Portland

Portland is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon.

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Originally posted: http://www.sunnyrainshine.com/index.php?/words/zetaman–an-unknown-superhero/

By Simone

Moving to Portland required some adjusting.

Here baristas are respected like wine connoisseurs. Recycling is more serious than knowing the difference between plastic and glass. A tattoo can mean everything or nothing at all. Home owning is hip. Home renovation is even hipper. Anything bought second hand is better than new. And homeless people symbolize the city just as much as all of the above do.

It’s sad to admit, but at first I was startled. Not since my childhood in New York City had I been around so many homeless people. Surely they would try to take something from me, I thought. And so, I always had an eye out. I planned my walks home around streetlights and late night crowds. I pretended to be on the phone. I did the pitiful money search pat or the apologetic shrug and headshake at the mere glimpse of eye contact. But then, an even sadder thing to admit, I simply forgot about them. They began to go by unnoticed and ignoring their pleads had become as routine as walking to Stumptown on my way to work. So naturally the moment I heard of Zetaman I was intrigued. Zetaman is a self-proclaimed Superhero who traveled the streets of Portland to help the homeless.

I wanted to know who this man was. I wanted to know how he managed the strength to help day after day. I wanted to know where he hung. What he was into. Did his family know? Just how seriously did he take the title Superhero? And perhaps above all, I wanted to know how this man had built up the courage to actually wear a Superhero outfit, complete with a cape and goggles. Was it made out of spandex? Did he have several? Did he have an arch nemesis and a calling symbol? My questions were ready. I found his contact information and quickly sent out an email hoping for a meeting. Zetaman had an email address. How modern.

A couple hours passed and no response. Clearly I was getting too used to the immediacy of offices email responses. I waited longer. With my impatience I began to delve deeper into my background research. Zetaman is a 30-year-old man who lives in Portland. He maintains his daytime job and travels through the streets at night to hand out blankets, at times even giving the shoes off of his own feet. He certainly did not seem like one to let messages go unreturned. After a couple of silent months passed I begin to think differently. Soon I stumbled upon an article that spoke of his desire to remain private. His work, Zetaman said, was done out of goodwill and so he’d like to avoid any media attention that might come his way. Well then what about the cape? The goggles? And why go out of your way to proclaim yourself a Superhero? Who, above the age of seven, would say and wear the things this man does and not want any attention in return?

And then I remembered where I am. I’m in Portland. A city whose motto is to stay weird and this certainly fits that bill.

I decided to take a different approach. I would seek out the people he has helped, rather than him directly. I would go looking for the Superhero. On my first outing I walked directly up to a shelter and began asking if anyone had met this mysterious man in a cape. Within minutes Bill, who worked at the center, came outside. Helpful, I thought. A minute into our conversation I realized if I didn’t make some immediate reference to the fact that I have a bank account, an apartment and am not currently on any prescribed medications, I would soon be shuffled into the building behind him and placed away somewhere amongst the masses. I left Bill. More people, more places. I kept explaining. Yet still, no one seemed to know anything about this Zetaman. It seems I was either on the wrong side of town, in the wrong groups, asking the wrong questions or just as crazy as Bill had pinned me to be. I took a step away.

Maybe the allure of Zetaman is just as good as his actuality. After all, why did I feel the need to see, touch or question him senseless in order to believe in his existence? Couldn’t I find the little reserve of faith and imagination from my childhood? A little belief in the unbelievable. Or had I drained it all like an unsealed tub?

After sometime now, I’m happy to be left thinking that some things are meant to be weird, some things are meant to be secret and some things are meant to be believed in. And so I’ll let Portland remain, along with all its inhabitants, as it wishes to remain: unquestionably weird.

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By Ward Rubrecht

http://www.citypages.com/content/printVersion/361255

Geist’s breath fogs the winter air as he surveys the frozen Minneapolis skyline, searching for signs of trouble. His long duster flaps in the breeze as his eyes flick behind reflective sunglasses; a wide-brim hat and green iridescent mask shroud his identity from those who might wish him harm.

Should a villain attack, the Emerald Enforcer carries a small arsenal to defend himself: smoke grenades, pepper spray, a slingshot, and a pair of six-inch fighting sticks tucked into sturdy leather boots. Leather guards protect Geist’s arms; his signature weapon, an Argentinean cattle-snare called bolos, hangs from a belt-holster.

A mission awaits and time is of the essence, so Geist eases his solid frame, honed from martial arts training, into his trusty patrol vehicle—a salt-covered beige sedan. Unfamiliar with the transportation tangle of downtown, he pulls a MapQuest printout from his pocket, discovering his goal is but a short cruise down Washington Avenue.

Soon Geist faces his first obstacle: parking on the left side of a one-way street. “Usually one of my superpowers is parallel parking,” he chuckles as he eases his car into the spot, emerging victorious with a foot and a half between curb and tire. He feeds a gauntleted fistful of quarters into the parking meter, and then pops the trunk on the Geistmobile to retrieve his precious cargo. On the street, he encounters businesspeople on lunch break—some stare openly; others don’t even notice his garish attire. “It’s easier in winter,” Geist says with a laugh. “Winter in Minnesota, everybody’s dressed weird.”

Finally, his destination is in sight: People Serving People, a local homeless shelter. Geist strides boldly into the lobby—a cramped, noisy room where kids and adults mill about chatting—and heaves his stuffed paper bags onto the counter. “I have some groceries to donate,” he tells Dean, the blond-bearded security guard on duty, whose placid expression suggests superheroes pop in on a regular basis. “And I have an hour on the meter if there’s anything I can do to help out.”

Wendy Darst, the volunteer coordinator, looks taken aback but gladly puts the superhero to work. Soon the Jade Justice finds himself hip-deep in a supply closet, piling books into a red Radio Flyer wagon. He wheels it back to the lobby, entreating the children to select a text. But the kids seem more interested in peppering him with questions. “So are you a cowboy or something?” one boy asks.

Geist kneels down to reply with a camera-ready grin, “Maybe a super-secret, space-cowboy detective!”

Another kid, awed by the uniform, just stares silently. “Hi,” Geist says with a smile, holding out his hand in greeting. “I’m a real-life superhero.”

The kid grabs Geist’s leather-clad mitt and grins back. “I’m four!”

Such is the life of Minnesota’s only superhero—a man in his mid-40s who sold off his comic book collection to fund a dream borne of those very pages. Unlike his fictional inspirations, he hasn’t yet found any villains to apprehend in Rochester, a sleepy city of 95,000 about 80 miles south of Minneapolis. But that doesn’t mean he’s wasting his time, he says. “When you put on this costume and you do something for someone, it’s like, ‘Wow, I am being a hero,’ and that is a great feeling.”

BY MOST OBSERVERS’ RECKONING, between 150 and 200 real-life superheroes, or “Reals” as some call themselves, operate in the United States, with another 50 or so donning the cowl internationally. These crusaders range in age from 15 to 50 and patrol cities from Indianapolis to Cambridgeshire, England. They create heroic identities with names like Black Arrow, Green Scorpion, and Mr. Silent, and wear bright Superman spandex or black ninja suits. Almost all share two traits in common: a love of comic books and a desire to improve their communities.

It’s rare to find more than a few superheroes operating in the same area, so as with all hobbies, a community has sprung up online. In February, a burly, black-and-green-clad New Jersey-based Real named Tothian started Heroes Network, a website he says functions “like the UN for the real-life superhero community.”

The foremost designer of real-life superhero costumes lives in New Brighton, Minnesota. His given name is Michael Brinatte, but he pro wrestles under the name Jack T. Ripper. At 6’2″, with bulldog shoulders, he looks more likely to suplex you than shake your hand. It’s hard to imagine him behind a sewing machine, carefully splicing together bits of shiny spandex, but when the 39-year-old father of three needed to give his wrestling persona a visual boost, that’s just where he found himself, drawing on his only formal tailoring education: seventh-grade home economics. He discovered he had a talent for it, and before long was sewing uniforms and masks for fellow wrestlers, learning techniques to make his work durable enough to withstand the rigors of hand-to-hand combat.

After he posted photos of his masks on the internet, he met his first real-life superhero: Entomo the Insect Man, a crimefighter and “masked detective” based in Naples, Italy. Entomo wanted Brinatte to make him a mask to incorporate into his black-and-olive uniform. A lifelong comic fan, Brinatte took the assignment seriously, and it showed in the stitching. When Entomo showed off his new mask to the community of Reals, Brinatte started getting more orders: a green-and-black bodysuit for Hardwire, a blue-and-white Z-emblazoned uniform for Zetaman. Eventually, Brinatte started a website, www.hero-gear.net, to formalize his business, and now spends 10 to 15 hours each week making superhero uniforms. “They have a good heart and believe in what they’re doing, and they’re a lot of fun to talk to,” Brinatte says.

His super friends are starting to get publicity. Last October, an organization called Superheroes Anonymous issued an invitation to any and all real-life superheroes: Come to Times Square to meet other Reals face-to-face and discuss the future of the movement. The community roiled with discussion of the invitation—was it a trap by an as-yet-unknown real-life super villain? In the end, only a dozen Reals attended, but the gathering attracted the notice of the New York Times and the BBC, which gave the budding league of justice worldwide ink.

“We’re basically normal people who just find an unusual way to do something good,” Geist says. “Once you get suited up, you’re a hero and you’ve got to act like one.”

SO YOU’VE DECIDED to become a real-life superhero. Like Wolverine, you’ve chosen a secret identity and a uniform. But unlike the X-Man, you don’t have retractable claws or a mutant healing factor. How do you make up the difference?

Most Reals use a combination of martial arts and weaponry. The Eye is a 49-year-old crimebuster from Mountain View, California, who wears a Green Hornet-inspired fedora and trench coat. Though he focuses mainly on detective work and crime-tip reporting, he prepares himself for hand-to-hand combat by studying kung fu and wielding an arsenal of light-based weapons designed to dazzle enemies.

“In movies, a ninja will have some powder or smoke to throw at you to distract,” he explains. “That’s essentially what I’m trying to do.”

All superheroes have origins, and The Eye is no exception. He grew up tinkering with electronic gadgetry, first with his dad, then in the employ of a Silicon Valley company (he’s reluctant to say which one). The Eye considers himself “on-duty” at all times, so when a co-worker started pimping fake Rolex watches to others in his office, the Paragon of Perception sprang into action. He went into work early, snuck into the watch-monger’s office to locate the stash of counterfeit merchandise, and then dropped a dime to Crimestoppers. Ultimately, police wouldn’t prosecute unless The Eye revealed his secret identity—a concession he was unwilling to make—but he nonetheless chalks it up as a victory. “We stopped him from doing this,” The Eye says. “He knows someone’s watching.”

For sheer investment in gadgetry, none top Superhero, an ex-Navy powerlifter from Clearwater, Florida. His patrol vehicle is a burgundy 1975 Corvette Stingray with a souped-up 425-horsepower engine. He wears a flight helmet installed with a police scanner and video camera, and carries an extendable Cobra tactical baton, a flash gun, sonic grenades, and a canister of bear mace. Topping off the one-man armory is an Arma 100 stun cannon, a 37mm nitrogen-powered projectile device. His ammo of choice? Sandwiches. “Nothing stops them in their tracks like peanut butter and jelly,” he explains in a video demonstration posted online.

Once you’ve honed your body and strapped on your utility belt, it’s time to decide how to focus your heroic efforts. Within the community of Reals, there’s a buffet of choices. Some choose mundane tasks—The Cleanser strolls around picking up trash, while Direction Man helps lost tourists find where they’re going. Most Reals also lend their personages to charities, donating to food banks or organizing clothing drives.

Other Reals scoff at the idea of being a glorified Salvation Army bell-ringer and instead go looking for action. “I fight evil,” says Tothian, the New Jersey crimefighter who founded Heroes Network. “I don’t think picking up garbage is superheroic.”

Master Legend, a chrome-suited 41-year-old from Winter Park, Florida, patrols the streets looking for crimes in progress, and claims his efforts have paid off. “I’ve dumped garbage cans over crackheads’ heads, I slam their heads against the wall, whatever it takes,” the Silver Slugger says with bravado. “They try to hit me first, and then it’s time for Steel Toe City.”

IN 1986, ALAN MOORE RELEASED his magnum opus, Watchmen, a 12-issue comic series whose conceit was built on a simple premise: What would it be like if superheroes existed in real life? Besides helping to usher in a new age of “mature” graphic novels, the series foreshadowed some of the complications facing real-life superheroes today.

For instance: How to balance crime fighting with family life? Zetaman, a goateed, black-and-blue-clad Real hailing from Portland, Oregon, got married seven years go, but only recently started his career as a costumed crusader. He says his wife’s reaction to his new hobby was lukewarm—she made him promise not to go out at night, and told him to focus on charity work instead of fisticuffs. “She thinks it’s a phase,” he says with a laugh.

The media can be even less charitable, as Captain Jackson, a gray-and-yellow-suited hero from Michigan, discovered in October 2005. That’s when a headline appeared in the Jackson Citizen Patriot that could’ve been penned by J. Jonah Jameson himself: “Crime Fighter Busted for Drunk Driving.” The article unmasked Captain Jackson as Thomas Frankini, a 49-year-old factory worker who’d been arrested for driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.135 percent. The story was picked up by the Detroit Free Press and Fox News. Frankini was devastated. “My patrol days are over, I’m afraid,” he said.

Unlike in the comics, real-life Commissioner Gordons rarely express gratitude for superheroes’ help. One evening when Master Legend was on patrol, he heard a woman scream and ran to investigate. But when he located the damsel in distress, she thought he was attacking her and called the cops. “They wanted to know if I was some kind of insane man, a 41-year-old man running around in a costume,” he recounts. “Apparently, they had never heard of me.”

Bernard, a sharp-featured, 33-year-old police detective from suburban Philadelphia who asked that his last name be withheld, has become something of a rabbi to the online community of Reals. When he first stumbled upon the phenomenon, he thought, “These people are nuts.” But as he learned more, he saw how the costumed do-gooders could make a difference. “They’re definitely committed, and their heart is in the right place.”

Most Reals are harmless enough, but Bernard worries about the bloodlust displayed by a small segment of the community. A recent thread on Heroes Network debated whether it was appropriate for a Real to carry a shotgun in his patrol vehicle. These aggressive Reals don’t realize how difficult it is to apprehend criminals in the real world, Bernard says. “It’s not like drug dealers stand around with quarter ounces of cocaine, throwing them in the air and saying ‘Here’s drugs for sale,'” he says. “Let’s imagine that one of them does come across a drug dealer, gives them a roundhouse kick to the head, and finds a whole bag of pot in his pocket. Nobody’s going to celebrate that. If anything, now you’re going to have a huge fiasco. Let’s face it—the world is complicated. You don’t solve anything by punching somebody.”

Rumor has it that a Real named Nostrum recently lost an eye in the line of duty, and some wonder if it will take a fatality to jolt the community out of its four-color fantasy. Wall Creeper, a 19-year-old who fights crime in Colorado, even seems to welcome the possibility. “To die doing something so noble would be the best thing to happen,” he says.

JIM WAYNE KEPT HIS EYE OUT in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona—and the bald 40-year-old didn’t like what he saw. “Somewhere along the line we’ve stopped caring about each other and started caring about ourselves,” he says.

Two years ago, Wayne saw a commercial for Who Wants to Be a Superhero?—a reality show in which costumed contestants compete for the honor of starring in their own comic book—and something inside him clicked.

“Ever since I was a kid, if you asked any of my friends or family who they knew that should be a superhero, they’d probably say me,” he says.

Wayne dreamed up Citizen Prime, a persona patterned after his favorite comic book character, Captain America. “He, even more than Superman or Batman, epitomizes what a hero is: someone who stands up for their principles and goes out there to help people,” Wayne says. To bring his alter ego to life, Wayne spent $4,000 on custom-made armor—everything from a shiny chest plate to a bright yellow cape and a sloping steel helmet. “I made a commitment to make this and wear it and create this presence and see where that takes me,” he says.

Initially, it didn’t take him far. “There’s a reason why police are always coming after crimes,” he says. “It’s one of those fictions in comics when superheroes are walking down the street and hear a scream. I found out real quickly that patrolling for patrolling’s sake seems like a lost effort.”

That realization sparked a change in how he thought about his role. “I think even though there’s some fun to be had in the kick-ass aspect of comics, it’s fiction and fantasy and we know it,” he says. “As you translate those icons over to the real world, you have to face truths, such as violence begets violence.”

So Prime hung up the bulletproof vest and tactical baton and began volunteering for charity work. He teamed with Kids Defense, an organization aimed at protecting kids from internet predators, and allied with the Banner Desert Hospital pediatrics wing, offering to personally pick up toys from anyone who wanted to donate to the holiday drive. “I want to get people out there to create a presence in the community,” he says. “You make a presence of good in the community and the darker elements retreat.”

Recently, he started his own nonprofit called the League of Citizen Heroes. The organization, as he envisions it, will draw on an army of volunteers—both masked and unmasked—to contribute to the greater good. “That’s the level of sophistication that I think the movement’s moving towards,” he says, “We don’t have to just be patrolling the dark streets.”

Superhero, one of the first recruits to the League, shares Wayne’s dream, but is less philosophical when it comes to why, when all is said and done, he decided to put on a costume.

“I horse-shitted myself into thinking I was being a symbol for people and all that,” Superhero says. “But then I just faced the truth and admitted I do it ’cause it’s hella fun.”

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The Alternates had their second annual blood drive today. Unfortunately due to the weather, there was very little turnout. However the Server and Zetaman did attend.

Other Masked Adventures took part as well. Dark Guardian lead a group in New York. Firebird, Geist and Dreamer also participated in their locations.

-Z

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Originally posted: http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-8534-the_adventures_of_zetaman.html
It’s a tough job being Portland’s only superhero.

Once a week for the past 18 months, Zetaman has donned his costume and patrolled downtown Portland, seeking out the needy with gifts of food and clothing.

He goes armed with an extendable steel baton, pepper spray, and a Taser that delivers 30,000 volts—enough to put a man on the ground. Those tools of the trade are to defend himself or people in trouble. But he doesn’t pick fights, and so far he hasn’t been forced to draw his weapons or apprehend anybody.

Like the men under the Burnside Bridge one recent Saturday night when temperatures fell into the low 40s, most of the people Zetaman encounters are grateful for the help.

But they also fail to ask the obvious question: What possesses a stocky 29-year-old to put on a homemade costume and prowl the city streets in the dead of night?

The answers lie both in Zetaman’s own past and on the Web, where in recent years hundreds of other self-styled “real-life superheroes” have sprung into existence around the country.

Zetaman was hesitant to reveal his secrets when contacted by WW. But in the end he agreed to be interviewed and allow a reporter to spend two nights on patrol with him, in hopes that the publicity will inspire more people to become costumed heroes.

“This is not about me,” he insists. “Anyone could do this. I’m nothing special.” He doesn’t even like the term “superhero,” preferring to call himself a “man of mystery.”

But he admits being a costumed avenger is addictive after the first taste of parading in public with a “Z” on your chest.

“I couldn’t stop after that,” he says. “I feel great about myself. I’m staying active in the community. And I like comic books, I like great and noble ideas—like He-Man and Spider-Man. And they all have this thing about noble responsibility.”

On the pages of MySpace.com and in Internet chat rooms, the superheroes plan missions and exchange tips on fighting crime. That is, when they’re not sniping at each other, forming rival superteams, or weathering real-life attacks from mysterious supervillains. But more on the rivalries later.

Most heroes say they’re in the business to make a positive impact. Or just to have a good time.

“People will tell you they had a calling or a vision,” says “Superhero,” a 39-year-old former pro wrestler from Clearwater, Fla., who patrols his hometown in a souped-up ’75 Corvette. “I used to tell people I was trying to be a symbol. Then I realized it was a bunch of crap, and I do it ’cause it’s hella fun.”

In a world where sci-fi has come true and flip phones are as commonplace as pencils, the Eye, a 49-year-old superhero in Mountain View, Calif., says there’s nothing left to stop people from living out their comic-book fantasies.

“Every citizen should do something of that nature,” says the Eye, who says he uses his skills as a former private eye to solve crimes. “I just use the persona to protect the identity and do it with a little style, I suppose.”

It’s easy for the casual observer to wonder what the hell Zetaman or any superhero is accomplishing when the country is dealing with serious issues like the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq or the threat of a recession. And it’s just as easy to laugh at any superhero’s MySpace page, Zetaman’s included.

If you went online right now and accused him of being a supergeek, you certainly wouldn’t be the first.

But consider this: If our life is basically a quest for identity and purpose, real-life superheroes have a huge advantage on ordinary mortals. And for that, they credit the Internet—a world where users can instantly create new personas and seek out others with the same interests.

Dr. Gordon Nagayama Hall, a University of Oregon psychology professor, says real-life superheroes probably have an inflated sense of self-worth, even as they help the innocent.

“Some of us might do those things without the costume,” he says. “The sort of bizarre nature of it suggests to me they might be looking for some kind of recognition that might stem from some narcissistic process.”

The Web merely feeds that impulse, he says. “These Internet groups create this support that actually emboldens people to go out there and act out their fantasy.”

Or as Zetaman puts it, in less academic terms: “It’s a pretty easy club to join. All you need is a costume and a MySpace page.”

It’s taboo in the superhero world to call them by their real names. But by day, Zetaman is Illya King, a married man with no kids. He makes about $40,000 a year, lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Beaverton, drives a 1998 Ford minivan with 96,000 miles on it, and has no criminal record.

Zetaman declined to reveal where he works or what he does for a living, because, he says, he’s concerned about strangers showing up and harassing him on the job.

His stated motives for being a superhero range from the quotidian (“having a cool costume, having a cool identity”) to the quixotic (“helping as many people as I can as selflessly as I can”).

He hesitated to reveal his name for this story because, he says, his true identity is inconsequential. He insists he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself, but to serve as an example. And there’s another, more pressing reason Zetaman hesitates to identify himself: an alarming incident last month in California.

In an unprecedented turn, Zetaman’s superhero buddy Ragensi, who patrols the town of Huntington Beach, Calif., in a black ninja costume, says he was attacked by what appeared to be an unknown supervillain.

Nothing is known of the attacker, Zetaman says, except that he wore special pads used by other superheroes and seemed to be well-prepared, lurking in wait. He used martial-arts moves against Ragensi, who managed to escape using his own fighting skills.

Ragensi did not respond to WW’s requests for an interview. But Zetaman says the unprovoked attack made him redouble his reluctance to identify himself. “We’re still pretty freaked out by the whole thing,” Zetaman says.

Crazy as it may sound to the rest of us, the superhero community has long feared the possibility that supervillains may emerge to confront them. But even after Ragensi’s run-in, Zetaman says it never occurred to him that he could be a target. His costume is more low-profile than Ragensi’s ninja garb, and on the nights WW patrolled with Zetaman, he drew no stares on the streets of downtown. Even the people he helps rarely realize he’s a superhero.

Zetaman’s origins date back to 2006, a time when he was going through a rough stretch in his personal life. Both he and his wife had temporarily lost their jobs, and at the same time they were hit with thousands of dollars in medical bills when his wife suffered a miscarriage. As the couple sank into debt, collection agencies turned nasty, filing claims against them in court for more than $5,000.

But the Portland megachurch they were attending put more of an emphasis on money than other churches they had gone to, pushing the faithful to give at least 10 percent of their pre-tax income to receive the full blessings of God. The couple couldn’t put up that kind of cash. Friends began praying for them.

“We felt like we were charity cases,” Zetaman says. He made a vow. “I’m gonna find a way to make my name for something. I’m basically gonna stick it to the man. That’s how it started off.”

A comics fan since he was a kid growing up in California, Connecticut and Vancouver, Wash., he was tooling around online and found a website for Mr. Silent, an Indianapolis-based superhero. A search brought him to others, including Dark Guardian and Squeegeeman, both in New York.

(Squeegeeman is on the campy end of the superhero spectrum. His MySpace page claims he fights “crime and grime,” and shows videos of him participating in the 2007 AIDS Walk New York and giving out water during the city’s 100-degree heat wave last summer.)

Zetaman was impressed, but his search turned up no local superheroes. “I was kind of shocked that there was nothing like this in Portland,” Zetaman recalls. “Our motto is ‘Keep Portland Weird.’ Where’s all the weird people?”

He created a Yahoo account to establish a new identity online. He started working out, dropping 10 pounds on his 5-foot-6-inch frame, bringing him down to 200 pounds. And he hit the stores to buy his first costume: a spandex shirt from Wal-Mart, leather jeans from Hot Topic and boots from cryoflesh.com, a goth website. At Party City he bought a zebra mask and remodeled it to fit his first identity: the Cat.

He made his public debut on Aug. 18, 2006, when he planned to patrol while a movie was showing on Pioneer Square. He arrived at a downtown parking garage about 10 pm, donned his Cat mask and stood gazing out over the city, when a woman got off the elevator to walk to her car and started screaming. Two bicycle cops swooped in to question him.

“I thought, this is not cool. This is not gonna work at all,” he says. “I want to be a positive force, not some kind of a thug.”

Going against the advice of other heroes, he ditched the mask altogether and switched to Zetaman—a combination of Zorro and Superman, two of his favorite heroes, riffing off the Greek name for the letter Z.

Without the mask, he no longer incited public panic. But the costume remained a work in progress. He paid $70 for a full-length spandex costume from Minneapolis-based Hero Gear, which outfits many of the Internet’s real-life superheroes. But the full-body suit didn’t fly.

“It kind of sucked,” Zetaman says. “I wasn’t feeling it.”

A $45 spandex shirt with the stylized “Z” on the chest worked out better. But his leather pants brought unwanted attention from certain men on Southwest Stark Street, so he switched to cargo pants instead. He says that cut down on the catcalls.

He keeps his identity secret from everyone but a few family members. His parents are still in the dark. “Here I am, almost 30, and I still care about what my parents think,” he says. “I have an outfit, I run around in the middle of the night, and I hang out with homeless people. So yeah, I’ve kind of avoided that conversation.”

His wife of seven years, Allison King, 30, says at first she was apprehensive because she worried about his safety. But now she fully supports him. “He’s just my hero,” she says. “One of the things I fell in love with him for, he cares about other people so much.”

