Art by Christopher Jones
“Friends, there are few cities as beautiful and friendly as Minneapolis, way up in Minnesota,” the young Billy Batson tells readers in Captain Marvel Adventures #24. “Captain Marvel and I visited there recently, but we didn’t get much time for sight-seeing. We were too busy trying to catch up with that elusive and deadly character – the man who wouldn’t let it rain!”
Captain Marvel made his first appearance in 1939, courtesy of Fawcett Comics. Billy Batson, boy reporter for radio station WHIZ, is able to transform into Captain Marvel with the utterance of a single word – SHAZAM! The superhero was co-created by artist C.C. Beck, who was born in Zumbrota, Minnesota, and attended the University of Minnesota. It wasn’t until 1943, however, that Captain Marvel visited Minneapolis, and while Billy Batson may have claimed to not have “much time for sight-seeing,” many Minneapolis landmarks appeared in the issue nonetheless.
The mysterious “Rain King” is responsible for a draught in Minnesota that has ruined the state’s wheat crops. He is demanding one million dollars in ransom or else the draught will continue, and Captain Marvel has been asked to intercede. Billy Batson is met at the airport by the real-world mayor of Minneapolis at the time, Marvin L. Kline, and given a quick tour of the city that includes the neighborhood of Loring Park before arriving at the famed Foshay Tower.
As a teenager, Wilbur Foshay vowed that if ever had the money, he would build an office building shaped like an obelisk similar to the Washington Monument. In 1916, Foshay took out a $6,000 loan and began buying utility companies throughout the American Midwest, then selling stock in his W.B. Foshay company. In 1927, Foshay used $3.7 million of his subsequent wealth to construct the 32-floor Foshay Tower – each floor being slightly smaller than the one underneath, giving it an obelisk shape.
For the building’s grand opening in August 1929, Foshay shelled out even more cash to pay traveling expenses for members of President Herbert Hoover’s cabinet to attend, as well as numerous congressmen and senators. On October 24, 1929 – just two months after the Foshay Tower opened – wiping out both Wilbur Foshay’s fortune and his ownership stake in the building.
While Captain Marvel was able to stop the Rain King without causing any damage to Minneapolis, the city wasn’t as fortunate when Booster Gold visited in 1987. The DC superhero’s sister was taken captive in Booster Gold #21 and the title character was forced to choose between rescuing his sibling or preventing a giant beast from killing everyone attending a Minnesota Twins baseball game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. He ultimately chooses the latter.
“From the looks of that inflatable top,” Booster Gold remarks when he arrives at the Metrodome, “I almost expect to open the door and find a flaky crust and fruit filling.”
Hubert H. Humphrey was a United States senator and served as vice president under Lyndon Johnson. Humphrey began his political career by running for mayor of Minneapolis in 1943. He lost to incumbent Marvin L. Kline, who welcomed Captain Marvel to the city that same year. The 1945 election for mayor was a repeat, with Humphrey this time emerging victorious. He ran for reelection two years later and won by the largest percentage in the city’s history up until that point. When an indoor sports stadium was built in the early 1980s for not only the Minnesota Twins but the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, it was formally named in honor of Humphrey, although most residents simply referred to it as the Metrodome.
As Booster Gold noted, the roof of the Metrodome was made of a fiberglass fabric that was supported by air pressure. During the winter, hot air was pumped into a space between the outer fiberglass and a second layer of fabric to melt snow on the roof and keep it from collapsing. Spectators, meanwhile, entered and exited the seating area of the Metrodome through revolving doors to maintain the air pressure necessary to keep the roof inflated. Despite such precautions, the roof deflated four times during the 1980s. The Metrodome itself was replaced and demolished in 2014.
The roof of the Metrodome was torn apart in 1987 when the beast fighting Booster Gold rips through the fabric and escapes into the streets of Minneapolis. Booster Gold pursues the creature as it makes its way to one of the enclosed pedestrian footbridges that is part of the Minneapolis Skyway System. The first skyway opened in 1962, connecting the Northstar Center with the Northwestern Bank Building. Additional skyways were built afterwards, eventually resulting in 9.5 miles of second-level bridges connecting eighty blocks of downtown Minneapolis.
