Archives January 2011

Originally posted: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/05/phoenix-jones-real-life-superhero-foils-would-be-carjacking/
By Steven Hoffer
Evil villains on the streets of Lynwood, Wash., beware: Phoenix Jones has your number.
Jones, a heroic “real life superhero,” spends most nights patrolling the streets of the city just north of Seattle, and, in all seriousness, helps take a bite out of crime. In a recent tale straight out of a comic book, Jones arrived just in the nick of time to foil a would-be carjacking.
“From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit, and starts chasing him away,” said the car owner, who identified himself only as Dan.
All in a day’s work, Jones, armed with a Taser-nightstick and mace, chased away the villain and restored Dan to safety.
“So when I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit,” Phoenix said. “I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”

Originally posted: http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/01/05/real-life-kick-ass-superhero/

There is little that is as entertaining or bizarre as the existence of real life superheroes. In a society that often feels completely fueled by popular culture (there are a staggering number of people who study blueprints of Captain Kirk’s Enterprise, after all), the idea of people actually strapping on tights and body armor and going to war with doing battle with the criminal world feels, well, inevitable. Terrifyingly so.
A few months back, we told you about the Rain City Superhero Movement, a superhero team consisting of masked avengers like Thorn, Green Reaper, Catastrophe and Thunder 88, who have pledged to rid Seattle, Washington through the use of tasers and public safety education. Now, they’ve officially gone big time and have a piece in the British tabloid The Sun recounting their various exploits.
The piece centers on a particular masked vigilante with the most excellent name of Phoenix Jones, whose costume is Batman-esque yellow and black armor (complete with utility belt stocked with tasers and mace), who patrols the rain-soaked streets of of Seattle in a Kia driven by an unknown woman — who we can only hope is his infinitely understanding wife or girlfriend and not his mother.
Phoenix Jones definitely sees himself as the real deal, having been stabbed and nearly shot in the line of duty. He’s obviously proud of his work: “When I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit. I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”
But don’t just take his word for it! A local named Dan told The Sun that when he walked in on his car being stolen, Phoenix Jones arrived on the scene and chased the criminal away. However, one has to wonder — just how stupid and/or brave do you have to be to dress up like a comic book character and battle crime? What do the cops think of this?
Says police spokesman Jeff Kappel: “There’s nothing wrong with citizens getting involved with the criminal justice process — as long as they follow it all the way through.” In other words: “Have your fun, but please, please, please, for the love of God, don’t get yourself killed. Okay? Thanks.”
Phoenix Jones insists that the Rain City Superhero Movement consists entirely of people with military or mixed martial arts backgrounds and that they can hold their own. Though he does add that local superheroes Captain Ozone and Knight Owl are not members of the official Movement and should be “ignored.” Care for the safety of less qualified vigilantes or sour grapes? And while we’re asking rhetorical questions, how long until Phoenix Jones gets capped by a strung out junkie who doesn’t have the time or sense of humor to deal with a real life “Kick-Ass”?
For pictures of Phoenix Jones and the full story (which is just a bizarre read), head on over to The Sun. For more information of real life superheroes, make sure you check out the World Superhero Registry.

Originally posted: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20027464-504083.html
Posted by Crimesider Staff

LYNNWOOD, Wash. (CBS/KIRO) A Washington state man said he came within seconds of having his car broken into, and perhaps stolen, until a real-life “superhero” came to his aid, wearing tights, a mask and a skin-tight super suit.
The encounter started in Lynnwood Sunday evening when a man, who asked to be identified only as Dan, was walking back to his car in a parking lot when he saw a man with a metal strip trying to pry open his car, reports CBS affiliate KIRO.
“He started sticking it down between the window and the rubber strip,” said Dan.
Dan began to call 911, but said help arrived before he even finished dialing.
“From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit, and starts chasing him away,” said Dan.
What Dan didn’t know is that just about every night, an anonymous Seattle man strolls into a comic store, enters a hidden back room and emerges transformed.
KIRO reporter Monique Ming Laven met him.
“My name is Phoenix Jones,” said the man.
The man is the hero Dan’s been trying to tell his friends about.
“People are saying, ‘No way, dude, you were probably drunk,'” said Dan.
But the superhero sounded familiar to Ming Laven. She had heard about how he and the other eight members of his Rain City Superhero crime fighting movement walk the street, eyes out for crime and prepared to fight it.
On Monday night, the fully-clad superhero and Dan met.
“That’s crazy. Nice to meet you, brother. Nice to meet you. That’s insane,” said Dan, who finally got a close-up look at his savior.
“Phoenix” explained his whole super suit, including bullet-proof vest and stab plates, to Dan.
“That’s a Taser night stick. And I have Mace slash tear gas over here,” said Phoenix.
Then it was time for Phoenix to get back out on the streets, maybe not quite a super man, but an extraordinary one.
“So when I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit,” said Phoenix. “I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”
Phoenix said since he started his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago, he’s been stabbed, and had a gun pulled on him a few times, but received no serious injuries.
Unfortunately, he didn’t catch up with the man who was breaking into Dan’s car.

