Blog of a Ded Beat…….

First off, I have realized that most of the times when you write these things you think they are coming out great and when in fact you come off as an asshole, so I’m going to try to do this one better than the old ones.lol. I will start the last of my input on my friend Phoenix. I just heard that last night he chased a guy who stabbed another man 8 blocks and apprehended him until the police got there….Pretty fucking right on the button for what we are trying to achieve if you ask me. It seems though that if he had listened to everyone on this site, and the rest of the people who despise him, that that man might have in fact gotten away.
o The reason I must blog again is because I watched Batman year 1 last night and if anyone has seen it or read the Frank Miller Graphic novel you will know just what I’m talking about. In the movie Bruce Wayne is 25 and decides to go out for his first night of crime fighting he only puts on some make up to look different and heads out. The next scene he is walking down a street and sees a pimp slapping a 12 year old hooker. Bruce then tries to put himself in the situation and tells the pimp to knock it off. The hooker not wanting his help attacks Bruce, next thing you know there is a huge brawl with Bruce, Selina Kyle and a shit ton of Pimps and Hookers. The police then show up and shoot and arrest him. He then has to fuck up shop and make the cops crash the car so he can get away.
o What im trying to get at is he wanted to do the right thing and help but it doesn’t happen overnight, people fuck up, and you learn by doing. Now Phoenix’s situation was nowhere near as bad, but if Bruce Wayne did what Phoenix did and gave his identity to the police and went along with everything… You’d all be talking shit on Batman right now. Get IT? Yes I feel fuckin stupid comparing it to comics sometimes and I know that it’s not real life, but I think it does say something about who we are and what we are trying to do, which was inspired by comics. I mean this guy Phoenix is just trying to do what we all are, the right thing. After being unmasked he has people leaving comments like “DIE NIGGER” on his wall and he is trying to handle his family life, job bullshit, and etc .While being a man about it and lying in his own bed that he made. On top of all that his own kind Trashing him all over this site. Don’t give me that bullcrap like “He’s not one of us” if you think like that I feel sorry for ya. That is not the Hero way in my book. What do you want him to do…STOP? So you can all patrol the streets the way YOU feel is right. Fuck That.
o We all do things different and the only way to really accomplish all these good deeds is to stick together. You got a problem with Phoenix, FUCKING CONATCT HIM OR PETER TANGEN. Have a fucking Justice League meeting or something with all the Heavy Hitters and no one leaves until it’s all worked out. I wouldn’t even be writing this if I felt you all actually genuinely were concerned and not just complaining about his violent tendencies when he had one controversial night, it’s not going to be the last time, next it could be one of you, then you got everyone dissecting your every move and calling you a monster. All you have to do is make one wrong move and you’re branded for life as a fuck up?
o
o I joined The Real Life Superhero Movement because I wanted to make a difference, that’s why we all did, because the police wouldn’t or couldn’t handle it, now you say we must do it by your book, we might as well just join the fuckin force. Not saying that’s a bad thing.
o Also just to slip in there that the people Phoenix “sprayed” were Russian and if you hear them yelling and interpret it they say “NO one messes with the Russian Mob, get the gun”…. Just saying. It’s all just bullying to me and it’s what I used to see kids do to other kids to see if they can push them over the edge. It almost seems like you want him to do something fucked up so you can use it as an excuse to bash him, and yes I do feel hypocritical writing this long ass blog and getting involved with this, but fuck it, I like blogging
o You see, when my band first started, we were bad fuckin people. I aint going to lie we did drugs, stole, etc. and we’ve been playing for ten years and ,as the years passed we started kind of dressing like superheroes and decided 7 years ago that if we were going to dress the part we might as well become good people. Just claiming to be a superhero has made my life better, I think before I speak, and believe it or not I pick up trash and open doors for old ladies and shit. WHY? Why the fuck do I need to. Because it gives me purpose and makes me feel good, and yes its fun as fuck. Regardless on what you think a superhero is I think your all Fucking Awesome, and when we talk shit to no end on others it confuses me and puts a sour taste on the whole thing. Im not perfect in any sense and if you knew half the shit I have done in my life you probably wouldn’t even let me blog… lol But this is all about trying to do a better job than the last time and moving on to better things.
I want to be like the Hunter S. Thompson of this blogging shit, minus all the weird drugs. HE said once “when the going get weird, the weird turn professional.” and that is exactly what im going to do. -THE DEADBEAT
 

