Tag Hollywood

Originally posted: http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2011/06/28/unsung-heroes-john-shear.aspx
By Allen Gutterman – Tuesday, June 28, 2011 6:35 PM
Eventually, the Hollywood movie industry will run out of comic book superheroes to salute. When they want the real deal, they need not look past local hero John Shear. Forget the fact that he’s 90 years old. Or 5’ 2” and 110 pounds. At Santa Anita Park, John Shear is megaman and everybody here adores him.
As the captain of the guards who protect the public from thousands of horses a year that amble between the paddock, the walking ring, and the tunnel to the racetrack, John has a short window to direct a very intense traffic flow of owners, trainers, jockeys, fans, and 1,000-pound horses. And 99.99999% of the time it all goes smoothly and John’s work barely gets noticed.
But not on March 12. On this day, a field of ten horses and ten caretakers were taking a spin around the walking ring before heading out to the track for the third race. Suddenly, Sea and Sage, a three-year-old maiden making the third start of his life, reared up, either spooked or just yearning to go back to his stall. He shook loose from his handler and darted to the opening that Shear was guarding.
At about the same time, a six-year-old girl visiting the track for the first time had strolled a few feet away from her parents to get a closer look at the horses. She was standing too close to the path that, in a second or two, would be Sea and Sage’s route home.
John warned the crowd that a horse was loose, then dropped his rope and instinctively ran to grab the young girl.
“I saw the horse coming very fast at about 40 miles an hour and it was very scared,” Shear remembers. “When it was about 15 feet away, I pushed the little girl down to the right of me, got her out of the way, and the horse just hit me.”
Sea and Sage rammed into John’s shoulder. His pelvis was fractured, multiple bones were broken, his arm was cut open, and so was his face, leaving him in critical condition, a bloody, bloody, black and blue mess inside and out. That night, John became one of the lead stories on all the Los Angeles news stations. That night, too, everyone who worked and lived at Santa Anita prayed for John. And so did the little girl and her mother and father.
There’s a happy ending to this story. John has convalesced. He is well into recovery. And he will be back to work. The city of Arcadia awarded him a key to the city. Santa Anita will hold John Shear Day on opening weekend of the fall meeting. At 90, he continues to defy anything logical you might believe about aging.
Self effacing as always and a gentleman forever, John told the tearful father of the little girl, “She’s six. I’m 90. I’ve already lived my life. She’s just getting started.”
Allen Gutterman is Santa Anita Park vice president of marketing