Now Allison accompanies him on patrol in civilian clothes, helping him pass out food and occasionally filming video she posts on YouTube. “It’s not how I thought I would be spending time with my husband,” she says. “But it’s awesome.”

Zetaman’s not into superhero kink, but he once slipped into bed in uniform. It didn’t work out. “It just felt too stupid,” he says. “I was just laughing.”

Vigilante justice has a controversial history, from Old West posses seeking revenge against Native American tribes to today’s Minuteman Civil Defense Corps patrolling the Mexican border. But the work of Zetaman and other superheroes appears to stay within the law.

Most states allow a citizen’s arrest if a crime is being committed. No permits are needed to carry Zetaman’s chosen weapons of batons, Mace or Tasers, at least in Portland. And while it may be eccentric to do community service in spandex, no one’s been arrested for impersonating a superhero.

A nationwide community-policing group called the Guardian Angels has existed legally for decades, including a local chapter that patrols the MAX line in Portland in their trademark red berets.

Though controversial with some critics, Guardian Angels leaders insist the group is a benefit to the public. Carrying no weapons, they travel in groups, concentrating on public places where people feel menaced. Zetaman and other heroes say their mission is little different.

“I certainly applaud him,” says Curtis Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels in New York in 1979. “He’s not getting paid for this. He’s risking his life, and he’s helping those who can’t help themselves.”

Cops take a different view of Zetaman.

“I think he’s going to get in big trouble,” says Sgt. Doug Justus of the Portland Police Bureau’s Drugs and Vice Division. “As soon as you start interfering with a crime in progress, if the guy doesn’t identify you as a police officer, I think you’re asking to get hurt.”

The upsurge in superhero activity across the country appears to have caused no complaints elsewhere. Even in Mountain View, Calif., where the Eye claims he uses light-emitting diodes to temporarily blind people while he’s solving crimes, local police spokeswoman Liz Wylie says cops there have never heard of him.

Zetaman says he’s only once stopped a crime in progress—honking his horn to scare off a guy trying to steal cars downtown. He’s lectured a few drug dealers, but unless there was a person in immediate danger, he says he’d be more likely to call the police on his cell phone than try to stop a crime himself.

“I guess it sounds kind of less heroic, but I don’t want to die,” he says. As for taking out gangs and other organized crime, he says he simply doesn’t have the time or the resources. “I wish I had a million dollars, like Batman,” he says. “But I’m just one guy out there. I’m not strong enough.”

In the past two years, superheroes say their numbers have exploded, largely due to MySpace, the social networking site that’s grown over the same time with its M.O. of allowing users to forge a fake identity and communicate with each other while remaining completely anonymous.

Hundreds of MySpace users pose as superheroes, but Zetaman—who’s intensely involved in the superheroes’ online community and set up several of their most popular bulletin boards—estimates fewer than 30 nationwide actually go out on patrol. As Zetaman suggests, the only requirements to be a superhero seem to be a costume and a nickname, though several also claim to have psychic powers.

Master Legend, a superhero from Winter Park, Fla., claims he can sense when people are in danger. He also says he has super strength and healing powers. And he’s not afraid to beat up bad guys like crack dealers, starting out by taunting them in his superhero costume.

“They just don’t know what to think of that. It shocks them,” he says. “They can’t help themselves any longer, and they come and attack me, and it’s showtime. And you can hear from me laughing how much I love it. I love to jump into action.”

Heroes in Florida and New York claim to have no trouble finding street crime, but Portland’s darkest alleys are a safety zone by comparison. Zetaman tried patrolling in the parks around Portland State University (don’t people get mugged in parks?). Still no dice.

His 70-plus nights on the street have led him to the conclusion that in Portland, the homeless are the real people in need. Now he wears a backpack stuffed with blankets, hats, gloves and socks to give away. He lugs bags of food and soda. One night last month he gave out five double cheeseburgers and five chicken sandwiches from McDonald’s, along with a 12-pack of Shasta cola.

Despite the fact that he’s still paying off his own debts, he says he spends about $100 a month out of his own pocket helping the homeless.

Besides giving out food, blankets and clothing, he also offers help getting to a shelter, or into a drug treatment program. But few accept the offer. “It sounds bad,” he says, “but people have to want help in order to get help. It took me a while to learn that.”

Zetaman’s do-gooder philosophy has taken heat from heroes who claim to take a more vigilante approach. His critics include Tothian, a New Jersey-based hero whose MySpace page says he “destroys evil.” Tothian told WW in an email that he once beat up seven armed men while on patrol.

The two heroes tangled on Internet chat boards last April after Tothian declared himself “leader” of the superhero community. But Tothian declined to criticize Zetaman in a WW interview. “Some things are not for the public eye or the media,” Tothian says.

Like many so-called online communities (see some of Oregon’s blogs on the political left and right as examples), legitimate differences and personal attacks have gradually eroded some of the group spirit that once united superheroes. Just like heroes and villains in comic books, they’re now divided into a number of opposing teams that occasionally come into open conflict online.

The conflict deepened when some heroes began calling openly for violence. “It’s pretty bizarre, the emoed-out kids that are more into the dark side of doing this,” Superhero says. Zetaman says he regrets his role in designing one of the message boards. “Now it’s more like this mini homeland-terrorism site, and it pisses me off,” he says.

After a tiff that Zetaman dismisses as “Internet drama,” Tothian kicked Zetaman off that bulletin board, known as Heroes Network. Zetaman in turn founded the Alternates, a group that includes the Eye and Ragensi. The three are holding a secret meeting in San Jose this May to get better organized, hoping to form a new West Coast superhero squad.

Zetaman also hopes to start up a Portland-based group. “I want to move on to where it’s not just me,” he says. “I think more people should pick up a comic book and say, you know, maybe I don’t have to be so gray all the time.”

While most of the online community refer to themselves as “real-life superheroes,” Zetaman says actual real-life superheroes are police, firefighters and other first responders.Zetaman broadcasts a superhero-themed live radio show online each Thursday night at midnight. You can hear it any time at blogtalkradio.com/thealternates.

Superbarrio, a real-life superhero in Mexico City, has gained fame since 1995 by organizing labor rallies and protests and filing petitions to stop government corruption.

Find real-life superheroes online:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-life_superhero
freewebs.com/heroesnetwork/
thealternates.org
myspace.com/zetamanofportland
myspace.com/masterlegend
myspace.com/ragensi
myspace.com/eyewatch_24_7
myspace.com/darkguardianhero
myspace.com/squeegeerific
myspace.com/tothian

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Hello fellow Citizens,

My name is Zetaman. I was recently featured in the Willamette Weekly March 5th. I come to you with a new cause that I am working on in April. My team and I are going to participate in the March for Babies walk-a-thon with the March of Dimes.

Donating to our March of Dimes’ page is fast, easy and secure with a debit/credit card or with a PayPal account. If none of these are available, the March of Dimes can also accept cash or check. Just click the appropriate box at http://marchforbabies.org/zetaman.

The money that is raised will help save premature and sick babies. According to various of medical websites –
“Overall the infant mortality rate was 6.85 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.”
And
“Approximately 34% of infant deaths within the first year of life are of premature babies, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The most common cause of death in the United States, according to official reports, is birth defects, with premature birth as the second most common. However, the new figures presented put premature birth as the leading cause of death among infants in the United States.”

These statistics are 30% greater then what it was over 20 years ago. But hopefully, the funding provided by the March of Dimes will help research and determine why premature births happen and what can be done to prevent it.

There are millions across the country who support the March for Babies every year. It is with humility and respect that my team and I try to help raise money for this honorable cause. Please go to http://marchforbabies.org/zetaman to sponsor me or learn more information on how you can get involved. Together, we can help our newborns and our future.

Thank you very much,

Zetaman

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April 04, 2008

By Dan Rafter

Holy Batman! People are taking a page from the Caped Crusader’s comic book and turning themselves into superheroes- even though they don’t have any special powers!

Donning eye-catching costumes, real-life superheroes with names like Squeegeeman, Dark Guardian and Entomo the Insect Man have begun appearing across the United States and around the globe- in a movement to make the world a better place. But these crusaders for justice- estimated at 225 around the world, include about 175 in the United States- are often less concerned with bashing heads than feeding the homeless, saving the environment or just doing good.

Squeegeeman has vowed to clean up New York City, one windshied or city block at a time. New Yorkers who don’t get mugged while walking n a clean street should probably praise the caped cleaner.

Martial arts expert Geist of Rochester, Minn., confronts evildoers with a wide-brimmed hat, reflective sunglasses, a scarf-like mask and a array of non-lethal weapons, including smoke grenades and a 6-inch fighting stick.

Citizen Prime of Phoenix spent $4,000 on a custom-made costume- including a steel helmet and breast-plate and yellow cape. And when his foot patrols don’t find enough crime, he volunteers for crime-prevention causes and children’s charities.

A secretive martial arts instructor patrols New York City’s Staten Island as Dark Guardian, while wearing spandex fit for a professional wrestler. The 23-year-old hero recently held a convenience store robber at bay until the cops arrived.

Hardwire, 20 of Greensboro-Durham, N.C., describes himself as a “tech hero, like Batman with the attitude,” while Entomo the Insect Man give Spider-Man a run for his bugged-out reputation in Naples, Italy, declaring: “I inject justice.”

In Portland, Ore., the needy can count on Zetaman to make regular rounds distributing free food and clothing. To protect himself and those he serves, Zetaman carries pepper spray, an extendable steel baton and a Taser packing 30,000 volts.

examiner01 | examiner02

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Orignially posted: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3652004.ece

Worried that the world is going to hell? Why not slip on a pair of tights and a mask and do something about it?

By Michael Moran
April 5, 2008

Many of us bemoan the weakening of social cohesion that has led to an explosion of petty crime on our streets. Very few complainants, though, are inspired to don a superhero costume and patrol our cities to combat the burgeoning unpleasantness.

However, that might be about to change, with the advent of the real-life superheroes. Citizen Prime (above) is the most convincing of the bunch, patrolling the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, in his impressive custom-made armour. Further down the budgetary scale come Terrifica, who offers safe-sex advice to tipsy female clubgoers in New York, and the Big O, from Tunbridge Wells, who stops hooligans vandalising hanging baskets or defacing tea-shop frontages.

Hundreds of costumed crime fighters are listed on The World Heroics Database and the World Superhero Registry – but their biggest problem is that not one of them currently has an arch-enemy listed on their profile.

Sadly, without a stock of supervillains, real-life superheroes are little more than a particularly flamboyant Neighbourhood Watch

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http://www.katu.com/news/specialreports/18335494.html

PORTLAND, Ore.– It’s another dark, damp night in Portland, and for many homeless people, the bloom is off the City of Roses as they shiver out another night of unseasonably cold temperatures under bridges, in doorways and on park benches

In what many consider the bad part of town, one man steps from the shadows, armed with a stun gun, a collapsible baton, an ear-piercing air horn and pepper spray. A large white “Z” covers his tight-fitting shirt, and he steps through puddles in thick black boots.

A full-length black overcoat, fingerless black gloves, skull and crossbones belt buckle and dark goggles complete his “intimidating” outfit.

When he spots a group of transients, he makes his move.

“Do any of you folks need extra gloves or anything,” Zetaman asks the group as he pulls items from a backpack.

To homeless people, Zetaman is not a threat. He’s a hero, maybe even a superhero. And his fame is spreading.

Zetaman, whose real identity is a secret, is packing gloves, sandwiches and other items that will give some homeless Portland residents a degree of comfort on a cold night. The other items are for self-defense. Every superhero needs a utility belt.

Zetaman says he is not really a superhero, but he does take his cues from the superheroes in the comic books he loves.

“I like Superman and I like Zorro so I thought, ‘Wow, combine the two,’ ” Zetaman told KATU News on a night when we tagged along as he handed out food and clothing items to the homeless.

He has also given up buying his beloved comics in order to finance his good works on Portland’s streets. Some of the money goes directly into the hands of the homeless.

“I want to help because I grew up poor and I grew up starving and stuff,” Zetaman said. “I’m an adult now, I have a job and I just want to help where I can.”

One homeless man received a pair of gloves to ward off the cold. Others gratefully accepted chicken sandwiches. More and more, Zetaman is receiving recognition. He has an audio blog, MySpace page and several videos of his exploits have turned up on YouTube.

Citizens pose for cell phone camera photos with Zetaman, and homeless people reach out to shake his hand and thank him.

“I think anyone who wants to go in this community and do good work, more power to them.” says one man who gives Zetaman a hearty high-five. “I love you, Zetaman, you rock,” he says.

The costume didn’t seem unusual to another admirer. “Looks like a normal every-day goth so it’s kind of cool,” the man said. In a city known for “weird,” Zetaman doesn’t turn too many heads, at least not any more.

“I don’t wear a mask or a cape. I tried that the first time and got in trouble with police so as of that, never again,” Zetaman says of his initial foray into citizen crime fighting.

“I really don’t want to die or anything,” he says, explaining how he shifted to helping the homeless. Now, he’s becoming part of Portland lore.

Zetaman is not alone in his endeavors. In other cities across the nation, other self-made superheroes have stepped up to fight crime, help the homeless or contribute their own special brand of civic improvement.

They have names like Apocalypse Meow, Phantom Zero and Agent Null.

Zetaman says he’s met with some of these other solo civic social fighters and an alliance may be in the works.

“I’m not really a superhero because I don’t have any powers or anything,” Zetaman says as he continues his rounds, looking for more people to help.

The buzz on the meaner streets of Portland says otherwise.

Perhaps, one day, there may even be a Zetaman comic book.

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Originally posted: http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-6056-feature-slc-superheroes-the-black-monday-society-keeps-an-eye-out-for-street-crime-so-you-donrst-have-to.html

By Paul Constant

They hide their true identities behind elaborate masks and costumes, patrolling the streets of downtown Salt Lake City in groups of two and three. People react to them in various ways: Older folks tend to ignore them. Drunken young adults want to pose with them for photos. Teenagers tend to hiss, growl and shout in their general direction, while children walk right up to them and ask what they are doing. Despite the masks and secret identities, they’re completely open about their purpose.

“Inferno,” one of the newest members of the group, is unfazed by the evening chill. He passes by a group of teens. One of them shouts: “Halloween’s not over!” Inferno winces, rolls his eyes, and responds, in the bored tone of someone who’s tired of hearing the same joke over and over again, “Nope, it’s not.” A girl of about 14 breaks from the mass of tittering boys and bravely approaches Inferno. He’s wearing a red hood and tunic, thigh-high pleather boots, and a matching black pleather mask that covers his eyes and nose. She breaks the awkward silence: “Can I ask about your costume?”

Inferno nods, unconsciously touches his red goatee and answers: “I’m part of the Black Monday Society.”

The girl cocks her head. “The Black Monday Society?”

“Yeah,” Inferno begins, a little more comfortable now, getting into a well-worn groove, “We just walk around, you know, patrol the streets.”

“Like Citizens on Patrol?” adds the girl, invoking the title of the fourth Police Academy movie. Her friends seem to get the reference and break into laughter.

Inferno brightens. “Yeah. “Citizens on patrol.”

“Cool!” says the girl, and despite the fact that her male friends are still hanging back—way back—and giggling, she seems to be genuinely happy about the idea. Inferno smiles and hands her a business card.

“We have a Website,” he says. “Look us up, it’ll tell you more about what we do. That’s pretty much what it’s about. It’s a lot of fun.”

“OK,” she says, waving goodbye with the card and running back to her friends, “Have fun!”

“You, too,” Inferno says. “Bye.”

And then he goes back to patrolling the streets, keeping his eye out for danger, wherever it lurks.

We Need Another Hero

The Black Monday Society started five years ago, when a Salt Lake City-area tattoo artist and lifelong comic-book fan named Dave went exploring on MySpace. “I always told my wife, even before we got married, that if I ever see a real superhero, I’m so going to be one,” he says. “Come on, just the idea of wearing a mask, going out, doing something good? Being somebody else for a little bit? Doesn’t that sound a little enthralling to you?”

After doing a search for comic-book-related fan groups, Dave happened upon the Web pages of two Indianapolis men who go by the names “Mr. Silent” and “Doktor DiscorD.” They called themselves Real Life Superheroes, and they went on patrol on the Indianapolis streets searching for wrongs to right.

“So,” Dave says, “I set up a MySpace page, made an identity for myself, just to talk to them, and it kind of evolved from there. It was really inspiring.”

Dave couldn’t believe this was happening, that his childhood obsession was taking shape, and that people all over the world were a part of it. “I went home to my wife and told her about it and she said, ‘Wow,’ and then she said, ‘Is this for real?’ and I said, ‘Yeah,’ and she said, ‘So, when do you go out?’ and I said, ‘As soon as possible.’”

Like all Real Life Superheroes, Dave, 37, uses only his first name, and he’d rather go by his character’s name anyway. His first superhero identity was “The American Corpse.” He dressed in an Israeli army gas mask, fedora and a suit and tie, much like classic DC Comics superhero The Sandman. Dave’s good friend, a very tall man with a lazy Johnny Cash drawl, says he’s “always been fascinated by ghosts and goblins and demons and things of that nature,” so he decided to call himself “Ghost.” He made a costume of a rubber Halloween skeleton mask adorned with a shock of white hair and a matching ribcage on his chest. Ghost is 32 and works in real life as a concrete finisher. Quiet and unassuming, he explains his unusual hobby by saying, “It’s every little boy’s fantasy to be a real life superhero.”

Ghost sums up his passion for the street with a comment on his blog: “Doesn’t matter how many people snicker at us. What matters is we are out there doin’ our duty for justice.”

Recounting their first night out on patrol in 2001, American Corpse and Ghost say they were standing by their car on a city street having a smoke. A Salt Lake City cop on patrol approached them and pulled over. American Corpse says he decided to slowly approach her to explain their costumes and superheroic intent. She firmly told them, “Please stand by the hood of the car.” American Corpse kept walking toward the officer, then reached into his jacket to pull out his wallet and identification.Reacting to Corpse’s decision to keep moving, the officer put her hand on her revolver and shouted, “Stand by the hood of the car, now!” American Corpse says he wasn’t even really thinking but decided to try and calm the situation by saying, “It’s OK, ma’am, don’t worry. Relax; I’m a superhero.”

The cop eventually let them move on, but the heroes claim the Black Monday Society is on the Salt Lake City Police Department’s official list of street gangs. A spokesman for the SLCPD would not confirm that statement.

When Flats Need Fixing

If a healthy number of Websites and blogs are any indication, there are hundreds of Real Life Superheroes around the world, mainly operating out of urban areas. One of the best known is “Citizen Prime,” an RLS from Phoenix. Prime is a husband, father and office worker who puts on a costume (or uniform, as the RLS community prefers) with intent to fight crime. Though Prime does carry a pair of intriguingly named “stun-knuckles” in case he has to protect himself or others, most of the work he does fits neatly within the category of good Samaritanism—flat-tire repair and making speeches to elementary-school students about the dangers of drug use. But in the past year, buoyed by increased media attention, Prime has also started a successful toy drive to help needy children.

Prime, an office worker in his 40s, has a certain charisma, the kind usually seen in community organizers and old-fashioned politicians. In conversations, he’s prone to wholesome expressions like, “Oh, my gosh,” and “Gee,” sounding like a real-life Jimmy Stewart. He vouches for the Black Monday Society, implicitly. “They’re really good guys. I’ve had contact with them for a while now, and they seem like the real deal.” Prime visited the Black Monday Society over the long winter, but—human as they were—the heroes decided it was too cold to patrol. Still, one hero wrote on his blog that “we did suit up and take some photos,” and that “more team-ups will happen when it gets a little warmer.”

New Real Life Superheroes seem to appear every day. They add their photos and biographies to Websites like RealLifeSuperheroes.com and share their thoughts on weaponry, good deeds and other topics on blogs such as Heroes Network. There’s the Justice Society of Justice, based in Indianapolis; The Boise Brigade, and, from Washington, D.C., the Capitol City Super Squad. “Zetaman” patrols the streets of Portland, Ore., wearing a utility belt loaded with a first-aid kit, a baton and a Taser, among other gadgets.

Polarman shovels the snow-covered sidewalks of Iqalulit, the capital city of Canada’s youngest province, Nunavut—located north of Quebec on Baffin Island. Entomo the Insect Man claims to protect Naples, Italy, and frequents superhero message boards with hilariously Roberto Benigni-esque broken English comments. His MySpace page boasts a mission statement: “To be a Real Life Superhero is truly the greatest deed a man can accomplish in a backwards world like this, where fiction is truer to reality than reality itself. On the other hand, the chance to fight for such a stunning planet is too significant to be turned down. Hear my buzz, fear my bite,” and it ends, as all his posts do, with his tagline: “I inject justice!”

Whole businesses have sprung up around the RLS life. Hero-Gear.net deals in costumes for Real Life Superheroes. Armories that produce chain mail and weapons for Renaissance fair actors have started to sell to the RLS community, as well. Dressing up like a superhero and going on patrol seems to be looking less like a bizarre pastime than it does a lifestyle choice, according to some of the heroes. Think teenagers going goth or animal-rights activists fervently volunteering for PETA.

The media is giddily spreading the word about RLS. Some television stations have struck a gold mine in covering regional “superteams,” packing their reports with references to Batmobiles and “Pow! Bang! Boom!” sound effects. A reporter from Rolling Stone went on patrol with the Black Monday Society last fall (though the magazine has yet to publish the story) and several filmmakers are rushing to finish documentaries about the Real Life Superhero movement. Members of The Black Monday Society claim one documentary maker told them that, to be featured in his film, they’d have to sign the rights to their superhero identities away to him. They declined. Another filmmaker and his subjects hosted a Times Square publicity stunt covered in The New York Times last October. Your Friendly Neighborhood Superhero, a recently completed documentary, is scheduled for various film festivals this spring. See RealLifeSuperhero.com for a snippet of the film.

Internet reaction to the RLS movement is mixed. RLS and superhero fans are continuously posting words of encouragement on each other’s blogs. But, as soon as a non-RLS site notices them, the general public, hidden securely behind a guise of anonymity, tears them to shreds. After a story about Silent and DiscorD appeared on comic-book writer Warren Ellis’s blog, the posters unanimously decided that RLSs were endangering themselves, if not others. One commenter, Monk Eastman, summed up the feelings this way: “I predict the following headline: ‘Oddly Dressed Virgin Found Shot 1,123 Times.’”

“A Little Gimmicky?”

Dave quickly dropped the American Corpse persona for another identity: a tights-wearing street fighter named Ferox. Ferox is reserved for Dave’s patrols farther north in Ogden. When in Salt Lake City, Dave is Insignis, a robed figure with a giant white cross across his chest. “The most easily recognizable symbol in the world is the cross,” he explains, “So what better symbol to have?” (The two names are derived from a large tattoo across his back that reads “Insignis Ferox,” Latin for “Mark of the Wild One.”)
After those first few patrols with Ghost, Insignis’ friends were quick to join them. The team grew to 13 members strong in a matter of months. The group originally patrolled on Mondays—hence the name—but “things are much more likely to happen on Fridays and Saturdays, so the Monday thing didn’t last long,” Insignis says. They stuck with the name primarily because “it sounds cool.”

New identities are common with the Black Monday Society: Inferno took his name because of a fiery temper he admits used to get him in trouble before becoming a RLS. But the 33-year-old recently decided to focus on his sense of humor by becoming “Ha!,” a clown-themed superhero.

Oni, 36, based his identity on a Japanese demon. He’s married to a woman the team calls “Mother One.” She creates most of their costumes by hand. “She’s very supportive of this,” Oni says. Most of the team, including 38-year-old occasional member “Silver Dragon,” a thin man with a thick Southern accent, are married. They say their wives are proud of them but balked at a reporter’s request to speak with the women. Earlier this year, Oni went on his first patrol with his daughter, who will take the name “Frost” as soon as she has a costume. “I was very nervous and excited at the same time;” he wrote on his blog. “I hoped that nothing would happen on her first time out. I am proud that she wants to give back to the community and help people that need it.”

The heroes say they have been spending more time in Ogden lately because of what they perceive as increased gang activity. Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey takes issue with that claim: “We have had a seven-year decline of crime in Ogden and one of the keys to that is getting the community involved. Having neighbors be vigilant and engaged is a critical ingredient to safer neighborhoods.” Godfrey adds that the Black Monday Society “fits in” with this push for community involvement. Although he finds them “a little gimmicky,” Godfrey allows that, “We will take their participation any way we can get it.” The Salt Lake City Police Department had no comment on the Black Monday Society. Lt. Paul Jaroscak, spokesman for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department, says he has “no knowledge or comment” regarding the group.

If the local cops are sketchy on their knowledge of the superheroes, it might be due to the group’s lack of clarity. What, exactly, does the Black Monday Society do? They talk about “helping people” and “helping the homeless.” But, on one evening this past November, the patrol’s big events included a photo session with a gaggle of drunken college students, some heckling from passersby and a thumbs-up from an enthusiastic tourist from Minneapolis, who wished there was something like this “back home.” The patrol also handed out a couple of dollars to a homeless man with the telltale facial scabs of heavy meth use.

The team contends the patrols are its work, and that members curb crime simply by being seen. And Silver Dragon says there’s proof: “I’ve heard from friends that, after we patrol a particular neighborhood, there’s no crime there for the rest of the night.” That November patrol was one of the last crime-fighting excursions of 2007. The team has laid low for the winter, declaring Salt Lake City’s long, harsh winter too cold to patrol. But they plan on taking to the streets again, now that spring has arrived.

Oni, the only member of the Black Monday Society with extensive martial-arts training, recalls one time when he confronted a drug-addled man who was abusing his mother in a city park. “The first thing we do is call the cops,” he says, “in any situation.” Most superheroes will, in fact, say the same thing. They strongly advise against getting directly involved in police calls.

After calling 911, Oni and Ghost approached the man. They say he promptly relented when confronted with men dressed as demons. Insignis also recalls a time they chased after a drunk man who was standing by the side of the road, trying to punch passing cars. The man got away, but Insignis says, laughing, “He probably won’t be doing that again anytime soon.”

