Pilgrimage to see where Superman was born well worth the trip

Superman was created 75 years ago and has been fighting off the bad guys and meeting his newsroom deadlines ever since.
Some think that Superman is from the far-off planet of Krypton, but he was really conceived in a small neighborhood on Cleveland’s west side. Writer Jerry Siegal and artist Joe Shuster, high school students in 1933, came up with the idea for Superman, but he wasn’t officially born into the Detective Comics — Later DC Comics— universe until June of 1938 when “Action Comics #1” was released with the “Man of Steel” on the cover lifting an automobile over his head.
2013 is recognized as the official 75th birthday of Superman — or Clark Kent, as he is known in the Daily Planet newsroom. Cleveland is only about a two-and-a-half hour drive from the office here at The News-Herald Newspapers, so I knew early in the year that I would have to finally make my pilgrimage to the place of his birth.
SLIDESHOW: Photos from my trip to the House of "El"
I’ve been to Cleveland a time or two before, for wrestling tournaments when I was in high school and other various reasons, but I’d never had the opportunity to visit the places where Schuster and Siegal thought up the idea for Superman.

Therefore, that became one of my goals for 2013.
As the year went along, week after week, I couldn’t find the time to go.
Finally the first week of December, I knew it was likely my last chance to make it this year. I planned ahead, and even managed to slip in a work-related trip to the “A Christmas Story,” house that is only a few miles away from where Superman was born.
Barring interruption from Lex Luthor or some other member of Superman’s gallery of rogues, I would make my journey and be able to photograph it as well.
Superman has long been a character I followed, but once I decided that working at a newspaper was the way of my future, he shot way up the list. Sure, there are other heroes that work in the news business —such as Billy Batson in the “Captain Marvel” comics or Peter Parker from the “Spider-Man” comics — but few work as reporters at a newspaper. Clark Kent was just that.
The character has undergone many changes in his 75 years, but many aspects of him have stayed the same. He still stands for truth and justice — regardless of what “Man of Steel” director Zach Snyder changes about the character in last summer’s blockbuster or the pending sequel.
The character is a man of character, and also never misses a deadline. For someone in the business, that’s something to be accounted for.

His origin story is well known to those who follow the comics: Born as Kal-El on the planet Krypton, Superman was put into a rocket ship and blasted to Earth by his scientist father just moments before the planet exploded.
Krypton was a planet under a red sun, so once on Earth with our yellow sun he was slowly imbued with powers that included impenetrable skin, super strength, super hearing, super eyesight, heat vision, freeze breath, super speed and the ability to fly.
In the hands of a different man, those abilities could have meant the end of the world as we know it, but he was also instilled with a strong moral compass by his adoptive parents on Earth, Jonathan and Martha Kent.
Given the name of Clark Kent, he was raised on a farm in Kansas and eventually moved to Metropolis where he would be able to help more people. Initially, he took the job of a reporter so that he could be around when news of major events happened. In recent years, the character was updated for the modern world. He quit his job at the Daily Planet and struck out on his own to become a blogger.
The comics, the television shows — both live-action and animated — video games and other places where the character and I managed to interact were magical as a child.
I’m still a big fan — that won’t be changing anytime soon.

So on that day in early December, I grabbed my jacket and away I went. Once in Cleveland I took care of the business side of the trip first, which included a tour of the house from “A Christmas Story,” and then headed over to Siegal’s house.
The house is nothing special on its own, but there are a few Superman logos on the house and the fence in front has a large logo and short tale about Siegal growing up there. Rather than turn the house into a museum though, a family still lives there. The house was decorated with holiday lights while I was there.
At first it seemed a bit strange just to stop in the middle of a neighborhood and snap photos of a house, but I figure they wouldn’t be putting the signs up if the family didn’t want gawkers to stop and admire.
The next stop was an empty field a few blocks over. The house where Shuster grew up is long gone, but the property remains with a fence around it.
Being that he was the artist of the duo, large replicas of the first 13-page Superman story were hung on the fence around the property. Unfortunately, they aren’t all there anymore. A few years ago a drunken driver smashed through the fence and destroyed some of the signs. They haven’t been fixed yet.
After snapping a few photos there, the last stop on my self-guided Superman tour was a sign declaring

Cleveland the home of Superman. The sign was placed in a small park just outside of the neighborhood that Shuster and Siegal grew up in.
Having stopped to see the sign, the journey home began. Sure it only took about 15 minutes to see all three stops, and it was almost six hours in a car to do it, but I’d do it all again if anyone wanted a traveling partner for their own pilgrimage.
The only real snafu on my trip through the houses of El, that jacket I grabbed at the beginning of the day had a Batman logo and the words “The Dark Knight,” splayed across the front.

ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL X-MEN: NO MORE HUMANS

 Marvel Entertainment is excited to announce an all-new Original Graphic Novel, X-MEN: NO MORE HUMANS by best-selling author and classic X-Men scribe Mike Carey (X-Men) and superstar artist Salvador Larroca (X-Men, Invincible Iron Man). This 128-page hardcover hits comic shops and bookstores everywhere on May 7^th, 2014 and is the first X-MEN Original Graphic Novel since the classic X-MEN: GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS.

“We are so lucky to have Mike Carey, one of the most popular X-Men writers of the last ten years, who just happens to be a best-selling novelist, and Salvador Larroca, whose runs on X-Treme X-Men, X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Cable and X-Force earned him a place in all X-Fans hearts,” says Senior Editor Nick Lowe.

Following the shattering events of the “Battle of the Atom” the X-Men awaken to find all the world’s humans gone. From normal everyday folks to the Avengers and Fantastic Four, all Homo sapiens have disappeared. It’s up to the disparate sides of the X-Men to come together, get to the bottom of this mystery and find a way to get the humans back. But do all of the mutants want their human brethren to return?

“’Battle of the Atom’ was the perfect launching pad for X-MEN: NO MORE HUMANS, in a lot of different ways,” states writer Mike Carey. “It raised, in a very direct and powerful way, the question of how the X-Men influence the world around them, for good or bad - and it introduced Raze - a fascinating new villain, conflicted and with his own scary and consistent agenda.  I came in at just the right time to bounce off that.”

Carey continues, “X-MEN: NO MORE HUMANS is an X-Men story in a classic mold - one that pits the mutant heroes, not just against external enemies, but also against each other, forcing them to confront their own ideals and prejudices as they cope with world-changing and potentially world-ending events.”

X-MEN: NO MORE HUMANS will also include a code for a free digital copy of the graphic novel and a free digital copy of X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1 on the Marvel Comics app for iOS and Android devices.

REVIEW: ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ captures heart behind classic children’s story

“Saving Mr. Banks”

Starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks

Directed by John Lee Hancock

“Saving Mr. Banks” is the story behind the making of the 1964 hit film “Mary Poppins.” It is a tale of classic conflict between the author of the book, P.L. Travers, and movie magnate Walt Disney.

Travers (Emma Thompson) is very defensive of her book and determined not to allow her story to become on screen a typical Disney spectacular. On the other side is Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) bending over backward to accommodate Travers and unable at first to convince her that making a movie is a different venture than writing a book, even when the movie is based on a book.

But “Saving Mr. Banks” is about more than the typical conflict between a writer and a filmmaker; it is the story of a conflict within the writer herself, as Travers has constant flash backs to her difficult childhood in Australia highlighted by memories of her father (Colin Farrell), whom she adores despite his acute alcoholism. And why not? The author’s father (whose name is Travers Goff) is warm to his children (especially to the author herself) and even an attentive husband, despite a fatal strain of alcoholism.

The significance of the movie is the revelation that the story of Mary Poppins was (and is) an autobiographical work. This was by no means conventional wisdom when the film premiered in 1964 and until the making of “Saving Mr. Banks” was a fact very much neglected.

And who was Mary Poppins? She was the author’s Aunt Ellie (Rachel Griffiths) and the sister of the author’s mother, Margaret Goff (Ruth Wilson). Of course, she did not fly in courtesy of an umbrella. But through the eyes of a child, her appearance at the troubled home of the author’s family was so transforming that it was as if she had flown in.

Back to the 1961 movie negotiations, the author Travers is next to impossible. She is hypersensitive to any innovation that would in the least compromise the book. Insistent upon the film not being a musical, it is like pulling teeth to get Travers to agree to each and every song in the movie.

But if Travers is wary of “Mary Poppins” being made into a musical, she is hostile to the idea of the movie being animated. And when she learns of a bit of animation featuring dancing penguins, Travers storms out on the movie and returns home to England (without having released the rights to the story to Disney).

