It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope, that a 7-foot tall statue of Superman there in the baggage claim area at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE).
Besides being faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive and being able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, Superman was a great traveler: he could fly on his own without an airplane and he had that easy-to-maintain travel outfit: blue tights, red underwear (worn on the outside; a bold fashion statement) and a matching red cape.
But why Superman in Cleveland?
Well, it turns out that Superman wasn’t born on Krypton, as his passport might claim, but in a Cleveland neighborhood.
The man of steel was created in the 1930s by two high school buddies, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and has since gone on to star in comic books, TV shows, movies and video games.
The exhibit at the airport is the work of the Siegel and Shuster Society, which raised about $45,000 for the project, and includes that 7 foot tall statue of Superman standing in front of a wall showing Cleveland points of interest in classic comic book bubble style. There’s also a telephone booth with an image alternating between Superman and his alter-ego, the mild-mannered Clark Kent. Better yet, a TV monitor shows clips of Superman from movies, television and comic books.
And just to make sure the man of steel feels welcome at CLE, the airport is reminding passengers not to pack any krytonite (the one substance that can zap Superman’s strength) in any carry-on bags.