Archives January 2011

Originally posted: http://www.10news.com/news/26650555/detail.html
Xtreme Justice League Helping Fight Crime In County
SAN DIEGO — A series of attacks in the Chula Vista and College areas have caused a local group to take action. They’re armed with bulletproof vests and mace — and they’re pretty hard to miss.
Mr. Xtreme, who is dressed in a full superhero costume complete with a helmet, a cape and a bulletproof vest, said that he’s tired of seeing people become victims, so he and his crew patrol the streets.
The Xtreme Justice League is dedicated to protecting innocents from villains – villains like the man who attacked a woman near Campanile and Montezuma, by the San Diego State University campus, while she was walking home at 3 a.m. last week. The bruise on Haley’s eye is still visible after she was punched in the face by the man.
“As he punched me I got out of his grasp and ran away,” Haley, who doesn’t want us to use her last name, told 10News.
Attacks like the one against Haley and the recent actions of a serial groper in Chula Vista motivate Mr. Xtreme to spring into action. He calls himself a real-life superhero and he and his crew are on a mission to stop these villains from attacking again.
The Xtreme Justice League wants to stop violence against women so they posted flyers near SDSU and Chula Vista featuring sketches of the man suspected of attacking Haley and the man responsible for groping at least 13 women and girls in the Chula Vista area during the last four months.
Mr. Xtreme has a message for villains: “If we see you out there and you even think about committing a crime, we are going to stop you and we are going to place you under citizen’s arrest. We will slam you on the ground and bring you to justice.”
Mr. Xtreme and his pals are armed with a mace gun, a bulletproof vest, and a Taser. They said all of their weapons are legal, and they’re not afraid to use them.
SDSU student Joel Garcia said, “At first you might think, ‘is this man a mad man?’ but after a while he looks okay,”
The Chula Vista Police Department is remaining neutral on the group but they don’t encourage anyone to confront suspects.
Haley said she’s not the first of her friends to be attacked and although she’s not familiar with the XJL, she’s grateful for their actions.
“I’m glad that people are taking action near the campus to make sure that other students are safe,” she said.
Mr. Xtreme said that he doesn’t have a law enforcement background but he has worked in security before. The so-called superhero said he’s been in a few violent situations but it’s not his intent to harass anyone.
He and his group are patrolling the College and Chula Vista areas into the weekend.

Originally posted: http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=13923977

Originally posted: http://b4manconsulting.com/?p=133
In the past few weeks, I’ve seen a few news stories about real life superheroes. There is even a website. One particular costume-clad, caped crusader has been visible in the national media. His name, Phoenix Jones. Our hero has evoked strong opinions about his role in being a crime fighter. Law enforcement agencies worry that he could cause volatile situations to get worse. Imagine a group of buddies that have had too much to drink, and this guy shows up to keep them from driving until police arrive. The hosts of morning talk shows have interviewed and laughed at the prospect of heroes like Phoenix, Green Reaper, Buster Doe or Thunder 88 trying to stop crime in their fair city.
The other reaction is to understand from where these Do Gooders come. Why are they placing themselves in harm’s way. Unlike Marvel Comic’s heroes, these are ordinary people who cannot leap a tall building or stop a runaway locomotive. A well placed bullet or repeated blows to the head can kill them, just as it would you or me. So why? The Real Life Superheroes website says this:

“The Real Life Superheroes work to make the world a better place by doing civic activities, charity work, public safety patrols, hospital visits, school talks, distributing wanted and missing person fliers, helping the homeless, community clean-ups, and more. From crime fighting to charity work real life superheroes seek to help make a positive difference in their communities.”