Originally posted
By Jennifer Kuglin Published: Jun 15, 2011 at 9:17 PM PDT
Phoenix Jones is a superhero. He has a day job but wears a costume underneath his street clothes in case he encounters crime. He carries a “net gun” and has team of crime fighters.
But this isn’t the plot from a Hollywood movie. There are no special effects. This is real-life and Phoenix patrols Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood every week- stopping fights, feeding the homeless and helping folks who have run out of gas.
Unlike most movie superheroes, Phoenix doesn’t have any super powers and he doesn’t need them. He is made of flesh and blood and has gotten hurt. He deals with real criminals and puts his life in danger nightly.
“Phoenix, some people might ask if you’re crazy. Are you crazy?” I asked during a recent phone interview.
“Have you ever seen something that you thought was wrong or not fair? That you wanted to change? And then you just thought about it for days or weeks?” He said.
“Of course.” I answered.
“Well I haven’t. I don’t stand by and watch things happen that are wrong. When I see it I fix it. Does that make me crazy?”
RAIN CITY SUPERHERO MOVEMENT
Phoenix is a part of the Rain City Superhero movement, a group of superheroes that patrols the streets of Seattle.
So is vigilante justice acceptable? Are the superheroes actually helping police fight crime?
Phoenix says police were extremely wary at first, but now accept his help. He says he calls them ahead of time to tell them which neighborhood he’ll be patrolling. He fills out police reports and gives witness testimony.
“Police have been super helpful. I’ll walk down the streets and they’ll get their loudspeaker out and say, ‘Hey, Phoenix! How are you doing?’ They’ll come over and shake my hand. They know that I’m for real.”
A police bulletin was sent to Seattle officers on Wednesday about the group.
Seattle police say there is nothing illegal about dressing up as a superhero, but it is dangerous and they do not encourage it.
They would rather the self-proclaimed superheroes acted as witnesses instead of inserting themselves into fights.
Police also say it can be a drain on resources when they have to field 911 calls about people afraid of “masked men.”
BECOMING A SUPERHERO
Phoenix Jones says he wanted to become a superhero after a few incidents changed his mind about Seattle.
The first involved a friend getting assaulted outside a bar. The friend was left with permanent facial damage.
“And I thought, why didn’t someone help him? There were seventy people outside that bar and no one did anything,” he said.
The second incident was when someone broke into his car and his son was injured by the broken glass. His son had to spend the night in the ER and get stitches. He was later told that several people saw the break-in happen, but didn’t do anything.
Phoenix said, “Teenagers are running down the street, breaking into cars, and no one does anything? Where’s the personal accountability?”
Phoenix decided he would be different than all of those people who just stood by, not helping.
He began stepping into fights and helping people in need. But soon, he was getting recognized across town as ‘the guy who stops fights.’ He realized he was putting himself in danger.
“They’d recognize me and pick me out. I couldn’t do regular, every-day things anymore. So I started wearing the mask,” he said.
Phoenix says his costume helps him fight crime.
He said, “Most of the time when people see me, they kind-of laugh. The reaction I get is exactly what I wanted when I made the suit. I made it kind-of comical. Because if I can stop a fight by simply showing up in a cape and saying ‘Hey, Stop!’ like a comic-book character, and they actually stop, then the problem is solved. And no one got hurt.”
But not everyone laughs. Phoenix has been injured, but wouldn’t give details.
“I can’t really give specifics of my injuries because there are hospital records and it might be obvious who I am. I can say I’ve been cut several different times. And there was an incident in Tacoma with a gun. I’m not going to say how far it went, but it was bad. Remember, I deal with real criminals.”
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
It takes a lot of tools to be a good superhero, and Phoenix has a lot of them.
He carries a taser nightstick, a net gun and a grappling hook. (Though he says the net gun and grappling hook are not very effective. The grappling hook was unable to support his body.) But he does not carry a gun or knife.
He drives a regular car, but has a sophisticated communication system. A computer inside his car prints any emails sent to his superhero email address: [email protected].
“Last night a guy emailed me saying he felt unsafe walking to his car. I was able to help him immediately. You know, if he called the police they wouldn’t be able to help him. But I am.”
Phoenix agreed to let KOMO News go out with him for a night of crime-fighting, but not before he got a bulletproof suit.
“After media attention, I might get shot at. I want to feel safe.”
We agreed to wait until he got the bulletproof suit and the story will air on KOMO-TV soon.
THE FUTURE
Phoenix Jones wants more superheroes to join the Rain City Superhero movement. But he says they must be qualified. And realistic.
Phoenix said, “I think people would find it’s far less romantic than it sounds. The hours aren’t so great. There’s no pay. That’s the reality.”
(GETTING AN INTERVIEW WITH A SUPERHERO)
There were no phone booths involved in my first communication with Phoenix Jones. Phoenix is a modern day superhero, so instead he uses Facebook.
His post on the KOMO News wall read:
“HELLO MY NAME IS PHOENIX. I’M A SUPERHERO. I FIGHT CRIME IN THE SEATTLE AREA. I HAVE HAD TROUBLE STOPPING ALL THE CRIME IN THE CITY CONSIDERING THERE ARE ONLY 5 MEMBERS OF MY CRIME FIGHTING TEAM.”
We get a lot of tips that don’t pan out, and I thought this was probably one of them. But his profile picture showed a man with a mask, cape and tights standing next to a Seattle police officer.
I was intrigued.
I looked at his Facebook page where all of his posts were about fighting crime. There were a lot of dark and fuzzy pictures of him in various poses around the city donning that same mask, cape and tights.
So I sent him an email saying I’d be interested to find out more about his superhero abilities. We traded emails back and forth and I learned that he was very serious about his job, that he’d been injured and gotten involved in stopping knife fights.
I wanted to talk to him by phone, but he wouldn’t give me his phone number.
“You’re a journalist. You’d find a way to trace me,” he said.
So we agreed to talk on a secret phone line where I had to punch in a secret code. After talking to him I realized this was a real story about a real guy doing really strange and amazing things.

