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Allarme sicurezza? C’è chi si organizza per fare le ronde, chi propone leggi più severe e chi si traveste da supereroe come nei fumetti per combattere il crimine. Tutto questo può sembrare uno scherzo, ma non lo è. Infatti a Napoli c’è davvero qualcuno che indossa un costume da supereroe e si propone di difendere la gente. Costui si fa chiamare Entomo, ha 31 anni e nessuno sa chi sia. Da due anni pattuglia le strade della città partenopea, mascherato come un supereroe dei fumetti. Non spara, non picchia, ma segnala ciò che vede alla polizia.
Il suo costume è di color verde chiaro con le maniche scure, indossa pantaloni neri e stivali marroni, non ha nessun mantello e si nasconde sotto un cappuccio neroverde. Il suo nome, Entomo, significa insetto.
Restando come i Batman e i Superman rigorosamente coperto dall’anonimato, il giustiziere in maschera napoletano chiarisce subito di appartenere alla “schiera scelta dei Supereroi”, una specie di Rotary della sicurezza che esiste davvero.
Ma cosa fà materialmente Entomo? “Io pattuglio le strade della città – spiega – di giorno e di notte. Non sono un vigilante, non mi sostituisco alla legge. Io fermo i piccoli crimini che so di poter riuscire a bloccare, altrimenti avverto anonimamente la polizia”. Il supereroe napoletano ha anche una pagina, “MySpace”, da dove lancia i suoi appelli. “Essere un supereroe è il gesto più importante che si possa realizzare in un mondo arretrato come il nostro. Utilizzo le mie capacità salvando quel che resta da salvare e distruggendo quel che non rientra nel grande schema dell’equilibrio”.
Ma Entomo non è il solo, infatti in tutto il mondo sono circa duecento i così detti “Real Life Superhero”. Questi signori vestono come gli eroi dei fumetti, aderiscono a regole severissime e hanno anche un capo che si fa chiamare “Super Barrio Gomez” .
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Francesco Pellegrino Lise
http://iltempo.ilsole24ore.com/2009/03/17/1002397-entomo_supereroe_napoletano.shtml#

