CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the new Superman statue took flight over downtown Cleveland this month, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne cast it as more than a tribute to the two locals who invented the hero; it was a symbol of Cleveland’s place in comic book history — and on the world stage.
“Everyone knows Superman,” Ronayne said at the Aug. 2 unveiling. “Now they know Cleveland is home to Superman.”
The stainless-steel Man of Steel honors creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who first dreamed up the hero in a billowing red cape as teenagers in Glenville, a suburb outside of Cleveland. Ronayne vowed to keep that important history alive “for decades and centuries to come.”…