Category Articles 2011

Zombies. Superheroes. Psychic sex.
Need we say more?
Today, the second half of the Weird, Wicked Weird annual wrap-up.
Hanging up their capes?
The streets of L-A may soon be down two superheroes.
Significant, because there were only two to start.
Slapjack and Dreizehn are thinking of moving on.
The twenty-something boyfriend and girlfriend have been, separately, dressing up in costume for years, maintaining secret identities and patrolling the streets for scofflaws or people in need of a hand. They met through the online Real Life Superhero movement. Slapjack is local; Dreizehn settled here earlier this year.
Since spring, they’ve walked Twin Cities streets in the wee hours several nights a week.
They approached the Sun Journal in the wake of the popular “Kick-Ass” movie that made, in their opinion, doing what they do look just a little too easy. (Though both go out with protective gear like batons and electrified brass knuckles, Dreizehn has been threatened, beaten up and hit by a car in the line of uber-Good Samaritan duty.)
Before the story ran, both families weren’t aware of the pair’s extracurricular activities.
Since?
No dots have been connected, says Slapjack. “As far as I know, nobody really has an idea.”
They started cutting back on the nightly excursions this fall. Moving, packing, working and superheroing can take its toll, he said.
Slapjack said he isn’t sure how soon he and Dreizehn will resume patrols in their new, bigger city, a city that could include, for the first time, other costumes.
“It’s like going to a new school; you lose all your friends,” he said. “If you’re part of a club or something you have to go join a new group of people and kind of learn their ways.”
?

Originally posted: http://abcnews.go.com/US/real-life-superhero-phoenix-jones-tackles-streets-seattle/story?id=12562715

Armed with a skintight black-and-gold, belted costume, a cape and a fedora, Phoenix Jones suits up at night to fight crime on the streets of Seattle. He’s the leader of a real-life superhero movement.
“I’m definitely not going to let my fellow citizens be assaulted and not do anything,” Jones said.
Jones leads the Rain City Superheroes, a group of 10 fighters who perform their own form of vigilante justice on the streets of Seattle.
“It’s a pretty simple message. Citizens need to be more accountable. Calling 911 is a great start, but it’s not the end all to end all,” Jones said. “Criminals feel free to just run wild in my city, and I’m not going to stand for it.”
Superman can fly, Batman has his gadgets and Spiderman has his webs and supersharp senses. But Phoenix Jones, Red Dragon and Buster Doe have just their snazzy costumes and endless enthusiasm as they patrol Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
Red Dragon sports a red robe and a wooden sword. Buster Doe covers his face with a white scarf.
Jones said he developed his costume, along with his alter ego’s name, when his crime-fighting ways made him too recognizable.
“When I started breaking apart fights, I had no outfit or moniker or symbol, and people started recognizing me in my everyday life. It got kind of dangerous and very uncomfortable,” he said. “This suit is what people recognize, and when I take the suit off, I’m able to live as close to a normal life as possible until I put it back on and am ready to defend the people of Seattle.”
While Jones might not have Batman’s Alfred Pennyworth to help him build cool new gadgets, he has adapted his car and costume to protect him.
He wears a bulletproof vest and carries not just a Taser but a net gun and a grappling hook.
His car has a computer in it that prints any e-mails sent to his superhero e-mail address.
On the night ABC News went on patrol with Jones, the caped crusader zapped a warning shot with his Taser during a very tense run in with a man he said was about to drive drunk.
“Just back up! Stay back, stay away. I don’t want to have to Tase you,” Jones yelled.
Red Dragon and Buster Joe called the police.
“I know what you guys are doing … fine … but if somebody’s drunk, all of a sudden having somebody in their face with masks on …” a Seattle police officer warned Jones.
Police are perplexed, worried the group will turn into vigilantes and doubt that the superhero posse has ever stopped any crime.
“Our concern is if it goes badly, then we end up getting called anyway, and we may have additional victims,” Detective Mark Jamieson said.
Jones said that he calls police ahead of time to tell them where he’ll be patrolling. He said that his costume is crucial in helping police recognize him, and it makes an impact on would-be criminals.
“If you fight crime without the outfit, the police don’t know who to look for. They don’t know who’s bad and who’s good. …This is a very noticeable outfit. … It tells people and drug dealers and criminals … that when you see this outfit and this group of people, we stand for a message. … We’re against the crimes that you’re trying to do,” Jones said.
Seattle police said that it is not illegal to dress up as a superhero, but they worry about excess calls to 911 when residents confuse Jones and the other real-life superheroes with criminals. Police said that acting as a superhero can be dangerous, but Red Dragon said that the people they confront rarely turn against them.
“If you approach somebody with the right attitude, they’re not going to really escalate things. For the most part, they’ll just leave you alone,” he said.
Jones’ quest to help his fellow residents is a weirdly close imitation of the movie “Kick Ass,” whose characters dress up as superheroes and take on crime fighting.
Jones said he has a real nine-to-five job, a wife and two kids.
He told ABC affiliate KOMO that an incident with his son inspired him to put on his cape.
One night someone broke into Jones’ car, and the broken glass injured his son and resulted in a trip to the emergency room. When people told Jones that several people witnessed the break-in but did nothing, he was dumbfounded.
“Teenagers are running down the street, breaking into cars, and no one does anything? Where’s the personal accountability?” Jones told KOMO.
Jones emphasizes that his real mission is to help people — he also hands out food to the homeless. On the night ABC News followed the men, they distributed food from Taco Bell to homeless people sitting on the sidewalks.
While police might be skeptical, Jones and his gang of wannabe heroes don’t plan to give up.
“I have two kids,” he said. “I always tell them the same thing every time before I go on patrol: ‘This is the only thing daddy could think of to make the world better for you guys, and I’ll see you when I get home.'”
ABC Affiliate KOMO contributed to this story.