Published in  loaded Magazine
By James Swanwick
Loaded joins a bunch of ordinary fellas who claim to do extraordinary deeds on the mean streets of New York City.
The scene is set: it’s midnight in New York and a woman’s screams rip through the air. A domestic dispute is taking place with her boyfriend in a fifth floor apartment. The man screams insults back and crockery is smashed.
Then, out of the dark shadows, three figures emerge to save the day- holy cow, it’s three superheroes!
This is no comic book story, though. These three crusaders are real-life superheroes, normal fellas who spend their spare time dressing up and performing good deeds for good folk. Meet “Dark Guardian”, “Phantom Zero” and “Life”, whose missions range from the important to the mundane- from stopping robberies and attempted murders to giving out food to the homeless. They’re part of a growing movement that now has hundreds of members all over the States- what’s more, they’re popping up in Blighty now as well.
Tonight on patrol of the Big Apple, the heroes have a new member in their group- loaded-Man- a half-bat, quarter-feral cat, quarter idiot. Together, we’re roaming the streets in search of danger.
It’s just after the witching hour strikes that we hear the woman�s screams. Dark Guardian is the first to spring into action. Wearing a blue and red shirt, tight kecks and what look like aeroplane goggles, he sprints down the streets toward the bedlam.
But instead of flying like Superman, he has another way of fighting crime. He dials the emergency number 911 on his mobile. Five minutes later, a police car with flashing lights pulls up in front of us.
Two officers approach with befuddled looks on their faces. “We’ll take it from here,” one officer says, his eyes popping out on stalks at our costumes.
He pauses, sizing our group up and down. “What’s with the outfits?” he says, a grin on his face.
I feel slightly embarrassed, but my superhero friends aren’t fussed. Satisfied the situation is now under control, Dark Guardian, Phantom Zero, Life and loaded-Man continue into the night
COSTUME DRAMA
Our new friends are all part of ‘Superheroes Anonymous’, a real world internet forum for superheroes to meet and help communities.
Chaim Lazaros (aka Life), 24, is a student at Columbia University and reckons a real-life superhero is anyone who goes out in their own unique persona to do good of any sort. “What makes us superheroes is that we actively go out to do heroic acts,” he says.
He discovered this world on Google. “I stumbled across the real life superheroes community,” he says, “I started going on MySpace and found it really interesting. I was fascinated by these stories of people doing incredible things in costumes.”
Lazaros accepts that, despite all the good work he does as life, most people tend to think he’s got a screw loose.
“The initial reaction is, ‘What’s with the mask, buddy?'” he explains. “Or some people walk past in the street and say, “Whaddup, Superman?’ But once they talk to us they realize it’s very positive- we’re talking up our own time, helping the homeless and the needy.”
Chris Pollak, aka the Dark Guardian, is a 24-year old martial arts instructor from Staten Island, New York. Pollak, who first became interested in real-life superheroes seven years ago, claims he never had a real role model in his life. “But comic books have always been a positive influence,” he says. “Their morals have always inspired me throughout my entire life.”
NO FIST OF FURY
Unlike their comic book counterparts, though, they don’t swing fists- that’s not what being a real superhero is about, apparently.
“A lot of people are fixated on fighting crime,” he says. “But that’s the police job. I’m there to help in any way I can and inspire others to do good acts.”
That doesn’t mean things don’t get lairy on the streets for these lads, as Pollak discovered when a fella went nuts in a shop.
“He was running around the store, yelling and throwing things on the floor,” he recalls. You can tell it’s a story that he’s spun in the boozer before. “I cornered him in an aisle and tried to talk him down. He grabbed a bottle and smashed it into a makeshift knife. I stood right in front of him and made sure everybody got out while another guy called the police, who got there 20 minutes later. It was pretty exciting.”
The costumes mean that, as well as being able to save the day, they’re also targets themselves- for serious piss taking.” I get ridiculed by bloggers,” sighs Dark Guardian. “People can be negative. They say things like, ‘Check out these crazy people running around in costumes. You don’t have to dress in a costume to go do these things.”
Which is true, as loaded points out, “But the idea’s making he point of good deeds as good acts- drawing attention to it,” insists Lazaros. “If I was going out wearing my regular clothes, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now.”
The most mysterious member of the group is Phantom Zero. At well over 6ft tall, he towers over the rest of the group. A black cape and a Phantom Of The Opera-style mask covers his face. He won�t even tell us his name. All we know is that he lives in New Jersey and works in a call centre. It makes us wonder if Ocean Finance staff in Blighty sneak out to don spandex and rescue kittens.
“I’d talk to people [over the phone] who had personal problems,” he says. “Then my father was extremely ill and passed away, so I wanted to help people and make the world a better place.”
BACK ON PATROL
It’s 1 am on New York’s Upper West Side. Back on patrol, we’re searching for homeless people to feed. *Next Line unreadable*-Webmaster
“There are homeless people there,” Life says. “Let’s not wake them. You have to be careful approaching homeless people, even if you�re trying to help.” We leave food and water.
We go on foot into Times Square, in the bustling centre of NYC. I feel truly ridiculous, but my mood quickly changes when we’re approached by groups of hot women. “Hey, can we get photos with you.” Asks a cute blonde. “Hey, sexy Batman!” says another. “You see? Being a superhero can have it’s benefits,” Dark Guardian smirks.
The night is over and our heroes are making the journey home. We’ve rescued a woman in distress, fed the homeless and spread the superhero word. “You did good,” says Dark Guardian. “This job is about sacrifice. Tonight I could have been partying, but helping others is the life I’ve chosen.” With that, the heroes speed off into the night. Meanwhile, your friendly neighbourhood loaded-Man heads back to Time Square to get those girls’ phone number.- loaded
See superheroes.com and reallifesuperheroes.org for more details.

It was an unusually warm night for January, and the sidewalks of East Village bustled with activity – people walking to the corner store, the homeless squatting in front of their tents, rock ‘n’ roll types smoking outside a tattoo shop.

It was also the kind of night that might draw evildoers out of the shadows.

So, armed with a belt full of gadgets (stun gun, pepper spray, handcuffs), Mr. Xtreme did what any superhero would do. He patrolled the streets by the light of the full moon.

