Superman: Metropolis, IL

We passed through plenty of towns with some claim to fame, hometown of this or that famous or infamous individual or setting of a certain movie or television show that collected a cult following, but none as proud as Metropolis, Illinois. And rightfully so. It’s common for every tenth town to boast it birthed some one-hit-wonder, troubled Disney star, or indie darling, but only Metropolis has rights over Superman.

While the town recognizes that Superman did not actually spring from the banks of the Ohio, he is their bona fide hometown hero. The town itself is a blip, a few municipal buildings, a pizzeria guilty of frozen, pre-made crusts, a fifty-year-old hardware store surviving because the town is too small for a Lowes, certainly nothing like the fictional city of glass and concrete Superman perpetually saves from certain destruction. But, through a simple duplication in name, Superman became the icon of the real Metropolis, and standing in the center of their downtown is a glossy, two-story statue of the comic book icon, fists to his hips, his fiberglass cape blowing in the wind.

Every year, Metropolis hosts a celebration honoring Superman, drawing comic book nerds and cute kids in costumes to the southern Illinois village of only a couple thousand residents. In the past, when Hollywood producers decided to film a new movie about the Man of Steel every few years, the town of Metropolis gathered at the local cineplex to cheer on their hero. The theatre has since closed.

Across from town hall is a museum dedicated to Superman and his nearly seven decades of saving the world. It’s more of an insane fan’s collection rather than carefully maintained and curated articles, neatly displayed for viewing. Only a few items have homes in cases or garment bags, and things have begun to wither and yellow under a layer of dust. There’s costumes, props, and stills from every television reboot, and shelves full of plastic cups from every time a fast-food restaurant promoted a Superman movie. A Superman documentary plays on a loop, covering the creation of Superman up through the largely mediocre 2006 release Superman Returns. Thousands of action figures stare down from their shelves, gifting the museum the feeling of a journey into a nerdy ex-boyfriend’s basement, all the stuff he would never want you to know he owned.

Outside of the museum, tourists poked their heads through cardboard cutouts of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Dwarfed under the enormous fiberglass statue, they snapped this year’s Christmas card. “Have a SUPER Christmas!” The bought souvenirs and t-shirts from the museums only worker, the in-the-flesh version of The Simpson’s Comic Book Guy.

Superman does save Metropolis, Illinois — he saves it from existing as yet another depressed town, overwrought by strip malls and chain restaurants, existing just as the next town over, the only difference being it’s name. It has pride, far more than hundreds of places we’ve passed through, and pride is worth everything.