Collecting Guano
Jul14
Comment
This past spring I got to go to Hollywood for the weekend. My wife Nicki was in Beverly Hills on a business trip for a week, and I flew out later that week on a Thursday and stayed through Monday. While I was there I got to check out the “Batman ’66” exhibit “Holy Hollywood History!” at the Hollywood Museum. The exhibit was organised by Roger Neal (Burt Ward’s publicist) and special guest curator Wally Wingert. Wally is a Bat-fan extraordinaire and voice actor who can be heard on the latest Batman ’66 animated movies (“Huzzah! Huzzah!“) and several of the Batman video games.
This is the first ever Batman exhibit of its kind! It opened to the public on January 12, 2018 (the anniversary of the TV show’s 1966 debut). When I first heard that this exhibit was happening I never thought I would get to see it, but thankfully I have a batastic wife who indulges my bat-obsession. When she saw it was going to be happening while she was in town she suggested I fly out for it. Since her flight and hotel was a business expense, we just had to cover my flight and a few nights hotel for the weekend.
As Egghead would say, I was EGGS-static to get to EGGS-perience this EGGS-traordinary and EGGS-quisite EGGS-hibit..!
The exhibit was scheduled to close the weekend I was there in April, but was extended a couple of times and got revamped a bit recently. A new “The World’s Finest Five” exhibit is scheduled to open at the Hollywood Museum sometime later this fall!
I got to stay in Beverly Hills for the night on Thursday, did some exploring and sightseeing that afternoon and then the following morning with Nicki. After a walk down to Rodeo Drive we headed back to our hotel and took a Lyft into Hollywood.
I was a bit leery to get into a car with a stranger, and traffic in L.A. is definitely an adventure all to itself! We chatted with our driver while doing more sightseeing along the way, and I felt a bit more at ease the more we drove. We made it safely to our hotel. You could see the HOLLYWOOD sign from the front of it as we drove up, and we saw there was a big outdoor mall within walking distance. When we first walked into the hotel there was a Morgan Freeman replica in the lobby (from Madame Tussauds) which took us by surprise and kind of freaked me out.
My first thought was, “Holy crap- Morgan Freeman is staying here!“, and then my second thought was, “Why is Morgan Freeman staying here?” It was a very nice hotel, but I think he can do so much better! The “Faux Freeman” became our friend, and each time we would pass by him in the lobby we would say hi/bye to him. Shame he couldn’t go to the Magic Castle with us on Sunday night- but I’ll tell you about that night in a future blog post.
Our hotel was located just up the street from Hollywood Boulevard, so it was a quick two block or so walk down for us on Friday afternoon to do a bit of sightseeing. We walked by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now TCL Chinese Theatre) on one side of the street, and saw the El Capitan Theatre on the other side. It was hard to see some of the stars on the sidewalks because of all of the vendors set up along it. We did see a few and some hand/foot prints in the cement, as well as a few of the costumed characters and celebrity look-a-likes posing for photos with tourists. We crossed Hollywood and made our way over to the museum. They had a lot to see in the lobby including a Christopher Reeve Superman costume on display and we talked a bit with the staff, but I was a man on a mission and was there to see Batman!
The Batman ’66 exhibit was at the top of the museum on the fourth floor of the historic Max Factor building. I didn’t mind the walk up, and got even more EGGS-cited the closer we got.
One of the first displays I noticed when we entered the exhibit was across the room and was filled with bat-toys, costumes, and other collectibles… it was guano heaven!
As you might EGGS-pect, I was standing there with my jaw almost on the floor. One of the first things my wife said to me was, “So how much of this guano do you have..?” as she EGGS-amined the display.
Okay, so truth be told I have “a few“ Batman collectibles in my Batcave studio at home.
It’s not huge space- only a 10’x10′ room, but I have managed to fit a lot in it. (Don’t open the closet- it’s pushing maximum capacity!)
This small Batman figure above started my Batman collection- it’s about as old as the TV show and myself. One of my earliest childhood memories is picking it out to be a cake topper for my 2nd or 3rd birthday. I had a few Batman items after that (Megos, comics, records, buttons, Super Powers, etc.), but really didn’t start building my collection up until just before the ‘89 Tim Burton movie hit and Batmania swept the country for a second time. Once the animated series and Batman movie sequels hit the collection had taken over my Spiderman and Star Wars collecting- as well as taking up much of my house. In the past few years there has been a ton of Batman ’66 merch released (many of my new items on the right) and my collection has exploded again..!
My wife’s question about what I had was actually really a hard one to answer, because there was just soooooo much guano on display it was practically bat-sensory-overload! I replied, “I have this, and that, and that, and that…” and what I didn’t have was definitely on my wish list! I post a lot of pics to my Facebook account just to try and keep up with what I do own. It gets tricky remembering sometimes.