These are noble ambitions and ones that I think most of us can appreciate. So how do we respond when one of these masked men becomes the victim. Earlier in January, that very thing happened to Phoenix, who in real life, kisses his children as he puts them in bed and then heads out for patrol. Two men assaulted Jones at gunpoint. One trained the gun on him, while the other broke his nose.
As I watched the story unfold and reader responses to it, there were many who laughed at Seattle’s guardian, while others applauded his heroism. Another hero came to mind though, this one much less likely, but one who’s name is often evoked.
The Good Samaritan crossed cultural stigmas of classism and religious legalism to rescue a stranger he found left for dead in a ditch. The Gospel writer Luke tells the parable in Chapter 10. After being beaten and robbed, a man was left in a ditch. Two different religious leaders left the man there, even crossing to the other side of the road to avoid him.  Their reasons were solely those of religious doctrine. The third man, a Samaritan, stepped in to save the day. This hero is unlikely because the people reading this parable would consider the Samaritan the least worthy of such honor in a story. Samaritans were viewed as ethnically and religiously inferior to the ruling class Jews. Not only did he bandage the man, but he also paid for his care at a local inn.
At the end of telling the story, Jesus tells his audience to go and be as merciful as the Samaritan had been.  So what do a Samaritan and Real Life Superheroes have in common? Read the quote from the RLS website again. Perhaps too much has been made of one vigilante’s noble (or insane) quest to protect the city. The real heroic action has been in the community service of the heroes: visiting hospitals, community clean-ups, missing person flier distribution, work with the homeless.
That work defines the real superhero to me. People who give their time and energy to their passions without hope for recognition, quietly preparing meals at a homeless shelter, visiting at hospital bedsides, making a playground safe for children, etc. People who lead their organizations to provide from the richness of their resources to improve the lives of those without basic needs being met. Community organizers who work tirelessly to know the needs around them and call upon the assets of the community to meet them. There are millions of real life superheroes out there. You can identify some from your own life story.
So what is our call to action? To go and do likewise!

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.

 
It’s Friday evening in New York, and I’m sitting in the secret base of the city’s pre-eminent superhero, which looks deceptively like the bottom floor apartment of a multifamily house in a quite section of Staten Island. Then again, who would ever suspect that beneath stately Wayne Manor sites the Bat cave?
Image file from Black Belt magazine:

