The owner of Elkhart’s Hall of Heroes, Allen Stewart, is a fan’s fan. More diehard than Bruce Willis, more committed than Gary Busey, more hooked than a rainbow trout, more knowledgeable than-
You get the picture.
Now, no offense to Elkhart, but when I think of the world’s largest collection of superheroes, a mid-sized city in northern Indiana is not the first place that comes to mind. I picture a cavernous bunker beneath one of the Smithsonian Museums in D.C. or the top of floor of a New York City skyscraper.
But Elkhart is the first and only home of the appropriately titled Hall of Heroes. Let’s put that in caps. HALL OF HEROES.
With the army of superhero films and television shows marching across our televisions today, coupled with the Cons touring the United States (Comic-Con, Gen-Con, etc…), you’d think there would be numerous museums dedicated to our imaginations’ greatest heroes, but you’d be wrong. There is only one. The HALL OF HEROES.
Designed after famous Hall of Justice from DC Comics, the HALL OF HEROES is the dream of Allen Stewart, a comic junkie who decided to give his collection of comic books and memorabilia a fitting home.
The mild-mannered collector spends his days running his real estate firm, Stewart Realty, but his free-time revolves around the HALL OF HEROES, which is nestled behind his house, much like an above-ground Batcave. That has museum hours. And charges admission. Okay, so it’s not like the Batcave at all.
Trying to list the items you’ll find there is almost impossible, but any fan of the superhero genre from the 1950s to today would be awestruck during a visit. Stewart has over 60,000 comic books in his collection, including the first Captain America (from 1941!) and the first appearance of Spider-man and Wonder Woman.
Movie and television lovers will gawk at his amazing collection of props: an original shield used in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, one of Adam West’s original costumes from the beloved 1960’s ‘Batman’ television series.
Stewart even has props from some of the biggest superhero-stinkers, like a Batarang from ‘Batman & Robin’ or a ring used in Ryan Reynolds’s ‘Green Lantern’ (before Reynolds came into his own as Deadpool).
Admission is only $6, a true bargain, and the museum is open seven days a week. For more information on its location, hours and collections, check out the HALL OF HEROES website HERE.