PHANTOM ZERO'S PUBLIC STATEMENT REGARDING THE PUBLIC STATEMENT MADE BY PHOENIX JONES

http://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-mason/a-public-statement-regarding-the-public-statement-made-by-phoenix-jones/280618685314589?ref=notif&notif_t=note_reply
A PUBLIC STATEMENT REGARDING THE PUBLIC STATEMENT MADE BY PHOENIX JONES
“The surest way for the wicked to prevail is for enough virtuous men to remain silent–lest they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” –Unattributed
“The sleep of reason breeds monsters.” –Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
PHOENIX JONES I’d like to make a public statement addressing the ‘news release’ posted earlier today by the district attorney Peter S. Holmes: first of all, no surprise that I was not charged with a crime as I did not commit one.
PHANTOM ZERO Ben Fodor was not charged with a crime because the individuals who he allegedly pepper sprayed did not step forward and left the area before they could be contacted by the police. Had those people stepped forward or statements had been taken, it is likely there would have been a criminal (and possibly civil) trail. Just because there was insufficient evidence to build a case does not mean that there was no wrong doing.
PHOENIX JONES Holmes claims I am a ‘deeply misguided individual.’ my concern about that statement is if I am ‘misguided’ while out on the streets of Seattle protecting people from violent assaults.
PHANTOM ZERO Holmes is free to think or say whatever he wishes. It’s his first Amendment right. His opinion might be informed by the fact that he is a District Attorney. Ben Fodor is also free to refute those claims, or if he is feeling particularily litigous, sue for slander or libel.
PHOENIX JONES ..would a ‘guided’ person just keep walking and allow someone to be kicked repeatedly in the head?
PHANTOM ZERO First, in the stabilized footage, there is evidence there is a fight. There is no evidence that someone is being kicked on the ground.
Second, a person might try to disperse a crowd without escalating the situation. Announce the police have been called. Stand, without weapons, as a witness. Perhaps by stating a camera is present, and also stating said individuals will turning the footage over to police, that those individuals are going to face police prosecution. Standard pratice for citizens should be: “observe and report.”
Third, a loud sound or a bright light, which is disconcerting and might evoke a fear response, might be a better stimulus to use than pepper spray, which is a pain response. Adrenalized (and possibly drunk) individuals tend to respond to pain stimulus by either fleeing or fighting–favoring fighting.
PHOENIX JONES He goes on to encourage legislature to pass a law about using large cans of pepper spray. Pepper spray is defined as a self defense tool and is very hard to use offensively,
PHANTOM ZERO If a person is actively seeking out trouble, or if they are purposely interposing themselves to escalate the situation to get police involved, that is an offensive, not defensive, undertaking.
A stiletto heel usually isn’t defined as a weapon, but can still be used offensively.
A shield is, by definition, defensive, but can be used offensively.
People have varied responses to pepper spray, and some people can have fatal reactions. In prisons some, whenever a guard uses pepper spray, it is mandatory report must be filed and that documentation reviewed to make sure that the use of force was not excessive, unwarranted, or an abuse of power, a medical professional must be present and that individual must immediately be tended to checked for an averse reaction and to make sure it is non-fatal, and the use of pepper spray is only warranted in situations where there is a threat of imminent and unavoidable harm.
There is no rational reason to carry a bulk of pepper spray unless you fear assault from an exceedingly large mob of people, and brandishing such weaponry can be considered threatening.
Self-defense is just that. Defending one’s self. Self-defense does not apply when attacking others. That’s called assault. That’s not defensive. That’s offensive.
PHOENIX JONES In the statement, they accuse me of having a vigilante alter ego. I have been very clear from the beginning that I am not a vigilante
PHANTOM ZERO I could be very clear that I am a Christmas elf, but that does not mean I am by my own subjective assessment.
PHOENIX JONES What I do is when I see someone in the offense of a violent crime and I detain them until the official police arrive, who have taken a public oath to serve and protect and follow the legal procedures that have been voted for by the citizens.
PHANTOM ZERO Any self-appointed person who undertakes law enforcement in their community without legal authority, as by avenging a crime, is a vigilante.
PHOENIX JONES Holmes was careful to point out that I am ‘not a hero’. I believe that the victims on the street I have saved from being car jacked, bus jacked, assaulted, the people who have needed medical attention, and the 39,827 other people here on this page alone support what I do on a daily basis
PHANTOM ZERO Public opinion, popularity, or a myriad of good deeds does not give you special status of exemption from the law. When you are in violation of the law, you suffer the consequences–and while Ben Fodor’s character and other good deeds may be taken into account–it does not automatically grant a free pass.
PHOENIX JONES A hero can be defined as a lot of different things
PHANTOM ZERO “Hero” is a word. Claiming it for one’s self does about as much as claiming one’s self a Christmas elf.
PHOENIX JONES the good part of this is that district attorney Holmes is familiar with the law and came to the proper conclusion that I did not break the law.
PHANTOM ZERO Holmes didn’t push forward because the people Ben Fodor allegedly pepper sprayed didn’t step forward and there was insufficient evidence.
PHOENIX JONES However, what troubles me is that he wants to change the good Samaritan law that currently protects the citizens rights to interject themselves into situations where other people are being harmed and they need to know that they will not receive legal retribution for doing what is morally right. This in also an important day for activists and superhero alike as our way of life was being challenged.
PHANTOM ZERO Broad laws must be altered to cater to specific circumstances because of the lowest common denominator–the actions of a few who are irresponsible, or worse, abuse, distort, and corrupt the letter of the law.
In this case, Ben Fodor is the lowest common denominator.
If Ben Fodor feared for how the changes in this law will effect the citizens, understand that the result of his own actions are solely to blame, and the result this has on incidental bystanders, concerned citizens in his local community doing legitimate community watches, and/or other Real Life Superheroes rests solely and squarely on his own shoulders.
I find the sudden and unexpected convergence a bit disquieting, considering that the majority of the real life superhero community has shunned and decried Ben Fodor from his start of being “Phoenix Jones,” and Ben Fodor has taken measures to seperate and distance “Phoenix Jones” from the real life superhero community and movement by giving himself the label and claiming to be a member of the “Rain City superhero movement”–an organization which he claimed was completely seperate from the real life superhero community–and now that Ben has gotten this exceedingly bad press, it seems he seeks to distribute this new negative attention, and impose both his fight to regain credibility and his stigmata off on real life superheroes, which he consequently constantly puts down and has nothing to do with. (Edit: And, also, consequently, censors any voices of dissent which would be negative publicity by erasing the wall posts of individuals who voice concearns, or criticize his actions or methods–such as most recently in the case Drago Hammer, but also in regard to any RLSH, or RLSV, or any private citizen…)
Ben using this as a kind of clarion call to try and rally others behind him, by trying to suddenly associate himselfself with the real life superhero movement, is insulting. Realize that by he acting in this manner and by stating such an association, Ben Fodor casts a negative light on the masses who would not judge us an individuals, but who would seek to crush us as a collective group. By stating such, Ben Fodor risks tearing the concept of real life superheroes down, including those who are perfectly peaceful, altruistic/charitable, law abiding sensible do-ers of good–as well as the entire spectrum of the completely indepenent individuals who fall under the umbrella of real life superheroes who came before you who have operated exercising discretion and sound judgement.You don’t champion a cause or an idea with bad behavior, and you certainly should claim you are doing it in the name of a pro-social movement.

