“So Lord Mayor, we want to put you on the roof of the council building, dressed in your ceremonial robe and hat while making you pose like Super Man. Do you think that would be okay?,” we said.

There was silence on the line for a few seconds. “Sure,” came the response down the line finally.

Over the years we’ve certainly put Wollongong's Lord Mayor Cr Gordon Bradbery in some interesting positions all for the sake of a good photo.

At the start of the summer we sent him plummeting down a giant water slide on the City Beach foreshore, something your average mayor might think twice about.

Not our Lord Mayor.

And on Wednesday, here he was perched high above the city all for the sake of an image to promote Comic Gong which will take over the city on Saturday, May 19.

Looks are deceptive. The Lord Mayor was not near the side of the building, he was safely on the elevated walkway close to the building.

Behind him and just out of frame were the hands of a couple of helpers who made the Lord Mayor’s “cape” fill out as if it was being blown by the wind on what was actually a perfectly still Wollongong autumn day.

And, as per usual, our photographer Sylvia Liber nailed the photograph which then formed the basis of our Comic Gong commemorative front page designed by talented Fairfax Media artist Josh Hall.

Thank you, Lord Mayor, for having the courage to be different and have a bit of fun. Never change.

Readers can actually go online and download a poster-sized version of the Illawarra Mercury commemorative front page as a Comic Gong 2018 keepsake.