Tag Green Lantern

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://nerdbastards.com/2010/08/13/those-arent-luchadores-real-life-superheroes/
by Jeff Sparkman
Lots of nerds have dreamed of being a superhero, myself included. Alas, I didn’t have the fortune to have been sent to Earth from a doomed planet as an infant, and I have yet to be offered a position as an intergalactic cop. Plus, with me being colorblind, that could cause some confusion between the Green Lanterns and Red Lanterns.
That pretty much leaves the option of being a DIY superhero. And this is the point at which the average enthusiast says, “Aw, screw it.” Seriously: if you have a hard time even making it to the free pilates classes at work even though it’s in the conference room just down the hall, how are you going to make time to train and become a paragon of strength and athleticism?
Batman had the advantage of having money out the ass, so he could afford to go train with the finest in the world. Us? Community college, the YMCA, or private lessons with Sensai Wynoski.
Also–and not to pick on Batman, but he’s the perfect example of a nonpowered hero–Batman could afford a high-tech outfit to wear while fighting crime.

You know how much of a bitch it is to sew a Spandex costume? That shit stretches even if you just look at it, so when you’re cutting it, the pieces can end up distorted. Plus, you need a surger to get seams that will stretch with the Spandex. Sure, you can half-ass it with a zigzag stitch on a regular sewing machine, but you take some risks.
The last thing you want is to drop down from a fire escape to intimidate a mugger and have your pants rip when you land and your junk pops out. That’s not the image you want to give.
Or maybe it is; I’m not here to judge.
Fucking perverts.
Anyhow, it is equally heartwarming and disturbing that there are people trying to live the superhero dream in real life. If you go to the World Superhero Registry (suck on that, Civil War), you can see dozens of our protectors of humanity.
And no, it’s not a total sausage fest, either; there are superheroines, too. The thing you probably never thought about before is abundantly clear when you look at the list of heroes: the comic publishers have taken most of the good names. Not to diss the real-life guardians of justice, mind you. They’re doing the best they can with what’s left over.
So really, even before they hit the streets to fight crime, they’ve got the odds against them.
1) No powers
2) Superhero costumes don’t transfer well into real life
3) People think you are a few fries short of a Happy Meal
4) You are stuck with a name like Dildor the Penetrator
5) Okay, that’s actually not that bad of a name, but you know what I mean.
6) I already have dibs on using Sparkman as a hero name, so don’t even try it.
There’s video about the real-life heroes:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7pB2gLZtlY

I think it’s pretty awesome that these superheroes are helping out in their communities, like assisting the homeless and stuff, but if you want to be an effective superhero, I would steer clear of local news broadcasts, because you know they’re always going to stick you in the same slot they reserve for the guys dressed as Klingons at Star Trek conventions or old men with soda can collections. It reduces your street cred. For crap sakes, don’t give your real name!
This is just me, but can you heroes switch from having MySpace pages? That just looks bad.
But sincerely, keep up the good work. People may talk shit, but at least you’re doing something to try to help. Stay safe.
(via Kotaku)

From:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2613577/reallife_superheroes.html?cat=17
By David Finniss
I’m a big comic dork. Anyone who’s read my articles can tell that is a pretty big hobby of mine. It seems that some people have decided to live out their fantasies, take LARPing to a whole new level and try to become bona fide superheroes.
I’m still not sure what my view on the topic is. I mean, I get it. I would love to be a superhero too, whether it be Batman, Green Lantern, or Superman there is something appealing about having that level of impact. I also want to commend the people for trying to, in their own unusual way, make the world a better place. I just don’t think that that is the way to do it.
What works in the comics and on screen doesn’t work in real life. For one thing, vigilantism is illegal, and the costumes these guys end up donning look silly.
“Oh, but Batman does it” you say?
The cops are somewhat tolerant. They encourage these real life superheroes to be proactive and are grateful for the assistance, but there is a clear line that they don’t want you to cross. As one would expect, they’re not quite as tolerant of the idea as say Commissioner Gordon.
A part of me wants to support this, it really does. I mean, I think it would be pretty cool to live in a world where there are superheroes and I’m all for people taking the initiative to make the world a better place and showcase humanity’s capacity for good. That’s all awesome stuff and for that I commend these people. One of the awesome things about Superman is that he represents what we can all aspire to be. The Nolan movies play up the idea that Batman too is a symbol that has more endurance and impact than a regular man. With most of the role models the media tries to create coming up woefully short, there is something to the idea of becoming an embodiment of goodness and charity.
At the same time… no. I mean, come on. You can become an icon and embody all of those ideals without the costume. Michael Jordan is an icon, Ronald Reagan was an icon, Martin Luther King Jr. was an icon. You can effect the same change via other means (joining the neighborhood watch, volunteering, donating money etc) and bypass the inevitable snickering that a good chunk of people are going to do as they discover this sort of stuff.
Batman isn’t a realistic character, yes I said it. He runs a multi billion dollar corporation, has a genius level intellect, and has the strength and agility of an olympic athlete. That’s like taking the athleticism of Lebron James, the wealth of Bill Gates, the brain of Stephen Hawking and rolling it into one and giving it access to state of the art military technology. Even the people with the drive and determination usually succeed at one or two, but not the trifecta. The real life people who are trying to do the same thing don’t have any of those attributes.