Originally posted: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/real-life-superhero-stops-car-robbery-seattle-20110107-111314-082.html
By Michael Bolen | Daily Brew – Fri, 7 Jan 2:13 PM EST
If you thought superheroes were only found on the silver screen or in comic books, think again. Superheroes are real — just ask Phoenix Jones, the Guardian of Seattle. Phoenix, a costumed hero operating in Washington state, grabbed headlines this week after he stopped a car robbery in progress.
Operating out of a comic book shop, Phoenix is a member of the Rain City Superheroes, itself part of the wider real-life superhero movement.
That’s right, there are many people who dress in costumes and patrol the streets of their cities and towns. You can find a number of Canadian crime-fighters in the World Superhero Registry, including Vancouver’s Thanatos, who was profiled by The Globe and Mail in 2009.
According to Seattle police, the Rain City group includes Thorn, Buster Doe, Green Reaper, Gemini, No Name, Catastrophe, Thunder 88, Penelope and Phoenix Jones himself. A hero name Red Dragon has also appeared with the group.
Phoenix and his team have been garnering attention for months now. Back in November, online paper seattlepi.com reported that police were well aware of the operations of the band of heroes.
And while police are tolerating their actions, they warn that the heroes may be putting themselves in grave danger. Phoenix claims he has been stabbed in the line of work and the bullet proof vest he wears under his suit stopped a bullet during an incident in Tacoma, Wash. last year. Police have not confirmed his claims.
They have, however, determined Phoenix’s secret identity, but have so far declined to disclose it to the public. Phoenix and his group appear to have nothing but good things to say about the authorities.
In an interview today with Good Morning America, Phoenix said, “We want to have a great relationship with police and we also want to help them as much as possible.”