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Phoenix Jones/ Jack Havoc and Why Life imitates Art

    • My name is The Ded Beat I am the Drummer/Manager from The Real Life Superhero Metal Band Jack Havoc. We have considered ourselves Superheroes pretty much after we read about Master Legend in Rolling stone a few years back. I also own a comic company called Your Mom Comics that I made to release my comic Big Bad Odd Job and to support our band when we are on tour. We attend almost all comic or horror conventions in our area. We also have played countless shows for any charity, and have raised money to help with anything from cancer to even the Tsunami relief /Haitian earthquake benefits. “I guess we all Fight in our own way.”
  • Now that you have our background let me begin. We have known Phoenix Jones for a little over a year now. When I first heard of him I was star struck, he hit the media like some sort of Booster Gold, but still kept stern like Batman. He has come to two of our Conventions just to help us out, and even though he can be hard as fuck to get a hold of sometimes… is an all around great guy. I know, I Know, another Phoenix lover getting his back, but I don’t think of it quite like that. You see when I heard about the incident that took place with the pepper spray I looked into every bit of evidence I could find, and did countless hours of research. At one point I was even confused and asked myself honestly “Do you think he acted in the right?” I do and here is why. First off I watched a video where Phoenix did what everyone has told him to do. CALL 911. He also told the attackers to back up several times. The girls who got supposedly “Pepper Sprayed” said he said nothing before hand; the same girls have changed their story twice and do not even have the same story. one says they were arguing with another group, the other says it was two other groups fighting, and before these stories they were ‘ Dancing’ Now here is a little side story to back up the’ pepper sprayed girls not on purpose’ theory of mine. My lead singer The Jack Havoc himself was at a Presidents of the United States Concert once on New Years. A huge Fight broke out almost a riot. After getting his girlfriend to safety went back to help a man and break up the out skirts of the fight. Without warning he and all the others were pepper sprayed, he wasn’t even direct hit he was just in the area and he got a contact spray. Rather than flip out he told the cops that he was just helping out, and they apologized and said thanks , because he CHOSE to get involved……… To me, these girls got the contact spray from their attacking boyfriend’s actions. . Meaning that these girls CHOSE to be involved in the altercation
    o Next if the group of males were worried with their girlfriends why did only the girls walk across the street to attack Phoenix? I know I wouldn’tJack Havoc, Your Mom Comics Crew, and The Rain City Hero Movement  let my girlfriend confront her would be attacker alone. It seems the police want you to call 911 and watch someone be beaten or killed rather than intervene, what if it was a woman being raped, is Phoenix supposed to just watch. Shame on the police and media, if you have more armor than King Arthur and you see someone getting beaten HELP THEM PLEASE. I don’t want to live in a world where the police say call them, so they can take a half hour, and tell us no one is allowed to help… The list goes on and on. But hey that’s just my opinion. Everyone should have theirs. I also think my point was proven when the police did not file any charges, and I believe they won’t.Moving on into why none of this bothers us. Because we called it. Actually Grant Morrison called it. See he thinks whatever happens in comics, movies, etc. will eventually happen. Example, he started to write his character in to getting depressed and sick, later he got sick and some sort of cancerous lump on his face….or some shit like that. Then he wrote that a character got happily married, so did he in real life. Then the company he was writing for told him to get rid of the girl in the comic, his marriage failed and ever since he has been trying to write in his new flame….weird right? So what I’m getting at is this, look at The Watchmen, at first in the 40’s the superheroes were a joke and no one cared, then it built up more and more before people were being saved, taking photos with the superheroes, etc. Than the super heroes advanced got more hi tech gear (just like in real life), and the people got bitter and there was a line drawn between people who thought we needed to be saved and those who thought it should be left to the police….. (JUST LIKE RIGHT NOW) it’s all very exciting whether you agree or disagree this is the beginning, and it will only get more real. Marvel” civil War” describes Iron Man in a fight with Captain America over whether or not Super Heroes should be registered. You see sometimes right and wrong can just be as simple as someone disagreeing. What’s good? What’s Evil? It all depends on who you ask, and yeah I will mention how Dark Guardian always has a poor Comment about Phoenix Jones, because sometimes Heroes don’t agree. While we’re on the subject I think if Dark Guardian would just talk to Phoenix about their methods of crime fighting rather than tweeting bullshit about him the whole time, he would get a lot further…but that’s just my opinion you don’t have to agree with it. Some People think that occupy Wall Street is good others like News Channels and stuff don’t. I’m all for occupy by the way “You guys are making a huge difference in my eyes.”Some People in Gotham think Batman’s methods are too harsh, the same goes with Seattle and Phoenix. Neither one is wrong they just stand up for what they think they are doing is right. That is all we can ask, Phoenix or ourselves are not perfect and are still getting used to the very idea of being a superhero. If you want to write me and tell me I’m not a real superhero and that were all full of shit that’s fine, but here is a ‘Get Fucked and not bought Dinner” ahead of time in case you do. Regardless of what you think, I know in my heart this is leading to something big….a world WITH superheroes?
The Ded Beat

Drummer / Manager – Jack Havoc Real Life SuperHero Metal Band
President / Owner – Your Mom Comics

 

Crazy? Or a Hero?

