying numerous pieces of Superman merchandise in the first-floor windows. Yeah, dumb thing to say, for more than one reason.

"That's my house!" she said.

I introduced myself. Turns out this was Fannie Gray, around age 30, tutors kids in the neighborhood. She said it'd be up to her dad whether or not I could go inside, and as it happened, he pulled into the driveway right then. I am not embellishing.

Standing in shin-high snow on the front lawn not much bigger than a large picnic blanket, Jefferson Gray said I could come back on Thursday afternoon. It was Tuesday. Thursday was the day before I would leave. That was cutting it close—what if at the last minute they wanted to move the date? I would have almost no cushion. I asked if I could come anytime sooner and he pushed Thursday.

So I came Thursday. The family, as has become legendary among Superman aficionados, was more than gracious. I spent at least 30 minutes in their house, taking photos with both a digital and a backup disposable camera.

I will see the Grays later this summer when the neighborhood commemorates both Jerry's former house and the site of Joe's former apartment building with some special markers.

In the meantime, here are a few photos of the attic where Jerry typed stories. Jefferson Gray shows up in one, pulling back a curtain so I can shoot the window. Pay attention to that window—you'll see it again.

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In the decades of literature about the history of Superman, I've noticed an odd omission.

The house in which Jerry Siegel lived when he envisioned Superman is still standing. Cleveland protects it as a designated landmark. An illustration of its interior is in Boys of Steel.

But Superman was not fully created in Jerry's house. He was not fully created until Joe Shuster drew him.

Why hasn't anyone published a picture of where Joe lived in 1934?

For starters, it's no longer there. And since apparently no one knew its significance when it was torn down, it was just another derelict building, requiring no special archiving. Which meant it could take a lot of looking now to find a picture of it. After my research trip to Cleveland in January 2007, I can confirm that it took a heckuva lot of looking.

Armed with the address of Joe's former apartment building on Amor Avenue, I was pumped. First stop: Western Reserve Historical Society. For more than six hours, I rifled through archival photos. They were not digitized. The staff brought containers out to me—big, often dusty boxes. It wasn't that long ago but I already forgot how they were organized. No matter—I searched every possible container and did not find the Amor address.

Second stop, next day: Cleveland State University archives. Similar process—only there it was folders, not containers. End result was the same—no Amor address. (On the plus side, it didn't take six hours to learn that.)

Third and final stop: Cleveland Public Library. I was the least optimistic about this. It just seemed that something so unlikely to exist could not be found at a place so mainstream. Here the photos were stored in small boxes, organized by street. I hunkered down, the only guy in the room besides the librarian. I went through all the Amor photos. Nothing.

Then a new thought brushed up against me. Joe's building had an Amor address but was on the corner of another street, Parkwood. I asked for the Parkwood box.

On the back of one photo someone had scribbled a Parkwood address—and then an "AKA xxxxx Amor" address. Joe's Amor address.

That was it. This is it:

This photo of what was once called the Maple Apartments is from November, 1974. The building was demolished the next year.

I had to tell someone. Couldn't use my cell phone in the library. So I went up the guy behind the desk and said, "I know you probably won't care, but this is the building in which Superman was finalized."

He tried to care but I think he was mostly glad I was done asking for boxes.

When I got home, I had another idea. I checked with my contact at the Cleveland City Planning Commission and he managed to uncover a second photo of the address, this one from July, 1959:


In that unassuming building, Superman first put on a cape and an S-emblem. In fact, he was almost certainly named in there, too (though Jerry and Joe had already used "Superman" for two earlier unrelated characters).

My Planning Commission man also confirmed that the building was indeed the same that would've been there in 1934. He could even tell me it was built in 1916 (though at first I thought it looked more modern than that).

You have to think that if the city had kept track of its history, the building would still be there today. You have to wonder how no fans came forward to tell the city. It's not likely because fans didn't care. Hard as it is to process in the Internet age of quick-grab info, it's most likely because fans didn't know.

Now I am in touch with people who are in touch with the Shuster family and I could just ask them if the Shusters have a photo of the building, maybe even one circa 1934. But at that time, people had little to be sentimental about, so perhaps not.

More news to come about these photos as we sweat closer to August.

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Twelfth Night in Historic Camden County

















Illustration from The Granger Collection, New York


And it's always nice to have a holiday excuse to post one of Anna's recipes, this one for Twelfth Night Cake

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