By Mark Jacobs
From my seat at what appears to be a normal kitchen table, I watch as mild-mannered martial arts instructor Chris Pollak transforms into his nighttime alter ego, the Dark Guardian, donning a Lycra pullover with his trademark “DG” logo and a spiffy black and red motorcycle jacket. Then he fastens on what I can only thing of as his “utility belt” filled with first-aid supplies, pepper spray and a thigh holster container a heavy duty flashlight in preparation for one of his regular nocturnal forays.
Being that this will be a standard safety patrol of some local area in Staten Island, hardly New York’s roughest borough, the Dark Guardian has decided to dispense with this full costume. That comes out only for larger operations, such as the time he and several superhero colleagues invaded Manhattan’s drug infested Washington Square Park, forcing a tense standoff with local dealers until the evildoers finally fled back to their lairs. Thus, he leaves his more eye-catching gear, including a bulletproof vest and matching leather motorcycle pants, at home this night. He says he gave up wearing a mask in public several years ago because it seemed to make him less accessible to people.
“Super-villains hunting me down in my real identity isn’t a big concern,” he admits.
This isn’t fantasy, nor is it the acting out of a disturbed soul. “Real-Life superheroes,” as costumed avengers now preferred to be called, is a growing movement of individuals- anywhere from 50 to 100- scattered across the country, people who dress up in secret identities and take to the streets to combat evil. (Reallifesuperheroes.com)
All right, none of them has super-powers (as far as I know), and most of them spend their time making public appearances and encouraging people to do things like recycle, rather than taking on criminal gangs. But a handful, including the Dark Guardian, carry the RLSH movement to its logical extreme, actually seeking to stop crime. Admittedly, this is something that’s probably best not taken up by the average person in spandex. But the Dark Guardian, or rather Chris Pollak, is a full-time martial arts instructor and amateur kick boxer. He’s also smart enough not to place himself in danger if there’s no need.
“If I don’t have to intervene in something, I try not to,” he says. “I’ll call the police, and they can intervene. My thing is, just don’t look the other way. I want to be a drastic example for people to know they can do little things to make a difference out there.”
In the seminal graphic novel Watchman, the costumed vigilante Rorschach observes: “We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to.” While he might have been talking about the need in a degenerating society for superheroes to fight crime, he was also likely speaking about the need certain individuals have to recreate themselves as heroic figures.
Pollak admits to having had a trouble youth in which he had little contact with his father- and even wandered into juvenile delinquency at one point. But as a child hold fascination with the martial arts let him to a local school that taught kenpo and kajukenbo. He says the training turned his life around and made him a better person.
This is not an unusual story. Many get involved with the martial arts out of a desire to develop larger-than life physical powers and improve themselves as individuals. But most stop there. Pollak simply took his youthful fascination with powerful heroes to the next level. Having heard there were some people out there dressing up and performing feats of community activism around the country, he mad et he decision to become one of them eight years ago.
“I started off in plain clothes, doing community patrols and handing out. Food to the homeless- things like that,” he says. “But then I talked with others who were doing the superhero thing or wanted to do it, and I liked the idea of becoming a symbol and being able to reach out to people.
While it might be easy to dismiss the Dark Guardian and his colleagues   as random crazies, when you talk to him about the superhero business, he makes it seem not only normal but also noble. He’s quiet and subdue most of the time, particularly as I ride the train across Staten Island with him. We walk the length of the train just checking on things, and, in his less-formal uniform, no one seems to pay him any notice- which appears fine with the Dark Guardian.
“Only one in 10 or 20 patrols will anything actually happen,” he says. And typically, the “action” comes from handing out a blanket to a homeless person or helping someone who’s locked out of his car.
Pollak’s never had to use his martial arts skills in his crime-fighting persona. The tensest moment he’s encountered was the standoff in Washington Square Park, where one of the dealers flashed a gun at the assembled superheroes. Although none of them was bulletproof, the heroes stood their ground until the dealers drifted off.
Sometime after that, on another patrol of the park, the police approached him and took him to the station. At first thinking they were going to harass him, the Dark Guardian was pleasantly surprised to find they just wanted to give him a personal intelligence briefing on whom to watch out for and suggest that if he had trouble, he should call and let them handle it. It wasn’t exactly Commissioner Gordon using the bat signal, but in the world of real-life superheroes, it was close enough.

By Zimmer
Here’s a setup that utilizes what I’ve learned in 5 years of doing what we do. I’ve been in each of these six roles.?
Let me explain.
Oracle is online, out of field, with ready access to mission-specific information, including databases, news reports, video feed, maps and more. They are connected by phone to field teams via Communication Officer, who liaisons information between the Oracle and teammates.
In addition to Communication, each team also has at least one Combat Officer and at least one Medical Officer. The Combat Officer is appropriately armed and armored to protect the team. The Medical Officer has training and equipment to handle trauma emergencies and administer CPR.
Optional team positions include Bait and Traceur. Bait is someone who acts and dresses in a manner to maximize the chance of a mugging/assault/rape attempt and walks well away, but in line of sight, of the rest of the team, who may split up to watch Bait from multiple angles. Bait may carry a purse or handheld electronic device in attempt to get it snatched. Traceurs are those trained in parkour and buildering. Traceurs can get to rooftops and behind fences quickly  if the need arises.
There are other skills that could be vital for missions not listed above. Consider having a Linguist fluent in Spanish or another language. You may often need to converse with people that don’t know English.
Also consider having someone knowledgable [sic] in gang symbols and tags, or forensic science, or detective skills. If you’re making a team, draw on a diversity of skills and backgrounds.
When you’re a member of a team, always be aware of the vital skills that are needed and fill that need. Always learn more skills and deepen your knowledge of the interests you have. Interest becomes passion becomes experience becomes expertise.
The best thing about this approach is that it’s flexible. The medic, combatant and one communicating with an Oracle can all be ONE person. Just make sure that person (YOU) can function in those roles.