By now the Justice League International has arrived to assist Booster Gold but are unable to prevent the beast from using its arm to slice off the top half of the Foshay Tower before it is finally subdued. The building was again attacked in 2012 when the teenage superhero team Young Justice – as well as their adult Justice League counterparts – traveled to Minneapolis to prevent Kobra and his Kobra Cult from unleashing a giant snake on the city.
When they fail in their primary mission, Batman, Green Arrow, and the Flash take off after the serpent, which is apparently attracted to the sights of downtown Minneapolis as much as any tourist, including the footbridges of the Skyway System and Foshay Tower. The giant cobra makes its way to other landmarks as well, most notably the Guthrie Theater and Mill City Museum. As one of the theater goers flees in panic, he shouts, “How does a giant snake have anything to do with A Streetcar Named Desire?”
In 1959, English theatrical director Sir Tyrone Guthrie grew frustrated with New York City’s Broadway and placed an ad in the New York Times for a community willing to launch a new resident theater. Minneapolis enthusiastically responded, and after raising $2 million for construction costs, the Guthrie Theater opened in 1963. A new Guthrie was built forty years later, located along the Mississippi River and costing $125 million. In addition to three separate theaters, the building includes a 178-foot cantilevered bridge, which can be seen in Young Justice #17.
Minneapolis, meanwhile, was founded near Saint Anthony’s Falls, a natural waterfall on the Mississippi River. By 1876, eighteen flour mills dotted the west side of the river, using the falls as an energy source. Cadwallader C. Washburn – whose Minneapolis Mill Company later became General Mills – initially dominated the industry until Charles Alfred Pillsbury and his Pillsbury Company completed its mill in 1881. In 1983, the Minnesota Historical Society undertook an archeology study of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District and discovered that the ruins of numerous mills still existed. The remains of the old Washburn “A” Mill were later incorporated into a Mill City Museum that preserves the history of Minneapolis.
Arguably the best-known tourist attraction in Minneapolis is the Mall of America, located in nearby Bloomington, Minnesota. An estimated forty million people annually visit the shopping complex, which is the largest in the United States and eleventh in the world. Containing a gross area of 5.6 million square feet, the Mall of America contains over 500 stores located on three levels. Nickelodeon Universe is located inside and includes numerous roller coasters and carnival rides. The Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium also calls the Mall of America home, as does the Lego Imagination Center, Moose Mountain Adventure Golf, and the Museum of Illusions.
In 2007, the Mall of America was the site of an epic battle between Marvel superhero She-Hulk and supervillain Absorbing Man, who has the ability to transform into any material that he touches. She-Hulk #23 opens with the title character being thrown through the screen of a movie theater located at the Mall of America, and the already rampaging battle now continues inside the actual mall.
She-Hulk kicks her opponent into the LEGO Imagination Center, turning him into a living LEGO creation that is then shattered into thousands of colorful bricks with one punch. The Absorbing Man recovers, however, and tosses a roller coaster from Nickelodeon Universe at She-Hulk. The pair then make their way to the Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium and its curved tunnel located beneath fourteen feet of water. Once their fight resumes, a section of the glass tunnel is shattered. The onrushing water inevitably liquifies Absorbing Man, bringing an end to the confrontation.
“Of course, there’s still a matter of cleanup,” She-Hulk reflects afterwards. “Half the mall gets flooded. I go around saving a lot of people. Usual stuff.”
Fortunately Minneapolis exists in the real world as well as the fictional universes of DC and Marvel Comics, meaning that visitors don’t need to worry about draughts, giant beasts and large snakes running and slithering through the city, or almost drowning while visiting the Mall of America – and are able instead to enjoy the city in more traditional ways than a comic book superhero.
Anthony Letizia