Something I knew I did have was the Ideal Bat-Helmet above (those are some of my other collectibles on the right). I always wanted one as a kid and finally found one in good shape and for a good price a few years ago. Same for the alarm clock on the right. The bat-symbol is part of a Batman/Superman cake decorating kit that was for another couple birthday cakes. I had one of each from it growing up. It came with one pan, two faces, and two emblems. Still have it all, and the box!
I also have one of these Batmobile rides that was in their display above (mine is pictured below). There were other items, but what was fascinating to me was getting to see these collectibles in such good shape, and with a lot of the original packaging.
Most of mine (some here on display at the Hernando Library) has definitely seen a lot of playtime and sans box. I found my Batmobile (above) at a small Hot Wheels collector toy show out in Bartlett, TN a couple years ago. Nicki and I have done lots of displays at our local library, including a Batman TV 50th Anniversary display.
In front of the toys/collectibles display and between the door were a few display cases in the center of the room. Here I found a few more items I had in my collection, like the record, View-Master, button, mug, and a few others.
I have a copy of this mask as well- loose, of course.
There were many rare items like these bat-heads, screen used Penguin sticker, and a signed script from the show.
To the left of the collectibles display were mannequins with costumes and props from many of the villains (and henchmen/women) from the show and Batman movie.
Throughout the exhibit’s displays they also had video clips from the show and a segment with Burt Ward/Robin.
Next to the villains display was a Batcave display, complete with a full-sized Batmobile, Batcycle, restored Batcomputer, Batgirl, and a duo of the Dynamic Duo.
One pair of mannequins were wearing original costumes…
…and the other pair were wearing very nice replica costumes, along with a replica Bat-shield.
I myself was wearing a limited edition Geeky Jersey! I love this show, and like it I was born in ’66- the Year of the Bat! The original costumes were kinda faded and worn, but the colors on the replica costumes were very much in full color!
It reminded me of watching the series’ washed out colors in syndication as a kid, and then getting to see them on the newly remastered DVDs/Blu-Rays– “Holy-In-Living-Color, Batman!” (Another gift from my Bat-enabling wife- thanks, Babe!)
Across from the Batcave display was Bruce’s study complete with Bruce and Dick mannequins, Shakespeare bust, Batphone, labeled Batpoles! Hanging in front of this (not shown) and going down the center of the exhibit was several photos and more info on the show. There were amazing bat-photos everywhere. The Batman EGGS-perts who put this on did an EGGS-ceptional job with all the details.
Also centered in the room there was an octagonal display case filled with original and replica props- one was actually a prop aircraft prop!
It was an autographed helicopter tail rotor from Eugene Nock’s original 1966 Batcopter. Several of the show’s stars had signed it. Lots of other great costume pieces and prop items like the Bat-phone, Batarangs, Batzooka, and Bat-repellents.
I’ve got a replica Robin Batarang in my collection that I got Burt Ward to sign for me at AdventureCon in Knoxville, TN several years ago. He was raising money for his Gentle Giants Dog Rescue. Over the years I’ve met Burt, Julie Newmar, and Yvonne Craig once each, Adam West twice, and got to see Frank Gorshin perform once at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis.
After checking out other exhibits and walking up and down several flights of stairs we decide to grab some lunch at Mel’s Drive-In diner located next to the museum in the Max Factor building. The food was great, but man did that root beer really hit the spot!
We had a great view of the Hollywood High School from our booth and could see the recently added John Ritter part of the mural. We also noticed this strange thing mounted to one of the walls…
After lunch we explored the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard and searched for some of our favorite stars’ stars. I found TV Batman Adam West and Batman co-creator Bob Kane’s next to each other, and just around the corner from the Hollywood Museum.
I found many other Batman related actors/actresses stars including BTAS Joker- Mark Hamill‘s. Also found this cool Batman standing on guard at one of the souvenir stores along the Walk of Fame.
Nicki was excited to find Lynda Carter‘s star, which had just been placed that week.
Nicki was working during the unveiling ceremony, but was happy to have her pic taken with it. Wonder Woman was her hero while growing up, and well- still is.
There were lots of other exhibits to see at the Hollywood Museum, including a new horror movie section with Elvira and their Dungeon Of Doom. I’ll post more about them and us being and meeting some “Beverly Hillbillies” later…as well as my trip to Gotham City Police Headquarters!
Y’all come back now, ya’ hear..?!
Lin
Visit the largest collection of costumes, props, posters and photographs Hollywood has to offer!
Open Wed. – Sun. 10am – 5pm
1660 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, CA 90028 (at Hollywood Blvd.)
(323) 464-7776
www.thehollywoodmuseum.com
The Hollywood Museum is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit corporation.
