from the PD:

 

New York man envisions Comic Book Hall of Fame in Cleveland

Published: Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 8:44 AM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Roger Rautio has an idea that he says will bring millions of dollars to Cleveland -- a hall of fame induction ceremony.

 

Not for the Rock Hall, but for the Comic Book Hall of Fame that he'd like to see built here.

 

Rautio, 43, of Franklin Square, N.Y., believes Cleveland, where Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in 1932, is the perfect city for his vision..."

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/07/new_york_man_envisions_a_comic.html

 

 

 

I like this idea. I'm not a comic book fan, but it has the potential to draw more folks to the city from all over.  Thoughts?

 

Love the idea.  Just wonder what kind of corporate backing there is from the remaining companies.  Would obviously require lots of outside support.   

 

Where is the obvious location for said hall of fame?

This seems like a no brainer with the comic book talent that has come out of Cleveland, yet it takes someone from New York to propose..  I think the local foundations would definitely provide a good portion of funding. 

 

I was a bit concerned with the fact that Mr. Jackson mentioned he "was not familiar with it" after Rautio had emailed the plans to him, since city hall has a history of botching such things or coming across as showing lack of interest.  This isn't something we want to to slip through our hands and go to another city which I'm sure would be aggressive in pursuing and more than willing to jump on.

 

On the other hand I think it deserves a more than an email..... 

 

 

It'd be cool to use Union Terminal (JLA HQ) in Cincinnati but I think NYC is really the place to put it.

I've suggested a comic book theme for a 3C rail line in the past.

It's perfect, let's do it.  This is something you jump on.  And I'm not at all surprised about Jackson missing the boat again. 

I don't think this has much legs.  So he trademarked the name.  Big whoop.  Invested $7,000???  That's nothing compared to what something like this would actually cost.  They have 203 comic books?  I am sure any decent collector has at least that many.  I agree - more than an email to the mayor would make sense.  I 100% agree with the comment in the article that he can only do this if the major comic companies supported it and it doesn't sound like he has their backing yet.  And yeah, why wouldn't this announcement have been made at comic-con last week when it could have really made a splash?  I'm not saying it's not a good idea, but just because someone has a trademark/200 comic books/$7000 invested doesn't mean they can pull it off. 

It's potentially a good idea, but this sounds like a dreamer with a decent home collection of artwork, but without any real backing.  City Hall can't be expected to jump at every dreamer's dream.  Not with a city to run.

 

edit- smith, it does sound like he was talking about having 200 works "on acetate", which I assume means he has the original artwork, not a print.

It's potentially a good idea, but this sounds like a dreamer with a decent home collection of artwork, but without any real backing.  City Hall can't be expected to jump at every dreamer's dream.  Not with a city to run.

 

Im pretty sure that theres a lot of room between "disregarding/not being aware of" and "Jumping on a dreamers idea" and frankly I think the ability to not see that by some is additional cause for concern.

 

If the guy proposing such a thing (who has admittedly been to Cleveland) should be sheduling a meeting with folks at city hall first of all so they can determine the validity of as well as determine what can be done to facilitate the possibilities here. 

 

The city in the meantime has to pursue (at least vet) all posssible leads...  And sometimes that starts with having a capable person answering and screening calls and emails  (now this is something that City Hall has been very poor at doing and has gained a reputation for)

         

I think the right location is above the winking lizard at huron and prospect. The Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative just left, I don't know who replaced them, but its a fun and visible corner building, surrounded by entertainment, in the shadow of the at&t tower... (you'd have to make a covered rooftop as part of the exhibition!)

I like the idea, but I agree with smith, this idea is at best in its infancy. One facebook page does not a foundation make. The RRHOF was a widely acknowledged institution well before the building went up. Who is on the 'board' of the CB HOF? what are the qualifications? Who's supporting this outside of a guy from Long Island? Tell me Stan Lee or some other famous comic book guys support this (I don't know any other comic book guys besides Stan Lee...)

 

That said, I agree it would be a great concept, and it's something that I'm surprised doesn't already exist. If this guy is for real, I'm all for it.