Originally posted: http://www.kptv.com/news/26375683/detail.html

SEATTLE, Wash. — Criminals beware — there’s a real-life superhero fighting crime in Seattle.
So far, the man underneath the mask and rubber suit has remained anonymous, but he goes by the superhero name of Phoenix Jones.
Jones started his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago. Since then, eight other people have joined him in his search for injustice.
They walk the streets at night and try to stop criminals from doing harm whenever they have the chance.
One man, who only wanted to be identified as Dan, said Jones recently helped him out when he caught someone breaking into his car in Lynnwood, Wash.
“From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and golden suit and starts chasing him away,” he said.
Since starting his night time gig, Jones said he has been stabbed and even had a gun pulled on him a few times. Now, he carries mace, tear gas and a nightstick equipped with a Taser. He also wears a bulletproof vest and “stab plates” that offer protection from knives.
Of course, law enforcement officials frown on people taking the law into their own hands.
So far, Jones hasn’t been seriously hurt.

Originally posted: http://www.geekosystem.com/sharon-lamb-superheroes/
by Susana Polo | 4:48 pm, August 19th, 2010
Psychologist Sharon Lamb thinks that todays superheroes send the wrong messages to young boys.

There is a big difference in the movie superhero of today and the comic book superhero of yesterday… Today’s superhero is too much like an action hero who participates in non-stop violence; he’s aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speaks to the virtue of doing good for humanity. When not in superhero costume, these men, like Ironman[sic], exploit women, flaunt bling and convey their manhood with high-powered guns.
The comic book heroes of the past did fight criminals, she said, “but these were heroes boys could look up to and learn from because outside of their costumes, they were real people with real problems and many vulnerabilities,” she said.

In response to her statement, you could ask “Have superheroes really changed over time?” (Yes, everything does.) “Is there something about movies that requires superheroes to become more violent?” (No, they’re just as violent if not more in current comics.) and even “Why is it a problem that superheroes are no longer clear cut examples of heroism?” (Who knows.)
But all of those questions allow Dr. Lamb to stand unopposed on one fundamental assertion: that all superheroes are for children.
But first, a tangent: “real people with real problems and many vulnerabilities,” who speak “to the virtue of doing good for humanity.”  Has anyone seen Batman Begins or The Dark Knight?  The first two X-Men movies?  Spider-Man?  Hancock? Even Iron Man 2, the only superhero movie that fits her description, does a pretty good job of showing that Tony Stark is a man with a serious problem, and not a hero we should take a face value.
Back To My Point
While the superhero genre has well established tropes and rules, any genre can accommodate tonal shifts.  No one would imply that Animal Farm represents a corruption of the talking animal genre of children’s literature.  Fantasy doesn’t get called out for telling morally ambiguous stories.
There are comic book superheroes for kids, yes.  Captain Marvel has had a kid oriented series lately, and then there’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and others.  But the majority of comic book superheroes haven’t been written for small children for twenty years now.
When good, they are full of morally ambiguous heroes and villains, tricky ethical situations, and hot button issues like gay rights and global politics; when bad, they’re still full of violence and questionable depictions of both sexes. Today’s movie superhero is something decidedly different from today’s comic book superhero, which makes comparing comics of the past to movies of today particularly fruitless.
To Sum Up
Anyone who still thinks that our depiction of superheroes in the mainstream adult media (like Iron Man) should be held to the same standards of unobjectionable content as superheroes in children’s movies (like The Incredibles) doesn’t really understand what it is they are talking about.
In the interest of full disclosure, it seems like Dr. Lamb does have some legitimate things to say about how we market products to young boys and what that does to them.  I just can’t get past her assertions about a single genre of storytelling.
(via Wired.)

Originally posted: http://southcapitolstreet.com/2011/01/05/real-life-superhero-breaks-up-carjacking-in-washington-state/
Evil villains looking to prey on the citizens of Lynnwood, Washington, beware: Phoenix Jones is watching.
KIRO Eyewitness News reports that a Lynnwood man, identified only as “Dan,” came “within seconds of having his car broken into” on Sunday when the alleged crook was chased off by a masked crusader. In an incident that local police couldn’t confirm to TPM, Dan told KIRO a man with a metal strip was trying to unlock his car in a parking lot when help showed up out of nowhere.
“From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit, and starts chasing him away,” Dan said.
Dan’s rescuer was Phoenix Jones, a.k.a. Phoenix Jones the Guardian of Seattle, a “Real Life Superhero” and leader of the Rain City Superhero Movement. Almost every night, the 22-year-old Jones, who keeps his real identity a secret, enters a secret compartment in the back of a Lynnwood comic book store and emerges, in uniform, to patrol the streets. (Watch video of Jones in action here.) His suit includes a bullet-proof vest and “stab plates,” and he carries a taser nightstick, mace and tear gas. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Jones also sports a “ballistic cup.”
“I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing,” Jones said. He told KIRO that since he began his patrols nine months ago, he has been stabbed and had guns drawn on him.
Jones isn’t alone in his crime-fighting enthusiasm. There’s an entire movement of Real Life Superheroes out there, across the country. Activities appear to range from handing homeless people water bottles to actually stepping in and trying to stop violent crime. The website rlsh-manual.com defines a Real Life Superhero as “whoever chooses to embody the values presented in superheroic comic books, not only by donning a mask/costume, but also performing good deeds for the communitarian place whom he inhabits.” Reallifesuperheroes.org urges visitors to “Let out your inner superhero and join or support our cause.”
But not everyone is ready to credit Jones with thwarting a Real Life Evildoer. When TPM contacted the Lynnwood Police Department, Public Information Officer Shannon Sessions said the department was aware of the “superheroes,” but could not confirm the incident this week.
“I know there was a story on it–but I can’t confirm that it’s true and that it actually happened,” Sessions said in an email. She even suggested that KIRO may have been “punked.”
A commenter on The Real Life Superhero Forum suggested the Lynnwood incident was staged.
“Staged… bunk,” wrote a member named Artisteroi in response to the Forum founder’s posting of the KIRO story. “[A]nd does anyone notice that his suit keeps getting more and more elaborate? Someone is funding this guy. That suit was made in Hollywood basement.”
Back in November, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the Seattle police had made contact with the Rain City Superhero Movement. A source gave the Post-Intelligencer the names of the eight other members of the Movement: Thorn, Buster Doe, Green Reaper, Gemini, No Name, Catastrophe, Thunder 88 and Penelope.