For more fun Batstuff, check out on the web:
The Batcave Podcast: Wally Wingert on the Hollywood Museum Batman ’66 Exhibit
13th Dimension– FIRST LOOK: Inside the BATMAN ’66 Museum Exhibit
13th Dimension– The 13 GROOVIEST THINGS at the BATMAN ’66 Museum Exhibit
13th Dimension– INSIDE LOOK: The BATMAN ’66 Museum Exhibit’s Epic Villains Display
13th Dimension– BATCOPTER Provides Piece of History at BATMAN ’66 Exhibit
13th Dimension– WARD and NEWMAR Look Ahead to ‘Spectacular’ BATMAN ’66 Exhibit
13th Dimension– BATMAN ’66 Exhibit Revamped — and Extended Again
13th Dimension– New Exhibit to Celebrate BATMAN, SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN
13th Dimension– close look at an original Batman costume
13th Dimension– close look at an original Robin costume
13th Dimension– close look at an original Batgirl costume
13th Dimension– close look at an original Catwoman costume
13th Dimension– close look at an original Riddler costume
13th Dimension– close look at an original 1966 Penguin Sub
13th Dimension- It’s BATCON: A Salute to the Vehicles of BATMAN ‘66
13th Dimension– New Exhibit to Celebrate BATMAN, SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN
13th Dimension– Len Wein: In His Own Words
Burt Ward’s Gentle Giants Dog Food
Have Geek Will Travel: M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your library’s display case!
“Our Valued Customers” comics by Mr. Tim (art below)
NOTE: I started this post and never finished it, but wanted to share it anyway since the play was so much fun! Sorry for the delay and slightly dated nature of this blog, but here’s the edited post as a Wayback Wednesday entry…even though it’s not THAT wayback!
Back on March 17, 2018 my wife Nicki and I got to attend the last performance of “Spamalot” at the Ruffin Theater in Covington, TN. It was a gorgeous Saturday night, and turned out to be a great date night for us.
Covington is not too far north of Memphis and Millington– about an hour and a half or so away for us in north Mississippi. I would say it’s a straight shot up HWY 51 for us, but we really didn’t take a straight shot up there. We had some other running around to do that day so we ended up taking another route. Was more of a straight shot on the way back home.
The theater sits on the town square and we were able to park near the Ruffin. I immediately dug the look of the old theater and its neon marquee. It reminded me of the Massac Theatre in Metropolis, IL, the Franklin Theatre in Franklin, TN, and a few others that are no longer standing in Memphis. The surrounding square looks a lot like what you might expect a small southern town square to look like, and reminded me a lot of Hernando where I live, and Prescott, AZ when I visited there. Everything was definitely in walking distance for us, and I wasn’t shocked to see a few Confederate statues/monuments near the courthouse. We’ve still got a lot of those around these parts- hey, it is the south.
We had some time to kill once we got to town, so we decided to grab some dinner at the Wyatt Earp’s Steak House. They have two locations, one here in Covington, and one in Millington, TN. My wife and I are fans of the “Wynonna Earp” TV show and I love the movie “Tombstone” so we both got a kick out of eating here.
I wasn’t hungry enough for a steak, so I just got a burger and some mashed potatoes. Both were excellent. We ran into our friend Kevin L. Williams, who was having dinner with a couple of his friends.
We had a nice walk back to the Ruffin. Ran into a few other folks we know, and saw a few locals walking their dogs around the courthouse- which looks a lot like the one from “Back To The Future“.
The inside of the theater was small, but not cramped feeling. Reminded me of some of the movie theaters I went to as a kid in Memphis. We found more of our friends inside and chatted for a bit until it was time to take our seats.
The play was put on by the local theater volunteers, including my friend Tim Brown and his daughter Rachel. Timmy was the lead- King Arthur.
Tim and his wife Traci were the Best Man and Matron of Honor at mine and Nicki’s wedding. He made a great King Arthur, and even grew a beard for it. My favorite character was “Patsy” and his coconuts. His performance of “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” was extremely entertaining, and I caught myself humming/whistling the song the rest of the night.
Timmy did the A/V and a lot of the costuming for the show, has helped out with MidSouthCon and the Superman Celebration, and will be a part of their upcoming “Legally Blonde” production. He asked if I could help out with painting a dress for the Lady of the Lake.
It started off as a dull grey dress Tim found at a thrift store, and I airbrushed some acrylic metallic blue, purple, and green on it. Looked great in the daylight, but didn’t shine and sparkle as much as I had hoped under the stage lights. Thankfully the actress loved the dress.
The play was a blast! I love “Monty Python And The Holy Grail” and have wanted to catch this show when it was at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. Glad I finally got to catch it. I enjoyed getting to meet several of the cast members, and grabbing some drinks and eats afterwards with Tim, Traci, Rachel, and some of our other friends.
Congrats to the cast and crew for putting on a SPAMtastic production of SPAMALOT!
Also, happy birthday to King Arthur himself- Tim Brown, and to my sister LaDonna.
