The Supermen of Cleveland
Gag cartoonist and newave comix creator Bob Vojtko stopped by the childhood home of Superman's co-creator in 2008 and snapped a few pictures.
Mitchell Siegel died of a heart attack after his second-hand clothing shop was robbed on June 2, 1932. The youngest of his six children Jerry, began to develop his world-famous character at the age of sixteen when he imagined how his father might have been saved.
It wasn't long until the young Siegel had advanced his ideas into a bulletproof, man of steel with superpowers. As the story goes, Siegel ran nine and a half blocks to tell his friend, Joe Shuster, about his ideas and Shuster drew the first sketches of Superman.
In 1938 the first issue of Action Comics was published and became an instant hit.
The Siegel family sold the house in 1950 and over the years its history was lost as the property changed hands. The current owners were surprised to learn of the home's place in Americana after they purchased it in 1983.
In 2007 novelist and comic creator Brad Meltzer visited the house as part of his research for a book. He was expecting to see a beautifully maintained landmark, but the house was a wreck. Almost immediately, Meltzer, along with several other Superman fans, created the Siegel & Shuster Society to restore the American landmark. In a single month they raised over $100,000 for renovations.
In July of 2009 the repairs were complete and the home now includes a fence with the famous "S" insignia. Jerry Siegel's (1914-1996) home is located at 10622 Kimberly Avenue in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.
Nearby, on the corner of Parkwood Drive and Amor Avenue, Joe Shuster's childhood home no longer exists. It was lost in a fire. A new house was built and a wooden fence there marks the spot with a display of giant reproductions of Superman's first story along with a plaque that reads:
On this site once stood the home where Superman was turned from words into pictures.
Joe Shuster (1914-1992) came to Cleveland from Canada. He liked sports and comic strips. He drew all the time—on boxes, wrapping paper, and even old wallpaper. With his best friend Jerry Siegel, he turned amazing stories about a Man of Steel into four-colored reality. Joe made the whole world look fresh and clean and strong.
He made it look Super.
With the creation of Superman, these two friends showed the world that the most ordinary of us can turn out to be the most heroic.
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