He doesn’t scale buildings like Spider-Man or emit beams from his eyes like the X-Men’s Cyclops. But like his comic book counterparts, Mr. Xtreme insists on keeping his identity secret, helped by a camouflage wrestling mask with bug-shaped mesh eyes.

Mr. Xtreme is a Real-Life Superhero, part of an international online community of about 300 comic book fans who spend their free time fighting crime and doing good deeds for mankind behind the anonymity of a mask and cape.

There’s Dark Guardian, who patrols the streets of New York City as part of the superfluously named Justice Society of Justice. He wears a black spandex body suit, black cape and hard-shell mask. And in Utah, Ghost puts the fright into bad guys with his skeleton mask, long white wig and black cape.

Other superheroes hail from Michigan, Florida, Mexico City, Italy and England. San Diego’s only other known superhero goes by the name MidKnight.

They are connected via several online networks, including the World Superhero Registry and MySpace, where they share tips on patrol tactics, costume design and dealing with the police.

“Police automatically label us vigilantes,” said Mr. Xtreme, a 30-something security guard who asked The San Diego Union-Tribune to keep his identity private. The newspaper agreed after conducting a background check on him.

“I say we’re more costumed activists. Vigilantes render punishment onto criminals. We don’t harass people, don’t violate their civil rights. First and foremost, we prevent crime. We do what we are allowed to do legally as citizens.”

Birth of a superhero

Mr. Xtreme, who was raised in San Diego, said a wave of violence in the early 1990s – and the public’s apparent apathy to it – left an impression on him.

“They just want to look the other way and pretend it doesn’t exist,” he said. “I felt I needed to do something.”

Then in 2006, he got to thinking: What if the world had real superheroes? What kind of place would it be?

He joined the online community soon after and created his first persona, The Nag. But the heavyset bachelor was looking for something catchier.

Deciding to combine his love of the comic book superhero team Justice League of America with his passion for the Xtreme Football League, he came up with the Xtreme Justice League.

His costume is still in development. Besides the mask, he wears black tactical pants, boots and a long-sleeved, camouflage shirt under a green Xtreme Justice League T-shirt. His belt bulges with pepper spray, handcuffs, two cell phones, a first aid kid, a Double Trouble stun gun and a long Mag flashlight.

He has designed a sweet new costume in his head for when he can get some money together. “I’m going to have a Kevlar tactical helmet, tactical goggles with custom lenses. Obviously I’m going to have a cape, body armor.”

In March, Mr. Xtreme and superhero associate Shadow Hare of Cincinnati spent an afternoon in Chula Vista handing out fliers about a sexual predator wanted by police. They advertised a reward of $1,000 of their own funds for information leading to an arrest.

Then the gang unit showed up and had a conversation with the masked men. Chula Vista police spokesman Bernard Gonzales said the officers were just doing their due diligence.

“Anyone who goes out and tries to assist law enforcement by handing out fliers and being proactive against the criminals is appreciated,” said Gonzales. “But when you start physically involving yourself in crime fighting, that’s vigilantism.”

‘Every little bit helps’

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared Oct. 13 the Day of the Superhero after about 250 superheroes converged on the city to meet and march, but that was a rare display of official recognition.

Most police officers are uncomfortable with anonymous, masked characters walking neighborhoods carrying weapons.

Mr. Xtreme has tried to attend community meetings at the police station in the Mid City Division, but police asked him to leave when he refused to take off his mask, said San Diego police spokeswoman Mónica Muñoz.

“It didn’t work out too well,” Mr. Xtreme admitted.

Police also are concerned that the superheroes are putting themselves at risk.

“What we’re looking for is for the community to be our eyes and ears. If you see a crime, report it. Be a good witness,” said San Diego police Capt. Chris Ball. But “you shouldn’t be carrying weapons and you shouldn’t be confronting people.”

Police have had similar doubts about other citizen patrol groups, such as the Guardian Angels, who seem to have developed an amicable partnership with authorities, and the Sentinels, a Los Angeles group that disbanded in the early 1990s after a member beat an accused drug dealer.