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.

Russian News Article

Orignially posted: http://akzia.ru/lifestyle/14-03-2011/2876.html

Photo by Peter Tangen

Photo by Peter Tangen


English Translation
by Daniel Nash on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 12:37am
I was really excited to see this published after writing it last month. The PDF of my interview with Phoenix Jones was posted online yesterday. But if you don’t know Russian, there’s no easy way to translate it. So here is the English version. It’s severely cut down considering the length of our conversation: this is probably 10 minutes of an hour-and-a-half long interview, not counting almost three hours patrol time. Additionally, the information that did make the cut is pretty basic if you have followed the American coverage, but I wanted to make sure this was a solid introduction of who Phoenix is to an overseas audience. I’m trying to find the time to transcribe the whole interview so I can try to sell a fuller version of this story to an American publication.
Some of the answers are cut down, but I tried to avoid cutting in such a way that the quotes would lose context. I eliminated some questions and answers I really wanted to include because I couldn’t minimize them without losing the spirit of the answer.
The version published in Akzia included some mini-profiles of other superheroes, such as KnightOwl of Oregon, Geist of Minnesota, Nyx of New Jersey, etc. Since I didn’t write that portion, I don’t have the English immediately at hand, but I’ll try to translate it over the weekend as a courtesy to the superheroes who appear.
Hope you all enjoy.
Curriculum Vitae
Name: Phoenix Jones
Secret Identity: Withheld
Age: 22
Occupation: Fighter
Tools: 10,000-volt stun baton, pepper spray, tear gas, Bluetooth phone.
Phoenix Jones is a real life superhero living in Seattle, Washington. Five nights a week, he patrols the streets looking for crimes not already being handled by police, joined by any number of the other 10 members of the Rain City Superhero Movement he founded.
Guardian of Seattle
By Daniel Nash
phoenixjonesatcomicconI was met by superheroes Ghost and Pitch Black just inside the entrance of Trabant Coffee and Chai in the University District. They demanded my name and press affiliation. I told them, and offered them a seat.
Ghost waved my suggestion away: “Phoenix will decide all that when he gets here.”
When Phoenix arrived moments later, he explained his colleagues were ensuring his safety against anyone who might use an interview as a ruse to attack him.
On patrol with the Rain City Superheroes, there was no denying that public response was mixed enough to make security understandable. Many passersby asked to take a photo with Phoenix, a request to which he readily obliged. Some laughed at the novelty of a man walking the street in a rubber suit, while others openly shouted “You’re not a superhero,” or, “You’re a fraud.”
Whether hero, novelty or overzealous attention seeker, what follows is Seattle’s superhero in his own words.
AKZIA: I know you have a day job, and you get out on patrol five nights a week. I guess my first question is, when do you find time to sleep?
PHOENIX JONES: I take naps. Lots of naps. I get off patrol maybe five in the morning, and I don’t start work until about eight-ish (8 a.m.) so I’ll get some time in there, and I get off around four, so I’ll sleep a little bit there. But I try to spend as much time with my kids as I can. And I get to bed about eight, so from 8:15 p.m. to midnight I usually sleep.
A: You’ve mentioned in the past that your kids are part of the inspiration for how you got into this. I remember you specifically mentioned a car break-in that occurred, and the glass hurt your son.
P: Yes. I went to Wild Waves [water park] and we didn’t have anything that we took… just [swim] shorts. We go running back to the car and as we go back, he slips and falls in glass near my car. And he cut his knee open pretty bad. I didn’t realize where the glass was coming from at first, so I just held his leg shut, saying “Someone call 911.” I looked up and realized my car window [had been smashed]. Some guy comes running over to me with a phone. So I say “Call 911,” and he says “I can’t.” I say “Why?” and he says “It will ruin my YouTube video.” And I thought, does anyone help… anyone?
So I was cleaning the inside of my car and I find this rock inside a mask. And the mask is what [thieves] used to swing and break the window open. I kept it as a symbol that bad stuff happens, and I put it in my glove box and thought that would be that.
A week or so goes by and I’m at the club with my friend. A guy comes in and says, “Hey isn’t that your friend outside?” I say “Yeah, he’s out there, what’s going on?” and he says somebody hit him with a stick. I go out there and his nose is turned all the way sideways
The guy who did it had 50 friends with him. I go, “Great, nobody can do anything. It’s 50 to one.” I go back to my car to my glove box because I had a first aid kit and a couple other things there and I see the mask is still there. I picked it up and I kind of got this idea. No one knows who I am with the mask on, so I ditched the shirt, put the mask on, chased him around the block. The police pulled us both over and I was able to get him arrested. I asked if I needed to [be a] witness and they said “We don’t really need a witness, we have the guy assaulted and we have the other guy, so we don’t really need you, other than your name.” I asked “Does it matter what my name is?” They said, no not really, so I said, “My name’s Phoenix Jones.”