Lin
113 W Pleasant Ave
Covington, TN 38019
(901) 610-6076
Coming soon:
Legally Blonde
July 20, 21, 27, 28 at 7pm
July 22, 29 at 2pm
When I go to Metropolis, IL I always drive there. It’s around 3 1/2hrs away or less- about the same distance/time as to get to Nashville. We usually drive my “Batmobile” (not the one above- I wish!) or my wife Nicki’s “Black Widow“. There’s always some super and batastic rides in town during the Superman Celebrtation. This year’s 40th Anniversary was no exception.
When we got to Superman Square at Market Street there was a this blue and red super-ride parked near the giant 15′ tall Superman statue. Near the statue is always a great photo op for these types of vehicles. Market Street and the statue area are where the main part of the celebration takes place. There’s a main tent on one side of the square, the Metropolis Chamber Of Commerce and gift shop are other, and the Superman statue is in the middle.
Just up Market Street and across from the Superman statue was this great classic car parked just outside of the Super-Museum. I really love the style of cars from the ’40-50s. There was just such great lines and attention to details- and lots of chrome! I miss the artistry and craftsmanship that went into designing and making cars back in that era.
One of the cars that stood out the most was an ’89 Batmobile replica car, also parked next to the Super-Museum on a side street just off Market. This car is HUGE!
The car belongs to the Bluff City Batman from Memphis, TN. That’s James Fyke the current owner (Jeremy Jones was there as well, but not pictured above), and Jeff Holland (AKA cosplayer/costumer Brin Londo) the former owner looking at the newly added dash and other additions . The Batmobile makes appearances all over, and many for charity including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and LeBonheur Children’s Hospital. I’ve seen it before at the Memphis Comic Expo.
This trip it was for photo-ops with Superman Celebration attendees. Many different Batman costumers and bat-fans like myself came out to have their photo made next to it. Saw a few BVS and Justice League Batflceks pose next to it while I was there.
One of the other Bluff City Batman team members was Chris Jowers. Chris is known for cosplaying around Memphis (especially for his Joker) and provided the voices fans heard coming from the Batmobile over the weekend.
Another fun vehicle was The Mystery Machine from the Scooby-Doo cartoons. If you haven’t watched Cartoon Network’s “The Scooby Doo Project” check it out here!
There are some super-rides that are in Metropolis 365 days a year- the Metropolis Police Department squad cars!
The police cars have an animated Superman flying on their sides. The police officers even have Superman on their uniform shoulder patches.
I’ve seen a few different models of police cars in Metropolis, but they all have had Superman along for the ride. I can’t find any of my pics from the Metropolis Fire Department, but they do have an awesome antique firetruck on display at the station near Superman Square.
Not all super-rides were cars. This cooler-scooter was, well- pretty cool! With the extreme Metropolis heat and the lack of good parking spots being available around town during the celebration this was a \S/uper-ingenious mode of transportation. I wish I had been quick enough to get video of it in action, because man was it quick!
These super-rides didn’t have any horsepower- it was all human-powered. The family on the left had stopped for snacks at one of the food vendors along Market Street. I highly recommend a footlong corndog and a lemon shake-up!
At previous celebrations I’ve also seen some \S/uper bikes and trikes. Didn’t see the Free Style Connection guys this year, but have been amazed at tricks like their “Superman-Seat-Grab” like above.
This -super-bike was in town for the 2004 Superman Celebration. That was the first year I met Joshua Boultinghouse– the current official Superman of Metropolis. Josh seemed right at home in Metropolis, and even won the costume contest that year. He’s a great guy, and stays in character as Superman all weekend. He’s always happy to stop and take a pic with attendees, and does one thing I like to see Superman do the most- smile. 🙂
A really great car I saw in town in 2015 was this Nash Rambler. It was at the car show and made a couple other stops around town. I heard it had actually been driven down from New York and was headed back there after the celebration. It was actually used as Lois Lane’s car in the original Superman TV series back in the ’50s!
I didn’t get to the car show in Massac State Park this year, but had a blast the year I did get to go. It’s not too far from downtown Metropolis (nothing in Metropolis really is), and is between the large ‘Welcome To Metropolis‘ sign and the I-24 exit. The whole park seemed full of amazing cars from all eras. I highly recommend checking it out if you get to the celebration. (Soon in a future blog I’ll tell you about the car show I got to see at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, CA.)
You’ll see many superman themed license plates and vanity plates around town, and there have been many customized \S/uperman themed rides that have attended the Superman Celebration.
Some are more super than others…like this \S/UPERMAG..!
This super ride had embroidered seats, the hood signed by “Superman Returns” star Brandon Routh, and even had a mini version of itself in the back.
Some cars around town are not only super on the outside, but carry some very super passengers inside.
This classic red and white Studebaker gave \S/uper-star Noel Neill a ride to her Lois Lane statue unveiling.