Disney himself follows Travers back to England, showing up at her door in London in the dead of night. Thompson and Hanks show great acting ability in this scene, as the chemistry between the author and the filmmaker is palpable.

Most compelling about this scene (and perhaps the movie itself) is how Disney quietly assures Travers that he is going to treat her story with the utmost care. And he is able to do this when he communicates to the author his understanding that it is Mr. Banks (based on the author’s father), rather than Mary Poppins, of whom Travers is most protective.

Disney is very insightful in his knowledge that the author must protect Mr. Banks as a sympathetic character in a way she was not able to do as a child — thus, the story of “Saving Mr. Banks.”

It is a very moving story and could even be described as an emotional rollercoaster. But the quality of the movie is constant and is not a rollercoaster ride.

In “Saving Mr. Banks,” director John Lee Hancock has delivered a triumphant film with no shortage of the human element.

This article was written by John O'Neill for Digital First media, reprinted with permission.

Nerdcore performers wrap up midwest comic book store tour

Adam WarRock

   Most musicians dream of performing to sellout crowds in large venues and having their names up in lights.      For Adam WarRock and Tribe One, however, they just want to play in comic books shops and similar venues where they can be close to the fans.
   WarRock, otherwise known as Eugene Ahn, and Tribe One, otherwise known as Niles Gray, performed at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn recently.
   Both perform rap songs about various pop culture-related things, namely comic books, movies, TV shows and video games. Their music falls within the Nerdcore category. Nerdcore can be any type of music that is “for nerds, by nerds,” though most people identify is as a sub-genre of hip-hop.
   The performed to a crowd of about 50 people at the Green Brain Comics show.
   “It was a big crowd,” WarRock said. “I’ve performed for as few as two people when I was first starting out. It’s different every place. It depends on the weather, the day, if there is traffic that day. It’s such low stakes because its a comic book store and a free show.
   “As long as there is somebody there, we’ll put a show on.”

Tribe One

   The pair, who recently completed their “Middle of Nowhere,” tour couldn’t be more different. The tour was named after WarRock’s third album. WarRock is considerably shorter and quite slender compared to Tribe One, who stands north of 6 feet tall and is quite imposing.
   For WarRock, his music is more of a conversation with fans, it’s about getting it out to the audience as quickly as possible. Tribe One, on the other hand, takes his time and spends weeks or even months to complete a song.
   “If I have a beat and an idea,” WarRock said, “it probably takes about an hour to write a song for my website. The free music that I release on my website was always intended to be sloppy, the first draft of a song just kind of throwing it out there, an audio sketchbook like some artists have sketchbook blogs.
   “Now I try to make it sound as good as I can. I’m a fast writer because I don’t really care about it being perfect. I care that it’s out there, that it’s in existence and then I want to move on to the next thing. The website was always meant to be an exercise in fast writing.”
   WarRock said that at least once he’s taken his computer in the recording studio with him and written a song line by line as he recorded, finishing a song in about 20 minutes.
   Tribe One takes his writing to the other extreme.
   “I’m the polar opposite of him,” he said. “It can take anywhere from an hour to a month or two to write a verse. I’m definitely a perfectionist. I have to fit things within certain cadences and rhyme patterns.
   When pressured, Tribe One said that he can write quickly, but it’s not his normal working space.
   “That’s why he’s a much better wordsmith and rhymer than most people in our crew,” WarRock said. “I’m the most prolific, because I just want more stuff out there. I don’t want to be held back. I don’t care about making the perfect song about Hawkeye, I just want to talk about Hawkeye. It leads to conversation with fans. It becomes this excitable conversation. That’s the most fun part of it.”

Getting started
   Tribe One spent eight years as a librarian in Atlanta, Ga. before deciding to go his own way and become a full-time rapper.
   “I was offered a chance to go on tour with MC Chris,” he said. “I was two years away from a vested retirement. It’s very difficult to get permission to leave a job for two months so I had to make a decision. This is what I’ve always wanted to do.”
   WarRock, an ivy league lawyer, was working in Washington D.C. and hating every minute of it before he started recording music like he had in college.
   “My office was near a little wine shop,” he said. “Everyday I’d stop and buy a bottle of wine, it was a very bad time. Eventually I got to the point where I told my boss I didn’t want to work there anymore.