Jenny Kuglin, Director of Social Media
Friday, November 19th, 12:31pm

Phoenix Jones is a superhero.
He has a day job but wears a costume underneath his street clothes in case he encounters crime. He carries a “net gun” and has a sidekick named Buster Doe.
But this isn’t the plot from a Hollywood movie. There are no special effects. This is real-life and Phoenix patrols Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood every week- stopping fights, feeding the homeless and helping folks who have run out of gas.
Unlike most movie superheroes, Phoenix doesn’t have any super powers and he doesn’t need them. He is made of flesh and blood and has gotten hurt. He deals with real criminals and puts his life in danger nightly.
“Phoenix, some people might ask if you’re crazy. Are you crazy?” I asked during a recent phone interview.
“Have you ever seen something that you thought was wrong or not fair? That you wanted to change? And then you just thought about it for days or weeks?” He said.
“Of course.” I answered.
“Well I haven’t. I don’t stand by and watch things happen that are wrong. When I see it I fix it. Does that make me crazy?”
RAIN CITY SUPERHERO MOVEMENT
Phoenix is a part of the Rain City Superhero movement, a group of superheroes that patrols the streets of Seattle.
The group includes Phoenix Jones, Buster Doe, Thorn, Green Reaper, Gemini, No Name, Catastrophe, Thunder 88 and Penelope.
So is vigilante justice acceptable? Are the superheroes actually helping police fight crime?
Phoenix says police were extremely wary at first, but now accept his help. He says he calls them ahead of time to tell them which neighborhood he’ll be patrolling. He fills out police reports and gives witness testimony.
“Police have been super helpful. I’ll walk down the streets and they’ll get their loudspeaker out and say, ‘Hey, Phoenix! How are you doing?’ They’ll come over and shake my hand. They know that I’m for real.”
A police bulletin was sent to Seattle officers on Wednesday about the group.
Seattle police say there is nothing illegal about dressing up as a superhero, but it is dangerous and they do not encourage it.
They would rather the self-proclaimed superheroes acted as witnesses instead of inserting themselves into fights.
Police also say it can be a drain on resources when they have to field 911 calls about people afraid of “masked men.”
BECOMING A SUPERHERO
Phoenix Jones says he wanted to become a superhero after a few incidents changed his mind about Seattle.
The first involved a friend getting assaulted outside a bar. The friend was left with permanent facial damage.
“And I thought, why didn’t someone help him? There were seventy people outside that bar and no one did anything,” he said.
The second incident was when someone broke into his car and his son was injured by the broken glass. His son had to spend the night in the ER and get stitches. He was later told that several people saw the break-in happen, but didn’t do anything.
Phoenix said, “Teenagers are running down the street, breaking into cars, and no one does anything? Where’s the personal accountability?”
Phoenix decided he would be different than all of those people who just stood by, not helping.
He began stepping into fights and helping people in need. But soon, he was getting recognized across town as ‘the guy who stops fights.’ He realized he was putting himself in danger.
“They’d recognize me and pick me out. I couldn’t do regular, every-day things anymore. So I started wearing the mask,” he said.
