Tag Avengers

Being a gadget builder, I reuse and repurpose a lot of things. Almost any bit of scrap technology can be reborn into something new and interesting with a little imagination, some know-how and hard work. I pride myself on being able to save something from a land-fill and give it new life in a new form. Because I have gotten such a reputation for doing things like that, people bring me stuff.
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My team mate, Superhero brought me the old sun roof off of the Supermobile. The transparent roof turned the cockpit into an oven in the Florida sunshine so he removed the Lexan roof and installed a fiberglass one. The Lexan roof came to me. I was going to sell it on Ebay Motors for some Team Justice operating capital, but there are dozens of them on there. For $50 price range!

So I was stuck with this large sheet of smoked ¼ Lexan. I offered it up as shield material. The first taker was Anonyman.
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I started by marking out a circle on the plastic that was roughly the diameter of the length of my forearm. Any larger and it would not be practical. Regardless of what Captain America may think, a large shield is not useful.

I got a leather belt from Goodwill for a few bucks and a dowel rod from my scrap box. The belt made the elbow strap and the dowel became the hand strap. Some metallic vent tape was used to create an Anonyman logo for the front of the disk. It was a pretty easy build.
After seeing the success of the first shield, one was requested by Urban Avenger. Not wanting to duplicate past work, (I hate doing something twice) I procrastinated. I’m bad for that.
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Eventually I did get around to starting on the build for Urban Avenger. I wanted to do something different for his shield so as not to be duplicating work. Urban has always had a thing for lighting and mask goggles. I wanted to create that effect on the shield using 3 lenses with the top one being an actual light with interchangeable color disks with his logo and such on the various disks.
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As I was talking to him about the shield though, He told me he doesn’t really use his mask lighting any more. There goes my design plans. I decided to just put the light on it (since I already bought it) without the lenses. The light I purchased for the project is a 3 way system having a standard light, A UV setting for finding spilled fluids, (actual detective gear!) and the 3rd setting? A friggin’ Laser! Sweet.
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After working out the details on how to do the Logo, I again used a Goodwill leather belt as the elbow strap. However UA, had stated he wanted it to be adjustable. It needed a buckle. More specifically it need a buckle that could be adjusted using only 1 hand.

Using my Dremel tool, I cut a tab shape in a square of heavy sheet metal. By folding the outer form at 1 location and the inner tab at a different location, I was able to create a double loop buckle with no moving parts. A bolt ran through the metal becomes the belt keeper. As far as I can find this is an original invention.

The front handle had to be a stable one on this build. It had to hold the barrel of the light on it. I couldn’t do it the same as the Anonyman shield. A section of “V” channel would do the trick. I beat the cold steel into shape with a heavy framing hammer. But it had powder coat on it. A soak in an acetone bath softened the powder coating enough to allow me to scrape it off with a utility knife. Some primer and Urban Avenger red and it was ready to go.

I installed it on the shield and attached light barrel to the outer edge using aircraft cable and then wrapping it with some scrap leather. I sealed the open end with a pvc pipe cap after drilling a hole in it for the wiring. I ran the wires to the emitter disk that I attached to the front of the shield using some angle braces. I then covered the wiring with some surgical tubing to keep it neat and help seal from water. I covered the connections with some leather and called it complete.
And if you are interested in seeing it in action:
httpv://youtu.be/aHAFyfeFozU

