Superman logo nixed on child’s memorial
TORONTO —DC Entertainment is refusing to allow the Superman logo to adorn a memorial statue of a Toronto boy who loved the superhero during his short life before his grandparents starved him to death.
A coroner’s inquest last winter into the death of five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin caught the attention of an Ottawa man, who was moved by Jeffrey’s plight and wanted to pay tribute to the boy.
Todd Boyce raised money for a statue of Jeffrey and recruited Ontario artist Ruth Abernethy — known for a Glenn Gould bronze statue on a bench on Front Street in Toronto and a bronze of Oscar Peterson outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa — to design it.
Boyce wanted to see Jeffrey depicted in a Superman costume, hearkening back to inquest testimony from Jeffrey’s father.
Before his teenage parents lost custody of Jeffrey to his maternal grandparents the little boy was very energetic and loved the superhero, Richard Baldwin testified.
“He wanted to fly,” Baldwin said. “He tried jumping off the chair. We had to make him stop. He dressed up (as Superman) for Halloween one year. He was so excited. I have that picture at home hanging on my wall. He was our little man of steel.”
But DC Entertainment — home to the comic book superhero — will not grant Boyce permission to use the Superman logo on the statue.
“It was important for me because I really felt I wanted to capture the photograph of Jeffrey wearing his Superman costume and have it as close to that as possible,” Boyce said. “Basically they didn’t want to have the character of Superman associated with child abuse. They weren’t comfortable with that.”
Boyce said he was angry and emotional when he first learned of their refusal, but after subsequent conversations with people at the company and their lawyers, he softened his stance.