[NOTE: There is some contention as to the exact details of Jones’s origin story as he has told it to the press. In a November interview with author Tea Krulos for his blog, Heroes In The Night, Jones stated he went looking for his friend’s attacker the night after the incident, but never found him. A story in the Capitol Hill blog of KOMO News reversed the car break-in and assault altogether.]
A: When you began intervening in crimes you did it as yourself at first, yes?
PJ: Yeah, that was way before Wild Waves. My brother and a couple friends liked to go down to drink at different clubs. I wasn’t 21 and I don’t drink anyway. So I decided I would go and charge them money to drive them downtown. I was kind of stuck there, though, depending on when they wanted to leave. So my friend goes, “Why don’t we just, you know, break up bar fights?” So we went around and broke up bar fights. But six months of doing that and people start recognizing your face. And you’re out there and people just try to attack you. My wife became pregnant at that point and I realized I need to quit this or I’m going to get in trouble. So that’s why, when the second part rolled around, I’ve been so careful about my identity and who I talk to.
A: How old were you?
PJ: I started at 18.
A: What made you decide on your current suit?
PJ: Mobility. When I first designed the suit, I really wanted a full rubber suit. But it was like wearing a rubber band; it just wasn’t practical. So I started cutting things off the original suit.
A: What’s your martial arts background?
PJ: Black belt in tae kwon do, black belt in judo. I should have a black belt in kendo, but I found out the teacher wasn’t accredited. But I fought other black belts and in kendo tournaments I did very well. I have over 30 mixed martial arts fights and I’ve won all of them but two, and I lost by [judge’s] decision. I’ve never submitted or finished. And then I have a couple years of ROTC.
A: How did you decide on the name Phoenix Jones?
PJ: My official answer is “Phoenix,” because it rises up from the ashes and I hope that if I stop doing this or something happens to me, someone else takes up the idea. And “Jones” because Jones was the most common last name the year I was born.
A: I want to talk a moment about your broken nose [in January].
PJ: That really made me mad when they played it that way in the press. Because there’s a whole other part of the story people don’t think about. Let’s review what we do know: My nose got broken by a guy with a gun in a parking lot. But let’s answer the questions: Why was I in a parking lot with a guy with a gun? Because he was assaulting citizens. I did what superheroes do. I ran in to stop the situation and I actually did. I effectively got the guy on the ground, I was holding him. I called the police and they didn’t show up for 17 minutes. The whole incident took 22 minutes and I was winning for 19 of them.
Then out of nowhere his friend comes up and draws on me. Everyone else is gone, so it’s just an ego situation. My ego, what am I going to do? [He imitates a gruff voice] “I’m not going to let him go!” Come on. At that point no one is in danger, so I let him go. When I did, he kicked me in the face and broke my nose.
A: Do you ever worry about your kids losing you?
PJ: I think about that sometimes, but you know what I think is worse? My kids being alive. They’re living in this world that no one seems to want to change. Everybody seems to be pretty happy with the way things are going. And I think that me attempting to change this is much more important than it would be for me to be around longer. Do you know what I mean? They’re going to be in a world that’s getting progressively worse. The urgency is so great that they maybe won’t grow old if I don’t do this.
A: You have a Bluetooth under your mask, don’t you?
PJ: Yes. [He laughs] A lot of people don’t get that. People always try to pick apart my story and ask “How can you hold a guy down and call 911?” [He points to his earpiece].
A: So as soon as you see a crime, you make the call, and then you intervene?
PJ: I try not to intervene most of the time. The best thing I can do is record it. And I have a headcam that goes on the [mask] right here. So a lot of the time I’ll see a crime and then I’ll just videotape it and wait for the police to show up. And if he tries to leave the scene or hurt people, then I jump in.
A: Do you have religious beliefs?
PJ: I do, and I believe in God, but I feel like it ruins the message of being a superhero. It’s interesting how religion was originally brought in to bring hope, but today a word like “mundane” comes to mind, or “fake.” When you see a Union Gospel mission bring food to the homeless, you think, “That’s for points in Sunday school,” or “That’s because you think you’re going to heaven and not because you’re a nice person.” But you see a dude just randomly giving stuff to the homeless you think, “Wow, that’s really nice.”