Originally posted: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/bluebyline/2011/10/24/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-never-mind/
By Brian O’Neill
I love superheroes.
As a boy my closet was piled high with comic books. The Defenders and the Avengers were my favorite groups, and my brother and I would spend hours reading and re-reading each one. When we were finished we would pretend to rake some leaves and then run down to the drug store with our unearned quarters to get the latest edition.
Even as an adult I have watched, though not without a guilty sense of pleasure, the newest round of cartoons, movies and features involving classic superheroes, such as Superman, Batman, the Flash and Phoenix Jones.
Okay, I slipped that last one in – Phoenix Jones is the nom de guerre of one Benjamin Fodor, aka a real person. Fodor, who recently blew his own secret identity following an assault arrest, is a member of the Seattle (sorry, Rain City) Superheroes.
When I first heard about this group I experienced a boyish thrill that has lain dormant in my imagination for the better part of thirty years. But then came the realization that this new phenomenon of flesh and blood superheroes do not necessarily possess the chiseled physiques, unwavering morality and mind-blowing abilities of my comic book heroes.
Instead, Phoenix Jones and his fellow superheroes (insert air quotes as needed) are a living testament to our times. We now exist in an era where reality blends with virtual reality, where our sense of fantasy can overlap with the fantastic identities we are able to assume in the alternate universe of online gaming.
Either way, it is time to redefine the notion of superhero.
As it turns out, nothing could be simpler. According to the website entitled reallifesuperheroes.org (of course they have a website!), the group’s creed is as follows:  We are Real Life Superheroes. We follow and uphold the law. We fight for what is right. We help those in need. We are role models. We will be positive and inspirational. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. Through our actions we will create a better brighter tomorrow.
I doubt the Justice League could say it much better.
There is, however, the troubling question of the vigilante in our society. As Phoenix Jones found out, following his extensive use of pepper spray on a group of people, there are a lot of issues surrounding the use of force. Adding my thick policy manual to his website would probably crash the system.
In all seriousness, public safety is a demanding profession requiring substantially more than a decent creed. The propensity for abuse of power is as likely for members of the Rain City Superheroes (and cops) as it would be for members of the Green Lantern Corps (and look what happened with Yellow Lantern!).
And yet. The combination of imagination and good intentions makes news stories of these real life superheroes a singular positive note on an otherwise negative page. Let’s face it, if we were all to stand as tall in our neighborhoods we would be much safer. Unless we got carried away with pepper spray.
The whole idea makes me wish I still had a few of my old comic books around. Since my mother tossed those about 5 seconds after I left for college my only alternative is to stay tuned to the same bat channel for the next edition of the Rain City Superheroes.
I can see it now, “Revenge of the Meter Maid.”

Originally posted: http://uscombatsports.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=241&id=9512&Itemid=336
By: Peter Lampasona     Date: 18 August 2011
Last week, HBO aired a documentary called Superheroes following members of the recent phenomenon of private citizens dressing in costumes to engage in everything from from charity work to vigilante justice. Among the groups featured in the documentary is a make-shift team of Avengers who operate out of the New York boroughs known as the NY Initiative.
Since the release of the documentary, the Real Life Superhero movement has become a hot topic for conversation among both the New York and martial arts communities. So much so that, when asked for a statement by US Combat Sports, a representative of the NY Initiative said that they were currently engaged in a “media blackout” because too many stories are about them and not the issues that they wish to bring to light.
In previous installments of the Problem with Self Defense editorial series, I’ve gone so far as to call everyone who trains in martial arts specifically for the purposes of the increasingly nebulous term “self defense” to be engaging in some degree of delusion. Whether that delusion is harmful or not tends to vary on the situation.
In the context of negatively evaluating delusions of seemingly average people, taking on those who dress up in full costume complete with alternate identity in order to participate in their neighborhood watch seems like dynamite fishing in the local pond.
But, perhaps to the surprise of long time readers, the actions of Real Life Superheroes are not all dangerous or pure fantasy. Those things that are bad ideas are monumentally bad for everyone involved and the natural conclusion of all the silliness attached to “self defense.” For once, though, I’d like to start with the positive.
In this two part article series I will be evaluating both the charitable and crime fighting efforts of Real Life Superheroes, as they seem to be separate and distinct pursuits. For part one, I will look at the charitable.
From what I’ve been able to glean, the majority of Real Life Superheroes spend their time in costume doing humanitarian efforts. This includes charity work, distributing supplies to the homeless, or even acting as a social link for drug addicts through simple conversation. Every example of purely humanitarian efforts, that is those not directly interacting with violent crime, both showcased in the documentary and what I’ve been able to find going on locally, are good things that help the community.
A common response to those positives Real Life Superheroes can have is to point out that none of these good deeds require a costume. But, for some people, they do.
New York City, as evidenced by the fact that 1/3 of all American films are set there, is an important place that sets the tone for the culture of the surrounding area. It’s also got so much going on that paying attention to any of the people or information outside of an individual’s immediate cone of concern can be very overwhelming. As a result, most New Yorkers in the southern part of the state are trained to focus on what’s in front of them and let the rest of the world just walk on by.
Playing long-distance psychological examiner to people you barely know is not as exact a science as most sports writers make it out to be. But, if someone needs to wear costume and become a different person in order to put in the effort to help his community as best as a private citizen can, at least someone’s putting in that effort.
The unfortunate side of Real Life Superheroes is the part that everyone thinks of first when they picture masked vigilantes. The physical act of crime fighting is where the whole practice starts to get insane. It also represents the terminal stop in the logic of the self defense crowd. More on that tomorrow in part two.

