A new cast of superheroes is making its debut not in Metropolis or Gotham, but in the sewer system of the Greater Cleveland area.
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has commissioned a series of educational comics dubbed the Lake Erie League.
The sewer district’s job is to clean the water that runs down our toilets and storm drains before it reaches the lake. Lake Erie League dramatizes that work — and explains environmental science — for a middle school audience.
The first issue, which launches today, tells the origin stories of the league’s sewer heroes. Among them are the anthropomorphic tunnel boring machine Mackenzie, stream investigator Botanica and Carl the Cuyahoga Creature.
The league will face adversaries who represent the threats to Cleveland-area water quality, according to sewer district communications manager John Gonzalez.
“Whether it’s clogs or wipes or erosion or pollution, those are all characters that will begin to be revealed as villains and realities of challenges that we’re facing every single day,” he told Weekly Chatter.
Well known for its lively social media presence, the sewer district worked with illustrator Miguel C. Hernández and high school science teacher Joe Sieracki to bring the Lake Erie League to the page.
Alongside the comic, the sewer district is issuing worksheets for middle school classrooms that touch on such ideas as erosion, pH testing and the water cycle.
In sewer district fashion, we’ll leave you with this advice. If you need something new for your lavatorial reading, keep a stack of these comics by the porcelain throne.