Mr. Xtreme countered the vigilante accusations by saying he has studied the law carefully when it comes to carrying legal self-protection and knows when it is and is not appropriate to make citizen arrests. He said he hasn’t made an arrest as a superhero but has exercised the right in the past.

He plans to reach out to San Diego police in hopes of finding his own Commissioner Gordon, Batman’s sympathetic confidant at the Gotham City Police Department.

Preventing crime, serving the less fortunate and empowering others to take action are at the core of his message.

“When drug dealers see us, they’ll go to the other corner. That carjacker, he’s going to take the night off,” he said.

During a patrol in the Gaslamp Quarter last Saturday night, he drew plenty of gasps, nudges and stares.

A few people stopped to ask what he was all about.

“At first thought, it’s kind of funny,” said Dushaun Fairley, a Chula Vista Realtor who questioned the costume from the patio of Nicky Rotten’s on Fifth Avenue. “But at the end of the day, every little bit helps.”

Staff researcher Michelle Gilchrist contributed to this report.

A long-ago superhero

Mr. Xtreme and MidKnight are not the only superheroes to make a go of protecting San Diegans.

In the 1970s and ’80s, a self-appointed crusader named Captain Sticky squeezed his 350 pounds into blue tights, a gold cape and glittery boots to fight for justice.

The former fiberglass contractor, also known as Richard Pesta, was credited with helping launch statewide investigations into nursing homes and campaigning against rental-car rip-offs and sugary cereal.

He eventually retired the persona but later grabbed headlines when he was investigated by San Diego police for letting his home be used to film an X-rated movie. He testified against the film’s producer in exchange for immunity. He also sold sex tours in Thailand, but the Thai government shut him down.

Sticky, whose name derived from his love of peanut butter and jelly, died in 2004 of complications from heart bypass surgery in Thailand.

Online: For more on Real-Life Superheroes, go to worldsuperheroregistry.com and freewebs.com/heroesnetwork

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jan/17/1n17heroes002224-dynamic-do-gooders-contribute-lor/?zIndex=38829

Carol Forsloff
The city was waiting for this. In the midst of a crime wave, victims still hurting from floods and misery, streets littered with garbage and corrupt police who might turn on or turn you in, here comes a hero.
Here comes Batman, a real, live World Superhero into New Orleans, swooping into neighborhoods in his dark costume and ready to take on the bad guys anytime.
The guy in New Orleans is an actual, registered superhero, a member of a World Superhero Registry. It takes lot for a fellow to be one, and New Orleans has only a single registered superhero in the entire metropolitan area. But that should be enough. What’s more our guy is the only superhero registered in the entire State of Louisiana, so he’s responsible not just for New Orleans, but for Lafayette, the State Capitol, Baton Rouge, Shreveport and even my town of Natchitoches, Louisiana in the north central part of the State as well as all the towns and cities in between.
“Nostrum,” as the World Superhero calls himself, lives in New Orleans and has his own MySpace profile. Well, how else could the citizens of Gotham contact him, after all? His profile on MySpace says it all, “there is right, and there is wrong, nothing more.” Talk about strong and silent, well almost silent, but certainly a fellow of few words.
The New Orleans online paper asked to interview “Nostrum,” but he didn’t respond to the request. It’s likely he wants to keep his identity disguised. He may be Mayor Ray Nagin, after all, taking care of the city by day and arrayed in a hero’s costume by night. Nah, most folks would rather have Aaron Neville because the lad can sing and has the body to intimidate as well. But who knows for sure?
For those who want to join “Nostrum” the sign up page is here. Understand there are terms and conditions for joining because these folks live in the shadow of the law, on the fringes where identities are kept secret and where activities do not always correspond to the usual and customary ways of crime fighting. Since New Orleans hardly has any crime fighting, according to its statistics as the city with the highest crime rate of the nation, who would mind a couple of fellows who cross the line just a bit in apprehending the bad guys.
In the meantime the modern Gotham, alias the Crescent City, also known as Chocolate City, needs to know that somewhere there is a great hero waiting to rescue the people from harm. No one knows for sure when he will show up, but hopefully next time there’s a crime wave—like tomorrow.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/264971#tab=comments&sc=0&contribute=&local=