WarRock and TribeOne with
Dan and Katie Merritt of Green Brain Comics.

   “He told me to make sure, so I went back to my office and made a few phone calls. That’s how I became a professional musician.”

Building an album
   The music on his website is just that, music for the web. When it comes to building an album, WarRock is much more concerned with how perfect the songs are.
   “I start building a track list in my head,” he said, “and work on them together from there. The album I just released, ‘The Middle of Nowhere,’ I probably spent about a eight to 10 months working on it. I think about it as a whole first track to end track.”
   For Tribe One, the album-building process is a bit different.
   “I always start with a beat,” he said. “I listen to the emotion that the music is trying to convey, to see what kind of pockets that I can find in the beat.”
   In addition to his three albums, WarRock has released several “mix-tapes,” or short compilations of songs about various topics including “The Browncoats Mixtape” about the canceled TV show “Firefly;”    “Juggernaut;” “My New Warriors;” and “The West Coast Avengers,” which is all about Marvel Comics characters.
   Tribe One has a self-titled album out as part of the duo, “Malibu Shark Attack,” completely put together with a partner that he has never met.
   “We work completely over the Internet,” he said. “He’s in Ireland; we just send things back and forth.”
   He also has a forthcoming album, “Dirty South Swamp Thing.”
   Both artists release their albums independent of major recording labels.

Naming rights
   “The story on my name is terrible,” Tribe One said.
   He started as a battle rapper, and named himself Diatribes.
   “For a battle rapper, that’s perfect,” he said. “I looked it up in the dictionary, it means ‘abusive speech.’”
   When the battle rapping was over, he shortened the name to “Tribe,” and added the “One” after he discovered Myka 9, a Los Angeles-based rapper.
   WarRock’s name also came about in an unconventional way. His name stems from the comic character Adam Warlock.
   His first album was a narrative re-telling of Marvel Comics’ “The Infinity Gauntlet,” story line, told through a series of rap battles.
   “It’s my favorite comic of all time,” WarRock said. “I love it, some people might think it’s terrible when you read it now, but I don’t think so.
   “It’s a tragic story about a guy trying to impress a girl, who happens to be dead. Nothing he does pleases her, so instead decides to destroy half of the sentient life in the universe. What pre-teen kid can’t relate to that?”
   The story line is a battle between Thanos and Warlock.
   “I thought Adam Warlock was a cool name, but I didn’t want to call myself that,” he said. “I was doing a podcast ... the name was War Rocket HS, which is a “Flash Gordon” reference.
   “We ran that for a while, and I started making music for the show. That’s where the name came from.”
   Despite both of their seemingly unique names, both have run into issues with others having the same name, which sometimes causes confusion among the fans.
   Tribe One has a group that produced remixed versions of the “Austen Powers” soundtracks uploaded to Spotify under the same name.
   “Now he gets confused with world bands,” WarRock said.
   Tribe One said that he’s not sure if it’s a single person or a group of people that perform on the remixes. There is also some confusion with a youth outreach group from Tennessee that shares his name.
   “I’m the other Tribe One,” he said with a laugh.
   WarRock has a man from the Philippines with his name and a New York-based rapper that performs under the name of Adam Warlock.
   “I’m sorry that I ruined his (Search Engine Optimization) for life,” he said. “(Warlock) makes indy noise-rap. Every time we do shows everyone confused us for each other. When I first came out I think he was mad, but we’re kind of weirdly friendly now. We’ve squashed the beef.”

Nerdcore performers
   Some performers have struck out against the term Nerdcore, but the duo have both embraced the community that surrounds it.
   “I don’t think it’s that (performers) don’t like it,” WarRock said. “It’s that we all have this struggle. We don’t want people thinking that they are going to hear one kind of music and then be disappointed with our music.
   “I honestly don’t care what people call what I do. The categories and sub-genres are all for the categorizers, not for the artists. If you need to put us in a certain category in your CD store in the mall, fine, you can put us wherever you want to. But we don’t really think about it when we make music.”
   Both said that they like the nerdcore scene, and that any controversy over the name is over-hyped.
   “I love the nerdcore scene,” Tribe One said. “It’s one of the few communities that is a community and enthusiastic.
   WarRock added that the fans understand the support needed for the artists.
   “A lot of people work in tech jobs and really get it,” he said. “Unlike the punk rock kids, who have had music be free their whole lives and are just like ‘Let’s hear this band play.’ Or ‘I can just download this later.’”
   “Nerds get it, they’ve had ‘Firefly,’ taken away from them, they’ve had shows and books canceled on them that they love. They understand what it means to put their wallets behind something to show the corporate overlords that they need to keep this thing that I love on. That’s why nerds are awesome.
   For more information on WarRock, check out his website at Adamwarrock.com. For more information on Tribe One, check out his website at Tribeonewon.wordpress.com