Originally posted: http://thecelebpress.com/blog/2011/01/18/crushable-books-i-superhero-and-the-pain-of-being-phoenix-jones/
Posted by Drew Grant
When even Spiderman can’t fly through Broadway rafters without breaking most of his ribs (Turn Off The !), it’s hard to imagine the real world containing men and women who would willingly risk life and ridicule by fighting crime. At least, not without being seriously deranged in the head.
Two weeks ago, we learned about Phoenix Jones, a masked vigilante who runs the Real Life Super Hero website and stops crime on the side (or maybe the opposite way around). Phoenix recently apprehended a carjacker in Washington state while wearing a nifty homemade mask and cape ensemble, leading the geeks of the world to go “Finally.”
But karma gave a giant wedgie to those same nerds last week, when some evil guys broke Phoenix’s nose with a gun just last week. What a shitty world we live in, huh?
Still, Mike McMullen has hope. I, Superhero is one man’s attempt to become the type of crusader that populate the pages of Marvel and DC by shadowing members of RLSH forums. What Mike finds during his time spent with IRL Justice Leaguers like Master Legend, Mr. Xtreme, and Amazonia is often funny, sometimes sad, and overwhelmingly inspirational.
That’s not to say a lot of these people don’t seem real effed up, to tell you the truth. Like when Mike goes to Orlando to meet “Master Legend,” only to find a guy who was abused as a child and takes out his aggression on possible perverts with extreme intolerance. Much like Rorschach from The Watchmen, Legend hates police and seems extremely unstable.