Not thread worthy... at this point.  I like the idea, but even the experts in the field have never heard of this guy

Not thread worthy... at this point.  I like the idea, but even the experts in the field have never heard of this guy

What does that have to do with anything? Money is the key to making it happen, and I don't see it right now, but maybe someone will approach him.

Love the idea.  Just wonder what kind of corporate backing there is from the remaining companies.  Would obviously require lots of outside support.   

 

Where is the obvious location for said hall of fame?

 

Here, at the Daily Planet (er, AT&T) Building which reportedly was the inspiration for the Daily Planet in the Superman comics. If you Google search images of "Daily Planet" this building actually is among the pictures....

 

 

Anyone see the resemblance? Of course, the self-important dorks in LA think their City Hall was the prototype -- as if LA had anything to do with Superman or the comic's creators......

 

 

EDIT -- wait, I have the perfect place for it! I believe this was supposed to be the new location for Hilarities comedy club when they were forced out of their space on West 6th by GCRTA's HQ. For some reason, the comedy club never opened here and instead relocated to East 4th in the Pickwick & Frolic complex. So this building has been on the market for a LONG time (like, since the late-1990s). And this is a half-block away from the above "Superman" tower. If anyone is interested and you can't read the for-sale/lease sign, it reads that this building offers 27,000 square feet of space and the contact person at Colliers-Ostendorf Morris is Joe Ditchman at (216) 861-7200.....

 

Unfortunately one of the creators of Superman denies that Cleveland or that building had on any influence on it.

Unfortunately one of the creators of Superman denies that Cleveland or that building had on any influence on it.

 

Meh, what does he know.... :-P

Not to betray another geeky hobby of mine, but this seems very unlikely.  There is already a Hall of Fame induction for comic book creators that takes place every year as part of the Eisner Awards, at the San Diego Comic-Con.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisner_Award

 

Comic-Con is like a cottage industry at this point and has so far lapped all other comic book conventions that it's not even close, which makes it unlikely to me that they would move their award ceremony to Cleveland.  So unless he plans for this comic book Hall of Fame to start from the ground up that will compete with the well-established Eisner Awards and their yearly Hall of Fame inductions, it seems like a really uphill climb.

 

Also, for what it's worth, NYC would be by far the most logical place for a comic book hall of fame, just based on number of comic book creators and where the companies are.  The Siegel and Shuster connection to Cleveland is nice, but that's about the only major connection I can think of for Cleveland off the top of my head.

 

(And yes, I have more than 203 comics....  don't tell anyone.) 

Also, for what it's worth, NYC would be by far the most logical place for a comic book hall of fame, just based on number of comic book creators and where the companies are.  The Siegel and Shuster connection to Cleveland is nice, but that's about the only major connection I can think of for Cleveland off the top of my head.

 

Ahem......

 

"The Siegel and Shuster connection to Cleveland is nice, but that's about the only major connection I can think of for Cleveland off the top of my head."

 

Are you kidding me....

 

OK where is the extensive list from UO a couple years ago of comic geniuses from Cleveland?

 

Harvy Pekar, Tom Wilson, Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbs), C. Ariel Wulff, Brian Michael Bendis (too many to mention), Tom Batiuk (Funky Winkerbean and others), Derf Backderf, Peter Kuper, Brian Azzarello, John G., and of course Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, but there are still many more! 

And nearly all of them still reside in the area. 

Thats why I thought it was such a great idea and thought it would/should recieve such wide support.

OMG, I totally forgot about Tom Wilson (Sr. & Jr.) and Bill Watterson!!

 

 

 

 

I'll give you Harvey Pekar.  I will reserve comment on Bendis--not my cuppa tea.  Watterson and Wilson are comic strips--and humor at that--not really comic books.  The Eisner Hall of Fame includes plenty of comic strip artists, but they are mostly adventure artists (Caniff, etc.). 

 

And you really don't want to get into a comparison with NYC when it comes to comic creators.  Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and more too numerous to mention are New York guys!

Hopefully this works:

 

 

The skyline in the background looks sort of familiar.

