Should Superman Comic-Con statue be permanent?

Love it or hate it, there is probably one image from this year’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” that was impossible to forget.

A Superman statue in the fictional Metropolis used in advertisements - with the words “false god” scrawled across it in blood red spray paint - which represented a dark turn for Warner Bros. in its first crack at universe building.

The vandalism in the movie represented mankind’s fear of the Last Son of Krypton and a rejection of a statue that aimed to idolize a larger-than-life hero.

Unlike characters in the film, fans walking into Comic-Con could not get enough of a statue Warner Bros. recreated for Comic-Con and some of them suggested it stay in America’s Finest City.

“This should definitely stick around,” said Sebastian Foxworth, of Washington Township, N.J. “I can tell you, being from the East Coast, (if) they don’t want to keep it here we’ll definitely take it over in New York or (New) Jersey.”

Warner Bros. said it took roughly four weeks to recreate the statue from the film. It is made of foam and uses a gobo light to project “false god” on Superman’s chest at night. The two-story high gray statue, which weighs 700 pounds, sits on a black platform with speakers that plays music from the film.

Wearing a Wonder Woman costume and taking pictures in front of the statue, Lexi Gorospe, 16, of Sacramento, said the statue should stay to represent Comic-Con, should the event ever leave.

“Plus, San Diego kind of looks like Metropolis,” she said.

Omni Hotel general manager Colleen Anderson said the area where the statue and nearby Batmobile is parked is owned by the city, not the hotel or nearby McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks.

“It’s adding a little excitement because that area is usually under-utilized,” she said.

When told of some fans’ idea to keep the Superman statue in San Diego, Anderson joked that the owners of the 38 condos in the hotel would have some questions first.

Other impressive comic book displays inside the Convention Center gave Image Comics and Marvel Comics a chance to shine.

A bronze Captain America 13-foot tall statue at the Marvel Comics booth celebrates the fictional character’s Brooklyn ties. “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn,” reads the sign. Marvel plans to move it to Children’s Corner in Prospect Park in Brooklyn in August. After that, it will move to outside the Barclays Center in September and then Industry City.

COMPLETE COMIC-CON COVERAGE

Image Comics’ very popular property and TV show, “The Walking Dead,” was the subject of a massive display inside the Convention Center with zombie actors wandering around, wax figures of TV characters and a fake prison wall (with zombies on time) that went to the ceiling.

Outside the comic book scene, “South Park” dominated much of the outside excitement at the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade. Cutouts of the characters from popular scenes allowed fans to take photos appearing like they were in the episode.

phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com

Source: DiscoverSD