Since moving to New Orleans a year and a half ago, I’ve often wondered why so many people dress in costume for apparently no reason at all.
This could be part of the easy-going nature of people here, those who find every excuse to party and revel in any reason to dress in outlandish outfits. But maybe there’s something else going on. Could New Orleans be a haven for costumed do-gooders?
I stumbled upon an article from KNXV-TV in Phoenix, Ariz., and several other blogs about a World Superhero Registry.
The organization’s site is a one-stop-shop for all things superhero, including a list of registered superheroes, contacts for help with your costume creation, tutorials and tips for being effective and interviews with fellow citizen crime-fighters.
KNXV-TV found more than one certified superhero in that area, including “Green Scorpion” and “Citizen Prime.”
Unfortunately, New Orleans has only one registered superhero patrolling the streets at night.
Louisiana’s sole registered World Superhero is a New Orleans resident who goes by “Nostrum,” according to the registry’s Web site and his MySpace page. Featured on his MySpace profile is this simple quote: “There is right and there is wrong, nothing more.”
Nostrum did not immediately respond to an interview request from NOLA.com to find out what exactly he does to fight crime in the Crescent City.
There are several other groups like this, including Heroes Network, Justice Guild and The Alternates.
Some say the movement really picked up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and gained popularity again thanks to President-elect Barack Obama’s call for “active citizenry” during his campaign.
While it seems plenty of people are doing their part to keep their neighborhoods safe, that doesn’t mean they are official superheroes.
People must meet at least three criteria to be considered for the registry. The superhero must wear a good-quality costume, do heroic deeds that exceed “normal everyday behavior” and the person should do those deeds out of self-motivation rather than for financial gain, according to the World Superhero Registry site.
I know one thing – Nostrum has his hands full with this city and its world-famous high crime rate. Someone’s slacking off, I’d say. Or he’s in over his head.
http://blog.nola.com/checkitout/2009/01/new_orleans_has_its_own_world.html

Since moving to New Orleans a year and a half ago, I’ve often wondered why so many people dress in costume for apparently no reason at all.
This could be part of the easy-going nature of people here, those who find every excuse to party and revel in any reason to dress in outlandish outfits. But maybe there’s something else going on. Could New Orleans be a haven for costumed do-gooders?
I stumbled upon an article from KNXV-TV in Phoenix, Ariz., and several other blogs about a World Superhero Registry.
The organization’s site is a one-stop-shop for all things superhero, including a list of registered superheroes, contacts for help with your costume creation, tutorials and tips for being effective and interviews with fellow citizen crime-fighters.
KNXV-TV found more than one certified superhero in that area, including “Green Scorpion” and “Citizen Prime.”
Unfortunately, New Orleans has only one registered superhero patrolling the streets at night.
Louisiana’s sole registered World Superhero is a New Orleans resident who goes by “Nostrum,” according to the registry’s Web site and his MySpace page. Featured on his MySpace profile is this simple quote: “There is right and there is wrong, nothing more.”
Nostrum did not immediately respond to an interview request from NOLA.com to find out what exactly he does to fight crime in the Crescent City.
There are several other groups like this, including Heroes Network, Justice Guild and The Alternates.
Some say the movement really picked up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and gained popularity again thanks to President-elect Barack Obama’s call for “active citizenry” during his campaign.
While it seems plenty of people are doing their part to keep their neighborhoods safe, that doesn’t mean they are official superheroes.
People must meet at least three criteria to be considered for the registry. The superhero must wear a good-quality costume, do heroic deeds that exceed “normal everyday behavior” and the person should do those deeds out of self-motivation rather than for financial gain, according to the World Superhero Registry site.
I know one thing – Nostrum has his hands full with this city and its world-famous high crime rate. Someone’s slacking off, I’d say. Or he’s in over his head.
http://blog.nola.com/checkitout/2009/01/new_orleans_has_its_own_world.html