I'll give you Harvey Pekar.  I will reserve comment on Bendis--not my cuppa tea.  Watterson and Wilson are comic strips--and humor at that--not really comic books.  The Eisner Hall of Fame includes plenty of comic strip artists, but they are mostly adventure artists (Caniff, etc.). 

 

And you really don't want to get into a comparison with NYC when it comes to comic creators.  Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and more too numerous to mention are New York guys!

There's a big difference between comic strips & comic books - thanks for making that point.

Also Crumb & the Superman guys (who actually made comic BOOKS) wound up moving to NYC & Metropolis was always just NYC, anyway.

Ummmm, why does Canton have the football hall of fame or Cooperstown, NY have the baseball one? I'm sure there is a reason, but for both, there was probably a "better" or "more appropriate" city for each. Rather than determine the most deserving city, including soulless places like San Diego, perhaps a better discussion would be to throw around ideas to making this a reality in Cleveland. Not because I'm a fan of comic books (I don't even own one), but the more artistic/creative/interesting things in Cleveland, the better, which will both draw more visitors (and jobs/tax revenue) and hopefully grow/inspire more creativity activity here.

The NFL was founded in Canton.

 

Looks like the first comic book, which was just a book of old newspaper comics I believe started in New York City. But wikipedia says the introduction of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman in 1938 turned comic books into a major industry. So either city could be justified.

 

Ive never read a comic book so I dont know much about the industry, but Superman seemed like it was the major one that took comic books to the next level.

Ummmm, why does Canton have the football hall of fame or Cooperstown, NY have the baseball one? I'm sure there is a reason, but for both, there was probably a "better" or "more appropriate" city for each. Rather than determine the most deserving city, including soulless places like San Diego, perhaps a better discussion would be to throw around ideas to making this a reality in Cleveland. Not because I'm a fan of comic books (I don't even own one), but the more artistic/creative/interesting things in Cleveland, the better, which will both draw more visitors (and jobs/tax revenue) and hopefully grow/inspire more creativity activity here.

 

If you guys want to focus on making it a reality in Cleveland, more power to you.  I'm just trying to point out--as a comic fan--that the idea is a far-fetched one.  It's not like nobody else has thought of a comic book hall of fame before.  The main comic book industry awards already have a hall of fame that has an induction ceremony each year at the single-biggest comic book event in the country (and probably in the world).  And the chances that a brand new comic book hall of fame will be able to compile more memorabilia than, say, the Geppi Museum in Baltimore in a short period of time is pretty remote.  (Steve Geppi owns the distribution company that distributes 95% of all comic in the US, and is a huge collector with a ton of materials that he has put on display). 

 

Just because someone says "this is an idea" doesn't mean it's a good one.  I could say tomorrow, "It'd be a great idea to build a baseball hall of fame in Cincinnati, where professional baseball began," but that doesn't mean that it woudl work or that the idea should be pushed.  I assume that if I did so I would be greeted with statements like "you know there's already a baseball hall of fame that's pretty good and well-established in Cooperstown..."

 

Sorry if my bringing relevant facts to the discussion is somehow considered Cleveland bashing.  I didn't realize that only cheerleading was allowed in the forum. 

haters gonna hate

Moderator Note

 

Clefan98, knock it off. Thoughtful criticism of an idea or a city isn't hating, and calling somebody a hater on this forum is considered a personal attack. So can it.

 

And IMO, uncritical boosterism is every bit as damaging to a city as anti-urban bigotry. Successful sports teams need talented coaches and players to win, not cheerleaders. Cities are no different in that regard.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has been around in an official capacity for almost eight decades.  Of course starting a competing hall of fame at this point would make little sense.

 

How long has the Geppi Museum been around?  The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has a "competitor" in Seattle in the Experience Music Project, I don't see why a similar situation, if done right, couldn't arise in the comic realm with Cleveland building a museum to honor artists with ties to the city.

I don't know off the top of my head, but I will guess 5 to 10 years.  His collection has been around far longer and is enviously extensive--he owns some of the best copies of the rarest and most valuable comics (Action Comics No. 1, Detective Comics No. 27, etc.). 

