Superman's 75th Birthday with 'Comic Book Men' on the Streets of Red Bank

The sign on the Broad Street store in Red Bank said it all, or most of it — "Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash Would Like to Wish Superman A Happy 75th Birthday!!"

And since Secret Stash is the place where Kevin Smith's Comic Book Men has been filmed for three years now, it was also the spot where the reality series set the stage for a special episode dedicated to the birthday boy Wednesday evening.

The birthday sign replaced the one that used to read, "I assure you, we're open." The windows of the store were blackened, as is the usual when filming is going on inside.

But much of natural habitat set for the show was outside this time. There in a cordoned-off path to the store door, the red carpet, initially covered with throw rugs, sat. It was the red carpet that production got the OK to roll out onto the public sidewalk from Red Bank's governing body last week.

Crew milled in and out of the store. So did actors — Comic Book Men reality stars, really. There were extras, or more real people, that made up a sea of red capes filing in to prep for the outdoor scene.

Earlier, though, there was one pretty well-known "mild mannered" guy who hopped out of a black SUV and quickly made his way into the store long before the filming started outside. People milling around on the streets didn't really notice or react. Guess who?

Hint: This man might say "I'm not a superhero, but I played one on TV."
Considering the subject of the party in the show, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. Yet, there's more than one person who played Superman, or a version of him, on television.

Patch captured pre-filming photos outside, where everyone roaming downtown saw what we saw. We were told there was some sort of big reveal that was a surprise for the show and photos could not be taken once film was rolling, so there were none taken at that point.

Take a look at the photos in the above gallery for a glimpse into Superman's birthday with Comic Book Men. There was no phone booth to duck into, so this superhero may be out of the bag.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Superman!