Comic Con Chronicles: Brandon Routh and Dean Cain

           My phone buzzed with a message from Mitch on Facebook Messenger. “Heard on the radio, Brandon Routh will be at the Iowa Historical Museum at noonish then they’re doing a showing of Supes Returns.”

I yelped a, “Yes!” and with shaking fingers wrote back, “Do you want to go?” While waiting for his response, I looked up the Museum’s website and confirmed that Routh would indeed be there at 1:00 in the afternoon.

The celebs were pouring into Des Moines for the inaugural Wizard World Comic Con. Des Moines had hosted smaller events in the past with local comic book clubs planning the cons, but this was the first national franchise event. Friday through Sunday, June 12th through 14th; three days of solid nerdiness. And I had purchased a three day pass to revel in the festivities.

The months leading up to the event had been spent going over the website again and again to see what celebrities were announced to attend the con. On one of my trips to the site, I saw that Brandon Routh, Superman in Superman Returns and Ray Palmer (The Atom) in Arrow and The Flash, would be attending. I called out to my oldest daughter to come look. “Hannah, Brandon Routh is going to Comic Con!”

She smiled and asked, “Can I meet him, Daddy?”

“I’m going to make sure you do.”

“Can I have my picture taken with him like you did?”

“I think we can do that.” I patted her on the back.

She put her hands on her hips. “I hope so. It’s no fair you got a picture with him and I didn’t.”

In June of 2006, My wife was pregnant with Hannah and Superman Returns debuted in theaters. Brandon is a native of Norwalk, Iowa, which isn’t that far from where I grew up in Prairie City. Because of his Iowa heritage, he arranged a red carpet premier of the movie at Jordan Creek Mall in West Des Moines. Not having a ticket for the event, I was one of a few hundred people that waited by the red velvet ropes next to the carpet for him to arrive. When he stepped on to the carpet, the place went crazy with cheers, whistles and yelling. Brandon worked his way down the carpet, signing items and taking photos with fans. When he stepped up to me, I had him sign a Superman hat and got a photo with him. He was gracious, signing for all who wanted an autograph and posing for pictures. It was a moment that I have always cherished. With him attending the con, it was my chance to share a moment like that with Hannah and my youngest daughter, Allison.

I pointed my car towards Des Moines and sped off after Mitch confirmed that he wanted to see Brandon. My hands shook on the wheel and made it difficult to pull up the Superman Returns soundtrack on my touch screen radio. The brass tones of the Superman theme did little to calm my nerves. Instead, its fanfare tickled goosebumps across my arms and a shivered a sweet chill up my spine. I kept checking the clock, feeling like I was late, but all was well, even when I pulled up to the museum.

I ran inside and after a brief conversation with the information desk, I found my way into the dark auditorium. It had stadium seating framed by steep steps that led to a bright stage. The stage was made to look like a hardwood floor and it was adorned with an area rug, two chairs and a small table. Displayed on the back wall was a vibrant projected logo for Produce Iowa, the State Office of Media Production. I took my seat and bounced my leg as I waited for the ceremony to begin.

While I waited, I texted Mitch to let him know I had seats for him and his son, Deacon. Looking around, I was surprised the auditorium was only half full. I thought for sure this would be a huge draw, especially with Brandon being an Iowa boy. Finally, a man walked out on stage to make some announcements. The minute he began talking a tsunami of school children hit the aisles and started flooding the open seats. In a matter of seconds, the auditorium was to capacity and I lost Mitch’s seats. I kept looking around to see if I spotted him but I couldn’t find him through the thick jungle of children’s faces so I him know with a quick text.. He replied back, “No worries.”

I turned back to the stage just as Brandon was walking out. The place erupted into a symphony of applause and he gave a wave and wide smile. On the side of the stage was a small table with a clay block that was going to be used to capture Brandon’s hand prints and signature but before they could get to that, a well dressed woman that had come on stage with him held up a framed document. “My name is Liz Gilman and I am the Executive Producer for Produce Iowa. This is from Governor Terry Branstad.” She went on to read about how the office of the governor recognized Brandon for his acting and his constant work with charitable organizations. “It is stated, by the power of the Governor, that today, June 12th 2015, is Brandon Routh Day.” Another round of roaring applause thundered through the auditorium as Brandon looked at the frame with shock and a sheepish smile.

“Thank you so much. It is quite unexpected!” He posed for photos then looked at it again, confirming it was real.

He was lead over to the block of hardened clay. Liz told him to put his hands on it and push as hard as he could. Brandon set his hands on the block, braced himself and pushed. His eyes went wide and he started laughing, “This is harder than it looks!” With Liz telling him to push harder, he gave another great heave to little avail. The audience started laughing with him as he quipped, “I should have gone to the gym first.”