Outside Salt Lake City, the superhero action is getting a little more feverish and a lot less law abiding. Rumors have spread in the RLS community that one of their own, a man known as “Nostrum,” based in Louisiana, has lost an eye doing battle with a criminal. An RLS from Florida known as “Master Legend” claims to attack evildoers, bashing garbage cans over the heads of crack fiends and kicking others with his steel-toe boots. Another man, known as “Hero,” has quit fighting crime and is taking up ultimate fighting. “There is only one thing I can always count on, one thing that will always be there and that is the fight. The fight is all I have,” he recently blogged.

The Black Monday Society has set up an office, and Oni says they are working to gain legal status as a non-profit organization. “As soon as we do that, it’ll open up a lot more doorways for us so we can start receiving money and we can help more people,” he says, adding that “I’d like to do more than just help the homeless. I’d like to start helping abused and battered women. Things like that.”

In a parking lot after the patrol, the team gathers to smoke cigarettes and share a laugh or two. Inferno refers to Insignis as “Father O’Malley,” and asks him if his sidekick’s name is “Altar Boy.” Insignis laughs it off but then snaps back on message, insisting that the Black Monday Society is seeking more than fun and fame: “Instead of being the guy on the couch saying ‘God, I wish somebody would do something,’ I get to be the guy on the couch who says, ‘Yeah, I did something!’ or, ‘At least I tried.’ No regrets, no nothing. Just pure do.”

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By Loy Williams

The world has always had superheroes, revealed especially after 9/11. After all, who hasn’t heard of your friendly neighborhood fireman, policeman or paramedic? This article, however, isn’t about them. Today I want to talk about the men and women who dress up in colorful (or not so colorful) outfits and go out and patrol the streets without the sanction of city, state or federal governments. Today I want to talk about the Real Life Superheroes.

Real Life Superheroes are men and women who dress up like their comic book namesakes. At times they have been given the distinction by the local news or by people they’ve helped. Other times they’ve given the title to themselves. Real Life Superheroes, inspired by the adventures of the comic book variation take to streets when they can, out to help those who need help.
They are not always on the lookout for a fight. Many Real Life Superheroes only get involved in stopping an individual crime if someone’s life is in danger. Often they report crime to the local police and perform community outreach tasks such as helping the homeless or escorting defenseless women home. One RLSH, known as “SuperBarrio,” based in Mexico City, rarely uses violence at all. Instead he is known for organizing protests and filing petitions.

In fact, one thing that can be gained from Real Life Superheroes is that it’s not necessary to punch out a bad guy to be a hero. In Washington DC, a heroine named Metrowoman uses her superhero costume to let the public know the benefits of mass transit and public transportation. The aptly named “Superhero” based out of Clearwater, FL provides roadside assistance in his Corvette Stingray, possibly the coolest form of rlsh transportation so far. Portland, Oregon‘s Zetaman gives food and clothing to that city’s homeless population.
One thing we can learn from these crimefighters… they’re not going away anytime soon. While so far there are only a limited number of real life superheroes operating in the United States and even fewer in Europe, we can be assured that in the years to come more will be revealed.

There are more questions than answers when it comes to the Real Life Superhero. For instance, where do they get their costumes? Why did they start doing this superhero thing in the first place? Where are all the Real Life Supervillains? Don’t fret, reader. I’m sure that there will be answers to these questions in the future. In the meantime, be on the lookout for these costumed crimefighters to be out protecting the public from evil.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/745989/real_life_superheroes.html?cat=49

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By Agent Null

So, as I have already written about, I went out on my first patrol with Zetaman earlier. While we were doing our thing, we were talking (what? You think we did everything in a gallows silence?), and we discussed ideas, plans for the future, and so on.

But it all came back to the same topic: How do we better present ourselves in a way that demonstrates to the public that we are not just doing this as some sort of childish live-action role playing or for the “lulz”? How can we as members of the RLS subculture prove that we can be more than just silly brats in costume acting out wish-fulfillment fantasy?

Well…I have come to find what I believe to be the answer. It was right in front of my face the whole time, as luck would have it:

Look, very few are going to like what I’m going to have to say here, as it flies into the face of what we know as convention. But then all truths begin as blasphemies. And as I am not a stranger to being strung up for the sin of telling the truth (and not making it funny) with regards to this subculture, I’ve no problems outlining the ways in which this subculture needs to change.

First of all, we need to get away from the comic book mindset that helped create us. As loathe as I am to point this out, comic books are not real. The situations, societies, and attitudes that shape the world of superhero fiction simply does not apply in the real world. Here, in the world where we live, there are very few true heroes just as there are a scarce amount of truly evil villains. In this world, black and white are simply colours; they are not moral absolutes. Calling ourselves ANYTHING other than “Real Life Superheroes” would be a huge step in the right direction.

Second of all, we need to be more transparent. Think about it: you decide to become a costumed crusader. Now, during the course of making this decision, you decide to set up a webpage and forum in an effort to reach out to other like-minded individuals. And then, you make the forum private, with membership upon approval. Sooo…doesn’t that defeat your purpose? If you TRULY want to help the public, you would not set up a place for discussion that they cannot read and discourse with you. To even entertain the notion suggests something to hide. And most likely, they will believe that you are hiding that face that you really haven’t done anything of note, nor will you ever. Judging from what I’ve read on those forums, I also believe this to be the case. Also, if you are the type who is sensitive to any flames you may receive from the public you are trying to reach out to (and you will), perhaps this is not the line of work for you after all.

Third, we need to be more exclusive. Look, one of the biggest issues within this subculture stems primarily from an appalling lack of standards. Are we really that desperate for validation that we should accept anybody who comes along with a MySpace profile and a few good (if mainly false) tales of derring-do? I should truly hope not. I hate to go back to this, but in one discussion I had, I pointed out that our subculture would even accept John Wayne Gacy if his icon pic was of him in his clown costume and he claimed to “destroy evil”. I still believe this to be the case. On this same topic, if one of us is shown to be less than they claim to be and it can be proven beyond all doubt, then they should be cast out from the subculture altogether if they will not explain or justify themselves. No other society would allow people of this nature to remain with them. Why should we?

Fourth, we need to be honest about ourselves. This goes toward transparency, but it still bears mention nevertheless. Look, I do not believe a majority of those within this group are as active in fighting crime as they would have us believe, if they are at all. If one fights crime in the manner in which these people claim to, and they have not been killed or arrested for vigilantism then fantastic. More power to them. But prove it. Show some documentation, whether it be a police report or a newspaper article or a link to a news broadcast. If one cannot, they should either be silent about it, or they should not be surprised when such claims fall under heavy investigation and scrutiny. The basic rule should apply: proof or it didn’t happen.

Fifth, while I understand the affectation towards maintaining a secret identity while on the job, the fact remains- YOU ARE NOT YOUR CODENAME. At the end of my day for example, I’m not Agent Null. I am me. Agent Null is nothing more than a symbol I gave myself. Anyone can be Agent Null.

Sixth, I know goes back to point #4. But here it is: If you actually are fighting crime, busting drug dealers and muggers and the like, and this can be proven; once again I say that’s fantastic…But you have changed NOTHING. Zip, Zilch, Zero. How is that, you ask? It, like so many other answers I present here, is quite simple. You change nothing because not once have you managed to combat the REASONS crimes occur. In fact, I have a crisp clean sheet of paper with President Lincoln’s mugshot printed on it that says you never once gave that any real thought. You know something guys? The internet is a fantastic place, full of magic, wonder and knowledge. Perhaps if you devoted even a half hour of the time you would normally use to talk about which non-existant spells to use while fighting demons that aren’t there or which piece of armour would look cooler on your MySpace profile to looking at the real sociological motivations behind crime, you would be so much more effective at PREVENTING crime from happening in the first place. Now, I am not so naive as to assume that we can prevent future crimes from occuring merely by dint of our efforts in tackling real issues (for once). But you know, in the end, that is a more noble end than simply beating up criminals.

Seventh, we need to be active in the cities we live in. By this, I do not simply mean we need to be constantly patrolling the streets in search of ciminals to thwart. Far from it. Instead, we need to show EVERYONE from the rich to the poor, the old to the young, that we care about them and want to be able to succeed on their own. We need to be present in soup kitchens or other charities. We need to be seen handing out necessary survival items to those who lack them. We need to be the first to lead drives to aid those who have suffered losses. If we have first aid and cpr training, we need to teach others to do the same thing. If we are martial artists, we need to teach others to protect themselves. We need to not selfishly hoard our abilities to sate our own ego. We need to demonstrate and teach those abilities to those who wish to learn them.

And finally, we need to be proactive in the above methods. Sitting here and debating these topics will get us nowhere. What I have stated here is nothing less than the whole truth of the matter. The more we sit here and debate the points to death, the less we are out there, doing what needs doing.

And the less we are out there, the closer we creep to carving our epitath as a punchline in pop culture history.

Toodles!

-AN

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So I had an interesting MAX ride yesterday. On the way to work a guy board at PGE Park. He seemed unstable and became agitated when lady tried to help him get seated in the handicap section. The guy asked me to help him with his bag (his speech was really slurred). The guy said that he needed an ambulance. I freaked out at first but ask the guy his name. The man, Robert, did as well as his cell number. Someone on the MAX let me know that I needed to use the call box to call the MAX conductor about the situation. Meanwhile, Mr. Brown’s eyes were glazed over and his head started to bob up and down. I told the driver what was happening and that she needed to call 911. The conductor stopped the train to help us out with Robert. I kept the guy talking because I had no clue if he was having a stroke or not and I thought that if he passed out then he would be in real danger. Robert kept going on about having an education from Penn State. I humored him the best I could. I asked Robert some questions to see what was going on.

“Why do you need an ambulance? “ I asked. He said “I took two of my heart medication.” I asked him if he remember how long but Robert did not respond. I then asked if he had his medications on him. Robert pulled out a freezer bag filled with different kinds of medications. I asked Robert which ones he took but he did not respond. I thought, “Uh oh… this is really not good.” Robert finally responded with “I took all of them.” Now I really panicked. Then Robert talked about the VA Hospital. One of the passengers kept Robert talking about the VA and the Navy in an attempt to keep him awake until the paramedics cam.

Finally the police and the paramedics came. I gave the police the bag of pills. One the EMTs looked at Robert and said, “So Robert, what’s the excuse this time?”

“Pardon me?” I questioned.

“Robert does this all the time. This is not the first time. Robert, do you need to go to Detox?” I remember going though his phone and seeing a Detox number and not thinking much about it. The paramedics informed me that Mr. Brown did not overdose but this was an act. We got him off the MAX. Someone yelled that “we should have gotten him off the MAX to begin with so that everyone else can go on their way.” At first I was mad because I thought that they were being callous about a human life. But looking back, I am kind of disappointed that I fell for Robert’s act. However a lady on the MAX told me I did a good thing. I don’t know, honestly.

-Z

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Local musicians and costume activist work together as a team in a Christmas mission for foster children.

Kirkland, Washington (PRWEB) December 13, 2008 — Vinyl Fluid Records music store and Zetaman, Superhero of Portland, have organized a charity concert. Operation: Treehouse is a benefit to bring toys to the Treehouse4Kids at Waldo’s Bar and Grill, located in Kirkland.

Live music will be performed by Little Big Man, Project Lionheart, and other local artists.

Vinyl Fluid Records have procured sponsorship from local business like Valve (a gaming store) and Body Boutique as well as corporate support from restaurants like Claim Jumper and Outback Steak House in the form of gift certificates and other prizes which will be used in a raffle to help raise additional funds. The proceeds from Operation: Treehouse will be used to buy much needed toys which will then be given to the Treehouse to be distributed to foster kids.

Operation: Treehouse has put together a website with more information at http://www.operationtreehouse.info. Contact information as well as information about the event is located there.
For more information about the event, please contact Shawn “Story” Hendricks at email: storywon@msn.com or Zetaman at
email: zetaman@thealternates.org

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Originally posted: http://wweek.com/editorial/3508/12026

When WW called Zetaman on Dec. 23, he was walking a mile to work through the snow, with TriMet buses paralyzed and his 1998 Ford minivan broken down at home.

Tough day for the local superhero, who gained a measure of fame after going public this year to reveal his identity in a WW cover story.

Illya King, 30, of Beaverton isn’t blessed with superpowers. But patrolling Portland twice a month to help the homeless—and hyping his exploits online —he’s part of a growing trend of real-life superheroes living out their comic-book fantasies on the street and on the Web.

Life since the WW cover story, Zetaman says, has been a “bizarre, bizarre ride.” He says the public rarely recognizes him in costume or out. But the coverage brought notoriety in the media—local television station KATU and even CNN picked up the story. That, in turn, brought strings of negative comments from anonymous writers online at wweek.com and elsewhere, calling Zetaman an “attention whore” and a “jackass.”

But Zetaman persevered, continuing to spend his nights in costume handing out food and clothing to the homeless. After headlining a fundraiser for the Portland Rescue Mission at Someday Lounge on April 9 with local folk bands, he followed up a couple weeks ago by raising $1,000 in cash and toys for foster kids at a Dec. 13 benefit concert in Kirkland, Wash.

He’s also ramped up his superhero outreach, heading to California and Washington to patrol with fellow superheroes.

His night in Anaheim on April 30 with costumed avenger Ragensi, who dresses in a black ninja suit, was uneventful. That’s surprising given Ragensi’s more hardcore image and his previous violent run-in with a costumed villain, as reported in WW’s cover story.

“He, like, looks scary, but he’s the biggest sweetheart,” Zetaman says.

His July 4 evening patrolling Seattle with Black Knight was also quiet. But even without action-packed adventure, Zetaman continued his efforts to unite his superhero friends under one banner.

There are two reasons. First is what Zetaman calls continued bad behavior by some other superheroes—including his archenemy, a New Jersey avenger named Tothian, who has tangled with Zetaman in online chatrooms and still picks on other superheroes, Zetaman says.

Second is negative publicity from Rolling Stone, which ran a Dec. 12 story on superheroes that profiled Florida hero Master Legend as a slob living in a run-down shack who uses his alter ego to escape reality.

Now Zetaman and others have vetted people they consider to be examples of true real-life superheroes from around the world. They’re assembled in a new online collective Zetaman helped design at therlsh.com.

“We’re trying to get more of a positive message out there that we’re not a bunch of drunks,” Zetaman says. “Or guys just living in our basement and stuff.” —James Pitkin

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CONTACT:
Shawn Hendricks
Vinyl Fluid Records
storywon@msn.com
http://www.vinylfluidrecords.com

DJ’s spinning music for sports equipment

Vinyl Fluid Records, along with the Alternates, are producing a concert to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Kirkland, Washington. Five of the Northwest hottest DJ’s will be playing 5 hours of music for a admission price of 5 dollars.

Kirkland, Washington, March 14th 2009 – Vinyl Fluid Records, an online music store, is hosting a concert to benefit the Boys and Girls Club. With the help of a local community advocate group, the Alternates, they will be raising money as well as sporting goods equipment for the youth in Kirkland, Washington.

Five of the hottest northwest DJ’s will be spinning five hours of music at the Liquid Lime. Admission price is $5.00. Proceeds will be given to help fund programs and equipment for the Boys and Girls Club of Kirkland, Washington. The concert will be also featuring an auction for prizes graciously donated by local businesses. And boxes will be step up to receive donations in the form of sporting goods equipment as well as monentary donations.
The Liquid Lime is located at
12015 124th Ave.
NE Kirkland, Washington 98034
http://www.theliquidlime.com.

For more information, please review the benefit concert site at http://www.fiveonfive.info. Vinyl Fluid Records can be located at http://www.vinylfluidrecords.com and the Alternates organization information is at http://www.thealternates.org. For further information or for sponsorship, please contact Shawn Hendricks at storywon@msn.com, Kimberly Nelson at Kimbodian13@msn.com and/or Illya King at zetaman@thealternates.org

About Vinyl Fluid Records – VFR is a small online music store dedicated to the challenge of keeping physical formats of music (i.e. vinyl, cd’s, etc.) alive and obtainable.

About the Alternates- The Alternates are a regional based group of costumed social activists.

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Local Superhero Zetaman works to raise money for Premature Babies.
Portland, Oregon, April 17th – Local Superhero will be appearing at Cosmic Monkey Comics to raise money for the March for Babies Walk-A-Thon.

Cosmic Monkey Comics will be hosting a fundraiser Friday, April 17th to assist Zetaman, Portland’s Local Superhero. Zetaman, who has been featured on CNN, KATU and Willamette Weekly, has registered as a team with the March of Dimes’ March for Babies Walk-a-thon. March for Babies Walk-A-Thon will be taking place Saturday, April 25th at the Rose Quarter Commons. He will also be selling a self published comic in his efforts to raise money for the March for Babies.

For additional information about the Real Adventures of Zetaman, please visit www.zetaman.tv. For more information about Cosmic Monkey or the fundraising event, visit www.cosmicmonkeycomics.com.

ABOUT ZETAMAN.TV – Zetaman.TV is the online home of The Real Adventures of Zetaman, a reality web series featuring three Portlaneders as they tackle superhero-themed charity projects in an effort to make a difference in Portland.
– END –

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Hey all,
I am happy to report that the Alternates have raised $240 for the March for Babies. That means that $184.80 dollars that will go directly to help premature babies and parents without insurance.

I want to send a special thanks to Black Knight for his giant donation. I want to thank Rene’ Alfonso and Kristina Reichelt for helping us out. And I want to thank Dark Guardian and Runebringer for making donations as well. These people are the real heroes in this. Our economy is not doing that great at all and the fact that they made a donation despite what is going on is fantastic.

So again, thanks so much guys for helping babies!

-Z

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Originally posted: http://www.zimbio.com/10+Real+Life+Superheroes+Who+Have+Actually+Made+a+Difference

Written by JJ on Jul-20-09 3:52am

The Real Life Superhero (RLS) pheneomenon has steadily picked up steam over the last decade. Just like in Alan Moore‘s comic classic Watchmen, otherwise normal people are suiting up and fighting crime.

Some have attributed the rise of the RLS to the recent popularity of comic book heroes, while others have interpreted it as a cultural response to the national tragedy of 9/11.

Whatever the case, these Real Life Superheroes walk the streets of cities throughout the world (though many are based in the United States) working for the good of their communities. From Rolling Stone to the Associated Press, their adventures have been documented. And while many ridicule the grown men and women who wander the streets in outlandish costumes, it’s undeniable that many are serious about giving back to the community.

Here are 10 Real Life Superheroes who have actually made a difference:

#10 Alain Robert, the Human Spider

Born: August 7, 1962
Location: Worldwide (Based in Paris)
Special Ability: To climb up the sides of skyscrapers
Nemisis: Police
Means of Transport: Climbing shoes

Everyone on this list has made a difference in some way, but not everyone on this list actually possesses some superhuman power over the physical world.

While Alain Robert‘s ability is no mutant power, it doesn’t even seem possible that a human should be able to climb like he climbs. Robert has climbed many of the world’s tallest structures. He climbed the Sears Tower (recently renamed Willis Tower) in 1999, completing the climb even after heavy fog made the surface dangerously slick. In all, Robert has climbed more than 85 skyscrapers.

And how has he made a difference? By furthering his political goals of course. Robert is an outspoken activist who has taken up the banner of environmentalism in the fight against global warming. In February, 2009, when Robert climbed the Cheung Kong Centre in Hong Kong, he first unfurled a banner directing people to the global warming Web site onehundredmonths.org. Then in April of 2009, he climbedthe Lloyd’s building in London and unfurled a similar banner.

But the grandaddy was his June, 2008 climbing of the New York Times building. Upon reaching the top of the building, Robert let fly a banner declaring, “Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week.” That’s a ballsy way to get a message across in New York. At least the man stays on point.

#9 Citizen Prime

Location:Arizona
Purpose: To educate children and the public at large on safety and preparedness
True Identity: Jim, an executive at an unnamed financial institution
Means of Transport: Xterra
Cost of Costume: $4,000

Not all caped crusaders are losers with nothing better to do, and Citizen Prime is proof.

A financial executive by day, Citizen Prime donns his $4,000 costume, which includes custom-made breast plate armor, and patrols the streets. Citizen Prime separates himself from other neighborhood watch style “superheroes” by distributing literature on how to help in the community and making appearances to talk to children about drugs and crime.

While Citizen Prime has said he respects the work of other superheroes, like the Black Monday Society in Salt Lake City, he takes a different approach by focusing on community involvement. He says the most useful tool at his disposal is a keen sense of humor for diffusing awkward situations.

#8 Polar Man

Location:Iqaluit, Nunavet; Canada
Notable For: Shoveling snow from driveways
Mode of Transport: Not a polar bear
Special Ability: Resistance to cold and isolation

Clad all in black and white with his trusty shovel, nary a snow-covered driveway stands a chance when Polar Man is on the case.

While a snow-shoveling hero from an isolated Canadian town of less than 7,000 might seem laughable, Polar Man has truly made a difference. Not only does he clear walkways for the elderly, he also tidies playgrounds in the summer and takes a keen interest in participating in community events.

Most of the heroes on this list come from major metropolitan areas, which sort of makes Polar Man more valuable. After all, what better way is there to make a sleepy town more interesting than by patrolling the streets and calling yourself a superhero?

Polar Man models himself on an Inuit legend where an unknown white man riding a polar bear brings food and clothing to people in need. It’s just too bad no one has figured out how to use polar bears as a means of transportation, because a snow shoveler on a polar bear would be truly awesome.

#7 Superhero

Born:c. 1969
Location: Clearwater, Florida
Mode of Transport: 1975 Corvette Stingray
Qualifications: Navy veteran; Police Academy training; professional bodyguard; training in wrestling and boxing
Personal Style: Loud and proud
True Identity: Dale Pople

It’s a tad redundant to be a superhero named Superhero, but what this Florida crimefighter lacks in creativity, he makes up for in style.

Superhero has made a difference not only by showing up at events and showing off his Corvette and bright red Spandex. Sure that tends to leave an impression on people (and not always the good kind), but Superhero’s real contribution is patrolling the roads and helping people in need of assistance — like people who need a flat tire changed.

“I don’t really know when I made the transition, but just all of a sudden one day it seemed like a good idea to put on my costume and go out and help people with roadside assistance.”

Superhero has proven socially adept enough to find himself a Lady Hero, a fellow superhero in training and girlfriend who he says he met in a gym, where he taught her how to do squat thrusts.

Whether you think Superhero is awesome or ridiculous, (there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground), he does get points for having the coolest mode of transport, and being an actual bodyguard. When Watchmen and Little Children star Patrick Wilson showed up in Florida for the Sunscreen Film Festival, Superhero was on hand to work security.

#6 Troy Hurtubise

Born:November 23, 1963
Location: Hamilton, Ontario; Canada
Nemisis: Grizzly Bears
Purpose: To invent ground-breaking safety gear and body armor
You May Know Him From: The Discovery Channel, Project Grizzly

Not a superhero in the traditional sense of the word, think of Troy Hurtubise as the poor man’s Tony Stark (that’s Iron Man for all you non-nerds).

Like those traditional heroes, Troy does have an origin story. Back in 1984, while hiking near Humidity Creek in British Columbia, Troy was attacked by a grizzly bear. He defied the odds by surviving the attack, but was soon consumed with his desire to know more about the fearsome juggernaut of the natural world. But to get close enough to really learn about grizzly bears, he’d have to get close… really really close. Like close enough that he might be attacked again.

Troy’s epiphany came while watching Robocop in his college dorm room in 1987. While most of us would probably disregard any epiphany brought on by a Paul Vanderhoeven film about a half-machine supercop, Troy spent the next 7 years, and most of his money, on developing a bear-proof suit.

The various iterations of Troy’s suit have been the subject of television shows, pop culture references, and even the documentary Project Grizzly. He tests them himself to prove that his suits can withstand being slammed by a swinging log, beaten with baseball bats and even hit by a car.

Troy is currently trying to make a difference by creating body armor for use in combat situations. His most recent suit was based on the Halo videogame and features an air conditioned helmet, a magnetic holster, and a built-in canister of heavy-duty bearspray for use in hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately for Troy, no military or security organizations have shown interest in mass producing the ballistics suits. That might have something to do with the over-the-top nature of the inventor himself. Watch the video at left to see what I mean.

#5 Terrifica

Born:c. 1975
Location: New York City
Reason for Fighting: To protect drunk girls from being taken advantage of by opportunistic men
Nemisis: Fantastico
Means of Transport: Red High-heeled boots
Status: Retired

Though she’s hung up the ruby red cape, Terrifica is remembered as a New York City superhero with a very practical goal. Keeping vulnerable girls safe from predatory guys.

Terrifica, later revealed to be a New York artist named Sarah, patrolled New York City bars and clubs where she would try to prevent women from making decisions they would regret by going home with guys who just wanted to get laid. Armed with, among other things, pepper spray, a cell phone, and Smarties candy (for energy), Terrifica said she would try to distract men, who were often intrigued by the sexy, masked girl in a red cape, to give women a chance to get away.

“I protect the single girl living in the big city,” Terrifica told ABC in 2002. “I do this because women are weak. They are easily manipulated, and they need to be protected from themselves and most certainly from men and their ill intentions toward them.”

Interestingly enough, Terrifica did have a nemesis. A player named Fantastico whose attempts to take home women were thwarted several times by Terrifica. Obviously he was not terribly impressed with Terrifica, who, to be honest, does seem to have some issues with guys.

“She seems to have it in for men,” he said. “I’m convinced she is loveless and would love to have the rest of the city as loveless and miserable as she is.”

#4 Master Legend

Born: June 27, 1966
Location: Orlando area
Team: Justice Force
Fighting Style: Way of the Diamond Spirit
Means of Transport: Battle Truck, Legend Cycle
Signature Weapon: Master Blaster personal cannon (modified potato gun)

Sort of the grandaddy of American Real Life Superheroes, Master Legend is based in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park, and has been active for the better part of the decade.

Master Legend received national recognition in December, 2008, when Rolling Stone ran a feature story and pictorial on the superhero clad in a silver and black uniform with a German World War II helmet. Though Legend is little more than a middle-aged man in a costume, he’s garnered the support of his community by patrolling the streets, fighting for causes he deems worthy, and working for charity.

His shining moment came in 2004, when he received a commendation from the sheriff’s office for helping to save people in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley.

Though many have called into doubt Master Legend’s bombastic stories, one police sergeant, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to ROLLING STONE that Legend had helped bust real criminals.