Originally posted: http://newsru.com/russia/28mar2011/super.html

English Translation
In Chelyabinsk, gets its own superhero. Dressed all in black and painted on his chest big yellow letter “M”, he patrols the night streets of the city. The townspeople do not yet know how to react to this new phenomenon for Russia. Someone compares it with the vigilantes of Soviet cinema, and someone with the Superman of Hollywood blockbusters.
Superhero himself understands confuse people, so he decided to explain in a video. He argues that began its mission some time ago. People were scared, some laughed, and so he decided to explain that the intention of something actually has a very serious and says, “The Avenger” in his movie.
He claims that have already been able to come to the aid of two people and promised to patrol the night streets of the city to rid it of “hooligans” and “trash.” According to him, with the gangsters he does not fight with their bare hands, and with the help of “several adaptations that help in the fight.”
In “Avenger” is a helper, like any decent superhero. Soon the hero is going to use it to start a page on the Internet. There he will spread information and videos about his adventures, as well as taking orders for the rescue.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TokSO1RobEU

“First Region” contacted the assistant superhero. “A lot of bullies, and all non-exploited. I realized that I need to do it yourself, help people, police, – sends word” Raider “his spokesman. – Suit – this remedy, as may hunt. And that is not frightened by the common people , made a poster. ”
Blogger artem_ventura tells of the exploits of “The Avengers”: “If you believe the words of a superhero, he has helped two people. So it’s not some high-poser, buy a suit, only to entertain themselves and others. On our hero so far, little is known, namely, it should be. Soon his personality should grow a legends and rumors that inevitably must play his hand. ”
He had his own group in a social network VKontakte. It is reported that “their activities Avenger began 11 days ago. His task to patrol the streets and not to give offense to simple Chelyabinsk. “On the street he goes out only at night because it was then in more crime. The city has very often taken cell phones, stick to simple guys and even girls. His task repel their attack. AVENGER not some crazy city, but simply citizen. He has an ordinary job and a normal life and not to be deprived of this he is hiding under the mask, “quotes a message portal LRNews .
The group is open discussion on the topic “Good night, whether you are walking the streets?”. Other fun of nouveau-hero, calling him a victim of radiation from a Japanese nuclear power plant and offering the chip in the armor on the form is not very strong, but the brave young man. Videos of his nocturnal walks through the city already runs on the web.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5pY86197CY

One user is calling “The Avengers” in Tver: “Get the support of domestic betmobilestroeniyu! Raider forward with the Einsatzgruppen in the annihilation of gopoty in company with Chuck Norris, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Bruce Willis in Tver,” We will render fire support howitzer artillery, rocket launchers, ” Grad “and” Hurricane “” All for getting rid of his native city of crime! ”
Meanwhile, in Ulyanovsk, it is not simply waiting. He’s got like-minded people – a superhero “Chernobyl”, which apparently felt deprived of glory after a stormy debate the exploits of his “colleagues” from Chelyabinsk. He has already posted his response “The Avengers” on the Internet: “Hail, Avenger, My name Chernobyl, I patrol the night of Ulyanovsk. I heard about your exploits. I am glad that other cities have started to appear politically conscious citizens. Patrol the city for two years. Unfortunately, this is known only to those whom I have saved. You’re lucky, and you started talking online. Congratulations, – he said.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsT14XJJcTY