 

Is there a Superman museum in Cleveland somewhere?  That would be an interesting idea--and in some ways I think it might have more visibility/crossover appeal than a more generalized comic book museum.  I am not aware of any Superman museums anywhere, though I would not be surprised if Metropolis, Illinois had something.  I think Superman has the level of recognition and popularity that the character could support its own museum, too. 

^^ As to the Hall of Fame, the Eisners have been inducting comic creators into their Hall of Fame since 1987. 

a comic book hof is a great idea! sure it might make more sense in nyc, but they said the same about the rock hall. whoever gets there first will be the winner. the att superman bldg is the logical place for it in clev, or somewhere nearby downtown. it would be, or should we say someday will be, a big hit whereever it ends up. particularly with hollywood milking comics material so much lately. hopefully some can look into this more seriously before someone else runs with it!!

 

 

come to think of it, cinci has the freakin superfriends hall of justice, which is certainly the absolute perfect setting for this, if not necessarily place.

 

san diego would be another contender for a comics hof given thee comic con.

 

regardless, someone is going to do this for sure.

Hey, if Detroit can get the Justice League, then we should get the Hall of Fame.

Let's make it a Comic Art Hall of Fame, and we can add Calvin & Hobbes and Ziggy to the Superman / American Splendor mix :) Cleveland is also home to some true up-and-coming comic talent. Niki Smith comes to mind: http://niki-smith.com/

More power to this dude if he wants to do this HOF.  Someone should drop him a line and let him know about this thread.

 

It might be a good idea to get Cleveland Institute of Art involved in some capacity. And maybe offer some classes or lectures on the art, history and cultural impact. 

Let's make it a Comic Art Hall of Fame, and we can add Calvin & Hobbes and Ziggy to the Superman / American Splendor mix :) Cleveland is also home to some true up-and-coming comic talent. Niki Smith comes to mind: http://niki-smith.com/

 

That's an interesting idea.  There used to be a comic museum (I wanna say in Boca Raton, FL or somewhere like that) called Words and Pictures, but I think it went out of business.  The good news is that there are a lot of potential things that could be used in a HOF/museum (comics, memorabilia, movie props, etc.).  And it would work quite naturally if you put in something like a theater/IMAX with it to show films and TV shows. 

Brussels has a modest but very cool little Comic Center on the history of Belgian comic art: http://www.comicscenter.net/en/home

Good idea, surfohio ... I put the link on their FB page.

holy cow apparantly nyc had a comics hof for 11yrs on bway in soho, i had no idea. and in a strange coincidence it just closed last week! too hard to find donors, they said:

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-museum-of-comic-and-cartoon-art-in-new-york-closes-abruptly-20120710,0,5433545.story

 

http://moccany.org/

 

 

seems like an opportunity to get'em to bring their comic book to the cleve!

 

holy cow apparantly nyc had a comics hof for 11yrs on bway in soho, i had no idea. and in a strange coincidence it just closed last week! too hard to find donors, they said:

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-museum-of-comic-and-cartoon-art-in-new-york-closes-abruptly-20120710,0,5433545.story

 

http://moccany.org/

 

 

seems like an opportunity to get'em to bring their comic book to the cleve!

 

 

You can imagine how high the operations costs must've been there.

You can imagine how high the operations costs must've been there.

 

And how it gets overshadowed by everything else in NYC. Perhaps its closing last week is why this guy Roger Rautio wants to open one up in C-town?

 

If he broadens it as the Comic Artists HOF, then Cleveland has a stronger claim to hosting it here. Imagine the potential linkages with the Cleveland Institute of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Museum of Art and even smaller institutions like Virginia Marti School. And I still like the spot in the 800 block of Prospect Avenue for this Comic Artists Hall of Fame.

holy cow apparantly nyc had a comics hof for 11yrs on bway in soho, i had no idea. and in a strange coincidence it just closed last week!