From Rolling Stone:
Based on the neighborhood, [the sergeant] figured, Master Legend might be a good local contact. “And sure enough,” the Sergeant tells me, “I start getting calls from Master Legend with information. And it checks out. Master Legend has helped put away a few criminals.”

#3 Zetaman

Location:Portland, OR
Purpose: To protect and serve the community
True Identity: Illya King
Superhero Team: Formerly of The Alternates
Cost of Costume: $4,000

Zetaman is the epitome of the comic book nerd turned Real Life Superhero.

Zetaman, who draws and writes comic books in his spare time, patrols in a costume inspired by his favorite heroes. He carries a collapsible baton, a stun gun, an air horn, a cell phone, and perhaps most importantly, gloves and sandwiches.

While Zetaman patrols the seediest parts of Portland ready for anything, he told the Willamette Week that he’s never had to apprehend any criminals. More often than not, Zetaman spends his nights handing out gloves, sandwiches and other useful items to Portland’s less fortunate residents. And while this altruistic action is par for Zetaman’s course, he’s clashed with some other Real Life Superheroes who believe vigilante justice is their true calling.

“I guess it sounds kind of less heroic, but I don’t want to die,” he said. “I wish I had a million dollars, like Batman. But I’m just one guy out there. I’m not strong enough.”

Zetaman also helped organize the Alternates, a Portland-based group of Real Life Superheroes who banded together to raise money for the March for Babies, a fundraiser that grew from the March of Dimes to help ensure infant health. But unfortunately, Zetaman has recently split from the Alternates, stating on his MySpace blog that he can no longer “look past misdeeds on the behalf of friendship.”

But never fear. Zetaman is still out there doing good. His latest project is to raise $500 for the Race for the Cure breast cancer fundraising event in Portland. While the Alternates won’t be working together anymore, Zetaman has put together the Zeta-Corps, which is open to anyone who wants to help.

“I want to get as many Portlanders to join my team, the Zeta-Corps. My plan is to get involved with different charties and have the good citizen of Portland to join me,” he said on his blog.

#2 Angle-Grinder Man

Location:London
Fighting: Overzealous parking authorities
Secret Weapon: Angle Grinder
True Identity: Unknown

Not all superheroes work within the bounds of the law. Angle-Grinder Man specifically works against the law where he deems it is being enforced too strictly.

Wheel clamps are a common sight on London’s crowded streets. Parking spaces are a valuable commodity, and their protection has given rise to an entire industry of private businesses whose sole purpose is to go around placing wheel clamps on illegally parked cars. Enter Angle-Grinder Man.

If you were to find yourself one of the many hapless victims of London clampers, you could call Angle-Grinder Man to come by with a big, mean angle grinder and cut right through the clamp. Whether or not you agree with his purpose, you have to agree that’s one way to make a difference.

“I may not be able to single-handedly and totally cast off the repressive shackles of a corrupt government – but I can cut off your wheel-clamps for you,” he said in 2002.

Unfortunately Angle-Grinder Man hasn’t been active for a couple of years, but his anti-clamping message lives on in the common complaints of Londoners.

#1 Superbarrio

Born:Unknown, but likely in the late 1950s
Location: Mexico City
Reason for Fighting: To protect poor people’s right to housing
Nemisis: Greedy landlords and inept beureaucrats
Means of Transport: Barriomobile

Hidden beneath a red and gold luchadore mask is a Mexico City man who has gone to great lengths to keep poor tenants in their homes. Superbarrio is regarded in some circles with the same sort of awe children reserve for Batman or Spider-Man. And while he isn’t as fit as either of them, he is very effective.

In 1985, an 8.2 earthquake rocked Mexico City, destroying thousands of homes and taking more than 10,000 lives. In the wake of this crushing tragedy, the demand for homes rocketed, leaving many of Mexico City’s poverty-stricken denizens unable to find a place to live. That’s when Superbarrio Gomez (real name unknown), found his calling.

“One day when I was in my room, I was enveloped in a brilliant red and yellow light, and when it dissipated, I was dressed this way,” he explained in 1988. “Then a voice said to me, ‘You are Super Barrio, defender of tenants and scourge of greedy landlords.'”

Superbarrio ended up running for President of Mexico in 1988, and while he wasn’t ever a serious contender, he made his tenants’ and squatters’ rights platform a serious issue.

While Superbarrio is still a folk hero in Mexico City, where dolls and T-shirts with his image are common, he keeps a lower profile these days. Even though he isn’t as active, his spirit and cause lives on.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am officially disbanding the Alternates team. I am very sad to do this. Due to current personality and moral conflicts, the Alternates team cannot function as a team. I accept full responsible for the failure on my part to continue on. I no longer have the will or desire to seek out RLSH in the northwest area.

To the former Alternates team, good luck in the decisions you are making and will make in your life. I hope good things happen for you.

-Zetaman of Portland

For more information about Real Life Superheroes, please visit www.reallifesuperheroes.org.

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Originally posted: http://www.rnw.nl/pt-pt/node/27694

Twenty-eight-year-old David “Civitron” Civatarese is a Boston-based real-life super hero. In his day job he works with adults with autism but in his free time, Civitron dons his home-made super hero disguise – a burgundy and orange jumpsuit – and takes to the sidewalk, assisting his community however he can by cleaning up the streets, helping out the homeless or families in need.

He’s part of a growing collective of ordinary citizens across America who have transformed themselves into something – and someone – else, made themselves larger than life. Going under the banner ‘Superheroes Anonymous’, the collective is dedicated to inspiring the super hero spirit in everyone.

Original persona
According to Civitron, it’s about finding out what your individual powers are and finding out how you can use those powers to help your community.

“Many of us dress up as an original super hero persona – and that’s part of the personal journey of going out and changing your life, of becoming the change that you want to see in the world [to quote Gandhi]. We take a look at ourselves, take a moral inventory – and see what we can change. With the persona we provide a template for ourselves to live by.”

The costumes – and the reasons for wearing them – are different for everyone, says Civitron.

“It’s about becoming a living example, not only for others but also yourself. You put on the costume to remind yourself you are out there specifically for the purpose of helping and for living your cause. For others, it’s more about fun.”

Whether it’s Life Lazaros, a New York hipster who wears a black mask and works on the street with runaways and homeless people, or Zeta Man, who coordinates fundraisers in his local hip hop community, the growth of the real life super hero has been exponential in recent years, with close to 200 members across the United States.

Health and safety
But it’s not a question of vigilantism, Civitron is keen to point out. Superheroes Anonymous members act within the boundaries of safety and the law and liase with the police to build upon existing mechanism within society, rather than working alone. They aim to take responsibility within their own community.

Whether you wear a costume or not, Civitron says the guidelines to becoming a real-life super hero are simple:

“Know the law and know what the legal boundaries are. Always be safe… and for anybody looking to become a real life super hero – they should explore themselves, know what they believe to be true, set out to be that ambassador to the world and always stay true to their message.”

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Originally posted at http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Life/94281-Super-friends/

Move over, Clark Kent. All over New England, mild-mannered citizens are suiting up and doing their part to play the hero.

By TEA KRULOS

THWAK! I swing with my right fist, trying to connect with my opponent’s face. In a smooth motion, he deflects my punch with his forearm, which is protected with a black and metallic-plastic arm gauntlet. I swing with my left fist, and am again knocked away effortlessly. I can see my reflection in his sunglasses, framed in white. He smiles and smoothes out his red and white spandex shirt — adorned with a letter “C,” a flame shooting out of the top — and then crouches into a fighting stance.

“Oh, no,” I think. “I’m about to get my ass kicked by a Lycra-wearing superhero.”

This non-caped crusader goes by the name of Civitron, and lucky for me, our combat is not a battle royale to the death. Rather, we are sparring at Rebelo’s Kenpo Karate, in New Bedford, where Civitron has trained under sensei Joseph “Kenpo Joe” Rebelo on and off for more than 10 years. We aren’t alone.

Twelve other “real-life superheroes,” striking and grappling, are crowded into the dojo for a martial-arts workshop led by Rebelo (who, despite his superhero-sounding last name, is not a member of this tribe). The heroes have flown in — by plane — from all over the country to take part in a three-day conference called “Superheroes Anonymous,” which is akin to a modern-day Justice League confab. They are wearing a multi-hued rainbow of spandex costumes, but there is also an emphasis on “real.” These aren’t the chiseled matinee-idol muscle men and women of the comics pages — more like the people with whom you ride the bus. Yes, some are athletic and tall, but some are short with pot bellies. It’s doubtful these heroes will put the fear of God into real-life hoodlums, let alone the Penguin or Dr. Octopus.

“We come in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and beliefs,” says Civitron. (In the tradition of protecting a superhero’s alter ego, these heroes agreed to speak with the Phoenix as long as we could assure them their secret identities would be safe.) There is Nyx, a curvy New Jersey woman, dressed in gray leotards with a red dust mask covering her lower face. She is sparring against Zimmer, who has just arrived from Austin. Zimmer, short and wiry, wears a spandex shirt, the binary code for the letter “Z” streaming down one side. Zetaman traveled from Portland, Oregon, with a suitcase full of bulky blue plastic armor (superheroes of other eras never had to get their costumes through airport security). Scavenger has on a black mask and corset; black plastic streamers hang from her arms. Her main focus, superhero-wise, is picking up litter in Waterbury, Connecticut, where she has traveled from with her friend, the mountainous Runebringer. He is wrapped in a large gray coat with runic characters decorating his chest.

A lifelong superhero fan, Rebelo, 48, is clearly relishing his surreal position as instructor to a class whose students look as if they had stepped out of a stack of his comic books. As he yells out instructions, his colorful combatants block and counter strike, a Roy Lichtenstein–like comic panel of goggles, masks, combat boots, homemade utility belts, and capes come to life.

After training for a few days in the superhero arts, these mortals will return home and watch over their cities — maybe in a neighborhood near you.

Superheroes in real life
The real-life superhero (RLSH) scene is, believe it or not, a growing movement of people who adopt a superhero persona of their own creation, then perform small-scale heroic deeds, such as donating to charities or watching their streets for criminal behavior. Some can acquit themselves admirably in the fighting arena, whereas others make do by carrying pepper spray and Tasers, but most stress that their best weapon is a cell phone to call the police.

If the image of mere mortals walking the streets in homemade costumes is strange, consider that our vicarious culture has increasingly catered to our fantasy lives. We’re assuming the lives of rock stars, soldiers, and athletes in video games, and immersing ourselves completely in characters created in World of Warcraft, Second Life, and other online role-playing games. We watch artificial realities on TV, and read celebrity blogs on MySpace and Twitter.

Combine this with the grand American tradition of the superhero comic book, which took its first BAM! and POW! steps into the pop-culture pantheon more than 70 years ago. In the last several years, the Spider-Man, X-Men, and Batman franchises, among others, have smashed box-office records like the Hulk on a rampage. Add to that hit TV shows like Heroes and the popularity of graphic novels, and it’s easy to see the yearning of your everyday Clark Kent to be something, well, more super.

The spreading of the RLSH philosophy has been as simple as a click of the mouse. Internet chat rooms and YouTube videos connected new superheroes from city to city. Inevitably, regionalized teams formed and events like Superheroes Anonymous were set up so that like-minded heroes could meet, mask to mask.

First-time filmmakers Ben Goldman and Chaim Lazaros founded the annual conference three years ago, to capture heroes uniting to work together in New York City, with additional footage shot the next year in New Orleans. (Their documentary is currently in post-production.) Civitron volunteered to host this year’s conference in the “Secret City” of New Bedford. (Not exactly the Fortress of Solitude, but it will do in a pinch.)

Originally a premise to get quirky, compelling footage, Superheroes Anonymous has evolved. Besides the annual conference, it has recently been rethought of as a nonprofit organization, with chapters in New Bedford; New York; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Portland, Oregon.

“We’ve already met with lawyers to go over nonprofit paperwork,” says Civitron. “The funny thing is, they were really disappointed that they wouldn’t be representing crazy people who thought they had super powers.”

New England heroes
“New England has a long history of people looking for justice, and I think it’s been passed down generation to generation,” says Civitron, who was born in Boston and moved to New Bedford in sixth grade. He says the history, and even the East Coast’s Gotham City–like architecture, makes New England a great place to hang a superhero shingle.

Perhaps that’s why the region is damn near overrun with superheroes.

Recluse also calls New Bedford home. Clad in a studded rubber mask and a shirt with the white outline of a spider, he is a mysterious and elusive figure, true to his name. He does, however, agree to speak briefly with the Phoenix.

“When I first started,” recalls Recluse, “I was doing patrols in one of [New Bedford’s] worst neighborhoods, the South End. A lot of drug dealers, a lot of gangs, and I got injured doing that. . . . I thought it was like the comic books, apparently. I don’t know what I was thinking. I tried to stop three people from breaking into a house and I got thrown off the porch and landed on my shoulder, so I learned a lesson there.”

Since then, he says, he has taken a more careful approach, hitting the streets as a dynamic duo with a trained martial artist who calls himself Bushido (Japanese for “way of the warrior,” and the name of the moral code the samurai lived by). While combing the streets for crime, he wears street clothes — and a ballistics vest.

Recluse, too, has been donning plainclothes of late, “trying to observe and report more,” he says. “I knew Bushido way before I ever donned my Recluse mask; he saw what I was doing and he wanted to do it as well. We patrol from a vehicle with a video camera and only get involved if it’s an immediate danger to someone or someone’s property.”

Basilisk, inspired by Batman, cruises around the Taunton area. You’ll recognize him as the guy wearing a trench coat, goggles, a hood, and gloves. He met Civitron online, and the two now meet regularly to get coffee and discuss life, or to go look for wrongs to right.

Basilisk says he views himself as “a servant of the people. I take this goal very seriously,” he says. “Basically I want to be myself and I want to make a difference.”

If any bad dudes venture farther north, specifically in the Lewiston and Auburn area of Maine, they’ll be entering Slapjack’s turf. Slapjack says he first adopted his persona for the online role-playing game City of Heroes. But after hearing about other real-life superheroes, he decided it was time for his character to move from the virtual world to the real streets to watch for crime and help with charity work.

His look is inspired by the classic comic-noir hero The Shadow. They both wear a fedora and trench coat, and Slapjack has a mask with a spade and a diamond over the eyes. He sometimes carries metal-framed playing cards that can be tossed like throwing knives.

“Slapjack is the complete opposite of who I am,” he says, reflecting on his costumed persona. “I’m a really happy-go-lucky type of guy. I am very social and open, and Slapjack is like the darker personality. He is more secretive, more opinionated, he’s let his mind go and it really is like a Clark Kent/Superman or Bruce Wayne/Batman type of thing.”

There are numerous other heroes in the region. Among them: The Beetle of Portland, Maine, who couldn’t be reached for comment; someone calling themselves “Samaritan” from Providence, who recently contacted Civitron, and said he had been walking his beat for the last couple years, unaware of the larger RLSH movement; and the retired Ms. Kismet of New Bedford, whose MySpace page notes that “I carry a backpack, which hold[s] a great number of useful superhero things, like . . . alcohol-based hand sanitizer (it does the trick without promoting bacteria resistance).”

Instrument of the people
Civitron’s heroic name comes from the Roman civi (of the people) and the Greek suffix tron (instrument), and describes how he sees himself. He is of Puerto Rican and Italian decent, with the build of a runner and someone who takes his martial-arts training seriously.

“Something I say all the time is that I’m not really Civitron alone,” he tells me later by phone, as he watches over his neighborhood. “Civitron is a creation of everybody in my life who helped me get to this point.”

This eclectic hero-forming collective includes Civitron’s mom, whom he credits with teaching him to be a strong person, but not a “tough guy.” “He’s always wanted to save the world,” she says.

Civitron’s partner, Jennifer, is also supportive of him. Their six-year-old son has even adopted his own superhero persona, Mad Owl, complete with a brown-and-gold owl costume.

But other than the father and son having secret identities, the three actually seem like a pretty normal family. Jennifer goes to school for biology. Civitron — who has a very warm, Zen-like personality, almost constantly smiling — has worked as a counselor, and currently is involved with a day program for autistic patients.

Whereas many comic-book superheroes are reviled in their communities, Civitron has legions of fans. They include the former RLSH Green Sage, a friend from New Bedford who has retired his own hero costume but still supports Civitron’s efforts, and Tem Blessed, a positive-message rapper from Providence who has collaborated with Civitron on a food drive. The two plan to work on projects together in the future.

Civitron says his first meeting with his sensei, Rebelo, was in a comic-book store. Rebelo is proud of Civitron and his colleagues.

“His actions make others aware that they can act heroically, too,” says Rebelo. “Helping a food pantry, picking up litter, distributing food and clothes to the poor — these are actions that so many people have given up on. You hear so much about not being a snitch, about not getting involved. There’s a famous quote from Charles Barkley, ‘I’m not a role model.’ Civitron is saying the opposite of all that — that he is a role model. He wants to be involved and do something positive.”

Don’t expect the New Bedford Police Department to build a bat-signal anytime soon, though.

“We prefer to be the only costumed crime fighters out there,” says Lieutenant Jeffrey Silva, a police spokesman. He says the department is aware of real-life superheroes, but they have yet to cross paths with them.

“Although they might be well-intentioned, we don’t endorse citizen patrols, because we don’t know the level of training,” says Silva. Even so, he concedes that any help to police is welcome.

“Anytime someone wants to get involved and help police, we see it as a good thing, so long as they don’t work without police participation. We prefer people to be the eyes and ears of the police.”

But what about the strange costumes?

“Well, fortunately, we’re not the fashion police,” states Silva.

So what is the payoff for dressing as a superhero and running through dark and dangerous alleyways in the moonlight? Slapjack says that the realization that he is trying to do something positive is his reward.

“Knowing that you are going out there and being proactive and helping makes you feel good about accomplishing something,” says Slapjack. “My father always said, ‘No matter how bad your life, no matter how hard, there is always someone a lot worse off than you are.’ I always took that to heart, and use that as motivation to be better and do good.”

“I just see myself as someone trying to make things better,” agrees Recluse, “and I hope that people see me as that.” As for Civitron, he says being a father is a reason he wants to make the world a better place.

“I’ll be satisfied in the end if I’m just perceived as doing my part,” he says, “contributing to society and making my community better. I like being real and living my truth.”

For more information, visit the Web sites superheroesanonymous.com and reallifesuperheroes.org. Tea Krulos is a freelance writer from Milwaukee. He can be reached at teakrulos@gmail.com.

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Certainly! Here’s a revised version of your blog post:

—

As we usher in the New Year, one of my resolutions is to reassess my actions and strive to make a tangible impact. Over the years, I’ve experienced both successes and failures, and I’m a firm believer in the value of constructive criticism. While I’ve been fortunate to receive support without solicitation, I acknowledge the validity of certain points raised.

My earnest desire is to embark on a journey of personal and professional rebuilding. Moreover, I’m intrigued by the challenge of transforming an unconventional concept into reality.

In a decidedly geeky endeavor to pursue this goal, I recently acquired “The Batman Handbook” by Scott Beatty. Having previously explored the “Superman Handbook” from the same author, which offered practical tips for everyday challenges, I’m now delving into the world of the Dark Knight. While the book is laden with fictional scenarios and not a comprehensive guide to real-life superheroism, I plan to use it as a thought-provoking tool, drawing on my experiences to discern between effective and impractical ideas.

Without further delay, let’s dissect the first part of Chapter 1 of the Batman Handbook— “The Basics,” comprising four key points:

1. **Make a solemn oath.**
Particularly, the idea of a solemn oath seems somewhat impractical. Life is dynamic, and expecting unwavering dedication to every moment may not be realistic. To address this, I’ve compiled a set of self-evaluating questions that apply to both newcomers and seasoned individuals:

– Why am I doing this?
– Why not pursue a career as a police officer or volunteer for a charitable organization?
– Legal or illegal?
– Does it jeopardize my family?
– Financial and time commitment?
– What is my purpose?
– Regularly reassess motivations.

These questions, for me, serve as a reflection of my passion for comics, artistry, charity work, and a desire for self-expression. While my reasons may seem somewhat superficial compared to others, they are honest and true to my current self.

2. **Learn everything you can, no matter how obscure.**
The importance of learning and training is directly tied to personal RLSH (Real-Life Superhero) goals. While having every skill Batman possesses is impractical, acquiring skills relevant to your goals is crucial. I’m First Aid/CPR certified and enrolled in Aikido classes at the Budo Dojo. Training and learning should align with your RLSH objectives.

3. **Train your body.**
Physical training is essential, tailored to your specific RLSH goals. Whether it’s martial arts or other forms of exercise, aligning your training with your mission is key. For me, it involves Aikido and ongoing discussions with fellow RLSH members.

4. **Train your instincts.**
Instincts develop through patrolling and actively engaging in your RLSH activities. Trusting your instincts is crucial in making informed decisions on the field.

With this self-evaluation complete and certain initiatives in progress, I’m ready to dive into Chapter 1, Part 2— “How to make a Batsuit,” or in my case, a new Zeta-suit.

See you next week, same Zeta time, same Zeta Channel.

[Note: The views and comments expressed by Zetaman do not necessarily reflect the views of the RLSH community.]

Zetaman, a costumed activist based in Portland, Oregon, can be found at [his site](http://www.zetaman.tv) or contacted via email at zetaman@zetaman.tv.

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In the second section of the ‘Batman Handbook,’ the focus shifts from the theoretical aspects of being a superhero to the practicalities of designing a uniform. Here’s a breakdown of the fictional recommendations for crafting Batman’s iconic suit:

1. **Select a design motif or “totem” to represent your costumed alter ego.**
2. **Use lightweight, fireproof, and bulletproof material.**
3. **Use colors that camouflage easily.**
4. **Consider the benefits of a cape, cowl, and mask.**
5. **Wear gloves for protection, security, and traction.**
6. **Store your tools in your Utility Belt, not in compartments hidden around your body.**

For those aspiring to be Real-Life Superheroes (RLSH), the first step is often choosing a persona that resonates with them. While many RLSH draw inspiration from comics, movies, or personal experiences, it’s essential to blend design motifs and color schemes cohesively. In my case, I’ve combined elements from Superman and Zorro, opting for the practicality of a black color scheme.

Before delving into materials, it’s crucial to prioritize footwear. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of durable, comfortable shoes. Past mistakes, like choosing platform-heeled boots, taught me the significance of practicality over style. Good shoes are vital for patrols and charity work, ensuring both endurance and comfort.

I’d like to recommend [Hero-Gear](http://www.hero-gear.net) for all uniform and costume needs. They respect privacy and offer versatile design options. While waiting for my upgraded motorcycle riding boots, I appreciate their commitment to quality and customization.

Moving on to pants, durability is key. Cargos, in my case, offer resilience for extensive walking during patrols. The choice of pants should align with RLSH goals and purposes. For those considering armor, I’ll later explore options beyond traditional sporting goods.

Now, let’s discuss armoring up. Batman’s uniform is an intricate blend of protection and functionality:

1. **Kevlar-enforced cowl**
2. **High-gain microwave antenna**
3. **Wireless voice-activated Batmobile remote control mechanism**
4. **Nomex fire-resistant fabric with Kevlar panels**
5. **Knuckles pouches with lead shot**
6. **Steel-toed climbing boots**
7. **Scalloped cape with weighted tips**

While the allure of bulletproof armor exists, it’s essential to acknowledge the limitations. [Dark Guardian’s essay](http://reallifesuperheroes.org/index.php/archives/2285) on bulletproof armor offers valuable insights into its practicality.

In my case, as Zetaman, the decision not to wear a mask influences my approach to head protection. For those seeking total body protection, various options, including riot headgear and bulletproof masks, are available. It’s a personal choice aligned with your RLSH objectives.

To address the budget constraint, I’ve opted for a level II bulletproof vest over a full-body Kevlar suit. While some criticize motocross armor, like that used by The Black Knight, it proved effective in a real-world situation, absorbing impact during a confrontation.

For added protection, I’ve upgraded to the SecPro Riot Gear system, providing substantial blunt force trauma protection. Customizing the armor involved spray-painting the hard plastic parts, enhancing both style and anonymity.

Accessories like SAP gloves, offering cut resistance, and a wire mic for my cellphone, add functionality to the ensemble. Practicality and personal goals guide the choices, emphasizing that being an impactful RLSH doesn’t require an extravagant uniform.

In the next installment, I’ll delve into my utility belt and its contents, offering a closer look at the tools essential for real-life superhero duties.

Until then, stay vigilant, True Believers.
-\Z/

[Note: The views and comments expressed by Zetaman do not necessarily reflect the views of the RLSH community.]

Zetaman, a costumed activist based in Portland, Oregon, can be found at [his site](http://www.zetaman.tv) or contacted via email at zetaman@zetaman.tv.

Additional #1 – It’s crucial to prioritize personal safety, and wearing a cup is a practical consideration for male RLSH. Unfortunately, my experience with http://www.ileatherdirect.com has been disappointing, with an overdue order for boots. Pending further resolution, I caution against using this site, leaning toward labeling it as a potential scam.

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Hello,

The Alternates (NW SA team) once again taking part of the March for Babies this year. Please help us reach our goal by making a donation to our walk.

Your gift will fund March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.

Please support this important work. You can make a donation with your credit card, or if you prefer, cash or a check is fine, too.

Thank you for helping the Alternates give all babies a healthy start!

-Zetaman

Additional- I am also looking for people to join my team, the alternates. If you are in the Portland, Oregon area, please join my team at: http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/thealternates

Info:

April 24, 2010
1 N Center Court St
Portland, OR 97227

Walk Distance: 6.2 miles
Registration Time: 8:00 AM
Start Time: 9:00 AM
Chapter: Metro Division
(503) 222-9434

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**Navigating the World in Superhero Attire: A Lesson from Aikido**

After class, I found myself engaged in Aikido training with Kevin, a seasoned practitioner in his late 60s. Our recent sessions revolved around ground wrestling, an unexpected twist to my usual Aikido routine. Kelvin, with his Japanese heritage, brought a unique approach to our training—complete with unexpected facial expressions that threw me off my game. For the next 20 minutes, we engaged in a playful exchange, making kissy faces and Google eyes, testing our concentration amidst the physical challenges.

