It Must Be Summer — St. Cloud Superman Returns [VIDEO]

It's been nearly 10 years that a St. Cloud man has bravely stood on the city's street corners, wearing some version of a Superman costume and waving at anyone and everyone.

John Fillah often has a boom box, lawn chair and American flag to keep him company even as he faces honks of support and jeers of disapproval.

He's become a regular attraction on St. Cloud street corners since he first suited up as the Man of Steel, just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Why?

"A lot of people in town were targetting me and treating me like a second class citizen. So I decided if you're going to treat me like a second class citizen, I'm going to be in your face and be a first class citizen and exercise my constitutional rights and see how you like that.

"...I have the cojones to stand out here and do what I do. A lot of people wouldn't have the confidence, and I do."

Over the years,  Fillah's become a folk hero of sorts, prompting video pranks, Facebook pages and even songs.  His alter ego has even been featured in a book on oddities in the Gopher State called Minnesota Curiosities.

Fillah says he's had some powerful validation, too.   A year or so into his Superman crusade, Fillah says an employee of DC Comics -- in this area on business -- stopped to tell him he's never seen anyone who looks more like Superman.

WJON's Abby Faulkner talked with Fillah at one of his favorite spots, at the corner of Highway 23 and 25th Avenue North -- on the public sidewalk next to the Dairy Queen.

But among the questions that remain a mystery -- why is he holding that rubber chicken? The answer may be as simple as "why not?"  After all, he's St. Cloud Superman.
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