Phoenix says his costume helps him fight crime.
He said, “Most of the time when people see me, they kind-of laugh. The reaction I get is exactly what I wanted when I made the suit. I made it kind-of comical. Because if I can stop a fight by simply showing up in a cape and saying ‘Hey, Stop!’ like a comic-book character, and they actually stop, then the problem is solved. And no one got hurt.”
But not everyone laughs. Phoenix has been injured, but wouldn’t give details.
“I can’t really give specifics of my injuries because there are hospital records and it might be obvious who I am. I can say I’ve been cut several different times. And there was an incident in Tacoma with a gun. I’m not going to say how far it went, but it was bad. Remember, I deal with real criminals.”
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
It takes a lot of tools to be a good superhero, and Phoenix has a lot of them.
He carries a taser nightstick, a net gun and a grappling hook. (Though he says the net gun and grappling hook are not very effective. The grappling hook was unable to support his body.) But he does not carry a gun or knife.
He drives a regular car, but has a sophisticated communication system. A computer inside his car prints any emails sent to his superhero email address: [email protected].
“Last night a guy emailed me saying he felt unsafe walking to his car. I was able to help him immediately. You know, if he called the police they wouldn’t be able to help him. But I am.”
Phoenix agreed to let KOMO News go out with him for a night of crime-fighting, but not before he got a bulletproof suit.
“After media attention, I might get shot at. I want to feel safe.”
We agreed to wait until he got the bulletproof suit and the story will air on KOMO-TV soon.
THE FUTURE
Phoenix Jones wants more superheroes to join the Rain City Superhero movement. But he says they must be qualified. And realistic.
Phoenix said, “I think people would find it’s far less romantic than it sounds. The hours aren’t so great. There’s no pay. That’s the reality.”
(GETTING AN INTERVIEW WITH A SUPERHERO)
There were no phone booths involved in my first communication with Phoenix Jones. Phoenix is a modern day superhero, so instead he uses Facebook.
His post on the KOMO News wall read:
“HELLO MY NAME IS PHOENIX. I’M A SUPERHERO. I FIGHT CRIME IN THE SEATTLE AREA. I HAVE HAD TROUBLE STOPPING ALL THE CRIME IN THE CITY CONSIDERING THERE ARE ONLY 5 MEMBERS OF MY CRIME FIGHTING TEAM.”
We get a lot of tips that don’t pan out, and I thought this was probably one of them. But his profile picture showed a man with a mask, cape and tights standing next to a Seattle police officer.
I was intrigued.
I looked at his Facebook page where all of his posts were about fighting crime. There were a lot of dark and fuzzy pictures of him in various poses around the city donning that same mask, cape and tights.
So I sent him an email saying I’d be interested to find out more about his superhero abilities. We traded emails back and forth and I learned that he was very serious about his job, that he’d been injured and gotten involved in stopping knife fights.
I wanted to talk to him by phone, but he wouldn’t give me his phone number.
“You’re a journalist. You’d find a way to trace me,” he said.
So we agreed to talk on a secret phone line where I had to punch in a secret code. After talking to him I realized this was a real story about a real guy doing really strange and amazing things.