Post-exercise, Kevin shared insights into the physiology of Aikido and its relevance to the world around us. “The only thing you can control is how you breathe,” he emphasized. Aikido, according to Kelvin, is about receiving attacks and redirecting them. Physical conflict, he stressed, marks the end of a situation, not its beginning. This philosophy extends to controlling a situation through personal attitude, redirecting force, and choosing an appropriate response.

How does this philosophy tie into the realm of dressing like a superhero?

Choosing to don a costume or uniform immediately alters the world’s perception based on preconceived notions and experiences. Different clothes convey different meanings. A police or military uniform signifies authority, a lab coat implies a medical professional, and superhero attire often elicits a bewildered “What the F—?” response. This initial contact sets the stage for the ensuing interaction, influencing its outcome.

Having encountered numerous Real-Life Superheroes (RLSH) in my relatively short career, I’ve observed that a visually intimidating appearance often provokes negative reactions. People tend to make swift assumptions based on visual cues, and an RLSH who appears menacing may inadvertently trigger hostility. Even my armor, intended to look impressive, sometimes conveys an aggressive tone. To counterbalance this, I’ve taken to wearing a cape during functions to offset the aggressive appearance.

So, what’s the solution?

Earlier, I discussed evaluating personal goals, and the same principle applies to choosing attire. Dressing in spandex and a cape commands attention, even if the reaction is amusement or derision. In this state, an RLSH can effectively present their cause or issue, akin to carrying a billboard. The advantage lies in the universally understood and respected image of a “Superhero,” representing ideals of Truth and Justice.

The superhero concept, I believe, holds a certain purity in the collective public consciousness. These characters embody simplistic ideas of doing right in the face of adversity, concepts that still resonate with us. Utilizing this concept provides a degree of control over any situation, be it fighting crime or engaging in charity work. By dressing as a superhero, a person can shape external perceptions and influence their role—whether they act as the receiver (Nage) or initiator (Uke) in a situation.

For some, avoiding initial confrontation by adopting a stealth approach is preferable. This method conceals true intentions, offering a valid operational strategy. However, for those opting for a more visible superhero persona, the attire becomes a powerful tool. Captain Jackson’s experience of criminals running at the mere sight of him demonstrates the visual deterrent effect. Living an open life, as I do, makes me accountable to the public, ensuring a positive and responsible representation.

In conclusion, dressing like a superhero builds trust with the public. We, as RLSH, stand for ideals, and the trust we build should not be broken. Our attire dictates the beginning of our relationship with the outside world. As we approach the public, we become the receiver (Nage), redirecting external reactions and maintaining composure. Our iconic superhero image channels our intentions to the world, holding us accountable for our actions based on the projected image. Ultimately, dressing like a superhero is a way to establish a relationship between ourselves and the community we aim to serve.

[Note: The views and comments expressed by Zetaman do not necessarily reflect the views of the RLSH community.]

Zetaman, a costumed activist in Portland, Oregon, can be found at [his site](http://www.zetaman.tv) or contacted via email at zetaman@zetaman.tv.

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**Optimizing the RLSH Uniform: Unmasking the True Purpose**

Throughout my experiences patrolling alongside various Real-Life Superheroes (RLSH), I’ve observed a common practice among many—a consistent use of masks. While I acknowledge the rationale behind concealing one’s identity, I’ve come to question the prevalent idea of wearing masks at all times, particularly during street patrols.

A fundamental principle I’ve emphasized is understanding your goals as an RLSH and tailoring uniforms and equipment accordingly. The same logic should extend to our choice of masks. Undoubtedly, masks serve the purpose of hiding one’s identity, emphasizing outstanding characteristics for easier recognition. However, in my experience, wearing a mask can make individuals stand out and become potential targets for harassment, especially if the mask carries an intimidating or confrontational appearance.

Defensive reactions from the public, driven by fear, can escalate to anger and irrational actions. Therefore, RLSH who choose to wear masks should consider appropriate times, places, and missions for donning their alter-ego. Instead of a continuous mask presence, consider wearing it strategically, slipping it on and off like a shadow when needed. This not only preserves energy during patrols but also helps maintain focus and alertness.

**Hiding and Concealment: The Role of Masks**

Contrary to conventional wisdom, hiding and concealment play essential roles in certain RLSH missions. For instance, my patrol companion, Antiman, effectively utilizes a mask during hidden surveillance in parks or dark corners. In such scenarios, the mask complements his mission, aligning with the goals of researching specific areas and staking them out.

However, it’s crucial to recognize that a full-face mask can compromise visibility. Peripheral vision and overall eyesight are vital for staying alert during patrols. Choosing a mask or goggles that maintain optimal visibility becomes imperative to ensure effective action and quick response times. A balance must be struck between achieving the desired superhero look and maintaining practical functionality.

**The Impact of RLSH Color Scheme**

Another aspect worth addressing is the color scheme of the RLSH uniform. Choosing the wrong colors can have unintended consequences, as exemplified by my own mistake in selecting colors that led to mistaken identity and intimidation. While many RLSH opt for all-black attire, it often triggers nervousness in people, especially when combined with body armor and masks. The resulting perception is not one of a superhero but rather someone potentially causing trouble.

Considering the potential consequences of your chosen color scheme is crucial. Evaluate whether drawing attention to yourself aligns with your street patrol goals. Additionally, assess whether specific gear choices may limit mobility or hinder essential actions.

**Adapting the Look According to Situations**

Concluding with personal adaptations to different situations, I’ve tailored my appearance based on the demands of the mission:

1. **Tactical Gear for Driving Patrols:** While driving, tactical gear proves practical. However, doubling it with a bulletproof vest can impede quick exits from a vehicle. Strategic choices are crucial for effective action.

2. **Streamlined Bulletproof Vest for Dangerous Neighborhoods:** In high-risk areas, I opt for a bulletproof vest alone, prioritizing mobility. Bulky leather jackets and excessive gear are set aside to ensure swift movement and reaction.

3. **Simplified Attire for Homeless Outreach:** During homeless outreach, a basic outfit with added knee padding suffices. This minimalist approach facilitates carrying supplies without hindrance, emphasizing the act of helping rather than grandstanding.

In conclusion, the RLSH community must continually assess and adapt uniforms to align with mission objectives. Whether it’s choosing when to wear a mask, optimizing visibility, or considering color schemes, the emphasis should always be on practicality and effectiveness in serving the community.

[Note: The views and comments expressed by Zetaman do not necessarily reflect the views of the RLSH community.]

Zetaman, a dedicated costumed activist in Portland, Oregon, can be explored further at [his site](http://www.zetaman.tv) or contacted via email at zetaman@zetaman.tv.

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Superheroes get real
by fighting important issues
By Joshua Simmons
Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Up in the sky! It’s a bird; it’s a plane. Nope, it’s a superhero.

Comic book superheroes complete with cape and cowl are running through the streets of almost every major metropolitan area in the United States.

They have colorful names like Dreamer, Terrifica and Super Barrio. Rather than fighting crime in a traditional sense, they combat issues that they feel to be just on a more personal level.

They have left the bat-shaped boomerangs and X-ray vision at home, instead opting for food and blankets for the homeless or assisting with organizing to combat corporate injustice.

Portland is no different from the rest of the nation. That’s right; we have a superhero of our own. His name is Zetaman.

Zetaman has taken on the responsibility of defending Portland’s homeless population from the frigid nights and hunger. Armed with blankets, socks and food, he travels around Portland by night and provides those men and women with the necessities to make it through another night.

“They are happy to receive them,” Zetaman stated in an e-mail.

The royal blue clad superhero has based his costume on Superman and Zorro, but his real heroes are his grandfather and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What could lead a man or woman to becoming a superhero?

“I guess some free time Internet searching, a want to do good things combined with a lousy work schedule. As far as recommending [becoming a superhero] to others, I would not. It is a very difficult thing to do because it opens a person up to a lot of ridicule,” Zetaman said.

“First if I saw the costume I’d think, ‘We must be in Portland.’ If I saw what they are doing I’d be really happy that they are out there doing something, and I would do anything I could to try and help. I do community service in my own way; I fed the homeless around town for Thanksgiving, which feels better for me than to sit around eating a big dinner and feeling guilty,” Kassi Havens, a Clackamas Community College student said.

According to the World Superhero Registry, yes there are so many superheroes out there that they are being registered; three things need to be accounted for in order to be considered for membership.

The first is what many would consider obvious, a costume. The World Superhero Registry states on its Web site, “The purpose of a costume is not simply to protect the identity of the Real-Life Superhero from criminals that might seek revenge but to make a statement both to the evil-doers that you fight against and to the world at large: you are not simply someone who happened upon crime or injustice and made an impulsive decision to intervene.”

The requisite costume has become something of a symbol for comic book fans and “Reals” alike. From the iconic Superman logo, to the basic jeans and T-shirt that accompany Wolverine’s metal claws, costumes are how superheroes are identified worldwide.

“I think it’s a good thing because you don’t get people who are just trying to get attention; they are actually trying to have fun while helping people,” said Havens.

Zetaman, however, has run across his share of the bad element in the Real Life Superhero community. Like with anything the Superhero community attracts people who actually want to make a change in the world, as well as the less than savory types who are just interested in getting five minutes in the spotlight.

The other two rules are a bit more complicated than cutting up your mother’s bed sheets and wearing tighty whities on the outside of your pants. The first is heroic deeds; a Real must be able to prove that they became a Real-Life Superhero for the benefit of mankind.

The final step is listed as personal motivation. The Web site indicates that in order to be registered “a Real-Life Superhero cannot be a paid representative of an organization”

In other words next time you see a spotlight in the sky at night, keep in mind that a Real is out doing their part to make the world a better place.

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Originally posted: http://www.koinlocal6.com/content/news/webextras/story/Zetaman-Portlands-real-life-superhero/Gj-MIzP0p02-I7Ig13-bJw.cspx

Reported by: Tim Gordon

Last Update: 3/11 10:52 pm

PORTLAND- The real life superhero movement is sweeping the country. And Portland has one of its leaders, helping others in his costumed crusade.

Zetaman leaves the hard core crime fighting to the professionals, but is trained in first aid and CPR. He dresses up to help the homeless, and support good causes like the March of Dimes. He also might change your flat tire if he finds you stuck on the side of the road.

Just don’t be alarmed by the bright blue costume. It’s all about being a community activist in costume – a creative outlet that helps others.

Zetaman is part of a group of Americans that refer to themselves as Real Life Superheroes. Comic book superheroes have traditionally exemplified the values of trustworthiness, bravery, selflessness, and passion. These hallmarks of fictional iconic characters are the same that the Real Life Superheroes strive to embody.
The Real Life Superheroes is a grassroots movement that works to make the world a better place. They are using the iconicism of comic book superheroes to try to make a difference, inspire others, spread a positive message, and call attention to issues in our communities.

They believe there is a hero in everyone and they want to bring it out to help make this world a little more super.

The Real Life Superheroes movement is (sort of) the basis for a new full-length featured movie coming out in April. A preview is below.

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Originally pubished : http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/movieextras/top10s/real-life-superheroes.php

With DIY superhero Kick-Ass bursting into cinemas, we meet the real men and women who have dedicated their lives to helping others…

Squeegeeman

Who? A “mass do-gooder” who vows to rid New York of both crime and grime. His superhero weapon of choice? A squeegee.

Why? Claiming to have been born with “Super-squeegee abilities”, Squeegeeman not only fights crime, but also goes on hospital visits, plants trees and collects money for charity. He claims that when someone walks down a clean street in New York or makes it home without getting mugged, they have him to thank, which kind of steals credit away from the city street-cleaners and the NYPD.

Movie hero equivalent: WALL•E, the only movie character to equal Squeegeeman’s superhuman dedication to cleaning and tidying.

Entomo, the Insect Man of Napels

Who? This Italian hero claims a near-death experience connected him to “a spiritual plane of existence involving insects”.

Why? Entomo lists his superpowers as sharpened senses, agility and an insect-like psychic ability he calls ‘parallelogram’ – apparently this helps him to establish “a specific psychological/physical profile only based on tiny, almost insignificant details”. Entomo battles criminals as well as corrupt politicians, and he even has his own superhero catchphrase: “Hear my buzz, fear my bite: I inject justice”. Catchy.

Movie hero equivalent: Spider-Man, who also developed creepy-crawly superpowers of agility and a special ‘spidey sense’.

Terrifica

Who? A guardian fighting for sobriety, chastity and the way home for drunk, vulnerable females in need of protection from lusty men.

Why? Like a disapproving parent in a costume, Terrifica patrols bars and parties in New York late at night defending inebriated women from lecherous guys looking to take advantage while armed with pepper spray, a camera and Smarties (to keep her energy levels up). Curiously, she even has her own arch-nemesis, Fantastico, a ‘supervillain’ lothario who dresses in velvet and skulks around bars trying to pick up defenceless women.

Movie hero equivalent: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who also rescued damsels in distress from preying monsters and predators.

Zetaman

Who? A self-confessed nerd who adopted a costume and name to be more like the superheroes in his favourite comics.

Why? While Zetaman tries to steer clear of actual crime-fighting (“I guess it sounds kind of less heroic, but I don’t want to die”), he arms himself with a collapsible baton, a stun gun, an air horn and a mobile phone just in case. The most important items in his arsenal, however, are blankets, gloves, socks and sandwiches which he hands out to the men and women who are forced to live on the streets of his home town Portland, Oregon.

Movie hero equivalent: Superman, who shares Zetaman’s humanitarian attitude and his chest-based insignia.

Angle-Grinder Man

Who? A costumed vigilante who fights the system by offering a free wheel-clamp removal service for frustrated motorists in the UK.

Why? Rebelling against what he considers to be oppressive measures such as congestion charges, CCTV and speed cameras, Angle-Grinder Man takes a stand against “arrogant” politicians by providing wheel-clamp aid to persecuted vehicle owners in Kent and London (at weekends). His website lists his mobile number for such emergencies, presumably because no one has access to a giant Angle-Grinder signal light to shine in the sky.

Movie hero equivalent: V from V For Vendetta, another British vigilante who fights against a corrupt government.

Master Legend

Who? A costumed crime-fighter who claims to have psychic abilities, as well as powers bestowed to him by a voodoo queen.

Why? The daddy of superheroes, Master Legend has been thwarting criminals for over a decade and the local sheriff in his hometown of Winter Park, Florida has even confirmed that the masked hero has helped with many arrests. With his own means of transport (the Legend Cycle) and armed with his Master Blaster personal cannon (a spud gun), this old defender shows no sign of hanging up his tights any time soon.

Movie hero equivalent: Professor Charles Xavier from X-Men who also has psychic powers (minus the silver body armour).

Superbarrio

Who? A Mexican hero who takes a realistic approach to fighting crime and corruption: by organising labour rallies and filing petitions.

Why? Donning a red-and-yellow costume, complete with wrestler’s mask, Superbarrio is a champion for the working class and homeless of Mexico City. His work protecting low-income neighbourhoods by leading protests and challenging court decisions has resulted in the hefty campaigner becoming a folk legend – he even had a giant-size statue erected in his honour and once met with Fidel Castro.

Movie hero equivalent: Nacho Libre, the tubby Mexican wrestler who also has a secret identity.

Dark Guardian

Who? Criminals of New York beware! This highly-trained martial artist is “dedicated to making the world a better place”.

Why? Despite going through some costume changes in the past, Dark Guardian is a committed superhero who claims to have helped the police in apprehending various drug dealers and tracking down an illegal gambling den. Unlike most of his other superhero colleagues, he does not keep his true identity secret – his real name is Chris Pollack. Dark Guardian sounds better though.

Movie hero equivalent: Batman, the Dark Knight, as another hero of the night fighting against injustice.

Citizen Prime

Who? A recently retired superhero who fought crime in $4000 body armour and helped to found the Worldwide Heroes Organization.

Why? A financial executive by day, Citizen Prime would patrol the streets clad in a helmet, breastplate, pads and codpiece and was also particularly involved in his local community, often visiting youth centres and schools. News of his retirement was met with much mourning among the real-life superhero community, although criminals in his area presumably rejoiced.

Movie hero equivalent: Robocop, who wore similar armour and shared his attitude towards promoting good citizenship.

Death’s Head Moth

Who? Strikes fear into criminals with sinister imagery and a scary name. Probably doesn’t do many school visits.

Why? Armed with ‘moth-a-rangs’ (specially made metal throwing ninja stars shaped like moths) and a dark, brooding attitude, Deaths Head Moth fights crime in Norfolk, Virginia and is a well-known name in the superhero community, often teaming up with other heroes and being an active member of the Great Lakes Heroes Guild.

Movie hero equivalent: Rorschach, the cynical anti-hero in Watchmen who has an attitude as fearsome as his fighting skills.

Tothian

Who? Dispensing with the costume and novelties, Tothian focuses on the most important part of being a superhero: fighting crime.

Why? Having served five years in the Marine Reserves, Tothian has the discipline, as well as the physical capabilities, to treat crime-fighting as a serious calling. Claiming that martial arts is only one aspect of the training required to be a superhero (he also lists law, criminology, forensics and first aid, among others), this patrolling defender uses his special expertise to prevent crime and ensure the safety of the residents in his hometown, New Jersey.

Movie hero equivalent: Steven Seagal in every one of his movies. He has the combat skills and mental attitude to take criminals down

Captain Prospect

Who? Founder of the Capital City Super Squad, a team of superheroes who help to protect and serve Washington DC.

Why? Along with his superhero colleagues Nice Ninja, Spark, Siren, Justice, DC Guardian and The Puzzler, Captain Prospect helps the people of Washington DC by undertaking safety patrols, contributing to community events and organising fundraisers, as well as feeding the homeless. This patriotic do-gooder even chose the colours and design of his costume to reflect the DC flag.

Movie hero equivalent: Captain America, the leader of The Avengers, who will be starring in his own movie due out in 2011.

Mr. Xtreme

Who? Part of the Xtreme Justice League, a team of costumed superheroes who tackle violent crime on the streets of San Diego.

Why? Using a camouflage mask with bug-shaped mesh eye-holes to keep his identity secret, Mr Xtreme patrols the streets late at night armed with a stun-gun, pepper spray and handcuffs in order to apprehend criminals as well as promote a positive message to youngsters and raise public awareness about local crime. By day, however, Mr Xtreme is merely a mild-mannered security guard. Presumably, he takes the mask off then.

Movie hero equivalent: David Dunn (Bruce Willis) from Unbreakable, a security guard who discovers he has superhero-like abilities.

Shadow Hare

Who? A caped crusader who fights crime on the streets of Cincinatti with the ominous symbol of a demonic rabbit on his chest.

Why? Declaring to “see the shadows of shadows”, this costumed hero claims to have stopped “many evil doers, such as drug dealers, muggers, rapists and crazy hobos with pipes”. Despite being a trained martial artist who carries mace, a taser and handcuffs, Shadow Hare actually dislocated his shoulder while assisting a woman who was being robbed, just to prove that you shouldn’t be trying this at home. Luckily he can speed away on his Segway scooter if the fight gets too much for him.

Movie hero equivalent: Frank, the demonic rabbit from Donnie Darko who also liked to stick to the shadows.

Polar Man

Who? Hardly a crime-fighter, this local hero helps his community by shovelling snow off the steps for day-care centres and the elderly.

Why? Hailing from Nunavut, a particularly icy region of North Canada, Polarman is the friendly neighbourhood superhero who, as well as clearing snow for those in need, helps to keep playgrounds in order for the local kids and deters vandals. He is said to model himself on a man in Inuit legend who provided food and clothing to the poor while riding a polar bear.

Movie hero equivalent: Iceman, the sub-zero superhero from the X-Men who doesn’t, unfortunately, ride on a polar bear.

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Originally Posted: http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3624/13942/SOURCE=RSS

UP IN THE AIR: Real-life Portland superhero Zetaman is catching international attention with his blue-and-black spandex and do-gooding ways. Since he was first profiled in WW (see “The Adventures of Zetaman,” March 5, 2008), the Z-man reports he’s been contacted by producers from France and Hollywood, and recently signed a development contract with Beverly Hills-based Bogner Entertainment. Cable channels have expressed interest in taking his locally produced TV show at zetaman.tv to a wider audience, Zetaman says, and he’s also partnered with Lionsgate to promote the new movie Kick Ass on his website, reallifesuperheroes.org.

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This year’s March for Babies was awesome!

We raised $760 for the March of Dimes! Not only that we had a lot of people walk for our team. First we have a list of individuals who donated.

Mixsae of Skiffytown

The Blue Blaze

Geist

Mr. Ravenblade

The Shisa

Slapjack

Runebringer

Silver Sentinel

Mr. Jack

Tothian

Those RLSH we owe our thanks to donating. We even had civilians donate this year as well.

Bill Danderand

Brian Whiting

Lisa Hudson

We also had a lot of people walking. I do want to thank Story of http://www.vinylfluidrecords and his family for coming down and walking. Thanks bro for your continue support of the Alternates and RLSH events. Second to Steph and her husband for coming down and walking. And lastly to my brother, his wife and their son Alex for their continue support of us as well. This was one the best March for Babies event ever! Thanks for support the Alternates and the March of Dimes as well.

This is a list of services the money will go to.

$35 – Prenatal intervention services for one high-risk pregnant woman

$75 – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family Support Services for 1 family

$100 – Smoking cessation services for one pregnant woman

$200 – Gestational diabetes services for one pregnant woman

$275 – One day of research on the causes of preterm birth

$500 – Education for 100 families about fetal alcohol syndrome and the benefits of folic acid

So again, thank you to all who have donated. We will be sending something out soon to you all. This was the first event the Alternates have ever rasied it’s donation goal and it is because of the folks listed above. This walk will be featured in a future episode of Zetaman: Real Life Superhero.

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The Alternates just had our first planning meeting. Individuals interested in attending Superheroes Anonymous 4: Project Portland needs to RSVP as soon as possible. To make a reservation, send an email to signup@saportland.info. We need reservations so that we can budget for the Awards Dinner (September 19) as well as different workshops and hotel group rates.

Superheroes Anonymous is focused on Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure. Registration for this is $30. Please join the SA team at http://race.komenoregon.org/goto/superheroesanonymous. This is a excellent opportunity to raise funds as a community to cancer research. If you are joining in, please do your best to fundraise on your own. Shoot videos, flood forums and blogs, anything anyone can do to raise money on their own would be fantastic. When you do have your donation page set up, please send a link to signup@saportland.info so that we may add it to our links.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Northwest Children’s Theater and School in the board room. This will be a catered dinner however alcohol will not be present.

-Zetaman

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Superheroes Anonymous has been registered to work the Perishables Repack Room at the Oregon Food Bank. We will be there from 9 am to 11 am
Duties: Volunteers help repackage quality food donations from local grocery stores
or bulk frozen product.

Qualifications: Age 16 and up. Under 18years old, must provide youth release form. Must be comfortable bending and standing on concrete in a
temperature-controlled (50 degree) room.

Be sure to bring light fitting clothing. If people are taking pictures, be kind to those who wear a mask and make a effort secure their identity. Mask wearers- please do not wear frightening mask.

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From Extra Magazine

By Claudia Ciammatteo

Bastano una tuta (o un paio di mutandoni), un mantello e una maschera per essere come Batman e l’Uomo Ragno o quasi.

Quelli “iscrittia all; Albo” sono circa 200. Difendono vecchiette, si battono peri lavoratori, fanno pronto soccorso e… spalano la neve.

La criminalita dilaga, la corruzione e alle stele, l’inquinamento cresce, lo spetro del terrorismo inernazionale aleggia in tutti gli aeroporti. Per salvarci ci vorrebbe Superman… E, infatti, c’e. Anzi, ce n’e piu di uno. Anche se puo sembrare incredibile, chi pens ache vegliare sul bene dell’umanita sia solo roba da bumetti sbaglia.

Al mondo esistono quasi 200 supereroi in carne e ossa, che inventandosi un nome altettanto suggestive di quello di batman o l’Uomo Ragno e indossando un costume all’altezza del compito, hammo deciso di combattere le ingiustizie o difendere I piu deboli. O almeno di provarci. Sono riuniti nel Real Life World Superhero Registry, ovvero, il primo Albo ufficiale dei supereroi della via reale, nato nel 2005.

Dai fumetti, al fatti. Il fenomeno ha almeno Quattro capostipiti. Tra questi, a Citta del Messico, Superbarrio Gomez e un’autentica celebrita: in aderente costume di lycra rosso, mutandoni e mantello Dorati sul fisico corpulento, il volto coperto da una maschera da wrestler “luchador”, si batte per I diritti dei lavoratori messicani ed e sempre in prima fila nei cortei di protesta. A New York, invece, e famosa gia da alcuni anni Terrifica, paladin della sicurezza femminile, che pattuglia locali e bar armata di spray irritante al peperoncino, cellular e macchina fotografica. Altrettanto célèbre, nonostante la sua identita sia segreta, Angle-Grinder Man (letteralmente: Uomo Smerigliatrice angolare), in tuta blu e stivali d’oro, che di note pattuglia le auto in divieto dis sosta dale ganasce messe dai vigili. Per non parlare di Captain Ozone, di  Belfast, supereroe ecologista in cappuccino e lungo mantello blu, stemma nero e che dopo le ultime battalglie a difesa dei salmo ni e del riciclaggio delle tavolette del water, figura ufficialmnte tra gli organizzatori del Green Poer Rally, mega dimostazione pacifica in difesa delle energie rinnovabili che avverra simultaneamente in Canada e negli Stati Uniti il 31 luglio prossimo.

C’e chi aiuta la polizia con segnalazioni anonime.

Da Scorpione verde a Zetaman. Scorrendo l’elenco del registro dei supereroi, una cosa e evidente: lo sparuto gruppo originario e andato moltiplicandosi. Sui nomi d’arte e sul tip di missione degli eroi (poco “super” ma molto “utile”) la fantasia nono manca: in Canada opera Polar Man (Uomo Polare), pronto a splare la neve per evitare rovinsoe cadute agli anziani; dale parti di Cincinnati Shadow Hare (Lepre ombra), che con la maschere near sul volto protégé i senzatetto; nell’Oregon c’e Zetaman (l’uomo Zeta), campione di primo soccorso.