Once at 8th and Market street, Superman (Josh) was there to meet Noel and give her a hand getting out of the car owned by Cliff Helm– father of Lisa Gower and Karla Ogle, the co-chairs of the Superman Celebration. ‘Papa Cliff’ and ‘Mama Wanda’ can usually be seen helping out in the Artists Alley each year. The first time I saw Margot Kidder in person in Metropolis she was dropped off at the main tent in a white classic ’57 Corvette convertible– not too shabby!
Most, but not all rides are Superman related. This year there was a Spider-Man Van, with a couple of Spidermen and a great Kraven The Hunter cosplayers.
One custom car I usually see while in Metropolis is this Ecto-1X from Florida.
It belongs to my friends Jason Rawley and his wife Dawn. They both cosplay as Ghostbusters, and Jason has recently started appearing as a great Spider-Man, too. Got to run into them both at the Artists Alley this year.
A few years back one of my favorite car and celeb encounters was getting to see Butch Patrick‘s Munsters Koach– and getting to meet Eddie Munster himself!
Butch and his now wife Leila were set up near the Noel Neill/Lois Lane statue at 8th and Market Street. I got a signed Munsters photo from Butch.
Butch also brought along one of my other favorite TV show cars- Grampa Munster‘s The DRAGULA car!
I’ve got a few different toy versions of these two cars in my collection and I got a real kick out of finally getting to see these cars full sized in person.
You probably have guessed by now that I’m also a huge Batmobile fan (that’s my friend and comic artist Dave Beaty (L) with me).
The ’60s Batmobile is my favorite. There hasn’t been a Batmobile on TV or in the movies I haven’t liked, but this one I immediately fell in love with as a kid. It was originally a Ford Futura concept car, but was customized by George Barris for the Batman TV show starring Adam West. They made a few for the show, and the original #1 car sold for a few million dollars a couple years ago at auction. Fiberglass Freaks make officially licensed replica Batmobiles.
Jerry Lawler has a replica one in Memphis (that’s his Batmobile above when he was a guest in Metropolis in 2015), and I’ve seen a couple other replica “Bat-Cars” like the TV one, as well as a great Batboat in Metropolis.
I saw this Batboat on Superman Square, and then out in front of the Americana Hollywood Museum in down on Ferry Street a year or two later. With it being out in the open the elements had really taken a toll on it.
It was missing a canopy, had some interior damage, sun fading, and more. Broke my heart to see it so unprotected and worse for wear sitting outside like that. I didn’t go by there this year, but hope the museum decides to restore it and move it indoors with a proper ’60s Batman display to go with it…if it’s not already too late. 🙁
I’m also a big fan of “The Dukes Of Hazard“and the star of that show- The General Lee. It’s a ’69 Dodge Charger and they apparently became very rare not only because of fans of the show wanting one, but because they used somewhere around 300 or so ’68 and ’69 Chargers for the show. Many after the large jumps had to be retired, and later when the cars were getting too expensive to use they would reuse old jump footage and/or use radio controlled miniatures. A couple dozen or so more were used for the feature film, and I heard one even was repainted blue for the “SMALLVILLE” show episode with guest star Tom Wopat. Have seen one at other conventions and at Cooter’s Place in Nashville. The General Lee above was owned by Scott Romaine and was in Metropolis back in 2005 when I was a guest artist for the first time.
One of the celebrity guests that year was Bo Duke himself- John Schneider. My friend Dave Beaty’s mom Jane Shenks got these pics as John changed shirts for an interview with Mo Rocca for the Tonight Show. Yep, John can still hop in through the window!
I could go on and on about all the super rides I’ve seen while visiting Metropolis, but maybe you should come check them out for yourself in person. The Superman Celebration happens the second weekend in June each year. It’s a great (and mostly free) outing for the family, and if you’re a Superman fan or even just a car fanatic you really should think about making a road trip out to it.
Hope you have a \S/uper Sunday, and I hope to see you in Metropolis someday!
Lin
Back for the second part of mine and my wife Nicki’s day-trip up to Metropolis, IL for the 40th Anniversary of Superman Celebration. This time I’m focusing on some of the signs of Metropolis we saw. The one above is the big welcome sign that greets you as you enter town on US 45/5th St. from I-24. It’s located next to the Big John’s grocery store and Fort Massac State Park.
But before we got to that sign, we had to cross the Ohio River on I-24 from Paducah, KY. The towns are just a few minutes away from each other.
If you ever get to Metropolis, you might want to stop and explore downtown Paducah. We stayed there last year at one of the newer hotels off of I-24 and had a great time.
They’ve got a lot to do and explore, and we really enjoyed their arts district and river walk’s murals. Metropolis has several murals around town, too.
Although I must say my favorite sign/sight in Paducah was this very dapper catfish outside of the Captain D’s.
If you come into town from the other direction on N US-45 Rd./W 10th St. you may see this sign- or maybe an even newer one.
