A “Super" Way to Spend an Afternoon

Since I work in Cleveland, I’m usually loath to turn around and go back into town after work for any reason. However, a ‘super’ suggestion by a co-worker convinced me to make the trek into Downtown Cleveland on a Saturday afternoon.

What brought me back into town? The terrific exhibit at the Cleveland Public Library – Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton. It's on display through March 31, 2018. If you're a fan of the Man of Steel and want to learn about his Cleveland roots, it's an impressive exhibit not to be missed.

Here's the link to its page on the Cleveland Public Library website.

Large backdrops with er, super graphics tell the story.

The exhibit features tons of memorabilia and artifacts in display cases from several well-known collections. Just about anything related to Superman that you can think of is on display, including original comic strip art, original costumes from the TV series and movies, rare photographs, posters, toys, lunch boxes, cereal boxes, autographed items – you name it, it's there.

It's all methodically organized and displayed in a beautifully-designed setting that is almost overwhelming to a nostalgia buff. Music, clips and sounds from the TV series and movies play in the background as well. I found myself strangely choked up as I took it all in and confronted various pop culture artifacts that made me feel like a kid again.

The funny thing is, my introduction to Superman as a kid was only through watching the Adventures of Superman TV series that ran on one of the UHF channels after school. We never had any of the comic books. To us, the guy on TV (George Reeves) was Superman.

There was an advertisement (below) featuring Superman (promoting the Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey) that ran in the back of the DC Comics (The Adventures of Bob Hope and The Adventures of Jerry Lewis) we did have around the house.

Anyway, if you're a fan of one or all of the various comic book, TV and movie incarnations of Superman, you won't want to miss this terrific exhibit at the Cleveland Public Library.