A vegliare sui cittadini assediati dai malintenzionati, tra gli altri, ci sono poi Fox Fire (Volpe di fuoco), paladina femminile travestita con un cappotto di pelle near e una maschera di volpe; Dark Guardian (Guardiano Scuro), che porta una maschera veneziana sul naso, e anche il misterioso The Eye (l’Occhino). Ma ci sono ache Green Scorpion (Scorpione verde), che opera in New Mexico; Death’s Head Moth (Falena testa di morto) in Virginia e Mr Silent (Silenzioso), l’angelo delle notti dell’Illinois.

Piu recente e la nascita di gruppi di supereroi, come la “Black Monday Society” (Societa del lunedi mero) nello Utah, la Great Lakes Heroes Guild (la Gilda degli eroi dei Grandi laghi) mello sato del Wisconsin e, a New York, l’Heroes Network (rete gegli Eroi) fondata dall’amomino Thothian, che come superavversario ha scelto addirittura Osama Bin Laden.

Ma chi si nasconde dietro tute, maschere e mantelli? La stragrande maggiroanza dei supereroi in carne e ossa prospera olteroceano. <> dicono gli esperti intervistati dai network americani come Cbe e Cnn, <>. Ed e stato raffrorzato dalla politica di cittadinanza attivca lanciata dal presidente Barack Obama.

Niente armi e molta rete. Per vigilare contro la possibilita di infiltrazione di violenti, incoscienti, o gustizeri “fai da te” tra le loro fila, il regolamento ufficiale dell’Albo mondiale dei supereroi stabilisce criteri rigidi di ingress (vedi riquadro in queste pagine) e limitazioni, pena la radiazione; no all’uso di armi vere, innanzitutto. Si invece ad armi e coltelli di plastic, e a tecniche di autodifesa. Del resto, anche se non fermano aerie con la mano ne vanno piu veocia della luce, questi emuli di Superman qualche rischo lo corrono ugualmente. Per scambiarsi dritte e consigli, e dare appuntamento ai propri fan a caccia di aggiornamenti sulle imprese del giustiziere perferito, molti di loro utilizzano il social netork MySpace.

La crescent prpolarita di alcuni di loro, che privia di superpoteri hanno necessariamente ambizioni piu limitate di quelle dei supereroi dei fumetti, suscita pero qualche perplessita. <<Ma e un errore>> fa notare lo scrittore Giampelmo Schiaragola, autore di due scherzosi vademecum per aspirant supereroi, <<il primo compito di un eroe non e tanto quello di sconfiggere il male; quanto di dare il buon esempio, ovvero di creare altri eroi>>.

Mentre qualcuno songna perfino di sconfiggere Bin Laden

E a Napoli, Entomo combatte criminalita e inquinamento. Fra le sue mission: dare una mano nell’emergenza rifiuti

L’uomo-insetto partenopeo. E in Italia? L’uncio supereroe di casa nostra ammesso nell’anagrafe ufficiale, e Entomo: l’Uomo insetto che vegla sulla citta di Napoli. Il suo motto: “Ascolta il mio ronzio, temi il mio morso: inietto giustizia”. Ha 32 anni, e attivo dal 2007, e la sua identita e segreta. Ha un costume da insetto verde chiaro, con maniche scure, sul petto il simbolo stilizzato della lettera greca “sigma” e combatte criminalita e inquinamento grazie (a suo dire) alle sue tre armi: I sensi sviluppati come quelli degli insetti, le techiche di autodifesa e le segnalazioni anonime alla polizia.

<<Pattuglio le strade della citta, di giorno e di note, fermo I piccolo crimini come posso>> ha recentemete dichiarato in un’intervista al quotidano Il Reformista. Entomo sostiene che il suo costume giochi da diversivo, sorprendendo e distraendo I malintenzionati; usa una tecnica di autodifesa chiamata Krav Maga per disarmare I nemici, e li intimidisce senza ferifli. Tra li piu recent missioni, l’emergenza rifiuti a Napoli: <<Ho fermato alcuni tentative di teppismo ai Danni delle persone, delle strutture e dell’ambiente>>. Un modus operandi illegal, almeno I Italia, dove per legge (n.152 del 1975) e vitato comparire mascherati in luogo pubblico. <<Ma io non sono un esaltato, non mi oppongo o contrappongo alla polizia, ne mi sostitusisco a essa>> obiettta Entomo. <<Anzi, li auto a distanza con le mie segnalazioni anonime>>. E a chi aspira a emularne le imprese, consiglia: <<Trova il Supereroe nascoasto dentro di te. Quindi Materializzalo come una seconda pelle e sii quello che sei gia veramente. Fine della storia>>.

Boutique per Super

Eora che cosa mi metto?. Il dubbio puo venire anche ai supereroi. Per questo, a New York, e nata la prima boutique dedicate ai paladini dell’umanita, dove si possono acquistare costume personalizzati, maschere, quanti, armi e alteri accessori: si chimama Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., e ha anche um goliardico catalogo online. Quache idea? Un mantello classic da supereroe, o da auito-supereroe, in seta a glitterato (cioe pieno di lustrini). Ha un prezzo oscillante tra 1 22 e 1 35 dollari. Mai pui senza. Ma si puo trovare anche la pistol a particelle ($25), il vaporizzatore sonico ($30), il campo di forza in mylar ($12), un’arma “a protoni” ($20), il dispositivo per leggere nel pensiero  ($99.50) o una pinna meccanico ($39). I piu creative possono anche acquistare il fluido per la clonazione ($9) e il cuore cibernetico ($16.25).

Vuoi essere un supereroe? Ecco I criteri per l’ammissone.

Chi non ha mai fantasticato di combattere il crimine e debellare spaventosi nemici? Non e facile come sembra: per essere accettati nel Registro mondiale die supereroi (www.worldsuperheroregistry.com), e godere del privilegio di una scheda personale, con il proprio nome, area d’azione, abilita speciali, bisogna obbedire a tre regole indergabili.

I precetti degli eroi. Primo: non valgono ne autocandidature ne raccomandazioni. Per iscriversi bisogna essere contattati direttamente dal Registro mondiale, in seguito a una comprovata (attraverso ritagli di giornale o testimonianze dirette di rappresntanti legali) attivita di supereroe. Secondo: l’unica motivazione personale ammessa e la disinteressata vocazione al bene dell’umanita (quindi un candidate non pruo rievere incentive economici di alcun tipo, ne essere stipendiato per la sua attivita o rappresentare associazioni esterne, anche sense scopo di lucro). Terzo: il costume da supereroe non serve a proteggere solo l’anonimato ma e “simbolo indossabile” dei valori a difesa dell’umanita; sono dunque vietati I costume volgari e inappropriate.

Translation to English via Google

With just a suit (or a pair of knickers), a cape and a mask to be like Batman and Man Spider or so.

Those “all members; Roll” is about 200. Defend old women, are fighting dangerous workers, are first aid and … shovel snow.
Rampant crime, corruption and stele, pollution grows, get free of terrorism inernazionale hovering at all airports. It would take Superman to save us … And in fact there. Indeed, there are more than one. Although it may seem incredible ache watch over those who think mankind is just good stuff bumetti wrong.
Worldwide, there are nearly 200 heroes in the flesh, who invented a name altettanto suggestive of that of Batman and Spider or the man wearing a costume to the task, Hamm decided to fight injustice and defend the weak. Or at least try. Met in Real Life World Superhero Registry, ie, the first official list of superheroes by real, born in 2005.

From Comics to facts. The phenomenon has at least four founders. Among them, Mexico City, Superbarrio Gomez and genuine celebrity in tight red lycra dress, knickers and coat the Golden physical portly, his face covered by a mask wrestler “luchador”, fighting for workers’ rights Mexican and always at the forefront of protest marches. In New York, however, already famous and terrifying for some years, champion of women’s security, patrolling and local bar armed with irritating pepper spray, cell phone and camera.

Equally impressive, although his identity is secret, Angle-Grinder Man (literally: Angle Grinder Man), in blue overalls and boots with gold, notes that the patrol car in parking ban dis dale shoes made by the brigade. Not to mention Captain Ozone, Belfast, superhero ecologist in cappuccino and long blue coat, black coat and that after the last psalm ni battalglie in defense of the tablets and recycling of water, figure among the organizers of Green ufficialmnte Poer Rally Mega peaceful defense can show that renewable energy will take place simultaneously in Canada and the United States on July 31 next.

There are those who help the police with anonymous reporting.

From Scorpion green Zetaman. Go down to the register of superhero, one thing is clear: the tiny original group and went multiplying. Names of art and the tip of the heroes of mission (just “super” but very “useful”) lack the imagination ninth in Canada by Polar Man (Man Polar), ready to splare rovinsoe to avoid the snow falls for the elderly; Dale shares of Cincinnati Shadow Hare (Hare shadow), that with the masks on the face near the protégé homeless in Oregon there Zetaman (man Zeta), Standard First Aid.

To ensure the citizens besieged by the bad guys, among others, are then Fox Fire (Fire Fox), a champion female transvestite leather coat and a mask near fox Dark Guardian (Dark Guardian), who wears a Venetian mask nose, and even the mysterious The Eye (the Occhini). But there are ache Green Scorpion (Scorpio green), which operates in New Mexico, Death’s Head Moth (Moth skull) in Virginia, and Mr. Silent (Silent), the angel of nights Illinois.

More recently the emergence of groups of superheroes such as “Black Monday Society (Society of mere Monday) in Utah, the Great Lakes Heroes Guild (the guild of heroes of the Great Lakes) mello Sato of Wisconsin and in New York the Heroes Network (network GEGL Heroes) based dall’amomino Thothian, which chose as superavversario even Osama Bin Laden.

But who is behind suits, masks and capes? The vast maggiroanza superhero in the flesh olteroceano prosperous. << say experts interviewed by American networks like CNN and Cbe, >>. And it was the policy of citizenship raffrorzato attivca launched by President Barack Obama.

No weapons and plenty of networking. To guard against the possibility of infiltration of violent, reckless, or gustizeri DIY “among their ranks, the official rules of the Dawn World of superheroes down strict criteria for entry (see box on this page) and limits the penalty radiation, no use of real weapons, first. It instead weapons and plastic knives, and self-defense techniques. Moreover, even if they do not stop with the hand aerie veocia leave most of the light, these rivals Superman’s some risk it running anyway. To exchange tips and advice, and to meet their fans hunting for updates on the executioner peripherals companies, many of them use social netork MySpace.

The growing prpolarita some of them, without necessarily having superpowers ambitions more limited than those of superhero comics, but raises doubts. <<Giampelmo Schiaragola noted writer, author of two humorous handbook for aspiring superheroes, >>.

While some songna even to defeat bin Laden

And in Naples, Entomo fight crime and pollution. Among his mission: to help in emergency waste

The man-insect Naples. And in Italy? The uncia superhero home nell’anagrafe official admitted, and Entomo: Man insect that watches over the city of Naples. His motto: “Hear my buzz, my bite themes: inject justice.” He has 32 years, and active since 2007, and his identity and secret. It has a pale green insect costume, with dark sleeves, chest stylized symbol of the Greek letter “sigma” and fights crime and pollution through (he said) its three arms: The meaning developed as those of insects, of Techichi self-defense and anonymous reporting to the police.

<< recentemete he said in an interview with the newspaper The Reforma. Entomo argues that his custom games as a diversion, surprising and distracting the attackers, using a technique called Krav Maga self-defense to disarm enemies, and intimidate without ferifli. Among them the most recent mission, the garbage emergency in Naples: >>. A modus operandi illegal, at least Italy, where by law (n. 152 of 1975) and vines appear masked in public places. << obiettta Entomo. << And to those who aspire to emulate companies, advises: >>.

Super Boutique

Eora what I wear?. The question can also be superheroes. For this reason, New York, and founded the first boutique dedicated to the heroes of humanity, where you can buy custom costume, masks, those who alter weapons and accessories: you chimama Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., and also um undergraduate catalog online . Quache idea? A classic superhero cape, superhero-or I help, Silk Glitter (ie full of glitter). Has a price ranging from $ 35 a 22:01. Never without pui. But you can also find the gun particles ($ 25), the vaporizer sonic ($ 30), the force field Mylar ($ 12), a weapon “proton” ($ 20), the device to read minds ($ 99.50) or a mechanical fin ($ 39). The more creative can also buy the fluid for cloning ($ 9) and heart cybernetic ($ 16.25).

Want to be a superhero? Here are the criteria for ammissone.

Who has not fantasized about fighting crime and eradicating frightening enemies? Not easy as it seems to be accepted in the superhero day Global Registry (www.worldsuperheroregistry.com), and enjoy the privilege of a personal card with your name, area of action, special skills, we must obey three rules indergabili.

The precepts of the heroes. First, they are not worth candidate, nor recommendations. To enroll you must be contacted directly from the Global Registry, following a proven (through newspaper clippings and eyewitness accounts of rappresntanti legal) activities of superhero. Secondly, the only permissible motivation and selfless vocation for the good of humanity (thus not a candidate pruo rievere economic incentives of any kind, be they salaried for his activities or associations representing the external sense even for profit). Thirdly, the superhero costume is not only to protect the anonymity but “symbol wearable values in defense of humanity, are therefore prohibited the suit vulgar and inappropriate.

 

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The SA4 team will be participating in Blood Donating after helping out at the Oregon Food Bank.

Please reserve an appointment for after 12 pm on Saturday September 18, 2010 at 503-284-1234. This is vital in order to donate blood. Please be prepared to release your real name. This is completely for health reasons.

For more information about the Oregon Trail Red Cross, visit their site at http://www.oregonredcross.org/index.asp

-Zetaman

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Originally posted: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/7973066/The-Real-Life-Super-Hero-Project-by-Peter-Tangen.html

These costumed heroes may look like they have jumped out of a comic book or Hollywood blockbuster, but they are all ordinary people who don’t have one special ability between them – just a super human need to help fix our broken society. Captured by American photographer Peter Tangen, these normal, but anonymous, people make up his ambitious Real Life Super Hero Project. The photos give a revealing insight into a small but growing niche in unusual altruistic behaviour

“I work as a freelance photographer in the film marketing sector and as such I have done photo shoots for films such as Spider-Man and the first of the Batman series starring Christian Bale,” said LA-based photographer Peter, aged 50.”I became interested in the growing phenomenon of normal everyday people adopting superhero personas. However, as I researched more I was struck by the irreverent and almost insulting tone of some of the reporting into these altruistic people, who devote their time and effort into helping others. It isn’t about their costumes or their own personal mythology or mission, it is about the fact that they help people less well off than themselves

Standing just 5ft 6in tall the Crimson Fist is Atlanta’s night guardian. On the night of his inaugural patrol, he happened upon two men attacking another in a dark alley. Without giving a second thought to the situation, he went to intervene. The two men stopped, and apparently freaked out at the sudden appearance of this white-and-red clad, mask-wearing man. Amusingly, the man The Crimson Fist rescued ran away too

“I wanted to produce a full blown movie poster series about the super heroes across North America to highlight the real reasons that these people do what they do,” explained Peter

Contacting Thanatos, a long-standing and respected member of the super hero community, Peter travelled to Vancouver to conduct his first photo shoot. “Getting Thanatos onboard in the late summer of 2009 was an important first step, because the community is known for being guarded after some of the negative publicity they have received,” said Peter. “After I met such a stalwart, other heroes came on board and relatively quickly we had planned and organised a massive shoot in LA at the end of September for 19 other superheroes”

Thanatos, also known as the The Dark Avenger, patrols the streets of Vancouver, Canada providing help to the needy and homeless

A poster featuring Thanatos, who takes his name from the ancient Greek for the personification of death itself

In a real-life superhero world filled with men, Nyx works her mission in and around New York City to help the homeless and those in need of rescue from drugs

Poster featuring Nyx, who began her involvement in the superhero world at the age of 16

Citizen Prime is one of the most respected members of the superhero community. Recently retired, he is still sought out by other superheroes keen to hear his thoughts on their mission and how to develop their mythology

A poster featuring Citizen Prime, who wears a suit of armour designed by a medieval jousting club in California

Dressed as a snazzy New Yorker, Life’s superhero mission is to provide help to the homeless, especially in the freezing cold New York winters. Setting out during the week dressed in mask, waistcoat and jacket, Life has a backpack brimming with toothbrushes, soaps, food and candy bars

As the co-founder of New York’s Superheroes Anonymous, Life wants to help those who need it

KnightVigil: Patroling the Tampa Bay area of Florida, KnightVigil is the medieval-themed guardian of America’s sunshine state

With two batons to protect himself, KnightVigil looks to help the homeless and to catch perpetrators on the run

Helping out in the city of Portland, Oregon, Zetaman is an internet-savvy superhero. He launched ‘The Real Adventures of Zetaman’ online; this was the first broadcast length reality series of superheroes available on the web

Poster featuring Zetaman, so called because he “wanted a name that would look cool in bold italics”. “I try to help the hungry homeless in Portland, Oregon, ” said Zetaman, who is happy to give his real name of Illya King and his real age, 31. “I haven’t ever deterred any crimes on the street, but I am trained in the martial art of Akido”

Covered in a uniform that displays the stars of the original 13 states of America, DC Guardian’s mission is to roam the streets of Washington DC with copies of the nation’s constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Explaining to passers-by the importance of their nation’s democracy, DC’s Guardian never reveals his face. He says the reason behind this is to allow black, white, Asian or Hispanic people to see themselves behind the mask

Fighting against what he feels is the ‘Bystander Effect’ in society, Super Hero operates in Clearwater, Florida

An ex-professional wrestler, Super Hero is the co-founder of Team Justice Inc, the first non-profit organisation for Real Life Superheroes in the United States

Geist patrols the streets of Minneapolis, correcting gangland graffiti

Describing himself as wearing ‘green Space-Cowboy chic’, superhero Geist patrols the streets of Rochester, Minnesota deterring petty crime, graffiti artists and helping the hungry and homeless. He carries a slingshot and electrified baton, which are legal in Minnesota, but Geist has never had to use them in self defence

Related articles

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Story of VinylFluidRecords.com have asked the SA4 team to donate some time to help out at Ozone’s Hip Hop Showcase event, Hot Nights/Warm Coat BBQ. This event is a donation point for coats for the Homeless in the Portland area. For more information, check out their Facebook event page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=124501007599588.
www.ozoneshiphopshowcase.com

Also, a reminder that there is still plenty of time to help out the Superheroes Anonymous 4 team by donating to our Susan G. Komen page at http://race.saportland.info (this is a redirect domain name). We’ve raised $75 thus far. Our goal is $500. So please consider donating to your team and help us stomp out Breast Cancer.

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Originally posted: http://www.komonews.com/younews/103489809.html

Posted on: Sep 21, 2010 at 5:37 PM PDT
Channel: Off the Wall
Location: Portland, OR
Tags: superhero Race for the Cure real-life superheroes Zetaman Civitron charity award
A.J. Roberts of Edmonds, WA received the Civic Hero Award from the Committee for Real Life Superheroes. He was awarded it at Superheroes Anonymous 4, an annual meeting of real-life superheroes, for his “Exceptional contribution for the Susan G. Komen ‘Race for the Cure’ 2010.” The award is signed by Zetaman of Portland and Civitron of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

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Originally posted: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5947490/finally_a_real_life_superhero.html?cat=49

By Chris Ware

This is one of the most amazing stories you will eve hear. You probably will not believe it. I can’t blame you for questioning it but it is all true. The world now has its very own real life flesh and blood superhero. This new superhero has arrived in Monrovia the capital of Liberia in Africa.

Lion Heart has been protecting the people in Monrovia and the surrounding villages for the last few weeks now. Lion Heart is involved in a number of different things. Most of what Lion Heart does is educate the local people. He does not teach them to read or write but he teaches them things they do not know that can save their life.

In many rural African villages people do not know they should boil their water before drinking the water they get from local streams. This is one of the largest causes of death in the world. He lets them know about this and they are now less likely to get sick and die. The children are the most likely to die from problems caused by drinking bad water.

Other things that seem simple the local villagers do not know. The sanitation conditions are terrible. Many families have sick members living with them and they do not know to cover their mouth when they cough. They will even eat and drink using the same cup and utensils as a sick person.

Some of the information he gives has been able to literally save the life of a person who was dying. Health related information is not the only information that he gives though. He also teaches about human trafficking so people will not be fooled and sent into slavery.

Over the last few weeks he has learned many things and found more problems and more solutions. He continues to improve what he has already been doing.

Lion Heart also has a small following. All the people he visits are told to teach others. Many teach family, friends, and some even teach the entire village they live in. A few people have even been taught by Lion Heart how they can help others too and are now doing the same things he is.

While it might be odd for an adult to run around in a cape and mask what he is doing is a great thing. There is no telling how many lives he will affect by what he is doing. It is likely we will be hearing more about this superhero soon.

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Originally posted: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/11/rain_city_superhero_movement_d.php

>By Curtis Cartier, Fri., Nov. 19 2010 @ 6:00AM

Green Reaper, Penelope, Thorn, Thunder 88, Buster Doe, No Name, Catastrophe, Gemini and Phoenix Jones the Guardian of Seattle. These are the names of the costumed superheros who are now patrolling our city, ensuring your safety… I know. We’re excited too.

The PI reports late on Thursday that a group of masked vigilantes calling themselves the Rain City Superhero Movement has been patrolling Seattle streets for a few weeks now.

They wear costumes, they ride around in a Kia at night looking for trouble and occasionally, they get stabbed.

Seattle Police think they’re silly at best, dangerous at worst. They cite cases where one darkly clad crusader was nearly shot when he came running out of a park in the middle of the night, or when a woman saw a bunch of costumed freaks pull up to a gas station and thought they were there to rob the place.

“Phoenix Jones the Guardian of Seattle” seems to be the one member that the cops and the media have the most info on–and still, it’s not much.

We know he’s a 22-year-old man who met with police at the station last month in near full regalia: black cape, blue tights, black fedora, white belt and mask. He’d have brought the rest of his gear, he told them, but it was being repaired after he got stabbed trying to break up a drug buy.

But don’t worry. Jones tells the PI that he and his squad are professionals.

“I don’t condone people walking around on the street with masks. Everyone on my team either has a military background or a mixed martial arts background, and we’re well aware of what its costs to do what we do.”

The crew appears to draw a lot of its marching orders from the website reallifesuperheros.org.

That’s right, .org.

Also, another site noted by the police has an actual “manual” for becoming a super hero.

It’s packed with info on picking out fly crime fighting “threads” and weapons, assembling a kick-ass utility belt, keeping your “hero health” in tip-top shape and finding pressure points on your enemies that will render them incapacitated.

Nowhere on the site are any tips for finding a girlfriend or holding down a job.

It’s not clear how the Rain City Superhero Movement is alerted to crimes. They may have police scanners, they may have inside sources, or simply internet access to the SPD police blog. They don’t, at this point, have a skyward pointed spotlight of any kind or a direct line to Mayor McGinn.

But they do have our attention. And it’s likely that that’s all they wanted in the first place.

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Originally posted: http://talkingskull.com/article/does-world-need-superheroes

by Niesey

There’s been a lot of hype lately coming from my hometown of Seattle.  Apparently there’s a group of people there who refer to themselves as “Real-Life Superheroes” from the “Rain City Superhero Movement”, and they’re claiming to be part of a nationwide network of crime-fighters.  They’re regular people (who perhaps have read a few too many comic books), that take to the streets in costumes with code names and try to fight crime. The Seattle Police Department has understandably stated some concern regarding the “superheroes”.  According to the Seattle PI article, there have been some events that have led to one “superhero” almost getting shot, and others being mistaken for criminals by citizens:

In one instance, police say a caped crusader dressed in black was nearly shot when he came running out of a dark park. In another case, a witness on Capitol Hill saw the crusaders wearing ski masks in a car parked at a Shell station and thought they were going to rob the place.

The self-proclaimed leader of the Rain City Superhero Movement is a 22-year-old man, that goes by the name Phoenix Jones.  He dresses in black with blue tights (what superhero costume is complete without tights?), and patrols the Seattle streets with his friends…  in a Kia owned by the godmother of one of the “superheroes”…  I guess “Real-Life Superheroes” use economical transportation.  No high-tech Batmobiles for them.

Reading the article on SeattlePI.com piqued my curiosity.  Are there really other “Real-Life Superheroes” in other parts of America, and perhaps the world?  I was amazed to find that indeed there are, and some of them have websites to share their philosophies, list their services, and ask for donations to fund their superhero ways.  There’s Captain B.L.A.C.K. of Savannah, Georgia, Knight Owl from Ohio, and Zetaman from Portland, Oregon.  But I also found that this superhero movement isn’t all that new of a concept.  London also had a “superhero” for some time in Angle-Grinder Man, who said in 2002 “I may not be able to single-handedly and totally cast off the repressive shackles of a corrupt government – but I can cut off your wheel-clamps for you.”  Maybe not all the “superheroes” keep completely within the realms of the law, but it seems that the majority are trying to make a difference in their communities by helping the less fortunate, and doing charitable work.

For people interested in becoming “superheroes”, there are plenty of websites and books to help them.  RealLifeSuperheroes.org recently listed a workshop in Brooklyn, New York, to assist people with creating their superhero costumes.  It cost $20, but included “free beer for those 21 and older.”  Or you could buy the book, How to be a Superhero.

What do you think about the superhero movement?  Are they necessary in today’s society, or are they just another case of a Neighborhood Watch Program getting out of hand, and turning into vigilante justice?  Would you ever consider taking on a new persona and running around in the night in tights? Or should we just stay at home, and let the police do their jobs?

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Die Bewegung der Real Life Superheroes in den USA
Sie nennen sich Silver Dragon, Civitron oder Knight Owl. Sie sind Superhelden zum Anfassen. In bunten Kostümen kämpfen sie auf Amerikas Straßen für Gerechtigkeit, setzen sich für Arme und Hilfsbedürftige ein. Gerade in Krisenzeiten sehnen sich die Amerikaner nach solchen Helden des Alltags.

Civitron ist voller Tatendrang. Gemeinsam mit Knight Owl begibt er sich auf seine nächste Mission: Obdachlose mit Essen versorgen. Die sogenannten Real Life Superheroes kaufen Lebensmittel im Supermarkt und verteilen sie an die Obdachlosen im City Hall Park in Providence. Die Kosten tragen die beiden Helden im Latexanzug natürlich selbst. Sie wollen Vorbilder sein und die Welt verbessern. Wie Superhelden aus Hollywoodfilmen eben, nur als reale Helden des Alltags. Gerade jetzt scheint das Land solch selbstlose Helfer zu brauchen.