Originally posted: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=27754

By Shaun Manning, Staff Writer
With heroic names like Life, KnightVigil, the Crimson Fist and Thanatos, the subjects of photographer Peter Tangen’s latest project might sound like new and exciting additions to the Justice League, or members of a new superteam spinning out of the Avengers. In fact, these and other heroes are members of a community that patrol the streets of New York City, Atlanta and Vancouver to give aid to the homeless, mentor at-risk youth and perform other charitable deeds – in real life. “The Real Life Superhero Project” is a collection of portraits, videos and movie-style posters created by Tangen and a team of volunteers, designed to celebrate the men and women who, for several distinct reasons and to many different effects, put on a costume in an effort to improve lives in their communities.
Tangen is a Los Angeles-based photographer whose primary business is shooting promotional materials including movie posters for films and television shows with the iconic posters of “Spider-Man” and “Batman Begins” among his works. The artist, who discovered the real-life superhero culture on the internet as he was looking for a project to undertake independently, told CBR that the culture has existed perhaps for decades but is experiencing a reemergence now. Most of the heroes do not know each other personally, but there is an active online community.
“Because I’ve done so much work within the genre of superhero movies, the idea that these people exist really appealed to me,” Tangen said. “I began to do a lot of research and discovered there’s quite a large community of people who are referred to by the media as ‘real-life superheroes.’ I decided I wanted to do a photographic essay on them.