Liz finally relented and let him ease up. She had him use a stick to trace his hands and then to sign his name. Once that was done, they walked to the chairs set up in the middle of the stage. Liz began to interview him by asking about his early life and his fascination with Superman. “I used to jump around with a Superman cape. The night I first watched the movie I worked myself up so hard, I ended up throwing up. I was so excited to see the movie.” Brandon’s baritone voice echoed through the hushed auditorium. “I’ve always loved the character and when the opportunity came up to play Superman, I had to go for it.”

The interview wove in and out of his life growing up, attending the University of Iowa (which brought some yells of approval from a few rabid Hawkeye fans), his family and finally what he’s working on currently. After his interview, Liz opened it up to some Q&A. One man asked, “What was it like to see yourself in the Superman suit for the first time.”

Brandon thought for a moment and said, “The first time I tried it on, I felt pretty silly. It was for fittings and to take note of changes to be made to the suit to make sure it fit in all the right spots. However, the first time I walked on to set in costume, I really felt like I had made it. That was quite exciting. It was for a scene ultimately not used in the movie where Clark changes in a closet before saving Lois in the airplane. I had to look in a mirror and seeing myself as Superman was great.”

I held my hand up to ask about the score for Superman Returns. Imbedded on the cd was a music video showing the scoring stage as the symphony orchestra recorded the Superman Theme for the opening credits. In it, Brandon can be seen visiting the stage and even playing a trumpet. While talking about his childhood, he had mentioned loving music. I wanted to ask what it was like as a music aficionado and as a fan to visit the scoring stage while they were playing the theme. Unfortunately, I was not picked and my question went unanswered.

With small pomp, Routh’s interview came to a close. He exited the stage with one final smile and wave. I was hoping that he’d maybe hang around and talk to fans but it was understandable that he left. I can only imagine what it would be like to be mobbed by fans thirsting for some one on one time with him. I left the auditorium knowing I’d get a few moments with him when I took the girls to Comic Con.

“Dad, where’s our capes?” Allison and Hannah looked at me with wide eyes.

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to look.” I got up from my chair and started looking around in their closet. In my pouring over the Wizard World website, I had been amazed to discover that Dean Cain was going to be at the event as well. The girls hadn’t ever watched Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, so I explained to them that it was a show on ABC that ran from 1994-97 and Dean Cain starred as the Man of Steel, Superman. I had loved the show growing up, even if it was a bit imbalanced in its campy quality. I made sure the girls watched the pilot episode and it made them want to play Superman with their capes on.

I found the capes among princess dresses and dance costumes. They were ripped out of my hands and the girls wrapped them around their necks. They took off running around the house with arms outstretched, making whooshing noises as their imaginations had them soaring thousands of feet in the air. Laughing at their exploits, I pulled out my phone to take some photos. Hannah, 8, stood over her 4 year old sister, Allison, as they raised their fists in the air for a heroic take off. I snapped the photos and they sat on my lap to look at them. Hannah looked at me and asked, “Daddy, can you send these to the real Superman?”

“Sure, Hannah, I can do that.”  They took off to go play and I pulled up Twitter. With the message, “Girls asked me to send this to the real Superman. Brandon and Dean here you go. C U @ Wizard World,” I attached the photo and sent it.

While the kids were still running around, I got a notification from Twitter. Dean Cain had favorited the photo. “Hannah! Allison! Look! Dean Cain favorited your photo.” Hannah beamed as she looked at Dean’s picture. “He liked you girls in your capes.” Allison was unphased but Hannah was giddy as she pranced around the house with renewed vigor in her cape.

The red carpeted aisles at the convention were filled with people as they shuffled around from table to table to check out the comic book inspired wares. Batmans, Storm Troopers and Ghostbusters were peppered into the crowd of comic lovers. Spider-Man walked past us and Allison pulled on my hand, “Look, Daddy! Spider-Man!”

I squeezed her hand back. “It sure is!”

Hannah asked, “Are we going to meet Superman?”

I knelt down to look at them. The girls were sporting their capes with Superman tshirts. I matched them with my Man of Steel S shirt. “We sure are. Let’s go get in line.” We headed towards the rear of the event hall. Through the crowd, past the hairy wagon from Dumb and Dumber and around the artist booths was the entrance to the celebrity hall. Holding hands, we left the madness of the main floor behind us and walked into the wide open hall which spread out before us. It was filled with tables that were framed with tall black curtains making each table a booth for celebrities to meet with fans. We barely walked in and Allison yelled, “HULK!” I looked over where she was pointing and there sat Lou Ferrigno. He was all dark hair, quick smiles and veiny, large biceps, not bad for 63 years old. I picked Allison up so she could get a better look. “Daddy, can we stay here and watch him?”