Superhelden ohne Superkräfte

Seit der letzten Wirtschaftskrise ist der Optimismus in den USA geschwunden. Die Zahl der Arbeitslosen liegt bei rund zehn Prozent, von der Wirtschaftskrise hat sich das Land noch nicht erholt, viele Menschen haben den Glauben an die Politiker verloren. Die Real Life Superheroes wollen den Menschen Mut machen, dass es trotz der schwierigen Zeiten weitergeht – ganz ohne Superkräfte. “Es hilft schon, wenn man einfach nur mit den Menschen über ihre Probleme redet. Wir wissen, dass wir nur einen kleinen Beitrag leisten können, um traurigen Menschen den Tag zu verschönern”, sagt Knight Owl.

Auch wenn viele Obdachlose bei der ersten Begegnung zumeist skeptisch sind, fassen sie schnell Vertrauen zu den maskierten Wohltätern. “Als ich eben hier saß und die beiden sah, dachte ich, die sind nicht ganz dicht”, sagt der Obdachlose Chris Tibedo. “Aber dann merkte ich, wie menschlich sie sind. Diese Jungs hier helfen uns, sind nett. Und vor allem behandeln sie uns mit Respekt.”

Die Gesellschaft wachrütteln
Die Real Life Superheroes wollen auch andere pflichtbewusste Amerikaner dazu bewegen, Bedürftigen zu helfen. “Wir sind so etwas wie bunte Hinweise darauf, dass man sich um sein Umfeld kümmern sollte. Durch unsere Kostüme schreien wir quasi ‘sieh dich um, sieh dir an, was los ist.’ Wir rütteln die Leute wach. Raus aus ihrer Selbstgefälligkeit”, sagt Civitron.

Gerade in Zeiten wirtschaftlicher Krisen und politischer Instabilität sehnen sich die Amerikaner nach Helden wie Civitron und Knight Owl. In den 30ern – zu Zeiten wirtschaftlicher Depression und Krieg – wurde der erste Superhelden-Comic verlegt. Die Botschaft der Comicstrips: Mit Tugendhaftigkeit und Eigeninitiative lässt sich Amerika neu erfinden. In den 80ern zu Beginn der Automobilkrise tauchten vermehrt selbsternannte Superhelden in den USA auf. Und auch jetzt scheint Amerika Helden zu brauchen.

Civitron ist sich sicher: “Das ist nur der Anfang dieser Superhelden-Bewegung. Umso mehr wir auf die Straße gehen und umso härter wir arbeiten, desto mehr Einfluss bekommen wir und desto mehr Menschen werden wir inspirieren.”

Mit Material von ZDF

English Version
Loosely translated by Artisteroi

The movement of the Real Life Super Heroes in the U.S.

They call themselves the Silver Dragon, Civitron or Knight Owl. They are super heroes to be touched. In colorful costumes, they are fighting for justice on America’s streets set, supports the poor and needy. Just crave in times of crisis, Americans for such everyday heroes.

Civitron is full of energy. Together with Knight Owl, he embarks on his next mission: to provide the homeless with food. The so-called Real Life Super Heroes in the supermarket to buy food and distribute it to the homeless at City Hall Park in Providence. The costs are the two heroes in the latex suit itself, of course you want to be role models and improve the world. As superhero movies in Hollywood just as only real heroes of everyday life. Right now the country seems to need such selfless helper.

Superhero without super powers

Since the last economic crisis of the optimism has waned in the United States. The number of unemployed is approximately ten percent of the economic crisis the country has still not recovered, many people have lost faith in politicians. The Real Life Superheroes want to encourage people that it continues despite the difficult times – with no superpowers. “It helps if you are just with the people talking about their problems. We know we can only make a small contribution to sad people to beautify the day,” says Knight Owl.

Although many homeless people are often skeptical at first encounter, they hold fast to trust the masked benefactors. “When I was sitting here and saw them, I thought that were not very close,” says Chris Tibedo homeless. “But then I realized how human they are. These guys are helping us are nice. And above all, they treat us with respect.”

The company shake

The Real Life Super Heroes will also move other conscientious Americans to help those in need. “We are like colorful signs that you should take care of their environment. Our costumes we cry quasi ‘to look up, look up to you what’s going on.” We the people shake awake. Get out of their complacency, “says Civitron.

In times of economic crisis and political instability, the Americans long for heroes like Civitron and Knight Owl. In the 30’s – at times of economic depression and war – the first superhero comic was published. The message of the comic strip: With virtue and initiative can invent new America. In the 80s at the beginning of the automotive crisis appeared to increase self-proclaimed superheroes in the United States. And now America seems to need heroes.

Civitron is certain. “This is just the beginning of this superhero movement all the more we take to the streets and the harder we work, the more influence we have and the more we will inspire people.”

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Originally posted: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/01/slamdance-superheroes/

By Hugh Hart

They might look like comical Comic-Con exhibitionists as they patrol the streets of U.S. cities garbed in utility belts, homemade capes and jerry-rigged masks, but it’s no joke: The crime-fighters portrayed in new documentary Superheroes offer serious threats to urban troublemakers across the country.

Director Michael Barnett and producer Theodore James’ movie, which premieres Friday at the Slamdance Film Festival, sheds light on secretive guardians of the community like Zetaman, Dark Guardian, Master Legend, Lucid and Zimmer.

The clip above offers a glimpse of a San Diego-based caped crusader who goes by the name of Mr. Xtreme. Superheroes gets an encore Slamdance showing in Park City, Utah, on Wednesday.

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Originally posted: http://current.com/entertainment/movies/blog/92969198_real-life-superheroes-get-their-own-film.htm

Superheroes aren’t just for fiction anymore — no longer restrained to the pages of comic books, the large and growing community of Real Life Super Heroes (RLSH) are on the streets as agents of change — with mixed results. No magical-power infused mega-beings, they do what they can to make a difference in home-made costumes, sometimes armed with pseudo-weapons — as an antidote to the pumped-up versions usually presented in films. And now they’ve been lovingly captured in a film of their own, the documentary Superheroes, which premiered at Slamdance. Producer Theodore James and director Michael Barnett gave us the low-down on the process, the provenance, and what comes next.

Q: Many of these real-life superheroes could be discounted as dorks or weirdos, but by the end of the film you manage to tease out their eloquence. What were the main traits of these people that you wanted to portray in the film? Is there something that you think they all have in common?

MB: There is definitely one thing the whole community has in common, and that’s altruism. I wanted to the audience to leave the film knowing that every single real life superhero does something heroic in his or her own way, to make their communities a better place, regardless of resources.

Q: Do you think they’re escapists?

MB: There is definitely a level of escapism for some RLSH but by and large, after donning the costume and experiencing what it’s like to actually help somebody, most superheroes become deeply entrenched in the notion that they can make a difference, be it big or small, and that seems to be the driving force for most of them. That, and it’s “hella fun,” according to a super hero we know from Clearwater.

Q: Was there any point where you wondered about any of your subjects’ sanity?

MB: Absolutely not! Not even with Master Legend. I think these guys — I’m speaking of the ones in the film, because of course its hard to speak for the whole community — are eccentric dudes and ladies. They put on a costume, and they realize something: That they can step outside of themselves and their lives, and maybe even become iconic in their communities. It really does something for them. Also, they all have day jobs. For example, Zetaman works at a packaging plant, Mr. Extreme is a security guard, Master Legend is an air conditioning repairman, some of them are tattoo artists… But a lot of them are trying to find a way to do it full time.

It’s funny how our culture treats people who calls themselves superheroes– they’re either ridiculed or adored in their community, but never treated with apathy. There are so many news stories are out there on them, and some of them make fun of them, and some celebrate them… But even when just putting a costume on and walking down the street – people will always react to them.

Q: Do they develop relationships in their communities?

MB: It depends, of course. Life helps people around his neighborhood in Harlem — homeless people, for instance. His community knows him well, and he knows his community. But then Mr. Extreme works differently — he listens to the police scanners and then he goes out and patrols the area where he hears there is a lot of criminal activity. The result is that the communities he helps don’t necessarily know him. But he’s still out there on the streets, at least four days a week. We wanted to deconstruct the “superhero” myth, in our society, and then rebuild a sense of what it means to be a real life superhero: Some want to fight crime, and others want to give food out.

TJ: A few of the subjects in the film confront drug dealers and try to bait criminals into committing crimes. During those nights of filming we were all a bit nervous. Thankfully nothing happened to the subjects or the crew.

Q: Many of your subjects never divulge their true identity to you… Did you find this was something that made it hard to build trust between you and your subjects?

MB: The opposite! Making this film has helped me understand that it is not necessary to know somebody’s real name in order to truly know them as a person. If anything, our lack of needing to know their true names helped them open up to us.
I think when we approached them and they didn’t tell us their names and bios, we were like “That’s cool, we don’t need them. it’s not part of our story.” Which is different from how reporters react — they need a name to print a story. But what’s a name, really? If someone wants to identify themselves as Mr. Extreme, then that’s who he is, to us. But, for instance in Mr Extreme‘s case, I nonetheless got to know him deeper than the costume. He’s a guy that I’ve gone to a couple times a month over the course of the last however many years, have spent hours on end with talking about his life, his family, and getting to know him. I don’t need a name to truly know him.

Q: How did you come across this subject, in the first place? And what made you decide to make a film about it?

MB: I stumbled upon this vast community online. Go ahead, google Real Life Superheroes. I dare ya!I’ve been a cinematographer for 15 years, and have shot a lot of films. I started directing a few years ago, and was making a film for a TV network that, that Theodore [James, the producer] was producing. He was looking for a project, and I mentioned that I’d been gathering some research on this thing. I turned the research in, to him, and he was amazed. He started doing more research, we got in touch with Mr. Extreme and we went to shoot him. He was the first one to agree to work with us. When we got home and we looked at the footage of him we just knew. We realized that this guy is fascinating, and we could just do a film about him alone! But it expanded: We got in touch with Stan Lee, and when he agreed, the community just fell into place.

Q: Were there any scenes that didn’t make the final cut that you miss terribly?

MB: We had to cut a lot of Zetaman, who is an exceedingly noble and humble guy. The work he does with the homeless is heartbreaking and inspiring. He is a true hero in every sense of the word and I’m bummed that we had to lose segments of his story line in the film. I’m also bummed that we had to lose Master Legend‘s “House of Death” scene. Keep an eye out for the DVD, it will definitely be on there!

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Originally posted: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41121744/ns/us_news-giving/#

But Real Life Superheroes don’t have superpowers and most don’t fight crime

By Jim Gold

Crusaders costumed in tights, capes, cowls and other accoutrements are turning up with surprising regularity in American cities to fight what they consider their biggest enemy: public apathy.

They call themselves superheroes and, with names like Dark Guardian, Red Dragon and Viper, they might be right at home on the pages of comic books. But unlike their ink-and-paper counterparts, they can’t fly, vanish into thin air or outrun a speeding locomotive. And they usually are armed with nothing more than good intentions — and maybe a camera and cell phone.

The Vigilante Spider, who has spent 11 years performing acts of goodness around San Diego, is a member of the Real Life Superheroes. The group has nearly 60 members, who don tights, cloaks and cowls to spread the message that ‘everybody can make a difference.’ Here he’s shown in a new documentary, “Superheroes.”

For the most part, they don’t really fight crime either. Most take on missions to help the homeless, raise money for charity or just lend an ear so someone in trouble knows they care.

“There’s a hero in everybody,” said Dark Guardian, who has patrolled the streets of New York for eight years, resplendent in a blue bulletproof and stab-proof vest with “DG” on the chest.  “Everybody can make a difference; we are just a drastic example of what people can do.”

Many costumed do-gooders are loosely aligned under the Real Life Superheroes banner. The group’s website lists nearly 60 members, complete with profiles and portraits. But there appear to be a lot of sidekicks and other prospects waiting in the wings: Nearly 800 contributors participate in its forums, planning meet-ups, exchanging tips on the best gadgets to carry in a utility belt and even consulting an unofficial manual offering guidance on issues such as hero health and legal considerations.

A broken nose for his troubles
A few have crossed the line into real superhero territory — with painful results. That’s what apparently happened to “Phoenix Jones, Guardian of Seattle,” after he became an international media sensation with a run of publicity that included a Jan. 7 appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” A week later, Jones said his nose was broken when he was kicked in the face while trying to break up a street fight between two men, Seattle’s KOMO-TV reported.

The masks and the occasional ventures into real world crime fighting make police understandably nervous.

Masked people at crime scenes is a recipe for disaster, Seattle police Detective Jeff Kappel said, noting that officers often arrive at chaotic scenes where they must quickly sort out suspects from victims and bystanders.

“Put yourself in our shoes,” he said. “… We don’t know who we’re dealing with when we show up.”

And police Lt. Troy Potts of Columbia, Tenn., where police last summer ran off a crusader known as Viper by warning him that he was violating an ordinance barring adults from wearing masks in public, said there are better ways to fight crime.

“Be the best witness you can be,” he said. “Get tag numbers, get a good look at the (criminal’s) face, hair, eye color, tattoos — anything like that will benefit police tremendously.”

A superhero to police would be a person who gives officers a statement and is willing to show up in court later to testify, they said.

But Dark Guardian says cops on the beat aren’t always averse to a small assist.

Routing bad guys with a bullhorn and lights
He said officers didn’t do a thing when he and a dozen others entered New York City’s Washington Square in 2009 with a bullhorn, lights and cameras to confront around 20 drug dealers. One of the bad guys briefly flashed a gun, he said, but the commotion quickly caused the crooks to melt away into the night.

“The cockroaches wanted to get away from their light,” said Peter Tangen, a professional photographer who has followed the crusaders on their rounds for years and whose pictures and interviews are featured on a super hero websitehe runs.

But tense confrontations or physical altercations are “a rare exception” to the costumed crusader rule, said Tangen, who also served as consulting producer on the full-length documentary film “Superheroes,” which debuted last month at the Slamdance film festival in Park City, Utah, and may be released at theaters nationally in July.

“Superheroes” film director Michael Barnett and producer Theodore James followed superheroes on patrol for more than a year.

Barnett said the two thought they might find “eccentric people in costumes” when they started. Instead, they found “courageous, altruistic people,” some with little resources of their own, trying to do something, he said.

“A lot of people feel powerless during stressful times,” Barnett said. “Any little help inspires. That is our film.”

Small victories over evil
Often that help means small victories over evil.

“I don’t go out there with the purpose of beating up bad guys,” said Zetaman, a Portland, Ore., resident who dons a blue-and-black ensemble with a big “Z” emblazoned on his chest before heading out on patrols, which usually entail handing out food, blankets and other supplies to the city’s homeless. “I do stuff that anyone can do.”

The Vigilante Spider of San Diego told the Real Life Super Hero Project that despite his name he relies on bright lights and the element of surprise to stop violence and the spread of graffiti.

It’s difficult to broadly characterize those who disguise themselves to do good. They come from all walks of life, inhabit all sorts of body types and range in age from 6 to over 60. Many share a love of comic books and superhero movies, and a passion for bringing superhero virtues of trustworthiness, bravery, and selflessness to the real world. Some are willing to reveal their real identities, and some agreed to talk if they were identified only by their aliases.

Among them:

  • Dark Guardian, otherwise known as Chris Pollak, 26, a martial arts instructor who lives on Staten Island. He said a horrific crime and apathetic bystanders inspired him to don his superhero duds.

The crime was the notorious case of Kitty Genovese, 28, who was sexually assaulted and murdered in a 35-minute attack as she tried to walk from her car to her apartment at 3 a.m., March 13, 1964, in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. Media accounts, later disputed, said that none of the 38 witnesses to the assault did anything to stop it or called police.

“There’s a hero in everybody,” said Dark Guardian, aka Chris Pollak of Staten Island, N.Y.

Though many members of the Real Life Superheroes were born long after the incident, they are well aware of the story and some, like Mr. Xtreme in San Diego, commemorate the case on their costumes.

“We do not want to let things like that repeat itself,” Dark Guardian said.

  • Zetaman (32-year-old Illya King, to his family and friends), who created the Real Life Superheroes website, said his role springs from his desire to make a difference in his community. He described how he and other costumed crusaders recently helped one family of eight they found living on Portland streets.

“They just needed to coast through until the dad got his disability check,” he said, explaining that the family was afraid they’d be split up if they went to a homeless shelter.  “We gave them jackets and backpacks so they could hang out at the airport, looking like they were waiting for a flight.”

The family made it through the rough patch and is now living in an apartment, he said.

In an example of his charitable deeds, Zetaman is putting together the Heroic 100 PDX team to participate in a March of Dimes fundraising walkathon called “March for Babies” on April 30 in Portland, Ore

  • D.C.’s Guardian, who describes himself as a “Mayberry kind of guy,” referring to the bucolic North Carolina setting of “The Andy Griffith Show” of the 1960s.

D.C.’s Guardian, who does not reveal his real identity but acknowledged he works in national defense, said he brings real life and military experience to his role, which he considers part educational and part inspirational. He can often be found on the Washington, D.C., Mall talking to tourists about the Constitution when he’s not working on behalf of various charities.

As for fighting crime, D.C.’s Guardian said he doesn’t go “looking to get into a situation,”  He has, however, called 911 and talked people out of pushing each other around on occasion.

Soundwave, 10, and Jetstorm, 6, are among the youngest real Life Superheroes fighting apathy and trying to inspire people to help others.

  • 10-year-old Soundwave and her 6-year-old brother Jetstorm, the youngest superheroes msnbc.com found and who live in the Washington, D.C. area.

Soundwave told msnbc.com that they were inspired by adult crusader D.C.’s Guardian.

“I saw that he was helping people and I wanted to do the same,” said Soundwave, who has been dressing up and doing good deeds for three years.

She also admits to a fondness for the DC Comics character Hawkgirl, who she says shows women can be strong and take care of themselves.

Soundwave raises money for Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian organization providing food and medicine through emergency relief and community development programs.

“Even a penny or two at a time can make a big difference,” she said.

Among other things, she has participated in a cystic fibrosis minimarathon, distributed food to war veterans and handed out information about blood drives, sometimes serving alongside her brother. Soundwave said she considers performing such public service a privilege.

“To be an American means to be free and do whatever you can to help people,” she said.

  • Thanatos, 62, probably the oldest member of the Real Life Superheroes. The Vancouver, Canada, resident’s heroic acts mainly involve helping the homeless on gritty Hastings Street.

Thanatos, who is married and has a daughter, says he’s been patrolling for three years, inspired by his youthful readings of comic books — the Green Lantern and Batman were particular favorites — and pulp fiction. He posts videos of his patrols on his YouTube channel.

“I’ve wanted to be a superhero all my life,” he said. “I grew up with comic books, they teach morals, ethics, and the good guy always wins.”

Thanatos says the homeless he encounters in Vancouver, Canada, ‘remember me.’

He said he chose the name Thanatos — a minor figure in Greek mythology who personified “death” — as his persona because street people told him that was all they had to look forward to. His costume consists of a skull mask, gloves, black overcoat, black shirt and pants, crossbones tie, and different forms of body armor, including a bulletproof and stab-resistant vest.

“Some can’t remember their social worker or doctors, but they remember me,” he said. “The costume gets the attention of the homeless and lets them know somebody cares.”

While the Real Life Superheroes acknowledge that, even collectively, their do-gooding can barely scratch the surface when it comes to making a difference in their respective cities, many say they put on their suits in hopes of creating a multiplier effect.

For example, Thanatos told the story of an immigrant couple who ended up on the streets and were afraid to talk to strangers. But when he approached them in his outlandish death-head costume, he said, they were happy to talk.

He then wrote about the encounter in his MySpace blog, which was read by someone who sought them out and gave them jobs.

“It wasn’t just something I did, it was a combination,” he said. “I want to inspire people to say ‘I can do something too.'”

Click here to follow Jim Gold on Facebook.

© 2011 msnbc.com Reprints

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Originally posted: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2011/02/14/real-life-superheroes/

By Peter Stone

Over the past few years, there has been a rising number of real-life comic book style superheroes. Real people are putting on costumes and going out to perform charitable works and try to fight crime. Costumed crusaders were the subject of “Superheroes,” a documentary that was shown at the Slamdance Film Festival.

Caped crusaders break out of comic books
There are real life superheroes patrolling city streets all over North America, performing a wide variety of functions to serve the greater good. Many belong to an organization called Real Life Superheroes” a registry and database of civilians who don capes, masks or any other costume they see fit and go out into their communities to perform civil services. Many of them don’t physically confront criminals, according to MSNBC, but they patrol areas to encourage community awareness of crime and other social problems. Many of these real life caped crusaders focus on charitable works. Portland, Ore., based Zetaman, creator of the Real Life Superheroes website, often goes out distributing food, blankets and other supplies to the homeless.

Documentary calls attention to phenomenon
A documentary about real life superheroes titled “Superheroes” recently debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where the Sundance Film Festival is held every year. The film is creating some buzz and calling more attention to the services that the Real Life Superheroes perform. They do encounter danger; a superhero in Seattle, Wash., called Phoenix Jones appeared on “Good Morning America” after he received a broken nose while trying to break up a street fight.

Not the first of their kind
The Real Life Superheroes are certainly attracting attention, but community responsibility and involvement is not new in the United States. Since the 1970s, an all-volunteer neighborhood watch group called the Guardian Angels has been patrolling communities all over the world, and they do intervene with crimes in progress. The group, according to Reuters, has lately been very active in cities such as Camden, New Jersey, that lost police officers to budget cuts. The Guardian Angels, founded by Curtis Sliwa, are now located in 144 cities across 15 countries.

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Phoenix Jones Fights Villains With a Taser, But Zetaman Thinks That’s None Too Safe

Originally posted: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164641263773656.html
By ASHBY JONES

“Superhero’ Phoenix Jones, top, uses a cell phone to help monitor possible crimes.

SEATTLE—Life isn’t easy for the self-proclaimed superhero who calls himself “Phoenix Jones, Guardian of Seattle.” A 22-year-old day-care worker by day, he dons a black-and-gold costume by night to harass drug dealers and break up street fights.

But he’s having a harder time dealing with his latest nemeses: members of the “Real Life Superhero” (RLSH) movement.

This world-wide collection mainly of grown men with names like Zetaman, Knight Owl, Dark Guardian, and Mr. Raven Blade, have taken to grumbling about Mr. Jones, who has recently been getting more publicity than they do, partly because of his aggressive style.

The RLSHers, many of whom stick to charitable works like delivering food to the homeless, are concerned that Mr. Jones’s physical approach might not reflect well on the superhero community, which has worked hard to convince people that it isn’t just a group of comic-book geeks with inflated notions of their own importance but, rather, a force for good in the world.

“For the first time, we have someone who agrees with our overall purpose but doesn’t agree with our methods,” says Knight Owl, a Portland, Ore., member of the RLSH world who, like the others, refuses to give out his real name.

“I suppose it was bound to happen, but it’s definitely a growing pain within the community.”

Mr. Jones, who declined to allow his real name to be published but whose back story checks out, dismisses the criticism. “I may be eccentric, but I’m not crazy,” he says. “I really am here to help the people of Seattle.”

Real Life Superheroes, who seem to favor masks and dark clothing—sometimes emblazoned with homemade logos (like the Superman “S”)—exist in pockets all over the world. Some, like Knight Owl and Thanatos, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, typically focus on charitable activities.

Others, such as New York’s Dark Guardian, patrol areas known for drug activity—a bit like the city’s old subway-riding Guardian Angels. Dark Guardian shines lights and takes videos to try to deter crime nonviolently, and he makes emergency calls to 911.

“Mostly, they’re relatively normal people trying to help out and have a little fun along the way,” says Tea Krulos, a Milwaukee writer working on a book about them.

Phoenix Jones is different. In the 10 months since he became prominent, he has shown a willingness to thrust himself into dangerous situations.

A mixed martial-arts fighter, he broke his nose last month while breaking up a fight, and he says he has been shot and stabbed, too. He often travels with a posse, sometimes carries a Taser nightstick and tear gas, and repeatedly has himself been mistaken for a criminal.

One Friday night, Mr. Jones and several sidekicks—two quiet men called Buster Doe and Pitch Black; a young woman named Blue Sparrow; and a superhero-in-training called Ski Man—spent several hours making the rounds on the streets of Seattle.

Mr. Jones posed for the occasional cellphone photo with revelers outside night spots in several popular neighborhoods. But, he says, the attention “distracts me from my mission.”

Outside a bar, Mr. Jones chastised a man for yelling at a downtrodden passerby.

“Let’s keep it cool; let’s all have a good night,” he said to the man, who quickly backed down.

From there, Mr. Jones chatted up late-night loiterers in areas known for drug dealing. “Stay safe tonight,” he said. “Stay warm.”

Later, the superheroes ran after a swerving car, suspecting a drunk driver, but the car raced away and, alas, they can’t fly. Capes, also, are unfashionable in the superhero world: “They get caught on everything,” says Mr. Raven Blade.

Little crime-fighting took place that night. “That’s the thing,” concedes Mr. Jones. “When there’s nothing going on, you feel pretty silly in this outfit,” he says, referring to his costume, which he says is equipped with the latest body armor.
Detective Mark Jamieson, spokesman for the Seattle Police Department, applauds citizens’ willingness to get involved in their communities and says the department has received 911 calls from Mr. Jones.

But he worries about things getting out of hand. “Our concern is that if it goes badly, then we wind up getting called anyway, and we may get additional victims.”

It’s that kind of scenario that frightens other RLSHers.

“Whether intentionally or not, he’s representing the [superhero] community now,” says Knight Owl. “And that makes some people nervous.”

Mr. Jones says the RLSH group initially resented his quick move into the spotlight, and blackballed him when he later tried to make nice. So Mr. Jones ultimately started his own group, called the Rain City Superheroes. He says the group’s mission is decidedly different from the agenda of the RLSH gang.

“Handing out food to the homeless is an entirely worthy thing to do,” he says. “But it’s not what superheroes do. If you’re going to drive a fire truck, people are going to expect you to put out fires. If you dress up like a superhero, people are going to expect you to fight crime.”

Last month, in an effort to patch things up, members of the two groups met up in Seattle and went on a late-night patrol of the city.