By Garth Olson
The Valley Wire

Apparently, real life super heroes are popping up everywhere. It’s a concept that started nearly two years ago and has been growing quickly, thanks in part to Hollywood photographer Peter Tangen.
Tangen started the Real Life Super Hero Project after reading about a real life super hero in a magazine.
“Having done the photography for the Spider-Man, Batman Begins and Hellboy movie posters, I was immediately inspired by the idea that superheroes really exist,” Tangen said.
Real Life Super Heroes
Across the country, men and women are reinventing themselves as real life super heroes. And yes, they’re dressing up in super hero costumes, which can include capes, masks, and you know – super hero garb. But beneath the outlandishness of the costumes, seriousness quickly takes over. Real Life Super Heroes are fighting the good fight against all sorts of serious problems from the homeless, child abuse and poverty as well as crime and drugs.

RazorHawk
One example is RazorHawk, who wears a yellow beak graphic on his costume of blue and black. He lives and operates in the Twin Cities area, and a few folks know his true identity. Along with safety patrols in the Minneapolis, RazorHawk is coordinating HOPE2011, which is a homeless outreach event that will be held during Comic-Con in San Diego in July. His team, The Great Lakes Heroes Guild, works with homeless, and during the event in San Diego, his team plans on passing out over 100 backpacks of clean clothes and personal care products to people who have no place to live.
“We are out there of our own volition, we are not being paid,” RazorHawk said. “We are trying to make the world a better place. It’s not all about jumping from rooftop to rooftop but affecting change and getting people to recognize how bad some of the problems our individual cities face.” His motto is, “family first, saving the world begins at home.”
The Watchman
In Milwaukee, The Watchman wears a red mask and a trench coat; sometimes he’ll wear a cape. Not long ago he stated that only his wife and kids knew his true identity, but out of necessity a few co-workers and a few cops learned of his identity. Along with patrolling areas of Milwaukee and by getting more residents involved with community watch groups, The Watchman also works to raise donations and toys for his Christmas Mission.
“Being a Real Life Superhero isn’t glamorous, he said. “It’s hard work and takes a lot of patience and motivation. It’s not Batman. We don’t have super powers…it’s really about being a good neighbor, watching out for people and lending a hand when
it’s needed.”
Peter Tangen
As real life super heroes started popping up across the country, Hollywood photographer, Peter Tangen developed the concept, The Real Life Super Hero Project. He stated that the various local media outlets, like local news stations, seemed more focused on the costumes than the bigger picture of community service. In the beginning the media, like local tv news stations, “seemed to be mocking” the super heroes and casting them in a “negative light,” Tangen said. Tangen’s photography project quickly helped shift the focus towards the individual service work of the super heroes and away from just the middle-age guys in costumes” angle.
“The Real Life Super Hero Project inspired a deeper story that the media missed,” Tangen said. Tangen, whose work can be seen online at RealLifeSuperHeroes.com, created movie-like posters of the real life super heroes and helped transform their image from campy to super cool.
“I researched the super heroes and discovered that the media was missing the real story, one of truly inspiring people who selflessly give their communities,” Tangen added. “They are in fact marketing good deeds and since we live in a world of symbols, they understand their value and use symbols to make their work visible to the public.”
The art directors for the project include Bryan Allen, Paul Hoegh-Guldberg, Kevin Bachman, Martin Gueulette, Rick Lynch and Robert Russell.
Tangen’s Work
Tangen recently visited Milwaukee and Minneapolis while working on the project. Currently, he’s back in Los Angeles, where he’s self-employed as a Hollywood photographer. He’s done the photography for many movie posters including Wedding Crashers, Elf and many comic book and horror films like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street.
Tangen grew up in Minneapolis and stated that he specializes in photographing movie stars for movie posters. Those photo sessions can last an hour or for a full day in the case for the Spider-Man posters. As for the Real Life Super Hero
Project, Tangen added that more and more creative people have donated their time as the project keeps evolving.
“Writers, editors, 3D graphic artists, motion graphic artists, web designer and camera operators… about 100 people have volunteered their time and resources in support of this project.” Currently, there are over 150 Real Life Super Heroes across the globe and thanks to Tangen, and his team’s creative work, that number is growing steadily.
Real Life Super Hero Project photographer Peter Tangen also did the photography for the movie posters for Batman Begins and Wedding Crashers.
Tangen grew up in Minneapolis and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Originally posted: http://newslite.tv/2010/09/14/real-life-super-heroes-photogr.html
You probably think costumed super heroes only exist on the pages of comic books and in Hollywood movies, don’t you? It’s an easy mistake to make.