Originally posted: http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_17129520
Slamdance documentary takes aim at real costumed crime fighters
Scott Iwasaki, Of the Record staff
Posted: 01/18/2011 04:27:15 PM MST
With the popularity of comic-book crime fighters such as Batman, Spiderman, the Fantastic Four and Watchmen, “Superheroes” director Michael Barnett and producer Theodore “TJ” James said they were surprised to find, at least to their knowledge, no one has released a feature-length documentary on real-life, costumed-citizen crime fighters.
“We have a deeply imbedded mythology of superheroes in our culture,” Barnett said during a teleconference with The Park Record. “TJ and I stumbled upon this story idea and we thought it would be a slice of pop culture that has risen from the pages of comic books and become a reality.”
“For me it was a great idea and concept,” James said. “But when you’re faced with such a brilliant idea, you think it’s been done 100 times before, but, and this is a fact, we did not find the definitive documentary on the subject.”
Donning their dynamic-duo investigator caps, James and Barnett began searching the web for these community protectors.
“When we started the research process, we found they all had MySpace pages, believe it or not,” James said. “There is a whole process to be a legit superhero and they all are also registered on a couple of websites, which has them prove they are what they say they are and post videos.”
From there the two started calling these superheroes, which number in the hundreds.
“Doing the research was frustrating because the subjects are not very communicative with the media,” Barnett said. “Lots of stories have marginalized them and that’s not what we wanted to do. We wanted to dive in, be honest and share their stories and tell the world why they do what they do.”
Barnett and James ended up talking to more than 100 of these do-gooders and began narrowing the list.
“We wanted to find those who were most compelling, and/or the ones we thought we could get the most access from,” James said. “It took a while to find them, but eventually we found some great characters and great stories.”
The film’s characters hail from Northwest Florida, the Pacific Northwest, New York and Southern California.
“They are not connected geographically, but are doing same thing,” Barnett said.
While conducting the interviews, James and Barnett found being a superhero is not all about wearing a cape and cowl and subduing criminals. Another aspect of the word “superhero” means being prominent members of their communities,
“They do the most,” Barnett said. “They are active in communities, whether they participate in crime patrols or community out-reach or other volunteer work. Every part of the country has a different need. Some do tornado relief. Some do blood drives. Some do water handouts to the homeless and some clean your windshields for free at stoplights.”
There are also those who were inspired by the volunteer and unarmed crime patrollers, the Guardian Angels, Barnett said.
“The ones we focused on are the next evolution of the Guardian Angels,” he explained. “The Guardian Angels were ridiculed at first, but slowly they became liked. It’s now a hugely politicized and publicized organization. These guys we talked to don’t want to be a part of something political. They want to make change from the ground up.”
The ones who do go after criminals all have different methods, Barnett said.
“There is one who goes after child abductors and pedophiles in Southern California,” he said. “He focuses on a single case and brings as much exposure to it as he can. He brings to light any new facts and puts up his own reward money for information, and plasters the area with flyers.”
Then there is a group in New York, called the New York Initiative, whose members live together in Bushwick in Brooklyn.
“They are all from different parts of the country and met online and moved to New York,” said Barnett. “They dress up a girl in a provocative outfit or a guy as a male hooker and they patrol with walkie-talkies, and try to root out criminality.”
“It was usually 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday night when we would go out with them,” James said. “And it was pretty nerve-wracking.”
James served as the voice of reason when his film crew placed themselves in potentially volatile situations, which ranged from being accosted by drunken “frat boys” in San Diego, to confronting drug dealers in New York’s Washington Square Park.
“I was the one who was always afraid of someone getting hurt, but it’s been exciting to say the least,” he said.
“Here’s how the conversations went,” said Barnett. “TJ: ‘Very dangerous.’ Me: ‘I know. Let’s shoot it.’ But there were times when even I was literally too petrified to move.”
Before work started on the film, Barnett and James decided “Superheroes” wasn’t going to romanticize or glorify the idea of vigilantism. They wanted to show the public there are people who want to be superheroes and do what they can to make their communities better.
“It’s not for us to judge how these guys use their energy, whether they help a homeless person or catch criminals,” Barnett said. “They simply want things to be good and by being is how they do it.”
While the idea of being a superhero usually surrounds strong men such as Bruce Wayne who are in their prime, Barnett and James found the ages of the real-life superheroes range from 20 to 65.
“I think it takes a little while for anyone to gain some experience in life to push them to do something like this,” Barnett said. “If we generalize, it will lead us to say that a lot of these people have experienced some kind of trauma they are in some way compensating for, which materialized into (becoming a superhero).”
Others, said James, just wanted to get involved.
“Some experienced and witnessed people being apathetic to crimes all around them and that’s also has been a big driving force,” he said.
“We do hope no one gets hurt and nothing bad happens to these people who are very special to us,” Barnett said. “We have an honest film that will hopefully inspire dialogue and maybe even action to go out and do something to make the world better.”
Since they started working on the film, James and Barnett found a rise in the number of real-life superheroes.
“We started before the film ‘Kick Ass’ came out,” Barnett said. “After it came out last year, we found a lot of new real-life superheroes which were inspired from that film.”
Surprisingly most of the up-starts are from Salt Lake City, he said.
“We rolled into Salt Lake for a few days and it was overwhelming,” James said. “There are at least 20 of them who are in a group called Black Monday Society.”
“They are all tattoo artists working at least 100 patrols,” Barnett said. They are really passionate about the movement, and looking for ways to find to network and learn. They are very special people and will be at our screening.”
Slamdance Film Festival will show “Superheroes” in Treasure Mountain Inn’s main screening room, 255 Main Street, on Friday, Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m. It will repeat on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 8:30 p.m. in the Treasure Mountain Inn’s gallery room. Both screenings will also feature Mary Robertson’s “Missed Connections.” Individual tickets will be available Jan. 21, beginning at 9 a.m. at www.slamdance.slated.com/2011.