I saw someone post a different sign online, so this one may have been replaced. Which is good, considering it had looked a bit worse for wear before being replaced a few years ago with it’s missing “O”. Normally this would be my way in, but we had decided to drive through Cairo, IL (pronounced “Care-O”) and Paducah this trip. I couldn’t remember which exit I normally take and knew how to get to Metropolis through it. It’s really sad how the whole town seems to be falling in on itself. Parts of town seem to be a ghost town, and many buildings have been consumed by vines and other overgrowth.
Since we took 45/5th Street in off of 24, we drove by a row of motels, a few fields, a car dealership or two, some fast food places, Fort Massac State Park, the big welcome sign, Big John’s, and then into downtown. As you drive around town you may see many streets with new names such as “Truth“, “Justice“, “American Way“, and even “Lois Lane“.
The Metropolis Planet newspaper is located on 5th just before Ferry Street. It’s the town’s local newspaper and unlike its namesake The Daily Planet it only publishes weekly. If you visit it make sure to ask for Clark, Lois, and Jimmy’s business cards. 😉
Just up the street from The Planet as you pass Ferry Street sits the Massac Theatre. It opened in 1938 (the year Superman was first published), closed as a theatre around 1977, briefly used for WRIK radio, awarded to the city of Metropolis after a long imminent domain court battle, was placed on the city’s condemned properties list in 2009– when the Save the Massac committee was formed to save this historic building. It has since been cleaned out, had a new roof installed, and several fund raisers to help with the many other needed repairs and restoration.
I love old theaters and fell in love with The Massac’s architecture and charm- even though all the years of neglect were showing. I donated some art prints to help raise money for the Massac, and other art and collectibles for their annual charity auction. You can find out more about the Massac Theatre and how to donate at SaveTheMassac.com.
Across the street we saw one of the first Superman \S/ shields we would encounter that day. It was in front of Mayor Billy McDaniel’s office.
These were a fun addition to the celebration, and were up and down Market Street from the Superman Statue to the Noel Neill/Lois Lane statue on either side of the street in both directions.
Each shield had a description and the year of when it first appeared. I saw lots of people stopping, reading, and taking pics. I didn’t take a shot of each, but did check out many as we walked.
Before we headed up Market Street to see the midway parts of the Celebration we stopped by the Metropolis Chamber Of Commerce (right next to the giant 15′ Superman statue)- I had a nice surprise waiting for me inside. On the back of the 2018 Superman Celebration program guide was a pic of me and my cat Lex! It was from the day I adopted him in Metropolis- 3 years ago! (Front cover design by artist John Pinto.)
There are lots of signed posters and photos inside the Chamber of Commerce’s gift shop area.
To the right of the phone booth at the back of the main room is a picture of Joshua Boultinghouse– the official Superman of Metropolis. This particular one is not of him as Superman, but as a kid visiting Metropolis! Josh has definitely been working out- there’s no padding under the suit! He’s a great guy and stays in character all Celebration long.
Just above the phone booth is the 2005 poster on the left (designed by Steve Stanley) which has me listed as an artist guest for the first time in Metropolis. The 2013 red one on the rightt I designed (with José Luis García-López control art).
The art was used for merchandise like tees, programs, and posters that year. The staff shirts were blue, and the ones sold to the public were red. I almost wore my blue one, but decided not to because I’d be stopped every ten feet to answer questions! Best to go incognito when not working.
I also designed the previous year’s program and t-shirts. I think I have a coffee mug with this art on it, too. Again, García-López line art with my layout design and colors. I hope that the Superman Celebration can get him to Metropolis as a guest someday. He’s probably #1 on my comics creators list that I’d like to meet.
Out on Market Street there was a huge Margot Kidder banner for fans to sign and leave messages. She passed away just shortly before this year’s Superman Celebration. She had been a guest three times before, including last year.
As we continued up the street, we saw an “Artist Alley” sign which pointed to the new Artist Alley location in the former Bantera Bank location. It’s next to the Lois Lane statue at 8th and Market.
We heard a familiar voice from the tent just ahead, so we stopped to watch fellow Memphians Muley The Mule & Friends perform for a few minutes. Muley has emceed the kids costume contest for several years now.
Once inside the Artists Alley area, we immediately noticed the A/C was not working. When it’s hotter inside than outside in Metropolis- that’s HOT! We said hi to our friends Mama Wanda and Papa Cliff (the parents of Karla and Lisa who are the co-chairs of the Celebration). They always volunteer to help out with Artists Alley. The first celeb guest we met was Aaron Smolinski who played toddler Kal-El in “Superman: The Movie“. He’s also appeared in “Superman III” and “Man of Steel“. I heard his interview on Comic Book Central with Joe Stuber and he mentioned that director Richard Donner got him to come out of the crashed spaceship by offering him some Juicy Fruit gum! I knew he had recently had a birthday so I presented him with a big pack of Juicy Fruit. He laughed and asked me if he had to get naked! I told him no, but heard that over the weekend he actually did appear in just the red cape wrapped around him.