MARVEL ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT WITH ARTIST MAHMUD A. ASRAR

 Marvel Entertainment is excited to announce the exclusive agreement with newest Wolverine and the X-Men artist, Mahmud Asrar.

Reflecting on how he got started with his Marvel work, Asrar reminisced, “The first time I worked for Marvel was back in 2007. I was to do a Nova annual where I'd be retelling the origin of the character. I was already pressured to be doing my first work for Marvel but I was to reinterpret a story originally drawn by John Buscema - one of my all-time biggest influences. Talk about anxiety! That gig and several others after that, along with years of doing other comic work, I was offered to work on an Ultimate X-Men story."

He may not have been in the industry for long, but Asrar knows that when the stars align, he needed to take the leap, “The timing was just right so I took it on even though I was doing an ongoing book at the time. That work led to more offers by Marvel which I was excited about, however, CB Cebulski knew I had a weak spot for Wolverine so he asked if I'd be interested in doing Wolverine and the X-Men with Jason Latour. The lure worked and I just couldn't resist jumping on board.”

The appeal of entering the hallowed halls of the, now titled, “School for Higher Learning” has enticed creators since its inception with the original X-Men and it has always energized artists to bring their own unique style to the student body, “What I've always enjoyed about the original X-Men was that they were students in a weird school so it's exciting that we'll have the opportunity to tell the story of a new breed of X-Men with a new mentor. Visually we'll have the school remain as a school, which means the children will be in uniform. Even the Bamfs will be in uniform.”

Asrar does, however, promise introducing new visual dynamics to the school and its new student body, “The most distinguishable changes will be in some of the kids who have a changed status in the school hierarchy. Especially Quentin Quire springs to mind, who is now a teacher at the school. He's being put in a most unexpected position which will lead to interesting situations.”

When asked who he is looking most forward to visually tackling, Asrar continues, “Aside from getting to draw some of the original X-Men I'm looking forward to draw Fantomex. He's one I wasn't expecting but I suppose Jason [Latour’s] writing has my interest piqued.”

Once again, Marvel is excited to welcome Mahmud Asrar's kinetic and expressive work exclusively to Wolverine and the X-Men, the Marvel Universe and all Marvel Properties.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'

Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON.

115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

The Wait is Over! Your First Look at the Remastered MIRACLEMAN #1

 The series that changed comics forever finally returns in 2014, and Marvel is proud to present your first look at the remastered MIRACLEMAN #1! Long out-of-print, these timeless, groundbreaking stories injected a new sophistication into the super hero genre still felt today.

“When these stories were originally colored, the artists were never consulted – and it shows” said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. “The coloring methods used at the time really hurt the finished product. But through close collaboration with all the artists, we’re proud to now present these stories in a manner that matches their creative vision.”

Working in closely with the original series artists, MIRACLEMAN has been remastered using the original artwork in every instance possible – and the most advanced restoration methods available applied to ensure the most authentic reading experience based on the artists’ original visions for the series.

“You’ve never really seen Miracleman, until you’ve seen this Miracleman,” said legendary Miracleman artist Garry Leach.“I’m positive this will rapidly be recognized as the all-time, definitive, Miracleman series. It’s simply looking that ridiculously sharp!”

In addition to material originally published in Warrior Magazine, MIRACLEMAN #1 also includes character designs, pencil sketches, original art, an article chronicling the history of Marvelman/Miracleman, an interview with Miracleman creator Mick Anglo, as well as a Mick Anglo’s first Marvelman stories. Don’t miss your opportunity to experience the most popular comic few have ever read when MIRACLEMAN #1 makes it’s long overdue return to comic shops this January.