Superman seeks ideas for U.S. trek

Superman takes a road trip across the United States in a forthcoming series, and publisher DC Comics wants fans to suggest cities and towns for his itinerary.

In an epic story arc titled Grounded, DC's fictional superhero will walk across nine states — Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington — in an attempt to "reconnect" with Americans.

Comic book fans who live within 50 miles (about 80 km) of Chicago, Des Moines, Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle can make a pitch for the Man of Steel to take a detour into their neighbourhood, hometown or city during one of Grounded's 12 issues.

Nine winners will be drawn from all the fans who submit an essay (of up to 1,000 words) explaining why their chosen locale should be included in the series, expected to stretch out over a year.

Featuring art by Eddy Barrows, the series is being penned by film, TV, fiction and comic book writer J. Michael Straczynski, whose wide-ranging credits span creating the award-winning sci-fi series Babylon 5 to writing the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated period drama Changeling.

DC co-publisher Dan DiDio says the company is searching for "what people have to say, how the character affected their lives" and "more importantly, what the character means to them."

The Grounded series will begin with issue 701 of Superman, which hits newsstands in July.