Real-life superhero stops car robbery in Seattle

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

A night with Seattle's superheroes

"Phoenix" strikes a pose during an interview in Seattle.

“Phoenix” strikes a pose during an interview in Seattle.


Originally posted: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/110685494.html
By Luke Duecy
In the middle of our interview in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, a scream in the distance sends Phoenix sprinting across a parking lot and peering down onto a street below.
He takes stock of the fight happening a block away, but quickly determines that it’s just a couple of friends yelling and shoving each other at a hot dog stand.
“It’s not something I need to prevent,” says Phoenix, who is wearing a mask, cape and hat.
Welcome to the world of Seattle superheroes.
There’s Buster Doe, No Name, Troop and their leader, Phoenix. We don’t know their real names, but almost every night they suit up and set out with Kevlar and stun guns for protection.
They say their mission is to patrol city streets and stop crime.
“I don’t go around and look for people who park their car wrong,” Phoenix says. “I do acts of violence — I physically saw you assault another person and I intervened.”
It all started years ago after one of Phoenix’s close friends got beat up outside a bar.
“There were like 70 people outside and no one did anything. No one called police, 911, nothing. They just stood there.”
On this night, under a full moon, I went along to see Phoenix in action. He has a wife, kids, a 9-to-5 job and a Facebook page. He also patrols cities all around Puget Sound five nights a week.
He says he wears the mask to protect his family from bad guys who may want revenge. But what about the costume?
“Surprisingly enough the easiest thing to hide bullet proofing under and be recognizable for police so I don’t get shot, is a super suit,” Phoenix says.
For Phoenix, being a real-life superhero is part feeding the homeless, part public relations, and nothing like the comic book heroes we all knew as kids.
“I’ve had a couple guns pulled on me,” says Phoenix, adding that he’s been shot and stabbed while stopping fights.
It isn’t all that exciting.
In an alley in the city’s International District, Phoenix confronted two men after hearing that someone was selling drugs in the area. He spoke to them and asked if they were selling, and the two men walked off.
While Phoenix says he’s just out to help, Seattle police would rather he not intervene directly.
“We would recommend and we would prefer that if people see a crime, witness a crime, have knowledge of a crime, that they pick up a phone and call 911,” Detective Mark Jamieson said. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt and certainly people that are dressed-up their intention might be mistaken by other people.”
Officials are concerned that these superheroes might take the law into their own hands. But Phoenix isn’t planning to sit around.
“I’m definitely not going to let my fellow citizens be assaulted when I can say ‘no,'” he says. “If I walk around and find nobody, that would be a good day. The fact is that I’m finding people – that’s bad – you shouldn’t need me.”
And then I saw what police are concerned about. At the end of our night, Phoenix stops a man who he thinks is trying to drive home drunk.
“Just back up!” Phoenix yells as the man rushes him. He warns the man to stay back or he’ll use a telescoping stun gun he just pulled from under his cape. “Stay back, stay away — I don’t want to have to Tase you!”
One of Phoenix’s colleagues calls 911, and police arrive to defuse the situation. But, the officers are worried.
“I know who you guys are, I know what you’re doing,” an officer tells the costumed group. “But, somebody drunk all of a sudden having people in their face with masks on… now it’s not the norm.”
Did the superheroes escalate the problem? For Phoenix the answer is no.
“We never had an issue with you,” Phoenix tells the man he tried to stop. “We just wanted you to get sober and get home safe.”
It’s just another night of crime fighting.

Phoenix Jones: Real Life Superhero

Jenny Kuglin, Director of Social Media
Friday, November 19th, 12:31pm
phoenix_jones_3
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.

Photo courtesy Phoenix Jones

Photo courtesy Phoenix Jones

Superheroes? Superfreaks?

Citizen Prime and Green Scorpion can’t stop bullets with their hands or see through walls. They don’t have archenemies, and they’re not crippled by Kryptonite. They do, however, don costumes and patrol the streets of Phoenix, looking for wrongs to right and helpless to help. Some call them freaks. Other call them heroes.
Phoenix Magazine PDF File
March 2007
By Dan Rafter
Citizen prime can’t stick to walls or shoot webs from his wrist. He can’t jump over a building or sprint faster than a locomotive. Don’t bet on him to life an elephant over his head, either.
On the plus side, Citizen Prime could juggle handfuls of green kryptonite- if such material really existed- without suffering even the hint of a stomachache. And so far, not a single super-powered villain has threatened to roast him with a fire breath or zap him with lighting bolts.
To sum it up, Citizen Prime has no superpowers, no super-villain archenemies, and no super-weaknesses- unless you count bullets, knives, baseball bats, bricks or anything else that might cause physical damage to an ordinary human.
Sounds pretty much like a regular guy, right? Not so fast, Citizen Prime is a superhero, a real-life superhero. He wears a costume- black body armor and a similarly- colored helmet with a dark visor- and patrols the night streets of Phoenix, looking for wrongs to right. He has a secret identity, too. Few people, he says, know the name of the man behind that dark visor.
Citizen Prim might seem like a strange fellow, but he’s not alone, in the Phoenix area or around the country. A growing number of people- men and women, young and old, living in big cities and small towns, are donning homemade costumes and taking to the streets of their own communities. Some are out to stop crimes. Others provide comfort- blankets, clothing and food- to the homeless. Some erase graffiti or pick up litter. Others try to stop bar fights from getting out of hand.
And that’s just the beginning of these heroes’ specialties. At least one- New York City’s Terrifica, with her blonde wig and golden mask- wears pink tights, sips Shirley Temples, in bars and tries to stop young women from tumbling into alcohol- fueled one-night stands. Another, calling himself Polar Man, grabs a shovel and clears snow from the sidewalks of the elderly. Polar Man lives up north in Canada, so you understand the heroism in his actions.
The real-life superhero community, then, is a varied lot. But Citizen Prim says its members have at least one thing in common: They’re somehow trying to make a difference.
“Anyone can be a hero,” he says. “That is what Citizen Prime is really all about. Even if you don’t ever put on a costume, you can be out there making the streets a safer place. There are so many more of us good people than there are gangsters or criminals. There are so many more of us than there are bad people. All we need is civic pride and brotherhood, and we can take back the streets. We won’t have to figure out anymore what shade of fear we are today.”
Are folks like Citizen Prime- or Green Scorpion, Dark Guardian or Mr. Silent, other members of the real-life superhero brigade- at the forefront of a new trend? Can they make a real difference in their communities? Citizen Prime thinks so. And if you disagree? He doesn’t really care.
BIRTH OF A HERO
Citizen Prime as been patrolling the Phoenix streets for about seven months. Becoming a superhero, though, wasn’t a decision he made lightly. For six months prior to his first patrols, Prime researched the real-life superhero community, logging on to sites such as the World Superhero Registry (worldsuperheroregistry.com), which list profiles of real-life masked adventurers and crime-fighting groups across the country.
Prime liked what he saw. There was something inspiring about the passion displayed by heroes like Mr. Silent and Doktor DiscorD, two real-life superheroes who have become semi-famous for their work in Indianapolis. There real-life superheroes he read about weren’t complaining about the way things were. They were trying to make a change, even if that meant simply picking up litter or helping a homeless person cross a busy street.
When Prime’s on patrol, he isn’t looking for trouble. Don’t expect to see his name in the morning papers along with photos of a foiled bank robbery. Bullets don’t bounce off his chest, so Citizen Prime isn’t likely to tackle a gang of armed criminals. He’s far more likely to hit the streets with a car stuffed full of blankets and clothing to pass out to homeless men and women. He might call the police after spotting a drunk driver weaving down the Phoenix streets, or he might stop to chat with some youngsters about the value of doing good deeds.
Fist fights and karate chops? They’re rarely on Prime’s agenda.
The way he sees it, it’s far more important to serve as a source for hope that it is to get the snot kicked out of him during a brawl in a dark alley.
“We’re not standing on the rooftops, grappling hooks at the ready. But we are trying to make a difference. We’re sort of like the Guardian Angels on steroids.” Citizen Prime says.
Not having superpowers, of course, means that superheroes such as Prime have to make do with what they have. So, while Superman soars above the skies of Metropolis and Spider-Man swings from skyscraper to skyscraper in New York City, Citizen Prime relies on his car to get around. It’s easier to cover a lot of ground that way.
A typical patrol for Prime goes something like this: Late last fall, he was driving into the Phoenix when he spotted a car weaving on the road. It looked like a drink driver, so Prime picked up his cell phone and called the highway patrol, reporting the care and its license plate number. Less than a minute later, a patrol car zipped past him and pulled the drunk driver over.
Not heroic? Maybe it is, and maybe it’s not, but how often do drivers simply ignore the signs of an impaired motorist? And if Prime hadn’t dialed those numbers, who’s to say that the erratic driver, drunk or not, wouldn’t have cause a serious accident?
Another night, Citizen Prime noticed some suspicious individuals scoping out cars in a dark parking lot. Prime pulled into the lot with his parking lights on. He remained there until the suspicious individuals fled the scene.
And, not as dramatic as defusing a bomb or tossing a mugger into a dumpster, but the way Prime sees it, his presence might have stopped a crime.
“That’s what we’re like- we are big, red sirens,” he says. “Sometimes, it’s just about being present, and not being afraid to remain present, to stop someone from even committing a crime in the first place.”
A SECRET LIFE, NOT-SO-SECRET PROBLEMS
Prime is open about his life about a superhero. He’s not as forthcoming about his true identity, however. He won’t give out his real name, and says that few people know how he spends his evenings when he’s not patrolling the streets.
He is married, though, and his wife knows all about Citizen Prime. Surprisingly, she approves of her husband’s evening adventures.
Green Scorpion, another local real-life superheroes, is even more tight-lipped about his real identity. He makes sure as few people as possible know who he really is.
“I don’t share my superhero identity much,” he writes in an e-mail message, his preferred method of communication. “Most people thing we are nuts or joking.”
The Green Scorpion, though, isn’t joking. And that’s a point he and the other men and women who call themselves real-life superheroes stress: they’re not dressing up for kicks- well maybe just a little- but to help others.
The Green Scorpion is another masked adventurer working in Phoenix. He has his own tagline- “Evildoers, beware the sting of the Green Scorpion!”- that he includes on his MySpace page and in all of his e-mail messages. And his costume is pretty impressive- a trench coat, ultra- creepy mask and wide- brimmed hat.
Green Scorpion and Citizen Prime, however, do have something in common: Sometimes superheroes’ real lives collide with their masked lives.
Take for example, Ragensi, a 23-year- old real-life superhero who works in Huntington Beach, California. On patrol early last October, he realized that his cupboards at home were bare. Like any shopper, he ducked into a nearby supermarket to pick up some last-minute groceries. Ragensi, though, had to do his shopping in full costume, and although it was October, it wasn’t close enough to Halloween for costume-party time.
