By Elissa Gilbert

Everyone comes to New York to make it, even superheroes. Batman, Superman, Captain America, Spider-man, and Iron Man all have lived, worked, captured villains, and rescued victims here. The Superheroes in Gotham exhibit at the New York Historical Society traces these masked heroes from the pages of comic books to radio, television, film, and Broadway.

The exhibit includes a typewriter used by Jerry Siegel to write scripts for Superman, the very first superhero. There’s a costume worn by George Reeves in the original Superman t.v. show. (Wikipedia gives his height as 6’1″, but the costume seemed surprisingly short).

Batman fans will find the most to enjoy here, with a full-size Batmobile in the lobby and props from the t.v. show including a Batphone. There’s an original Catwoman costume, including gloves with built-in claws; with high heels, it wasn’t surprisingly short, but surprisingly busty.

Although they were born in New York, comics have spread around the world, and you can check out a collection including Spider-man India and Wonder Woman en Francais. There are also modern NYC-based comics with heroes like Afro Kid.

If you’ve ever harbored the dream of being a superhero, a green screen puts you in the scene, and a quiz helps unmask your special powers and determines the kind of superhero you are.