I laughed and said, “You can look at him for a minute but we need to get in line for to see Brandon Routh and Dean Cain.” I tugged at her cape. “They are going to want to see you dressed up.” She giggled as I set her down. A few nights prior, I had discovered that a group photo with Dean Cain and Brandon Routh was being offered. The girls could meet two actors who had played Superman AND get their picture with them. The plan was perfect.

We purchased our ticket then got in the queue line for the photo. Time crept by as I fidgeted with the girls hair and kept straightening their capes. Allie kept trying to sit on the floor but I told her it would get her cape dirty so she whined a bit but kept standing. Hannah kept herself busy by watching people. While we were talking and I was adjusting their capes for the thirty seventh time, the people at the front of the line started clapping and hollering. The three of us looked up to see Brandon striding to the photo area. He was escorted by two guys in black shirts and khakis, but he paused a moment to wave at us and flash his smile again. Then he was shepherded into the photo booth. Both girls looked up at me with terrific smiles spread across their faces.  “That was him girls. That was Brandon Routh.” Hannah started clapping and hopping up and down.

The line pitched forward and the photo session was on. We inched closer, guided to the photo booth with lines of tape stuck to the floor. The curtain flap to the booth was left open as fans were getting their pictures taken. I watched and noticed that other than a quick, “hello” and handshake, not much was going on in the way of talking to the pair. It was a slick process of, step in, pose, flash of the camera, get out. My smile started to evaporate as my daydreams of the girls having a moment with Dean and Brandon started to turn black and white then fade altogether. Hannah and Allison were going to have long enough to smile with Dean and Brandon, then be shoved out the back of the booth so the next schlubs could get their ten seconds of interaction. I sighed and realized this was probably a tremendous waste of money and time.

We walked into the booth and Brandon, tall and broad shouldered, greeted us. His eyes lit up as he saw the girls. He knelt down with a great beaming smile and said, “Wow, you girls look great! I love the capes.” He held his hands out for each girl to give them a high five. He talked with them for a moment more. Laughing at one of their responses, he stood up and held out his hand for me to shake.
I grabbed it and said, “Brandon. Thank you.” He nodded and waved me to the mark on the floor for the photos.

Dean stood next to the mark. He was a bit shorter than Brandon but quite a bit more stout. He had the classic barrel chest and arms that made his black short sleeves question their effectiveness. “Oh look at you girls. We’ve got some fans here.” He patted Hannah on the shoulder. I shook his hand and traded hellos with him.

We posed for the photo then the handlers ushered us towards the exit while telling us where we could pick up the picture on our way out of the photo area. I stopped and said, “Dean, you remember the tweet the other night of the two girls playing Superman?” He nodded as I pointed at Hannah and Allison. “These are those girls.” Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise then put his hand up at the next people coming into the booth to hold them back a second.

“Come back here kids.” They walked up to him. Dean knelt down to them and held his hand up for them to high five. “You girls look amazing! You did a great job.” While he talked to them, I looked over at Brandon. He had his arms crossed over his chest and with broad grin on his face. He was enjoying this as much as I was. Dean stood and patted each one of them on the shoulders then looked over at me. He smiled as we exchanged nods then the girls and I walked out as the next people finally got their turn.

I wiped away a tear at the corner of my eye as we walked to the photo printer. Superman has always been a large part of my life starting with Christopher Reeve. I suppose its probably because, growing up, I didn’t have a central father figure other than my grandpa. Superman had that great S on his chest, was always noble and good, and flew around to some pretty great music. What better person to latch on to as a father figure than the Man of Steel? Times have changed and no matter how iconic he was, Superman has moved on from Christopher Reeve. I’ve moved on too. Dean was Superman for the era of the 90’s; pulpy and colorful yet still moral and wholesome. Brandon brought Superman back to the silver screen with all the trimmings of Christopher Reeve, even the music. I know they are just actors who played a fictitious character, but both of them earned my respect by adding their own brick and mortar to the great wall that is the Superman mythos. And these two men treated my daughters with absolute kindness and wonderful generosity.

The girls looked back at me as they giggled and skipped to get our photo. I stepped up to the counter and retrieved our portrait. We walked over to a table, where I set it down and the three of us studied the picture.  “There we are girls. You finally got to meet Superman. And not just one, but two of them. And we all look terrific.”  

“They were really nice,” Hannah said.

Allie looked at the picture and squeaked, “Superman liked my cape.”

            We may have only had the briefest of moments with Brandon and Dean, but in that small sample of time, they managed to live up to their silver screen alter egos. Even after a weekend of hand shaking, forced smiles and dozens, if not hundreds, of fans, these guys created a genuine moment; welcoming Hannah and Allison as if they were the only fans they were meeting. The picture will always serve as a reminder of that because, to me, the picture isn’t “That time we met two Supermen,” it will always be, “The time Brandon and Dean made my girls smile.”