 

Interesting. The rock and roll hall of fame recently opened a 'branch' of the CLE museum in NY in SoHo a while ago. It lasted only a few years ago, then it, too, closed.

  Hi, this is Roger Rautio from the Comic Book Hall of Fame Organization and I would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support!  Thank You all so much!  I am going to take this opportunity to bring everyone up to speed.  Firstly, let me begin by talking about the Eisner awards.  The Eisner Awards and the Comic Book Hall of Fame are not competitors and never will be.  The Eisner's started in 1988 taking over where the Kirby Awards left off in 1987.  Now, the Eisner awards and the Eisner award Hall of Fame (which came way later) are by the professionals for the professionals.  They are necessary and we respect them.  The Comic Book Hall of Fame is of the fans, by the fans for the professionals.

  Secondly,  I would like to correct a misquote in the Cleveland Plaindealer.  We have around 20,000 fans online - facebook (friends page is comic book hof -  5488.  like page is comic book hall of fame - 75) Myspace, Twitter & Comicvine  We do not have 203 comic books (we have over 2000 rare comic books) but what we do have is 203 pieces of rare vintage Original comic book art & production art, all from the Silver & Bronze age (with the exception of 3 or 4 pieces) by the top names of the industry - Kirby, Ditko, Adams, Buscema, Smith, Perez, Romita, Lee & Mcfarlane.  Followed by the top titles and characters - Batman, Iron Man, Thor, Spiderman, Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic Four, X-men and Superman.  So when I talked about how much money I personally spent ($3500 to travel, $3500 on the art work), it was in regards to cost effectiveness.  The money I spent on the Original Comic Book Art & production art was back in 2008-2009.  Think about how much it's worth now.  That's what I'm talking about! 

  Lastly,  when I met the professionals of the industry from Stan lee to Micheal Golden to Todd Nanuck or Greg Capulo, it was as a representative of the Comic Book Hall of Fame.  We were not just getting autographs, we were making contacts.  Now, the professionals of the industry meet tens of thousands of people every month.  They are not going to remember me if you ask them.  However, I have a hunch that if you ask them about the Comic Book Hall of Fame, it might be a different story.    As for choosing Cleveland, we did choose it for two reasons - because it is the home of the very first original Superhero in comics and because the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame brings in 450,000 visitors a year.  You see a study was already done that shows the majority of people who listen to or like music, also read or have read, collect or have collected comic books!  Thanks everyone and I'll talk to you soon! 

 

Sincerely,

 

Roger Rautio  over @ The Comic Book Hall of Fame

comicbookhalloffame, welcome to UrbanOhio! I hope you continue to share updates on your progress!

Good luck, Roger

yeah, man. keep us in the loop.  good luck

Thank you for the information and classifications!  Best of luck, I know I will check this place out when it opens.

$3500 for 203 pieces by Kirby, Ditko, etc. is a ridiculous bargain!  I'd like the name of your art dealer.  ;)

 

Good luck!

Let us know how we can help!

  Hi Everyone!  Here's the latest progress of the Comic Book Hall of Fame -  The Proposal to put the Comic Book Hall of Fame Annual Event and Museum in Cleveland, OH. is under review by director Tracy Nichols of Cleveland's economic Development department - Big thanks to Council member Joe Cimperman of Ward 3 for the help and we have also named the five person selection committee which consists of -  Professor William Foster lll - Credited Comic Book Historian, has been a Expert commentator for CNN & NPR, Guest on History Detectives, M.O.C.C.A. and currently Professes at  Naugatuck Valley Community College in CT.  Bob Lyons (Comic shop Owner, Promoter & Organizer of Comic Cons in CT. & for NY.)  Micheal Sagert (promoter & Influential Comic shop Owner since 1974), Kevin Ray (Librarian, Comic Book Fan, Cleveland Public Library)

and Dan Mercurio (Business Manager/Comic Book Fan/knowledgeable comic book history - attends most major comic cons in the country.)  So far so good!  Thanks again for the outpouring of support and we will be sure to have some more exciting news soon! 

 

Until Then,

 

Roger Rautio

CEO

The Comic Book Hall of Fame