According to Mr. Jones and others present, the night didn’t go entirely smoothly. At a coffee shop following the patrol, Mr. Jones and Zetaman, a Portland superhero, argued over Mr. Jones’s approach. Zetaman declined to comment. But on his blog, he recounted telling Mr. Jones: “[A]ll of us are afraid of one day someone is going to get killed and it’ll be all over.”

Added Zetaman: “I don’t need this kind of macho c— in my life and I don’t need to prove myself to anyone, least of all to Phoenix Jones and his Rain City Superhero Movement.”

The night of the patrol, Zetaman left the group early and went back to his hotel.

Responds Mr. Jones: “I don’t see the point in handing sandwiches to homeless people in areas in which the homeless are getting abused, attacked, harassed by drug dealers.”

Since then, the two groups—the Rain City Superheroes and the Real Life Superheroes—have pretty much gone their separate ways.

“We’re not one giant family,” says Knight Owl. “After all, we’re a colorful collection of individuals. We’re superheroes.”

Write to Ashby Jones at ashby.jones@wsj.com

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Originally posted: http://honoluluweekly.com/film/current-film/2011/03/no-capes/

By Ryan Senaga

Superheroes looks at ordinary “crime fighters.”

Superheroes / Just in time to reality-check us before the gluttonous orgy of comic-book-inspired summer blockbusters is Superheroes, an examination of real-life superheroes that walk among us.

These are people who dress in costume to fight crime. An Albert Einstein quote opens the documentary: “The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil but because of those who look on and do nothing.” On the flip side of that is Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee, who deadpans, “I figure that person could get hurt.” Some of the people who patrol the streets in costumes could very well get into serious trouble.

Mr. Xtreme is a slightly overweight shut-in who eventually moves into his van to keep up his lifestyle. At one point he admits, “I don’t really have a social life.” And it’s heartbreaking when he attributes this to his dedication to his “job.”

There’s more. Zimmer, an openly gay superhero, dresses in a red fishnet shirt and swishes femininely down a street after midnight to “bait” someone into mugging him. (His crew tails him in hiding to assist with any potential attack.)

Master Legend takes frequent breaks to refresh himself with an ice-cold can of beer.

While telling an anecdote about the life of a superhero, the Vigilante Spider mentions that superheroes kiss their girlfriends goodbye before heading out, just like any normal person would. The interviewer asks, “So you have a girlfriend?” Vigilante Spider answers, “Oh, just metaphorically speaking.”

Still, there is a sense of humanity that paints these folks as genuine Good Samaritans. While they seem like nutballs–and some definitely are–director Michael Barnett makes us feel for these people and what they are trying to do.

Zetaman and his girlfriend, Apocalypse Meow, hand out care packages that contain essentials, such as toilet paper, to the homeless in Oregon. And the money for these supplies come from their own pockets.

At one point, a map of the US is shown with pins marking the states that have real-life superheroes. Hawaii isn’t marked.

While it’s nice to know there aren’t fat people in spandex walking the Honolulu sidewalks, perhaps more people with purposeful intentions to do good wouldn’t be such a bad thing for the Islands.

Friends of Film Friday, Doris Duke Theatre, Fri., 3/11, doors open at 6pm. Q&A with director Michael Barnett and producer Theodore James follows.

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Originally posted: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_weekend/20110401/ts_yblog_weekend/real-life-superheroes-really

By Jim Brasher

What are you doing this weekend? Going to brunch? Mowing the lawn? Fighting crime? Hmm…which one of these things is not like the other?

Welcome to the confusing, often contradictory world of self-described Real Life Superheroes. (That’s R.L.S.H for short). It’s a loosely affiliated community of people who develop their own superhero persona, put on costume and try to prevent crime in their neighborhood. And all without super speed, invisibility or wings.

So are they vigilantes or volunteers? Commendable or ridiculous? Is what they’re doing even legal? I decided to find out. Check out the video above for my night on patrol with “Motor Mouth.” But first, a little more about the cast of characters, starting with…

THE MASKED MAN:

I’ll admit, I had a few misgivings about meeting a masked stranger decked out in Kevlar and leather in a dark garage. But as you can see in the video, those fears dissipated the moment Motor Mouth started talking. (Turns out, he never really stops talking.) He’s intense, driven, but also has a great sense of humor about the path he’s chosen.

“You have to be a little eccentric,” he said, “there’s no question about it. You gotta be eccentric and you gotta have a little bravado about yourself.”

We went on patrol in downtown San Jose, California with Motor Mouth, Anthem and Mutinous Angel. A typical night on patrol involves lots of walking and plenty of curious stares. But for Motor, his costume is a symbol, a visual reminder that someone in the night is paying attention.

“We’re just like that average man in his mid-forties or fifties going ahead and patrolling his neighborhood in a neighborhood watch group, except we do it with a little bit more flair,” he says. And, he insists, they’re out there as a deterrent only.

“We don’t want to get in the way of the police,” he says, “we try to work with them to the best of our abilities, because we do not see ourselves as vigilantes, not in the slightest.”

(A vigilante is someone who effects justice according to their own understand of right and wrong; someone who punishes an alleged criminal suspect outside the legal system. And that, as you may have guessed, is illegal.)

So Motor Mouth espouses a ‘deterrence-only’ philosphy. But the first rule of the R.L.S.H community is that there are no rules in the R.L.S.H community. (No formal ones anyway.) And not everyone subscribes to the same theories about what it means to prevent crime. So to get a wider view, we spoke to…

THE DIRECTOR:

Director Michael Barnett and producer Theodore James spent a year on the road, following close to forty Real Life Superheroes all over the country for an upcoming documentary called… Superheroes. They were kind enough to share some of their footage with us, and we met Barnett at Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood for an in-depth conversation about his experience.

“There’s not one thing the RLSH community focuses on,” he says, “they really do focus on everything, every aspect of the community, and how to make it better. And the thing that drives all of them, is people who do not care; that’s their mission, change the people who do not care to caring people.”

You can watch more of our interview with Barnett here. And stay tuned to this page for breaking news about when and where you can see the film.

THE LAW & THE GOOD NEIGHBORS:

We also spoke to Cindy Brandon, executive director of San Francisco SAFE (Safety Awareness For Everyone). SF SAFE is unique, a non-profit organization that works in partnership with with the police to provide neighborhood watch program to the residents and businesses of San Francisco.

She stressed the importance of alerting the police to any suspicious activity. “If you see a crime in progress,” she says, “your first reaction should be to call 911.” Getting involved in trying to stop a crime is a risky proposition.

“If they do intervene they’re putting their own life in jeopardy. While I think each person can make that determination themselves when they witness something happening, we tell people not to get involved, but to go into a safe place and call the police right away.”

Actual law enforcement officials stress the same message. According to Lieutenant Andra Brown of the San Diego Police Department, real life superheroes, “don’t have the backup that we have, and trying to take a situation into their own hands could perhaps get out of hand for them, and it could actually create more work for the police officers.”

“Now we perhaps have another victim we have to deal with, we have someone who maybe has been represented to be part of law enforcement, or an authority if you will, and that can confuse other people out on the street. So yeah, there’s a lot of situations where they could impede what’s going on, or what a police officer needs to take care of.”

THE ARTIST:

Like many members of the real life superhero community, Motor Mouth got his inspiration from the pages of a comic book. So we commissioned artist and performer Kevin McShane to create two original comic book panels for our piece, based on footage from our piece.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Motor Mouth, Mr. Extreme, Mutinous Angel, Thanatos, Dark Guardian, Master Legend, Life, Crimson Fist, Zimmer, Saph, Ghost, Asylum, Red Voltage, Zetaman. Their reasons for putting on a costume are as colorful and varied as their names. While I learned pretty quickly that it’s next to impossible to generalize about the Real Life Superhero Community, many share a common nemesis: apathy.

According to Motor Mouth, fighting apathy means “trying to awaken the minds of the public to the little bit of more they can do in society, to make the world a better place.”

They certainly had an impact of director Michael Barnett. “In the end, I found something pretty profound. I found people with often times very little resources doing really, sort of small but beautiful things to make their communities better.”

What do you think? Watch the video and let me know.

Video: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_weekend/20110401/ts_yblog_weekend/real-life-superheroes-really

Video featuring Michael Barnett: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_weekend/20110401/ts_yblog_weekend/we-interview-michael-barnett

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Originally posted: http://blogs.indiewire.com/spout/archives/2011/06/01/superheroes_hbo/

By Christopher Campbell

Add one more superhero blockbuster to your summer movie schedule.

I had heard a whisper of this a while ago, but now it’s confirmed: HBO Documentary Films bought the TV rights to Michael Barnett’s Slamdance hit “Superheroes,” a doc about those real-life costumed crusaders who are often likened to characters in the films “Kick-Ass” and “Super.” The funny thing is I didn’t realize it was official until I saw a magazine ad today for HBO’s summer doc series, which features a new premiere every Monday from June 6 through August 15. Other titles include such festival hits as “Bobby Fischer Against the World,” “Hot Coffee,” “Koran by Heart” and “A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt” (see the rest of the titles here). The news about “Superheroes” was also confirmed recently on the doc’s Facebook page, where I regrettably missed it earlier.

Of course I’m excited about all 11 films in the series (the only other I’ve seen so far is “A Matter of Taste”), but I’m especially happy for Barnett’s film, because it wasn’t seen by enough people in Park City and I know there’s a significant audience that will find it intriguing. Here’s a snippet of my review:

Often “Superheroes” comes off as also being more about the problems of the world than the costumed crusaders on screen. Through people like “Zetaman,” “Life,” “Mr. Extreme” and the simply named “Super Hero,” we are made to think about the issues of homelessness and violent crime, as well as police corruption and bureaucracy that lead to the necessity for these [Real-Life Superheroes] to pop up in cities across the nation…“Superheroes” will surely be a big hit with the RLSH crowd, of which there are hundreds more than the selected few in the film, as well as the Comic-Con/fanboy types. Plus it’s a well made, albeit fairly standard doc, without many flaws or bumps.

Fortunately, “Superheroes,” which is screening at Seattle’s True Independent Film Festival next week, is also apparently getting a small theatrical run in October and a DVD release in November.

Check out a trailer for HBO’s summer series, including footage of “Superheroes,” after the jump.

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Originally posted: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/06/a_brief_conversation_with_mich.php

By Keegan Hamilton

Just when you think the media coverage of real life superheroes has reached a critical mass (see: Jones, Phoenix), somebody goes and makes a feature-length documentary film about the entire subculture. That somebody is director Michael Barnett, and his movie, titled simply, Superheroes, screens tonight and tomorrow as part of the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. (It’s also been picked up by HBO, and premieres on cable August 8.) Barnett, who is in town and will make a cameo tonight at Central Cinema, was kind enough to offer his thoughts on costumed crusaders and, of course, the Phoenix Jones phenomenon.

Why did you decide to make a documentary about real life superheroes?
Probably the same thing that drew you to it. It was fascinating. I just sort of stumbled upon these adult men who are putting on costumes to fight crime and help their communities. I just couldn’t believe it was real.

What surprised you most about these people?
It’s really tough to generalize. Everybody was so different. I guess what surprised me most was, we sort of went out looking for this pop culture phenomenon and found so many of these guys — there are literally hundreds of them — so we had to weed through the ones who are just online personalities, doing it as a sort of a cosplay thing. Then we sniffed out the ones who are really doing things — Mr. Xtreme in San Diego, Zetaman in Portland, Dark Guardian and Life in New York, and Thanatos in Vancouver — and focused on them.

A lot of people’s first impression when you explain the concept of real life superheroes seems to be something along the lines of, ‘Those people are nuts.’ How did you try and normalize them, or rationalize what they do? Or did you even try to do that?
Our first approach was to try and make people realize that each person is sort of eccentric in their own way, and they have their own reasons for doing what they do. It’s not a rational thing to do, to put on a costume and walk around a dangerous neighborhood. A lot of these guys don’t have proper training to do that sort of thing — some do — but most don’t. And in some states the laws allow them to carry some pretty serious weapons.

The other thing is showing their situation in life. Quite a few of them don’t have the resources to do what they do. But they want to help their community. Some of them were sad — financially, personally, and just in general. But it’s showing that out of that darkness they could rise above and try to do something good. It’s not all cookies and rainbows, though, it’s profoundly sad and tragic on a certain level.

You interviewed Stan Lee — the Godfather of comics, and the and former president and chairman of Marvel — for the film. What was that like and what were his thoughts on these so-called superheroes?
Stan is the man. He’s amazing. He’s awesome. And he’s 88-years-old!

We thought about trying to interview all kinds of figures in the comic world but ultimately we realized there was only one person we needed to talk to and that was Stan. He understands what it means to be a superhero better than anybody. A lot of these guys (the real life superheroes) are very wary of the media and kind of protective of their community. But once they heard Stan was involved it was pretty easy to get them at least on the phone.

Mostly [Stan] was worried that one of these guys is going to get killed or injured. And yeah, somebody is probably going to get hurt. It’s going to be a sad day for the superhero community when that happens but it seems inevitable.

Phoenix Jones isn’t in the film at all. Why? And have you met the guy? What are your thoughts on him and his impact on the superhero world?
Never met the guy, never had a conversation with him. There’s so many of these guys and we were meeting them [Phoenix Jones] didn’t even exist yet. When we were shooting we rolled through the Pacific Northwest and never even heard his name. And then while we were in production he sort of came out of nowhere and was suddenly everywhere. So I don’t know what my opinion is. If he is just in it for the attention it’s a bad thing. But he is trying to be iconic, and for a message of good so that’s a good thing.

Superheroes screens tonight at 7 p.m. at Central Cinema, and Barnett will be in attendance, along with several members of Seattle’s superhero scene. (Barnett notes that two other Seattle superheroes, Skyman and White Baron, appear briefly in the film.) The movie also will also be shown tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at the Jewelbox Theatre and the Rendezvous. Ticket info here.

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Originally posted: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/07/superheroes_hbo_document_denver_wall_creeper.php

By Joel Warner

Real-life superheroes, those brave (and some would say foolhardy) folks who strap on costumes and battle evil wherever they can find it, are reaching media saturation. They’ve become a staple of nightly news stations, scored a lengthy shout-out in Rolling Stone, and one of them, a lone soul who goes by the Wall Creeper, was profiled in these very pages. Next up? Superheroes, a new documentary film by Michael Barnett, to premiere on HBO on August 8.

Barnett, part of the Denver– and San Francisco-based production company Rehab, spent a year traveling around the country filming masked vigilantes — in particular Thanatos in Vancouver, Mr. Xtreme in San Diego, Dark Guardian and Life in New York, and Zetaman in Portland. The resulting film, which was a favorite at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival in Park City Utah, goes above and beyond the typical tongue-in-cheek fluff pieces on the matter. As Barnett told the Seattle Weekly:

Our first approach was to try and make people realize that each person is sort of eccentric in their own way, and they have their own reasons for doing what they do. It’s not a rational thing to do, to put on a costume and walk around a dangerous neighborhood…The other thing is showing their situation in life. Quite a few of them don’t have the resources to do what they do. But they want to help their community. Some of them were sad — financially, personally, and just in general. But it’s showing that out of that darkness they could rise above and try to do something good. It’s not all cookies and rainbows, though, it’s profoundly sad and tragic on a certain level.

Unfortunately, those hoping to catch a glimpse of Denver’s own superhero, the Wall Creeper, are bound to be disappointed. Rumor has it that the Wall Creeper has been inactive for some time now. Still, maybe sooner or later the Wall Creeper or some other local legend will soon step out from the shadows, ready to confront evil and score some face time on premium cable.

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Originally posted: http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/10-28-11-a-look-at-low-tech-real-life-crimefighters-at-14-pews/

By Joe Leydon

They don’t have the super powers of Spider-Man, or even the firepower of The Punisher. But that doesn’t stop the real-life Superheroes of Michael Barnett’s fascinating documentary – which has its H-Town premiere Friday and Saturday at 14 Pews– from donning home-made costumes, strapping on gadget-stuffed utility belts and patrolling the meanest streets across America. Among those doing derring-do:

  • Mr. Xtreme, a San Diego security guard who moonlights as a crimefighter decked out in green helmet and dark goggles;
  • Zimmer, a proudly uncloseted avenger who prowls Brooklyn in the hope of attracting gay-bashers for his allies to dispatch;
  • Zetaman and Apocalypse Meow, a colorful married couple who dispense necessities to the homeless in downtown Portland, Ore.; and
  • Mister Legend, who drives his beat-up van through the moonlit streets of Orlando and offers aid to the downtrodden when not grabbing beers from his well-stocked ice chest.

Why do they do it? Many of them – including Lucid, a member of Zimmer’s backup team – simply believe the police and other professional law-enforcers are “completely unreliable.” But director Barnett, who spoke with CultureMap this week, thinks the motivations of these caped crusaders may be a bit more complex than that.

CultureMap: Were you surprised to find something that happened way back in 1964 – the infamous murder of Kitty Genovese, who was stabbed while her neighbors reportedly failed to intervene – motivated so many of the superheroes you interviewed?

Michael Barnett: Well, if you think about it, the case became bigger than the case. So, somewhere along the origin of this community [of superheroes], they began to rally around this case of Kitty Geonvese. And it became the defining case of modern apathy in America. They rallied around what the case meant as much as the specific case itself. Because apathy is their villain. So it’s a unifying thread among the community at large.

With these guys, there is no rulebook, there is no manifesto. They go out and be whoever they want and try to help the community in any way they see fit. It’s a real grassroots movement that may not galvanize, that may never get too organized, because the reason they do it is to make up their own rules.

CM: Were you ever worried while making Superheroes that one of these well-intentioned folks might get seriously hurt?

Barnett: Yeah, certainly. I mean, they’d do this anyway without the presence of a camera. But it’s always a concern that you might be creating a moment that wouldn’t exist if you weren’t there with the camera. And that moment may turn tragic.

The interesting thing with these guys is, it’s such a growing population that, inevitably, one of them is going to get hurt, whether there’s someone there with a camera or not. So, hopefully, the people who get into this understand the risk they are taking by choosing to become part of this community and putting themselves in these situations.

But, yeah, occasionally, we did get into some pretty hairy situations. Because, basically, we were shooting in America’s Skid Rows, across the country. Sometimes at 2 o’clock in the morning. It was unpredictable, to say the least.

CM: How did you find out about this amazing subculture?

Barnett: I just sort of stumbled across it on line. And, actually, I didn’t think it was true at first. I thought I’d just found maybe a couple of people who were doing this. But then we started doing a little research, and we quickly discovered that all you had to do is Google “superhero” to come up with a webpage with names of people doing this all over the country, along with news clips and magazine articles. I spent days perusing through it all, and ultimately became fascinated.

CM: How many of these guys do you think have been traumatized by some violence in their past?

Barnett: Actually, that’s one of the few commonalities that I found within the community. I usually don’t generalize, but I did find very quickly that most of these guys had some level of trauma or tragedy in their lives. And this is how that trauma or tragedy has manifested itself. They’re doing this, and getting over that – and possibly over-compensating by going in the opposite direction, and trying to find light in the darkness, if you will.

CM: Maybe they view becoming a “superhero” – even one without super powers – as a way of regaining control of their lives?  

Barnett: Possibly. We found some pretty dark souls out there. And to find them wanting to better themselves, to almost find therapy in doing this – it was fascinating.

CM: Were you ever tempted to tell any of these guys that, hey, maybe you’re not really cut out for this sort of thing?

Barnett: Well, some of these guys that we worked with are untrained, while others are very trained. I’m certainly concerned. I wish they all had a real-life superhero school that they could all go to. So that they could at least know how to handle a situation. So that, rather than inflame it, they could defuse it. Because that takes training – that’s not instinctive. If you don’t have training, then your adrenaline kicks in. And when that happens – people tend to make situations worse. That’s just human nature, you know?

CM: Just to make sure potential audiences understand – these guys aren’t like the Guardian Angels, right?

Barnett: They are and they aren’t. You could say [the superhero community] is an evolution of the Guardian Angels. I mean, the Guardian Angels started out small, and grew to something like 500 chapters. And it’s a really politicized movement now, with a lot of bureaucracy.

Some of these guys used to be part of the Guardian Angels, and they decided they wanted something with less bureaucracy, less rules. They wanted to be able to do it their own eccentric way. The Guardian Angels have a uniform method, and a rulebook, and politics and presidents and leaders. With these guys, there is no rulebook, there is no manifesto. They go out and be whoever they want and try to help the community in any way they see fit. It’s a real grassroots movement that may not galvanize, that may never get too organized, because the reason they do it is to make up their own rules.

CM: During filming, did you find yourself tempted to try some superheroics of your own?

Barnett: I have to say, I get asked that question a lot. And my answer always is: I’m a filmmaker. I want to tell stories. And I thought this was a fascinating story. It’s changed my life in profound ways to see these people – often times with no resources – put everything on the line in order to help other people. So I think I learned a lot from these real-life superheroes. But I’m not going to join them anytime soon.

CM: OK, we’ve talked about the possible dangers facing superheroes. But turn the question around: Ever worry one of these guys might get too carried away with their derring-do?

Barnett: Well, Phoenix Jones was arrested just last week in Seattle for pepper-spraying people.  He thought he was breaking up a fight, and he started pepper-spraying the crowd – and now he has assault charges against him. So, yeah, that’s overstepping the line. Once again, it goes back to, there’s no rulebook for these guys. They don’t have a set of guidelines. So you’re putting yourself in situations where you’re acting instinctively.

And in the case of Phoenix Jones – it was probably not the right protocol. He pepper-sprayed some girls. That’s not good. That’s not a good result. That’s not heroic. I hope the activities of a few superheroes won’t undermine the whole cause.

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Originally posted: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/real-life-superheroes-strive-for-the-greater-good-256549.html

Dark Guardian patrols the parks in Brooklyn after the sun sets. He targets drug dealers peddling their goods where kids play. His approach is simple: He finds people selling drugs and tells them to leave—usually along the lines of “I know what you’re doing here. Get out, or I’m calling the police.” And they often do, grumbling and cursing as they go.

Things don’t always go so smoothly though, and Dark Guardian knows the people he’s dealing with. Sometimes shouts turn to threats, and at those moments, courage becomes a necessity. As a martial arts instructor by day, he knows how to defend himself, but punches and kicks can do little against bullets and knives.

“I’ve dealt with a whole bunch out there,” Dark Guardian said, but to him it’s worth the risk. He remembers the impact comic books had when he was growing up, and wants to pass the feeling on.

“I think it’s good for kids to look up and say, ‘This is someone who stands up for what is right. This is someone who helps others,’” he said.

Dark Guardian isn’t alone. There are hundreds of other Real-Life Superheroes across the country, although not all of them fight crime. Their roles range from bringing food, blankets, and clothing to homeless people; to visiting children’s hospitals so kids can meet a real superhero; to patrolling streets at night.

“I believe in the idea that every person has the potential to be Superman,” said Zetaman, a Real-Life Superhero who patrols in downtown Portland. “Despite any situation or financial woes, or anything else, it doesn’t exclude you from wanting to be a better person,” he said.

And he says that from his heart. As Zetaman admits, “I’m not exactly rich,” but he often buys food and supplies for homeless people. He and a team of other Real-Life Superheroes also held “Operation Treehouse” to buy toys for foster kids.

Zetaman is known for his blue costume—painted riot gear with a large white “Z” on the front. He goes out without a mask, which he believes makes his actions a bit easier for others to understand
Becoming Superman

Just like in the realm of fictional superheroes, Real-Life Superheroes are defined by their costumes. Dark Guardian is more discreet, wearing what looks like leather biker clothes—only with a bulletproof vest with stab plating underneath. Costumes typically have utility belts to top it off, often with first-aid kits and pepper spray.

Their costumes get mixed reactions. This ranges from news anchors giggling about the guy wearing tights and a cape, to homeless people who had a visiting superhero help them stay warm through the winter.

But the costumes are important to what they do.

“The persona that you present is a tool,” said Night Owl, who often patrols with Zetaman. Night Owl said that while you can still do respectable and heroic things wearing a tee shirt, when you put on a costume, “It’s to draw attention to your actions.”

“What we’re trying to accomplish, outside tangible results, is to create a larger shift in the mindset in not only America, but the world—toward taking up the mission and the cause of saying we are responsible for our home, where we live, and the people around us,” he said.

Night Owl is a trained EMT and works as a firefighter, and spent time in Iraq working as a firefighter contractor.

He said that being a Real-Life Superhero isn’t nearly as exciting as being overseas. “The truth is, it’s actually kind of boring,” he said, noting that it’s not very often someone witnesses a crime taking place. When he and his team go out, they often research ahead of time where there are homeless people or where citizen patrols are needed.

People often ask him why he doesn’t just join law enforcement, which makes him laugh, since he already works in the field. “This was a way to raise the bar,” he said, noting that “you don’t have to go out there and become a professional law enforcement officer to do something that is good for your community.”

Night Owl said that with Real-Life Superheroes as a whole, “At a deeper level, what rests behind their masks and bulletproof vests is a belief that people can become something more.”

Uniting the Superheroes

Bringing the community together is Life—the Real-Life Superhero equivalent of Nick Fury, head of the fictional superhero group, The Avengers. Life and his friend, Cameraman, founded Superheroes Anonymous in 2007. The nonprofit organization finds and unites Real-Life Superheroes around the world. The two joined the movement when they were film students making a film about Real-Life Superheroes.

“What I saw was a bunch of great people who were very dispersed throughout America and the world. They never had one gathering or meeting to inspire or support one-another,” said Life, who often holds Real-Life Superhero workshops in Brooklyn.

He noted that Real-Life Superheroes usually only get recognized by the press and police as individuals, “and they would kind of write it off as ‘and here’s a guy who thinks he’s a superhero.’” They needed a face, and a way of showing there are many like them.

Although it wasn’t his intention, Life has become the face of the movement—and he does this well. He’s one of the more dapper fellows of the bunch. He typically wears dress clothes with a tie, vest, and fedora; and with a domino mask to top it off. His superhero name is based off his real name, Chaim, which is derived from “L’Chaim,” a Hebrew toast meaning “to life.”

Being a nonprofit enables the group to get donations when they go to help homeless people or raise money to donate toys to kids, and he notes, “People are actually recognizing Real-Life Superheroes as a movement.”