But there are actually hundreds of ordinary people (without super-powers) who get dressed up each day to go out and fight crime or campaign for what they think is right.
And now Hollywood photographer Peter Tangen – who has shot images for Spiderman, Batman and Hellboy movie posters – is setting out to document the lives of the these anonymous costumed activists.
Along with a team of designers, he each week creates a Hollywood style movie poster for one of the real life superheroes… and to be honest most of them look more interesting than your average superhero film.
Speaking to Newslite about the origins of the project, Tangen said: “I read about a real life superhero in a magazine and the idea that he existed immediately captured my imagination.
“When I learned that there were more then a hundred of these costumed activists I knew I had to meet and photograph them.
“The idea of the Real Life Super Hero Project is to illustrate the deeper story the media had mostly missed in their limited coverage of the subject.
“Knowing they were notoriously difficult to reach I appealed to their interest in the comic book genre of movies as well as offered the opportunity to participate in a positive story about their work
“I first approached Vancouver’s Thanatos and asked him to participate in my project . Once I’d photographed him his advocacy for the project created community wide support and four weeks later I found myself on set with twenty heroes for one big photo-shoot.”
New hero profiles and other content will be added to the website every week through the end of the year and beyond, there are video interviews online so you can hear them talk about their missions.

Originally posted: http://joyhog.com/2010/08/10/superheroes-come-to-life/
by Jeremy

We may all have our preconceived notions of what constitutes a superhero, especially with the onslaught of comic books currently making the leap into Hollywood. But in today’s society that definition has been redefined.
Meet “The Real Superhero Project,” a loose network of everyday citizens taking on the injustices that continue to run rampant. We’re not talking about masked vigilantes taking on costumed criminals with ironic monikers. These volunteers are less “Caped Crusaders” and more “Extreme Activists,” combating such basic struggles as homelessness to drug addiction.
Originally conceived by photographer Peter Tengen, his photo exhibit has evolved into a movement that has inspired a lot of people to simply take action in their communities. It is the decisive nature of these family members, friends, neighbors, musicians, athletes, and even politicians, who prove that a real hero isn’t made up by the costume, but the very real people who wear them.
Check out the official website here.

20/20 will be airing a segment featuring Superheroes: individuals with extraordinary abilities and inspirational citizen heroes. Life and DC’s Guardian will be featured as part of the Costumed Activist part of the show. ‘Past the Mask: The Real Life Superhero Project’ will be featured as well. This segment is scheduled to premiere Tuesday night, June 1st.
‘Past the Mask is a photo project by Peter Tangen. This project featured twenty individuals from the Real Life Superhero Subculture who flew down to Los Angeles to take part in this. These RLSH, some who have never met each other, were photographed in late September at a studio in Hollywood, California. ‘Past the Mask: The Real Life Superhero Project’ invites viewers, through photos and accompanying text and videos, into the “outsider world” of the RLSH community. A series of “Sub Culture/Pop Culture” posters are to be released on http://www.reallifesuperheroes.com. The goal of the project is to create a fundraising event in which proceeds benefit a children’s charity.
Peter Tangen, of Peter Tangen Productions, is world renowned photography. His works include movie posters for the following companies:
20th Century Fox
Bravo TV
Dreamworks SKG
Lionsgate Entertainment
Paramount Pictures
The Sci-Fi Network
Universal Pictures
USA Network
Walt Disney Studios
Warner Bros
Peter Tangen paragraphed and produced the movie posters for the Spiderman trilogy as well as Batman Begins, Most recently, his studio recently produced the movie posters for the remake of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.’
For more information about ‘Past the Mask: The Real Life Superhero Project’, visit the site at http://www.reallifesuperheroes.com. 20/20 will be posting content related to the Real Life Superhero Project on May 31 at http://abcnews.go.com/2020/
Additional: Peter Tangen has requested that our viewers support Team Justice in their efforts to obtain the Pepsi Refresh grant. Please vote for them at http://www.refresheverything.com/teamjustice

Originally Posted: http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3624/13942/SOURCE=RSS
UP IN THE AIR: Real-life Portland superhero Zetaman is catching international attention with his blue-and-black spandex and do-gooding ways. Since he was first profiled in WW (see “The Adventures of Zetaman,” March 5, 2008), the Z-man reports he’s been contacted by producers from France and Hollywood, and recently signed a development contract with Beverly Hills-based Bogner Entertainment. Cable channels have expressed interest in taking his locally produced TV show at zetaman.tv to a wider audience, Zetaman says, and he’s also partnered with Lionsgate to promote the new movie Kick Ass on his website, reallifesuperheroes.org.
 