di BENEDETTA PERILLI
FOX Fire indossa una maschera da volpe, un lungo cappotto di pelle nera e insieme ai Nameless Few protegge dalla violenza le strade del Michigan. Ha 26 anni, è una donna, e di notte diventa una supereroina. Come Wonder Woman. Senza superpoteri, però. La sua forza sta in alcune nozioni di magia e in un buon allenamento fisico. Come lei, in giro per il mondo, centinai di altri supereroi della vita reale, che si dividono tra professioni normali e lotta al crimine.
Quella dei supereroi della vita reale è un’esperienza nata dopo l’11 settembre e rafforzata dalla recente politica dell’active citizenship promossa da Barack Obama. Negli anni recenti la loro comunità è cresciuta intorno al sito World Superhero Registry, l’anagrafe dei “difensori dell’umanità” che a oggi registra trenta iscritti e due aspiranti. Ognuno con un nome, uno stile, un “costume” e un’area d’azione. Il resto è nelle mani della loro fantasia. A eccezione di tre regole, alle quali ogni supereroe, che ambisca a entrare nel registro mondiale, deve sottostare.
La prima riguarda il costume. Non un semplice travestimento per tutelarsi da eventuali ritorsioni, ma un segno di rispetto nei confronti dell’umanità. L’abito è il biglietto da visita con cui presentarsi al mondo, e dal quale dipende la propria credibilità. La seconda regola definisce l’attività del supereroe, che deve agire per il bene dell’umanità, mantenendo però un livello d’azione più attivo e partecipativo del semplice comportamento quotidiano. In caso di inattività o di inadempienza, il registro segnala nella scheda l’eventuale ritiro dall’anagrafe mondiale.
Infine, l’ultima regola, quella che riguarda la motivazione personale e definisce i doveri del paladino. Essere supereroi non ha niente a che fare con campagne di promozione personale o trovate pubblicitarie. La vocazione deve venire dal singolo individuo, che non può ricevere denaro per la sua attività né lavorare come rappresentante, stipendiato o volontario che sia, di un’organizzazione.
Detto questo, non resta che scorrere il registro per scoprire travestimenti e crociate di questi paladini che molto devono al mondo dei fumetti ma dal quale non possono prendere neanche un nome, pena l’infrazione del copyright. E allora l’ispirazione arriva dalla fantasia. A New York lavora Terrifica, in Inghilterra c’è Black Arrow, in Florida opera Amazonia mentre la Regina di Cuori è del Michigan. Ultima limitazione all’operato di questi eroi incompresi – che in questi giorni grazie ad alcuni articoli su The Sunday Times e Rolling Stones vivono momenti di gloria – è l’utilizzo di pistole e coltelli. Ben vengano quelli in plastica, che fanno da complemento all’abito. La loro vera arma non è metallica, ma virtuale.
Dalle pagine dei loro siti, i supereroi lanciano le loro minacce al mondo del crimine. Ed è sempre online, con l’iscrizione al registro ufficiale, che l’attività trova definitiva consacrazione. Inutile fare pressioni per entrare nel registro: la nomina deve essere promossa da parte del registro stesso in seguito a una comprovata carriera da supereroe.
I capostipiti sono i quattro più celebri iscritti che a oggi, tuttavia, risultano in pensione. C’è Terrifica, paladina della sicurezza femminile che per anni ha tutelato le donne newyorkesi da uomini violenti e pericolosi. C’è Angle-Grinder Man, il vigilante inglese degli automobilisti che, operando tra Londra e il Kent, ha liberato centinaia di automobili dalle ganasce applicate dalla polizia municipale. Ci sono anche Mr. Silent, angelo delle notti dell’Illinois, e Crime Fighter Girl, ragazzina in maschera gialla impegnata in attività di volontariato e assistenza sociale nella contea di Jackson.
A loro si ispirano gli attuali supereroi, tra i quali spiccano per notorietà, con tanto di interviste a Cnn o Fox, SuperBarrio e Shadow Hare. Il primo, costume in lycra rosso, mutandoni e mantello dorati, difende i diritti dei lavoratori e dei poveri messicani. Il secondo, maschera nera, aiuta i senzatetto di Cincinnati. C’è anche chi difende il mondo dall’inquinamento, come Black Harrow – cappuccio nero, capelli rossi e amore per gli animali – o Entomo: quest’ultimo è l’unico supereroe italiano ammesso nel registro. Il fiorentino Superataf è in attesa che la sua candidatura venga valutata.
Entomo è un uomo insetto che opera a Napoli per promuovere una più ampia coscienza ambientalista. E dalla sua pagina MySpace lancia una testimonianza: “Essere un supereroe è il gesto più importante che si possa realizzare in un mondo arretrato come il nostro. Utilizzo le mie capacità salvando quel che resta da salvare e distruggendo quel che non rientra nel grande schema dell’equilibrio”.
http://www.repubblica.it/2008/12/sezioni/esteri/supereroi-vita-reale/supereroi-vita-reale/supereroi-vita-reale.html?ref=hpspr1

