Newsarama is live-blogging the “Boys of Steel: The Jewish Origins of Superman” talk with Marc Tyler Nobleman right now. Check it out.
7:54PM: Already starting off interesting, even though Nobleman isn’t here yet. Sightings of Eliot Spitzer and Paul Krugman — and I thought this was going to be a low-key event.
7:55PM: Abel, a guy who is working with Nobleman, sits next to me — and is a big Newsarama fan! He says big ups to his friend Terrence Irvine. Keep sharing the wealth!
8:00PM: I overhear that Krugman is speaking for another event at the Y. Might be awkward if Spitzer ditches him.
8:19PM: The program begins! Mr. Nobleman comes up — he’s written more than 70 books, and his cartoons have come out in publications like the WSJ and Forbes!
8:19PM: Ooh, he calls Superman “the” icon. Good start. Says he was blown away by Superman: The Movie, and that started a love affair with comics. Discussing the slow build of superhero movies back then — “I’m glad I was of the generation that Christopher Reeve could be my Superman.”
8:21PM: Shows a logo for Siegel and Shuster — a shield with two S’s. Says that someone said it looked like the Nazi SS. Not sure how to respond to that.
8:23PM: Wants a sign in Cleveland saying “Welcome to the birthplace of Superman.” The back of his book says “Before Metropolis, Smallville, and Krypton, Superman came from Cleveland.”