Superman’s Earthly Birthplace? It’s Cleveland, and It’s Embracing Its Hero.; The New York Times, August 1, 2025

 George Gene Gustines, The New York Times; Superman’s Earthly Birthplace? It’s Cleveland, and It’s Embracing Its Hero.

"In a 2007 article, Sangiacomo asked, “Isn’t it time Cleveland embraced its most famous son?” That article then led to the formation of the Siegel and Shuster Society, a nonprofit that is now spearheading the construction of the Superman memorial. (Sangiacomo is a founding board member and the vice president of the society.)...

The Siegel & Shuster Superman Plaza will sit at the city’s Huntington Convention Center and include statues of Superman in midflight, of Siegel and Shuster, and of Siegel’s wife, Joanne, the original model for Lois Lane...

For Siegel and Shuster, it was a long journey to publication after they created their superhero. They pitched Superman to many publishers before National Comics Publications, the forerunner of DC Comics, took a chance on him in 1938. Having no clue how successful the character would become, the pair sold the rights to their creation for just $130 (around $3,000 in today’s dollars). When they later tried to renegotiate, DC Comics stripped them of credit and denied them further work. Siegel eventually became a typist in Los Angeles and Shuster a messenger in Manhattan. It was not until the 1970s that a publicity campaign brought them recognition and a substantial annuity...

Justin M. Bibb, the mayor of Cleveland, said in an interview that he understood why Superman resonates today in these “chaotic and challenging times.”

“People want to feel good about being better neighbors to one another,” he said. “And so, hopefully, this film inspires us all to be our own version of our best selves.”"

James Gunn Says ‘Superman’ Is An “Immigrant” Story About “Basic Human Kindness”; Deadline, July 6, 2025

 Natalie Oganesyan , Deadline; James Gunn Says ‘Superman’ Is An “Immigrant” Story About “Basic Human Kindness”

"Long established as an allegory for the immigrant experience, especially when viewed through the personal histories of Superman‘s comic book co-creators — second-generation Jewish immigrants Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn said his forthcoming film entry of Kal-El keeps in tune with the original 1938-created vision.

“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” the Superman helmer told The Times U.K. in a new profile. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”"

'Take that, Mr Hitler': the Jewish roots of superheroes; The Guardian, January 30, 2020

Jennifer Rankin, The Guardian; 'Take that, Mr Hitler': the Jewish roots of superheroes 

Exhibition at Jewish Museum of Belgium traces backgrounds of heroes including Superman, Batman and Captain America

"An exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels is tracing the Jewish backgrounds of the US’s best-known superheroes, including Superman, Batman and Captain America...

Persecution was also explored in popular culture by the duo who created Captain America and Hulk, in their later series X-Men, launched in 1963. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee were both sons of Jewish immigrants. In X-Men, mutants are victimised for their differences.

Superheroes Never Die, at the Jewish Museum of Belgium, until 26 April"

'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Celebrates Inclusion; NPR, December 22, 2018

Chris Klimek, NPR; 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Celebrates Inclusion

"The animated film argues that movies are better if you open them up to everyone. The movie says, "Anyone can wear the mask," and indeed, multiple characters do, including Miles Morales, the first Afro-Latino Spidey."

Stan Lee Unleashed the Heroic Power of the Outcast; Wired, December 13, 2018

Adam Rogers, Wired; Stan Lee Unleashed the Heroic Power of the Outcast

"From the fantasy-pulp midden, Lee had excavated a gem of a truth: These tales about men and women in garish tights hitting each other were also about more. Super­heroes had incredible abilities, yes, but they were also often the victims of prejudice themselves, or trapped in moral webs stronger than anything Spider-­Man ever thwipped. So the comics appealed to people who felt the same, even before Lee and the other Marvel creators published the first African American heroes, the first popular Asian American heroes, and strong, leading-character women in numbers large enough to populate a dozen summer crossovers...

His death encouraged people to tell stories of Lee’s kindness and enthusiasm. But for every story that circulated after Lee’s death about how wonderful and caring he was, comics professionals tell other tales in which Lee is … not.

Every bit as complicated as the characters he helped bring into the world, Lee taught generations of nerds the concepts of responsibility, morality, and love. He waged a sometimes ham-fisted battle against prejudice, misunderstanding, and evil. This is what makes some of nerd-dom’s recent tack toward intolerance so painful; other­ishness is engineered into comics’ radioactive, mutated DNA. Even if Lee wasn’t a super human, he was super­human, empowering colleagues to leap creative obstacles and to give readers a sense of their own secret strengths."

"Fighting for the Better Good"..."Don't Give Up"..."Don't Surrender", December 2018

Kip Currier: Good touchstone for anyone "fighting for the better good"--in bad times and good times.

Marvel Comics editor-in-chief on company's diversity push, using a Japanese pen name; CBS News, June 2, 2018

CBS News; Marvel Comics editor-in-chief on company's diversity push, using a Japanese pen name

""We're 100 percent committed to diversity...Marvel is the world outside your window and we want not only our characters but our creative talent to reflect that world and it hasn't been an easy road to be honest with you. Going back to the 60s when Marvel were created it was created by a number of white men here in New York City who were working in our studio… But now, we do not have any artists that work in Marvel. All our writers and artists work -- are freelancers that live around the world so our talent base has diversified almost more quickly than our character base has."

One of the people in charge of making Marvel more inclusive is vice president of content and character development Sana Amanat. She created Kamala Khan -- Marvel's first Muslim superhero -- who helped sell more than half a million Ms. Marvel books to date."