By Anonymous
I want to start a discussion on how best to deal with the media. This is my personal opinion. I realize anyone is going to do what they want and these are by no means rules or regulations. However, I believe a open discussion is needed about this.
1. The media will be looking for a story with a angle.
a. one that is about community and heart warming
b. one that is about a crazy person
2. It is important to remain friendly with a reporter even if there are certain information that you do not want them to publish or report.
a. Acting like a jerk to a reporter will only encourage them to seek more information about you then you want
b. Having respect for their job and showing that respect by being a little bit flexible with their schedule.
c. Also realize they think you are crazy, so perhaps asking them to meet in a non public hidden place is not a great idea. It will establish trust.
3. Set boundaries beforehand on what you want known about yourself.
a. Remember be friendly but also be somewhat assertive.
b. You are not obligated to have a reporter in your business. You don’t have to do the interview
4. Present a rational and logical reason why you are doing what you are doing.
a. Again review 1.b about reporters, they are looking for a story
b. Catchphrases are always cheesy, present your case with honesty and heart.
5. Review before hand on why exactly you are doing a news report
a. Will this further your goals?
b. Anyone reading or watching will automatically think you’re a idiot because this is a new idea being presented before them.
c. If it’s just for show, perhaps you are not doing this for a right reason.
6. There are several different types of reporting in which certain information needs to be collected
a. Television you have more liberties with only using your hero name
b. Printed journalism, real printed or typed journalism, is ruled by a ethics code. They will want all information including your real name and will print it.
1. Review 5.a
2. In a very friendly and calm manner, inform the reporter you do not want your real info out and cannot do the story if that info needs to be reported
3. Remember to treat the reporter with respect because if they feel there is a crazy person story, they will dig that info.
4. Ensure that you’re correspondence to said reporter is through channels that do not give your real id in any way
a. Gmail does not give tracking info out.
b. Tracefones, though pricey, doesn’t give info out either.
c. Don’t show a license plate because news media have access to public record
d. Create a stage name complete with a false background.
e. Reasons why your id should not be revealed
1. My work. I do not want to get fired.
2. I don’t want people to harass me at my home.
3. I don’t want people to try to find my credit info or any other information where people steal from me.
Again, it is important to be as friendly and calm as possible when dealing with the media. Treating them like garbage will only encourage them to hunt for more information. Review your goals and what you want to accomplish and decide if the spotlight on your works will benefit you or not. And understand that people online will harass you, make fun of you and find any shred of information about your life. Be honest about your self and your life. Admitting to mistakes in the past diffuses augments about your character rather than hiding them.
Ultimately any article written you need to understand that it will be apart of your RLSH career or even your life. This is the part where you communicate to the world the real reasons why you do what you do. Distilling all the information to what is real and honest is, I believe, the only way to effectively communicate with the media. Again, what you do with your life is up to you.

Superheroes have leapt from four color entertainment to the evening news. As a member of this community I follow related developments closely.
Phoenix Jones seems to be our break out person- the one deemed a standard bearer for what the media calls real life superheroes ( RLSH ).
As I always preach, simply doing creative good doesn’t mean you’ll be well received. Alongside unprecedented coverage come haters and folks with legitimate concerns. Jones has plenty of both, even within his own extended real life superhero community.
Many of us have done this for years without fan fare. Some are rubbed the wrong way by his notoriety while others, myself included, are enjoying his experience from afar. Whenever you stretch reality the way we do, raw nerves are bound to be exposed.
Much has been made of the intervention where his nose was broken. It serves notice to supporter and skeptic alike that risk is part of the real life superhero experience. The same holds true for public safety professionals; private security security and anyone who has potentially combative encounters.
Phoenix Jones may be a standard bearer for the real life superhero community. Meanwhile there are hundreds of us doing the same and, like Jones, hopefully inspiring fellow citizens to help out.
That’s a standard worth bearing in these uncertain times and for that alone Phoenix Jones deserves considerable credit.
Also, it appears he’s also an African-American beneath his mask. The fact this hasn’t been emphasized implies more concern with what he does, as opposed to who he is.
Not bad considering the state of race relations.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes crime prevention and self-development. http://www.captblack.info