Originally posted: http://bigthink.com/ideas/19080
By Tal Pinchevsky on March 15, 2010, 7:15 PM
It sounds like a ridiculous premise for a bad Hollywood script. A very, very bad Hollywood script. But a confluence of forces over the past two years could be contributing to a bizarre rise in real-life, mask-and-spandex super heroes. With a heightened sense of online activism and large-scale cuts in a number of police forces, these pseudo-superheroes appear to be part vigilante, part activist. That’s right, superhero activists.
The cuts in police forces across the Western world, from England to Michigan, have inspired fears of impending crime waves. And while not every region has seen a sudden rise in crime, the past few years have seen the emergence of a fascinating networks of street-fighting superheroes inspired by a century of iconic comic culture. A culture, mind you, that has seen recent record prices for old superhero comics.
In a bizarro parallel of online activist networks, a number of traditional mask-and-spandex pseudo-heroes have taken to the web to mobilize. One of the first calls from action came from a New Jersey resident calling himself Phantom Zero, a masked man who seemed to fashion himself more a humanitarian than a crimefighter. The idea of the superhero-as-activist has indirectly contributed to a number of sites, like Superheroes Anonymous, which looks to inspire “the superhero in all people through outreach, education, and creative community service.”
But community activists (of sorts) are doing more than borrowing the basic superhero ethos. There has even sprouted a national network of costumed individuals patrolling streets across the country. You can follow a number of them on an official World Superhero Registry. And in a bizarre case of life imitating art, mainstream media, both print and online has embraced the work of these individuals in a not-completely-ironic way. Even Hollywood has jumped on the concept of the DIY superhero with upcoming films like Kickass and Defendor.
So is all this emerging superhero activity a vigilante uprising or a call to activism? Perhaps a bit of both. Either way, there is no denying the dozens of people suddenly fashioning themselves in the Superman mold.  Some, like Captain Australia, even have their own web site. With 2010 already declared the year of the real-life superhero, it’s hard to tell how many of these street fighters are embracing a true activist imperative. There are some we already know of, including Mexico’s Superbarrio, who acts primarily as a political organizer. Nobody’s saying masked vigilantes are the future of activism, but it certainly appears to be a new take on an old standard.
 

Captain Jackson, Michigan’s Real-Life Superhero

by Josh Ellingson on March 8, 2010
Real-life superheroes may be this year’s Hollywood darling, but Michigan has had their very own masked vigilante, Captain Jackson for years. The Captain has been patrolling the streets of Downtown Jackson since 1999, spreading his message of civic duty while keeping an eye out for crooks and super-villains. He keeps a website with a schedule of community appearances, safety tips, and even a roster of his allied costume heroes, The Crimefighter Corps. Always ahead of the curve, Captain Jackson has been maintaining a blog since May 2000 called The Captain’s Corner with brilliant entries such as, CALLING ALL GOOD DEED DOERS!, BEING AWARE, and HOW TO BE A CRIMEFIGHTER. In addition, the blog features ground chuck-centric recipes in a section called “Cooking with the Captain”.
Captain Jackson’s career ran into a snag in 2004 when he was charged with “impaired driving”. The local newspaper subsequently ran an article about the incident and published the Captains real life identity. The toll that the  media coverage took on our hero is best outlined in the blog entry, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  After a two-year hiatus, it seemed that he was back in active-duty at community events and online. In the past year though, there seems to be little to report on this masked man, but we may not have seen the last of Michigan’s own, Captain Jackson.