Reported by: Jenn Burgess
Email: [email protected]
It’s dusk in the Valley. A shadow moves among the downtown Phoenix buildings. Though this masked man doesn’t seem to want his real identity fully known, his mission is made clear: stop social injustice and bring peace to the streets.
How do I know this? It’s right there on his MySpace page.
The masked man, known as ‘Citizen Prime’, is part of a growing ring of citizen superheroes. You may see him around town since his region of concentration is listed as Arizona.
But he’s not the only one — another superhero, ‘Green Scorpion’, can also be found in Arizona and New Mexico.
This handful of gold-hearted, masked men and women have their own MySpace pages. Collectively, they even have their own websites: worldsuperheroregistry.com and citizenheroes.com.
They may look wacky, but according to an article in the Times Online, the superhero community was, in part, born in the embers of the 9/11 terrorist attacks when ordinary people wanted to do something short of enlisting.
To even be considered for the Registry, a real-life superhero must meet certain criteria, according to the website.
Three of the primary requirements are wearing a costume, doing heroic deeds, and operating solely by personal motivation, rather than financial gain.
According to Citizen Prime’s MySpace page, he’s married and a proud father. Last year, he was part of an operation to drop off toys to Banner Children’s Hospital.
A blurb on Prime’s MySpace page tells a little more about his mission: “I strive to be a inspirational symbol of hope. We need to stop social injustice – by approaching the heart of the matter – and finding the hero inside every man, woman and child and priming their true greatness. You can be as much hero as I am. Heroes are needed in this life and no cape is required to help change the world.”

BY Simone Weichselbaum

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Spiderman has his web and Superman has X-ray vision, but New York‘s real life superheroes just have some sandwiches – and a whole lotta heart.

Costumed street watchers “Life,” “Dark Guardian” and a slew of other comic-bookish men and women patrol the city chatting up people of the night.

Even though cops argue superheroes belong in the movies and not on the streets, “Life” and his odd-looking crew hand out food to the homeless and assure the mentally ill they still matter in a town famous for its arrogance.

“I am selfish, it makes me feel good” said Chaim “Life” Lazaros, 24, a Columbia University film student who co-founded Superheroes Anonymous – a support network that started off as folks connecting on MySpace.

At midnight Thursday, a dozen of the New York contingent will celebrate the group’s second anniversary by taking a plane down to New Orleans.

Big Easy Mayor Ray Nagin will dub Oct. 13 “Day of the Superheroes,” inviting similar-minded caped crusaders from across the U.S. to promote peace and love, a mayoral spokeswoman said.

Still, New York cops weren’t too thrilled to hear about men in tights walking around looking for trouble.

An officer who recently went on patrol with “Life” in Morningside Heights watched as thankful homeless took snacks from the superhero but worried that the masked man couldn’t protect himself, or anyone, from real danger.

“A lot of people were laughing at him,” the officer said. “His only real weapon is a cell phone with 911 on speed dial.”

Batman didn’t need Gotham’s Finest for back up, and real life superheroes argue they have the right to watch the streets without ticking off cops, too.

“They should be happy we are out there,” said Chris “Dark Guardian” Pollak, 24, a Staten Island martial arts teacher by day.

“We expect people to report crime to the police and not put themselves in jeopardy,” NYPD spokesman Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said.

“We are not doing their job. We are helping them do their job,” he said.

Fans agree: A homeless woman sleeping on a Riverside Drive bench early Tuesday woke up to a pile of snacks left by “Life” and his posse.

“They are going to be blessed,” she said.

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