Deadpool 2’s Dennison on Bringing Diverse Body Types to Superhero Genre; Comic Book Resources, May 25, 2018

Taylor Williams, Comic Book Resources; Deadpool 2’s Dennison on Bringing Diverse Body Types to Superhero Genre

"Following his breakout role in Taika Waititi’s 2016 comedy adventure Hunt for the Wilderpeople, New Zealand-born actor Julian Dennison has leaped to international stardom as Russell, aka Firefist, in Deadpool 2. The foul-mouthed, flame-throwing mutant is unlike any superhero movie audiences have seen before, both in temperament and physique. The latter is what excited the 15-year-old for the part, as other chubby kids can now see a hero who looks like them.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Dennison noted how special it was for him to be able to portray the character. “There isn’t just one kind of person that can play a superhero,” he said. “For me, playing a chubby or fat superhero was so special because I would go and watch these movies with my friends and would never see anyone like me. I am excited to be that for other kids who look like me.”"

Why I'm Writing Captain America And why it scares the hell out of me; The Atlantic, February 2018

Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic; Why I'm Writing Captain America

And why it scares the hell out of me

"Finally, but most importantly, I have to thank the black comic creators I admired as a youth, often without even knowing they were black—Christopher Priest, Denys Cowan, Dwayne McDuffie, specifically—without whom none of this would be possible. There has long been a complaint among black comic creators that they are restricted to black characters. I don’t know what it means to live in a world where people restrict what you write, and the reason I don’t know is largely because of the sacrifices of all those who were forced to know before me. I have not forgotten this.

Captain America #1 drops on the Fourth of July. Excelsior, family."

LOOK: MARVEL HONORS MATHS, SCIENCES & OTHER EDUCATION WITH STEAM-THEMED VARIANTS; Comic Book Resources, 8/19/16

Andrew Paul, Comic Book Resources; LOOK: MARVEL HONORS MATHS, SCIENCES & OTHER EDUCATION WITH STEAM-THEMED VARIANTS:

"It might be obvious, but in addition to being superheroes, many Marvel Comics characters are major book worms. Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark -- the list goes on and on. Embracing this fact and promoting education, Marvel has announced special STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) themed variant covers for a handful of titles this November."

How the X-Men changed my life; Vox, 5/26/16

Alex Abad-Santos, Vox; How the X-Men changed my life:

"Every day, the X-Men show up to fight for a world that would rather they not exist.

Their story is about survival, not only as an act of living from one day to the next but also as a form of love or even defiance — a faith that there's something better than the world they've been given, and that they can achieve it by existing.

In the eyes of a kid who got in massive trouble for loving them in sixth grade and who's now a grown man still reading them today, they were (and still are) everything I needed them to be, even at times when I didn't know it."

"X-MEN: APOCALYPSE'S" JUBILEE HOSTS "TOTALLY RAD" ENROLLMENT VIDEO; Comic Book Resources, 5/19/16

Stephen Gerding, Comic Book Resources; "X-MEN: APOCALYPSE'S" JUBILEE HOSTS "TOTALLY RAD" ENROLLMENT VIDEO:

""Sometimes, being gifted doesn't feel like a gift," laments Jubilee (Lana Condor) in a video promoting Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The short is the latest '80s-themed retro teaser for "X-Men: Apocalypse," following a similar vintage-style spot for a mystery series "In The Footsteps Of...""

Why Black Panther is one of the best parts of Captain America: Civil War; Vox, 5/12/16

Alex Abad-Santos, Vox; Why Black Panther is one of the best parts of Captain America: Civil War:

"At Howard University's commencement on May 7, the leader of the free world talked about a superhero. President Barack Obama spoke about the possibilities awaiting the class of 2016 — running a company, changing politics, or becoming a boundary-breaking musician like Prince — and he also mentioned Marvel's Black Panther.

"You can write a book that wins the National Book Award, or you can write the new run of Black Panther," he told the graduates. "Or, like one of your alumni, Ta-Nehisi Coates, you can go ahead and just do both."

The president name-checking Black Panther, a.k.a. T'Challa, is a pinnacle for the hero, a moment that signifies that the character has finally arrived.

Obama was referring to Coates's collaboration with artist Brian Stelfreeze for a new, stellar Black Panther comic book that Marvel released last month. This past weekend, Marvel introduced comic fans to a live-action version of the character played by Chadwick Boseman in Captain America: Civil War. And in 2018, Black Panther will star in his own solo movie before joining up with the Avengers in the epic two-part Infinity War."

La Cucaracha; GoComics, 3/19/15

Lalo Alcaraz, GoComics; La Cucaracha

Commentary: Michelle Rodriguez Not All Wrong In Slamming 'Diversity' ; NBC News, 3/2/15

Jack Rico, NBC News; Commentary: Michelle Rodriguez Not All Wrong In Slamming 'Diversity' :

"In case you missed it this past weekend, Dominican and Puerto Rican actress Michelle Rodriguez was caught on video in Los Angeles coming out of a restaurant when a TMZ reporter asked her if she will be playing the The Green Lantern role in the upcoming Justice League series of films for Warner Bros.

Rodriguez laughingly answered: "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard. I think it's so stupid because of this whole minorities in Hollywood thing. It's so stupid. Stop stealing all the white people's superheroes. Make up your own. What's up with that?"

The question the video reporter asked Rodriguez is legitimate. The internet has been running amuck with speculation that Warner Bros. executives might be using the Jessica Cruz character angle from the DC Comics storyline. In the comics, an alternate reality universe was created where the popular superhero The Green Lantern is a Hispanic woman by the name of Jessica Cruz. Rodriguez was one of the names being thrown around for the movie adaptation."