Police say the “costume-wearing complainants” are lucky they haven’t been hurt.
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.

Seattle Police spokesman Jeff Kappel told the paper “[t]here’s nothing wrong with citizens getting involved with the criminal justice process — as long as they follow it all the way through.” But the article describes an incident on November 4 where police responded to a scene where Jones and other apparent Movement members were in a stand-off with a man making threatening statements and swinging a golf club. The “costume-wearing complainants” declined to press charges, to prevent revealing their secret identities. As a result, The Club Swinger walked.
TPM also found an interview Jones did in November with a blogger named Tea Krulos. In it, Jones describes his background in martial arts, and says the other members of the Rain City Superhero Movement “all have either military backgrounds or MMA training.”
“Phoenix Jones…people believe Phoenix Jones may help them,” Phoenix Jones told Krulos. “I mean they know they can’t count on it 100 percent, because it’s so random, but they know it is possible.”

Originally posted: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/real_life_superhero_saves_driver_Rq7nRXmcVLDp8hfXkWUx0L
A self-styled superhero was protecting the streets of Seattle on Tuesday night — launched from his secret base at the back of a comic book store.
The masked man, who calls himself Phoenix Jones, came to light after he stopped thieves from stealing a man’s car in Lynnwood, a suburb of Seattle, on Sunday night, local media reported.
Jones, who wears a bulletproof and stab-proof black-and-gold bodysuit, rescued a driver who only wanted to be known as Dan.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Dan went to call 911 when he saw thieves putting a metal strip down the window of his car — but before he had the chance to dial the number, Jones sprang into action.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/real_life_superhero_saves_driver_Rq7nRXmcVLDp8hfXkWUx0L#ixzz1ADn3S7Xa
“From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skintight, rubber, black-and-gold suit, and starts chasing him away,” Dan told local TV news station KIRO.
Jones told KIRO that he began his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago from his secret base at the back of a local comic store.
“When I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit,” said Jones. “I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”
Jones, who carries Mace and a Taser, said he was stabbed once and had a gun pulled on him several times during his regular patrols but so far sustained no serious injuries.
His story mirrors the plot of the 2010 film “Kick-Ass,” which follows a high school student who turns himself into a superhero even though he has no powers or training.

Originally posted: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpps/news/offbeat/real-life-superhero-phoenix-jones-fights-crime-on-seattle-streets-dpgonc-20110105-fc_11309322
Updated: Wednesday, 05 Jan 2011, 8:33 AM CST
Published : Wednesday, 05 Jan 2011, 8:33 AM CST
(NewsCore) – A self-styled superhero was protecting the streets of Seattle on Tuesday night — launched from his secret base at the back of a comic book store.
The masked man, who calls himself Phoenix Jones, came to light after he stopped thieves from stealing a man’s car in Lynnwood, a suburb of Seattle, on Sunday night, local media reported.
Jones, who wears a bulletproof and stab-proof black-and-gold bodysuit, rescued a driver who only wanted to be known as Dan.
Dan went to call 911 when he saw thieves putting a metal strip down the window of his car — but before he had the chance to dial the number, Jones sprang into action.
“From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skintight, rubber, black-and-gold suit, and starts chasing him away,” Dan told local TV news station KIRO.
Jones told KIRO that he began his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago from his secret base at the back of a local comic store.
“When I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit,” said Jones. “I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”
Jones, who carries Mace and a Taser, said he was stabbed once and had a gun pulled on him several times during his regular patrols but so far sustained no serious injuries.
His story mirrors the plot of the 2010 film “Kick-Ass,” which follows a high school student who turns himself into a superhero even though he has no powers or training.
Source: KIRO-TV

Originally posted: http://www.kirotv.com/news/26363364/detail.html
Posted: 8:07 am PST January 4, 2011Updated: 12:08 pm PST January 4, 2011