I had already met some of the other guests, and since they were all about to go on lunch break we decided to go to the next room and meet some of the artists and writers there. We bought some prints from John Pinto, and bought some plush Super-Pets from Art Baltazar.
Art was nice enough to draw a couple sketches for us- an Ace The Bat-Hound for me, and a Streaky The Cat for Nicki…AW YEAH!
Nicki was okay with me bringing home the plush pets and sketches this trip to Metropolis, but there is a standing rule that I can’t bring home any more actual pets!
We headed back down the street to catch the Q&A with Joe Stuber and SyFy’s Krypton TV show stars Blake Ritson/Braniac and Shaun Sipos/Adam Strange under the main tent (you can see my pics from that here and listen to it here).
Something I hadn’t seen before was someone on a panel doing sign language. Kudos to the Superman Celebration and sign interpreter Abby Morrissey for providing this service for the attendees. I know of a few attendees with hearing difficulty or are completely deaf. Would love to see more events/conventions do this as well.
Next to the tent is the above sign on the side of the Super Museum. This is where they usually take pics of the costume contest winners.
After the Krypton Q&A there was a storm blowing in so we decided to take some shelter and do lunch at Fat Edd’s Roadhouse. We had parked our car across the street from it so we dropped off some of the items we had picked up at Artists Alley to the trunk. While placing our order at the front counter, I saw a sign/can for donations to help with spaying/neutering local Metropolis cats. I’d seen a couple living in the abandoned Massac Theatre a few years ago, and my cat Lex was abandoned at the carnival in Metropolis during the 2015 Superman Celebration. I had to drop a few bucks in the can to help.
We ordered a couple burgers, fries, and some Kryptonite drinks. My friend Kevin L. Williams (Muley) called as we were sitting down so he came down to join us. Then a few minutes later our friend Eddy Zeno (writer of “Curt Swan: My Life In Comics“) and his girlfriend joined us a few minutes later as well. Then the thunderstorm joined us! Wow, we timed getting indoors just right.
The food, drink, and company was great. The burgers were HUGE 1/2 pound patties, and the Kryptonite drinks were very refreshing- especially in the Metropolis heat. May have to try one of the other drinks they offer- the Mr. Freeze sounded interesting…
We ran into Joe Stuber and his wife going to Fat Edd’s as we were leaving it. I heard later that weekend they both got to have dinner with Josh and original TV Superboy John Haymes Newton. I hate I didn’t get a chance to meet John while we were there. If you haven’t seen the animated shorts by Robb Pratt you need to watch them. Met Robb a few years ago when he was in Metropolis and he’s done Superman Classic, Bizarro Classic, and Flash Gordon Classic cartoons that John and his wife Jennifer provide voice-work for. They are AMAZING! I really wish we could get a full length animated movies like these. Would love to see Robb try his hand at a Rocketeer animated one, too.
After lunch we talked a bit more to Kevin and then walked back up to Market Street. We did some shopping at the “Super-Con” which is where one of the previous Artists Alley was back when I set up there. It was pretty cramped and hot so we didn’t stay very long. Nicki left to go wait outside and get a bit of air while I made a couple small purchases. We were still a bit full from lunch, but as we headed back down Market towards the statue and main tent we saw a sign for Sissy’s: A Sweet Shoppe. It was new and looked interesting so we decided to stop and check it out.
They had a nice sidewalk patio outside, a mural on the outside of the building, and inside the place looked and smelled amazing! Was great to see a new business like this on Market Street, and the bay next door fixed up and ready to be rented instead of boarded up. There have been so many empty storefronts over the years. We sat down and tried some ice cream- it really hit the spot! We felt like we were cheating on our local Area 51 Ice Cream back home a bit. Look forward to going back and checking out their coffee and other deserts.
Most people have their picture made with the giant Superman statue, and now the Lois Lane one, but I also like to visit the even bigger Big John statue and have my pic taken with it as well while I’m in town. Not sure exactly how big the big guy is, but definitely over 15 feet tall!
It was 8pm before we knew it and we had a 3hr or so trip back home ahead of us, so we did some quick last minute shopping at the Chamber, took a few more pics on our way out of town, and then hit the road.
Normally I have a footlong corndog and a lemonade shake-up while I’m at the Superman Celebration- it’s tradition. We were so full from the burgers, fires, and ice cream that I passed on them this year. I would have been miserably full on the ride back home.
One last thing- not really a sign, but one of the coolest things about Metropolis is that the local police have Superman on their patches and squad cars! I’ll show you that and more Super-vehicles and some cosplay in my next blog entry…
Stay \S/uper!
Lin
\S/UPER-LINKS:
Metropolis Chamber Of Commerce
Additional photos by Nicki Workman and Jason Rawley.