“I went to Vancouver to do a photo shoot for a client, and I reached out to a man up there who goes by the name Thanatos,” Tangen continued. “At the time, he was a 61-year-old man in Vancouver and his short story is that he was going out at three o’clock in the morning in civilian clothes, just giving food and supplies to people who were living on the streets and not getting into the shelter system. He felt, after doing it for three years, that he wasn’t being especially effective. The people he was helping wouldn’t recognize him from previous visits and he wasn’t really creating any sense of awareness of his efforts.” Awareness, Tangen explained, was not for Thanatos’s benefit but to create a sense of continuity, to give the idea that a certain person cares rather than simply being one of a succession of anonymous, one-time givers who might never think of the beneficiary again.
“He wanted to take it a step further. The local police department had indicated to him that the only thing that people on the streets of Vancouver have to look forward to is death. So he decided to take on the identity of Thanatos, which in mythology is the god of death,” Tangen said. “What he’s discovered since deciding to do this a year and a half or so ago, maybe two years now, is that the people he helps remember him. I’ve been on the streets with him at three o’clock in the morning, doing a homeless outreach, and I’ve seen people that have never met him before and I’ve seen people he’s helped for quite some time. There is a different reaction because of the appearance than you would have if he were in civilian clothes.
“He’s effectively marketing good deeds. For people who are living on the streets, who have no real community besides those on the streets with them, he creates in them a sense of belonging, that there’s someone looking out for them, which is impossible to do in civilian clothes because you’re not easy to remember,” the photographer continued. “So the work he does up there is really quite extraordinary and he does it all self-funded. And he gives people his business card when he meets them – which is, you know, a business card for Thanatos and on the back of it, it says ‘Friend.’ I’ve learned that what he’s trying to do is just make a difference in the world in a small way, but the effect he has is that can identify with them in a way that is much more impactful for someone on the streets that he may be helping. Because there’s one person helping them on a regular basis, instead of the anonymity of passing strangers, what he’s done is remembered.”
Thanatos was the first to be photographed, and his stature within the real-life superhero community made him an effective advocate for Tangen’s project, which the photographer hopes will be a departure from the way the community is normally presented in the media. “In my research, I learned that stories about these people are being treated in three ways by the media: the first and most common reaction the media has is to exploit them or mock them or do a light-hearted puff piece that isn’t in any way serving them,” Tangen told CBR. “Second to that, and less common, is an investigative journalism approach, just looking at what these people are and what they do. It’s a little bit more intellectual, but it is still without opinion: this is what they do, you make up your mind whether they’re crazy or not. It also doesn’t really react to the effects that they have on the world around them.
“On rare occasions, people in the media have discovered this culture of people and understood that in fact the stories they tell and what they stand for can actually be very inspirational. Because, in effect what they stand for is the idea that one person can make a difference. And I can tell you countless stories of how that’s actually the case,” Tangen continued. “I decided that I wanted to tell a story that was inspirational. Once you get past the idea of their costumes and you actually see what they’re doing, you realize that have actual real power that we all share. So I began to assemble my little plan with a group of collaborators. A couple weeks after I photographed Thanatos, we had 19 people from all over the country come into LA for a one-day photo shoot. It was quite an extraordinary event.”
Tangen noted that the day of the photo shoot was a significant even within the community itself, as it was the first time many of the heroes had met each other. “These people who came from across the land had the opportunity to meet people they’d been in communication with for several years but had never actually met. They had the chance to get together and talk about what they do.”
About thirty volunteers from the photography and film industries, using donated equipment and services, came together to work on the photo shoot. “Everybody that was there, was there because they had heard about these people and were inspired by the story. The impression people had at the end of the day was that it had been an amazing event,” Tangen said. “People said they felt they were literally better people for having been there and experiencing that event. If we had been hired to do what we did that day, not including the cost of actually flying people in, the photo shoot itself would have cost easily $100,000 to execute, but we did it for next to nothing because of the volunteer basis of everybody that was there.”
Tangen said the posters were designed to show the heroes “not how they see themselves, but how the people they help see them,” and were created in the style of movie teaser or character posters to portray a series of individual stories. “Generally speaking, it’s a rule of thumb that a really good movie poster tells a story. It may not be the story of the movie from start to finish, but it tells a story enough that it piques the interest of the viewer and tells enough about what the movie is that they understand what they’re going to go see,” Tangen explained. “The content of the movie poster is typically three different elements: one is the visuals, whether photographic or illustrative or a combination of those things. Another is the copy that might be tied to the poster. And then the third is just the title of the movie. Each of those elements should add to the overall narrative of what the poster is. So if you have a Tom Cruise movie about a secret agent and it takes place during wartime, you don’t want to tell all of that in a line of copy. You want to have the visuals and the title of the movie add up to that information.”
Taking the example of the “Life” poster, the first to appear on his Real Life Super Hero Project website, Tangen walked through the thought process. “Since he’s so much in the street, he rarely goes anywhere without granola bars or something that would enable him to help someone who’s helpless or needy, we decided that we would have him reaching into a group of people that could use his help. It’s a very visual tool to get that message across. And because he’s so much in the streets of New York City, we chose a New York City location for the background image. Since he was raised a Hasidic Jew, we decided we were going to use the Hebrew text for the word ‘chai,’ which is translated into ‘life,’ for what would be in other posters the title of the movie. Then for the copy line, we further express the idea that, where people make an effort to help others, there’s a further opportunity for those who are being helped to have hope,” Tangen said. “Those elements together talk about him, where he is, what he stands for and the optimism that he inspires in people that he serves.”
In addition to the movie-style posters, Tangen and his crew created a series of other photographic pieces. “We did a couple of group shots that are very definitely an homage to Alex Ross; straight up, out of the box, we’re not ripping him off – we’re honoring him. The other thing done is [we created] a series of portraits, which you can see a few of on the website,” he said. “As much as the posters are meant to show them as they are seen by the people they help, the collection of portraits was shot very much in the same style, with the intention of having the viewer look past the mask, perhaps identify with the real human being behind the outfit and and hopefully discover themselves the relatability of that person as a regular person and find in themselves a hero they may have not known existed.”