Originally posted: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/US-Real-Life-Superhero-Called-Phoenix-Jones-Helps-To-Make-Streets-Of-Seattle-Safer/Article/201101115882064?f=rss
11:11pm UK, Thursday January 06, 2011
Adam Arnold, Sky News Online
A real-life Superhero dressed in tights, a mask and a black and gold lycra suit, says he is helping to make the streets of Seattle safer by scaring away criminals.
The man, called Phoenix Jones, wears a bullet proof vest, and also has stab protection as well as being armed with a taser and tear gas.
He says when he walks into an area, criminals leave because they see the suit and do not want to take him on.
It is almost a case of Superman meets Batman as on most nights Phoenix walks into a comic store, enters a back room hidden behind shelves and is transformed into his character.
He has already managed to stop a man breaking into a car and possibly stealing it.
The would-be victim, known as Dan, was walking back to his vehicle in a car park when he saw a man with a metal strip trying to open his car.
Dan said: “He started sticking it down between the window and the rubber strip.”
Dan began to call 911, but said help arrived before he even finished dialling.
He explained: “From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit, and starts chasing him away.”
Phoenix is not the only costume-clad crime-fighter in Seattle.
There are eight other members of his Rain City Superhero group who also walk the streets, looking out for crime and prepared to fight it.
Since Phoenix started his crusade nine months ago, he has been stabbed and was threatened with a gun several times, but received no serious injuries.
Unfortunately, he did not find the man who was breaking into Dan’s car.
He told CBS: “When I walk into a neighbourhood, criminals leave because they see the suit.
“I symbolise that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”

Originally posted: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344136/Phoenix-Jones-Real-life-superhero-chases-car-thief-Seattle.html
. . . and the bullet-proof crimebuster isn’t alone – there are NINE of them patrolling streets!
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:29 PM on 6th January 2011
Residents of Lynnwood in Washington can sleep safely in their beds, knowing that their streets are being protected by… Phoenix Jones.
The city, just north of Seattle, is part of the patrolling zone of a self-styled superhero who roams the streets in search of injustice.
In a real-life version of the 2010 film Kick-Ass – where a mild-mannered school student transforms himself into a masked crusader – Phoenix Jones has taken the law into his own gloved hands and is spending his time cleaning up the suburban streets.
Rumours of the costumed crimefighter – and others like him – began to surface as residents spoke of unconfirmed sightings around the streets.
Then a Lynwood local, who only wanted to be identified as Dan, had a first-hand meeting.
Dan said he was returning to a parking lot on Sunday evening when he spotted a ‘bad guy’ trying to break in to his car with a piece of metal.
Dan said: ‘He started sticking it down between the window and the rubber strip.’
Dan said he started dialling 911 but – before he could even finish dialling the three-digit number – help arrived in the most unlikely form.
He said: ‘This guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit, and starts chasing him away.’
Dan admitted that he had not heard of the strange avenger working Lynnwood’s streets, and also admitted that he didn’t want to report the sighting because his friends told him he must have been drunk.
But he is not the only one to have seen a real-life superhero – the comic-book vigilantes are known to police.
A Seattle Police Department spokesman confirmed that there is a band of do-gooders who are known as the Rain City Superhero Movement, and have identified at least nine members.
Phoenix Jones, who came to Dan’s aid, is just one member of the group. He is joined by – believe it or not – Thorn, Buster Doe, Green Reaper, Gemini, No Name, Catastrophe, Thunder 88 and Penelope.
In what could turn out to be the rise of the obligatory comic-book super villain, police have been told by the group to disregard Captain Ozone or Knight Owl – because they are not part of the movement.
And don’t get your hopes up about the gadget-bristling Jonesmobile either.
Police say Phoenix is driven around in a Kia – by a female sidekick who doesn’t get out of the vehicle.
Local KIRO 7 TV reporter Monique Ming Laven met Phoenix Jones, and there’s more to the anonymous crimefighter than just a snazzy pair of tights.
His suit incorporates a bulletproof vest, trauma plating on his arms and legs and other sensitive areas.
His utility belt, to borrow a phrase from fellow crimefighter Batman, includes a Taser, Mace and tear gas.
Phoenix said: ‘“When I walk into a neighbourhood, 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.’
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.
Police department spokesman Jeff Kappel said: ‘There’s nothing wrong with citizens getting involved with the criminal justice process – as long as they follow it all the way through.
He said police would prefer that people call 911 and be good witnesses, rather than getting involved personally and risk injury or death.
Phoenix Jones agreed, saying that crimefighting wasn’t for the weak-hearted.
He said: ‘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.’

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.)