This year is filled with Super-anniversaries- Superman’s 80th birthday, 60th birthdays for Brainiac and Adam Strange, 40th anniversary of Superman: The Movie, 30th anniversary of the Superboy TV series, 25th anniversary of the Lois & Clark TV series, and the 40th anniversary of the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, IL. I’ve been going to Metropolis for the Superman Celebration since 1999, and so far have only missed one year. Some years I was an artist guest, but this year I was just there enjoying the event as a fan again. It’s a 4 day long event, but my wife Nicki and I decided to do a day trip up and back on that Saturday. It’s about a 3-3 1/2 hour drive for us.
There were many celebrity and artists guests again this year. I got to see two of them- SyFy’s Krypton TV show stars Blake Ritson and Shaun Sipos, and took a few shots of the two “men in black” in front of the giant Superman statue in town square.
I got there a few minutes early to get a good spot for my shots. Usually I end up having to try and shoot over the crowds and fight the sun. Not always an easy thing to do- especially at my height. This year there were more clouds than normal, and I got a good position. Used my iPhone and Nicki’s digital SLR. Had to go manual for the shots with the digital camera. It kept wanting to focus on the statue, and I’m not familiar enough with the settings to change anything…D’oh! Definitely need more practice.
Shaun (L) plays Adam Strange, and Blake (R) plays Brainiac. Blake is MUCH younger than I expected after seeing him in the Brainiac make-up.
The two were cracking jokes with each other and the crowd for a few minutes while posing for fan photos. This usually happens before or after each of the main Q&As. (Hint-hint!)
Following the traditional statue photo op, the two walked over to the main tent for the Krypton TV Q&A. It’s one of the first times I have seen someone doing sign-language for the hearing impaired audience members. I would love to see more events do this!
The Q&A was emceed by Comic Book Central‘s host Joe “Stuberman” Stuber. I’ve been listening to Joe’s podcast for a couple years now. I like to listen to episodes while working on comics and updating my websites in my Batcave studio. I’m listening to his latest Metropolis Superman Celebration episode right now (Ep.229). He also does The Indy Cast and has had several guest appearances on other podcasts.
The two Krypton stars gave some insights on being cast for the show, behind the scenes stories, traded quips/jokes, how they prepared, what comics they studied for their roles, and some other personal info during Joe’s interview and when they turned the mic over to the audience to ask questions.
Again I shot some with my iPhone and some with Nicki’s digital camera. Shot manual again because the camera kept wanting to focus on the tent in the background. The lighting was kind of bad under the tent, but Nicki was nice enough to help correct them some in Lightroom for me. There are several photographers I’ve gotten to know in Metropolis, and once I get my own digital camera again I want to pick their brains for some advice on shooting events like this.
I stood on the left and right sides of the tent, and used a zoom lens to get most of my shots. I didn’t want to get in the way of others or up in the faces of the panelists. Tried to be more of a fly on the tent wall. Blake mentioned wanting to play a couple of Batman villains- the Riddler or Joker..! I would totally approve of that casting.
There were thunderstorms rapidly approaching Metropolis so they went ahead and wrapped up the session before the weather got nasty. I remember the 2004 storm all too well!
It was a fun Q&A, and Joe will be posting the entire event on CBC next week. Looking forward to listening to that panel again. I missed a bit here and there just trying to focus on taking pics!
One super-fan audience member got to go home with a special prize- an official replica Superman cape that Shaun and Blake signed at the end of the Q&A. He won it for asking the best question during the Q&A when he asked Blake what types of things did he collect. Great question for Brainiac!
That question inspired a couple HGWT comic strips for me- I made sure to write/sketch those ideas down before I forgot them!
The Brainiac one is now up, and I’ll be posting the Batman one to go along with one of my future Hollywood trip blog posts. LOTS of stuff to share from that trip.
I’ve typed back and forth with Joe Stuber for a while now about his podcast, the Superman Celebration, comics, hockey, and his time living in Memphis. He lives in Ohio- the birth state of Superman. This was the first time I’ve gotten to meet up with him in person. Like most of my encounters that day it only lasted a few minutes. Hope to actually get to sit down and talk with him, instead of just saying hi/bye in passing to him and his wife. This trip we ran into them as we were leaving Fat Edd’s and they were heading there. I swear I think there was a 5min time limit on most of my conversations that day..!
Back before my heart surgery I did a special Flash/Trickster sketchcover to celebrate Comic Book Central’s 4th anniversary. Joe mentioned me and the giveaway in a teaser on CBC Ep.196, and then made the big announcement on Ep.197. Have talked with Stuberman about doing another one for Batman’s 80th birthday next year.
I’ll be back soon with more recollections, reviews, and photos from the event. Nicki and I crammed a lot of stuff into one day, so I’ll be breaking my trip up into a few different posts. You can read about my past trips to the Superman Celebration by checking out my HGWT archives page.
Stay \S/uper!
Lin
Links for this blog entry:
