In a stressful moment for many in Chicago, a well-known superhero made an appearance earlier this month in Pilsen on the Lower West Side.
The comic-style mural on a viaduct at 18th Street and Western Avenue shows Superman punching an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the face.
The mural includes a quote that says “meanwhile in Chicago...” — referring to the recent ICE raids in the city brought on by the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations.
The mural contains the signature of local artist Viril The Mouse, who couldn’t be reached for comment.
Del Mar, a 42-year-old woman from Pilsen who did not want her first name used, said she first noticed the mural last Monday while on her way to the bus stop.
“I like it, and I actually think it’s kind of funny,” Del Mar said. “I think everything that the government is doing right now is very unfair.”
Del Mar said she thought it was beautiful art but saw it as a form of protest.
“I think it’s great that there are people who are willing to push back and fight against these injustices,” she said.
The mural also seemed to attract chatter on Reddit — with users referencing Superman as an undocumented person who is on Earth fighting villains.
“Superman is literally [undocumented]. You gonna side against superman?” user ClickLow9489 wrote.
Another user, honeyshytea, commented on the thread, “Superman, Champion of the oppressed.”
The mural’s appearance in the neighborhood comes only weeks after another mural was vandalized a few blocks away.
That mural, on 16th Street and Ashland Avenue, depicts a Mexican man and a Palestinian man resting peacefully in a field.
A woman is accused of painting “Israel” in large letters over the mural and burning off the face of the Palestinian man and spreading feces on the wall and sidewalk.
