As an Ohio resident, and proud member of the Ohio Mafia (we Ohioians are everywhere, so look out), hearing the news of the Siegle & Shuster Society attempting to have a specialized Superman license plate created is awesome. This is just the news I needed to hear to get me to update my licence plates (I’ve had the same license plates on my car since I started driving in 1995).

In case you don’t know, the Siegel & Shuster Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to commemorating and celebrating the creation of Superman in Cleveland, Ohio by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. That’s right, even though he was raised in Smallville, Superman was birthed in Ohio (I’m not kidding we are everywhere).

Ohio State Senator Tom Patton, a Republican of Strongsville, has agreed to propose the plate to the Ohio legislature when the signatures are gathered. The group needs to collect at least 500 names on petitions as a first step to making the special plate available. A portion of plate sales would go to the society for future Superman projects.

Mike Olszewski, president of the society, said collecting enough signatures should not be a problem. Petitions are in Cleveland area comic shops. They also will be circulated outside the Palace Theatre on Playhouse Square during three ‘Super Sundays’ during the 2 p.m. showings of ‘Batman’ on Aug. 7; ‘Superman’ on Aug. 14 and ‘Spider-Man’ on Aug. 21.

The aim is to have the license plates available by 2013, the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Superman in ‘Action Comics’ No. 1.

The specialty plates would be purchased from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and usually cost between $25 and $35 more than standard plates.

Additional information from: Cleveland.com