Superman #708: No Walk Through Omaha, Nebraska?

Superman #708 hit stands today with Superman supposed to be taking a jaunt through Omaha, Nebraska, according to the solicit.

Somehow, Big Blue ended up getting lost – and found himself in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Well, this didn’t sit well with the real people from Omaha.

When DC Comics first announced that Superman will be reconnecting with the American people in “Grounded,” visiting city after city in hopes of – actually I’m still just wondering what – they asked fans to write in recommending their city. Omaha was chosen with this particular issue being the one to showcase the city.

According to the World Herald, Nebraska’s largest newspaper, local comic shops in Omaha have been waiting – and planning – a year for this major event.

Then they opened today’s issue and discovered their beloved city wasn’t present.

“We weren’t expecting that,” said Jason Dasenbrock, owner of Legend Comics at 5131 Leavenworth St. “But what are you going to do?”

“All towns in the middle of the U.S. must look the same to people in New York,” said a chuckling Dean Phillips, owner of Krypton Comics at 2819 S. 125th Ave. “But we’re still having a good time with it.”

Bob Harras, Editor-In-Chief offered up the following apology:

“We could joke here that Superman took the wrong exit off of Interstate 80, but we won’t,” said Bob Harras, editor-in-chief of DC Comics. “We sincerely apologize to Omaha fans and retailers for our editorial oversight.”

The World Herald states the mix-up could be because of the recent writer change that saw J. Michael Straczynski depart and Chris Roberson come onboard. Or, perhaps, as we saw with this issue – Superman simply forgot?

Well, a look at the “Grounded” official rules states that contestants must reside within 50 miles of one of the listed cities (Omaha being one). Lincoln is just about 50 miles from Omaha. The winner receives an autographed copy of the issue etc. Was the winner from Omaha or Lincoln? Update: I’ve been informed the winner is from Lincoln.

Regardless, DC should have been correct on this one.

My best advice for the folks from Omaha is to simply … walk away from it all — as most seem to be doing from this JMS “Grounded” story, including new writer Chris Roberson as the past two issues begin to show.