Skip to main content

There’s A Campaign To Get Hutchinson, Kansas Renamed Smallville In Honor Of Superman

Faster than a speeding bullet!

Those familiar with the Superman mythos know that the Man of Steel got his humble beginnings in a small Kansas town named Smallville. It’s a fictional town of course but one man is trying to change that by getting his hometown of Hutchingson to alter their name. 

Recommended Videos

“I’m a huge Superman fan,” said Christopher Wietrick in what’s probably the understatement of the year. The Kansas man spoke with a local CBS station in Kansas to discuss the lofty Facebook campaign he started with a few friends.

“I think it’s a really neat time to dive into the world of comics and turn my city into one,” said Wietrick. “What we’re trying to do is bring a little attention to the town with tourism through art. We’d like to see the town name changed to Smallville, Kansas.”  Smallville wasn’t a name connected to Superman from the get-go, the town first showed up in comics in Superboy #2 in 1949 but it’s been a staple of his tales since then.

Wietrick cites the fact that there’s a Metropolis in the U.S. so it only seems fair for there to be a Smallville as well, but he’s got more ammunition than that when it comes to his campaign. Here are a few facts he posted on the Facebook page.

  • Smallville has a higher population. Hutchinson’s population is around 42,000, while Smallville’s is 45,001 (based on the television show).
  • In the television series, Smallville was said to be about a three hour drive from Metropolis. Hutch’s nearest, BIG city is about three hours away (Kansas City).
  • Smallville is a town built around agriculture. There are many farmers in the surrounding area, that grow corn, wheat and other crops. Before the meteors, they were the “Creamed Corn Capital of the World”. Hutchinson was formed in much the same way. In the 1910s, Hutch already had several grain elevators and kept expanding. By 1938, Hutchinson was the second largest wheat market in the country.
  • Hutchinson has one of the world’s largest displays of “stuff from space”, including rocks from space.

“I’ve been drawing pretty much since I could pick up a pencil,” said the long-time comic fan. “I’ve always been attracted to comic books, that’s how I learned to draw.”

To that effect, Wietrick has created his own Hutchinson/Smallville comic strip to share his comparisons with the world. “ALL profits will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Hutchinson,” he wrote. “When finished, the comic will be 12″ x 12″ or 12″ x 16″, two-sided piece.”

So what are his chances of seeing this project through? “The fact that we already have the Superman costume in the museum I think will really help our case,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is for Warner Bros. and DC Comics to recognize Hutchinson as Smallville, Kansas.”

Want to help support the cause? Read more on their Facebook page.

(via KWCH 12 Eyewitness News)

Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

Author
Jill Pantozzi
Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

Filed Under:

Follow The Mary Sue: