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Well, there goes the neighborhood.

I really do enjoy life here in this Lakewood, Ohio, this plot of land where I have hung my hat for nearly three years now. In fact within weeks of moving in I was cheerfully confessing to having become a Lakewood Snob; this is my own term, and I don’t think most of the area conceives of any snobbishness on the part of our community. But I certainly feel that there is cause.

This is what a comfortable, livable urban existence “for the rest of us” should be. Some claim that Lakewood is the most densely-populated city between New York and Chicago; I don’t know about that but I would say it’s certainly density done right. A population right around that of Ames including the schoolyear student population, in a compact 5.6 square mile lozenge-shaped parcel carved out of Cleveland’s west side.

Lakewood is density without feeling of crowding, other than say a popular eatery like Melt around mealtimes. Lakewood puts the lie to sprawl-dwelling reactionary fears that density must mean high-rise towers and feeling packed-in like sardines; in fact I think most of us here own a car and it’s easy to get around that way, probably in part because it isn’t necessary and many of us leave the car at home for errands within the city. You can walk most places because the city is compact, and the city can support so many services and amenities in such a small space because of population density, which is achieved without tower blocks through the simple expedient of using most of the available space. (more…)

If anyone was reading stickybuffalo back in August, they may recall a post noting a planned November visit by Superman to Des Moines, Iowa, in issue #705 of his eponymous periodical. (And if not, here’s a link to it.)

Well, for various reasons I haven’t really cared enough to look into, the great Superman Walking Tour of America apparently fell behind schedule; he did reach Des Moines but not until last week, in issue #707, which also featured a completely different art team and plot (aside from the brief stop in Des Moines) from the original promotional copy for #705.

But whatever; Superman went to Des Moines, for three pages, and someone did some homework because those few scenes are immediately recognizable as Des Moines. (Ah, my cute little former home.) I’ve gone into detailed assessment of DSM’s cameo elsewhere—if anyone really cares I’m sure they can find it—having decided that the main story itself offers an unexpected matter for comment on stickybuffalo.

In brief: Superman suspends his walking tour to investigate an explosion at at some sort of chemical works in a small town in Kansas. He puts out the fires, then bumps into Lois Lane, who is investigating a former employee’s claims of environmental violations and bribery of the EPA by the company. Factory workers angrily deny these allegations, until Superman uses X-ray vision to discover “elevated levels of chlorine in the groundwater;” the factory workers then change their story and admit breaking the law, but plead that the struggling factory can’t afford environmental compliance, while loss of the town’s largest employer would devastate their community. Superman mulls things over, admonishes the workers to “do a better job cleaning up after yourselves in the future,” and then agrees to hush everything up, even warning Lois Lane that he “won’t allow” her to run a story exposing the company, for good measure. (more…)

Reading the November solicitations for products from DC, I am given pause amidst the usual eye-rolling and “this looks fucking idiotic,” etc., by the following:

SUPERMAN #705
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Art by EDDY BARROWS & J.P. MAYER
Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
1:10 Variant cover by YANICK PAQUETTE & MICHEL LACOMBE
“Grounded” part 5 brings The Man of Steel to Des Moines, Iowa! A chance encounter, however, suddenly thrusts Superman back in time. So somehow he’s Superboy again, the world is on the brink of nuclear Armageddon, and it’s all his fault! (Emphasis mine.)

I mean, in general any reference to my home state by national media is relatively rare enough (outside of caucus season) to grab my attention for at least a second. Mention of the state’s capital and my home of five years, in a comic book context, is just about unthinkable.

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