To understand this fully, it’s important to picture Ragensi’s costume. It’s no happy, day-glo superhero outfit. Think Batman, not Superman. Ragensi looks much like a ninja, clad in all black with his fingerless gloves and a dark scarf-like swath of fabric hiding all of his face except his eyes. And those eyes are creepy, highlighted by dark makeup. It gives Ragensi the permanent wide-open stare of someone who’s missing a few marbles. But when Ragensi stepped into his local market, no one, surprisingly, made a peep. No pointed fingers, no gasps and not a single, “Look at that!”
On his MySpace blog, Ragensi mentions that he felt almost invisible. This story is located next to a series of photos showing the masked adventurer pushing his shopping cart though the store’s aisles. In one shot, Ragensi proudly holds in his gloved hands a bag of Johnny Cat kitty litter. The effect is both unsettling and comical.
Balancing two lives isn’t the only challenge real-life superheroes face. They also have to deal with the difficulties of designing the perfect costume- it not only has to symbolize what a hero stands for, but it also must be functional. Accomplishing both tasks isn’t as easy as it sounds.
In the comics, this looks simple. Superman slips into a phone booth. Iron Man snaps on his metal suit. But in real life, things get complicated.
Ghost, a member of the Black Monday Society, a group of real-life superheroes based in Salt Lake City, knows all about costume hassles. On a MySpace blog dedicated to the exploits of the society, Ghost’s partner, Ferox, writes that the hero is still experimenting with his mask. The Reason? It’s difficult to take a much-needed coffee break when your superhero mask covers your entire face.
Ferox, too, has had his fair share of costume problems. In a phone interview, Ferox reveals that he originally called himself American Corpse and wore a costume that featured a gas mask. Turns out, the local police didn’t appreciate the look, especially after the events of September 11, 2001.
All of which raises an obvious question: Why do real-life superheroes need a costume at all? Can’t they simply do their good deeds, or run patrols, in street clothes? Dark Guardian, a real-life superhero based out of New York City who dresses in a black-and-white costume complete with a dark mask, has an answer:
“It’s about being an icon,” he says. “When you’re walking around doing stuff as a regular guy, people won’t notice you as much. They won’t take a second look. They see a guy dressed like me and they wonder what’s going on. It helps spread our message.”
AN ONLINE HEADQUARTERS
All good superheroes need a headquarters. Batman had his Bat Cave, Superman his Fortress of Solitude. Real-life superheroes have the World Superhero Registry. The site features profiles of dozens of real-life superheroes, from New York City to Los Angeles. It includes information about superhero teams- thing Justice League or Super Friends- groups like the Moonlight Club, Black Monday Society or Boise Brigade.
And when a superhero just needs to talk, there’s an online forum. The forum has hosted discussions on the best form of martial arts for a superhero (one member suggested Krav Maga, the official self-defense system used by the Israeli Defense Forces); the feasibility and concerns of developing a jet pack capable of lifting a human into the air (it might lift a superhero, but how would the hero gain enough control over the pack to fly accurately?); the best diet for a superhero; and the possibility of developing special gloves that shoot pepper spray.
The World Superhero Registry is the brainchild of Kevlex, a part-time, real-life superhero based in Flagstaff.
Kevlex says that the site was a natural for him. He has obvious computer skills, and he’s long been fascinated by the possibility that ordinary people could perform super-heroic feats. As a high school student, Kevlex- a name that comes from the combination of Kevlar body armor and spandex- would wander the halls of his school with a mask hidden on him, in case any danger popped up. He never had the opportunity to don that mask, but, he says, he never lost his passion for real-life superheroes.
Running the World Superhero Registry and going out on patrols maybe two times a month hasn’t imposed on much on Kevlex’s real life. He won’t give out his real name, but he does offer that he’s 40 years old and does have a real job.
Like other real-life superheroes, Kevlex isn’t surprise that men and women across the country are putting on masks and capes and patrolling the streets. He’s more surprised, he says, that there aren’t more people like him.
“I was surprise initially that something like this hadn’t occurred previously,” he says. “We have everything from radical terrorists to people who live in complete silence in monasteries. We have every extreme possible out there. The superhero archetype is so in the public consciousness that you’d think there would be people out there doing this long ago.”
NO PAIN, NO GAIN?
It’s hard to think about becoming a superhero without thinking about pain. Even the most skilled heroes in the comics get beat up nearly every day. That’s not much fun. Local adventurer Green Scorpion, who won’t go into details about his escapades, says that at times he has gone home with nasty injuries following his patrols.
“I have encountered property crimes, theft and assault,” Green Scorpion writes via e-mail. “I have ended up with some wicked bruises, and have come home limping a time or two. I don’t worry about getting hurt, though. I wear protective gear, and do not let myself get backed into corners.”
While Ragensi out in California spends most of his time as a superhero delivering blankets and hot coffee to the homeless or dropping off bags of toys to a nearby children’s hospital, he has occasionally stumbled upon more serious matters. Once, he says, he stopped and attempted mugging in a part, and had to tie the mugger’s hands to a lamppost.
Is Ragensi ever worried that he might get hurt?
“The thought does cross my mind from time to time,” he says. “The way I see it, though, is that you can get hurt in a lot of professions. Physical danger is just a reality of life, even for those who do their best to avoid it. Not that I’m saying I’m going to be stupid and rush into a dangerous situation without a care in the world. I’m just not going to let fears hold me back from living my life to the fullest.”
So, how long is the lifespan of a real-life superhero? Can we expect to see Ragensi as a 50-year-old man tying muggers to street lamps? And what about Green Scorpion? Will he be willing to sustain those bumps and bruise once he’s approaching mid-life crisis time? And if these heroes retire, will other real-life heroes take their places?
That’s hard to say. But the blogs written by these masked adventurers do offer hints that nighttime patrols and costume making aren’t necessarily all fun and games.
Several heroes have written about falling into funks, when patrols don’t offer the same thrill. Others have requested that Kevlex remove their names from the World Superhero Registry, explaining that they’re taking leaves of absences.
But Citizen Prime shows no sign of retiring from the hero life. Patrols still give him a rush, and he’s even working on creating a new superhero community, WHO, which stands for Worldwide Heroes, although, at press time, this project was place on the backburner.
“I don’t find it very hard at all to do this,” says Citizen Prime. “I don have a normal life and a normal job. But this really enhances the rest my life. I am always on patrol, even when I’m not in uniform. If I see something like a guy yelling at his wife in a dark parking lot, I’ll roll down my window to see whether I can help defuse the situation.
Really, Citizen Prime is just an extension of that.” -Dan Rafter lives in St. Charles, Illinois. He can be reached at
[email protected]

Phoenix Magazine Real Life Superhero Article

For those who live in or around Phoenix, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the latest Phoenix magazine.  Inside you will find an article about real life superheroes and the great work they are doing in this pioneering effort to raise awareness.
If you live to far from Phoenix and cannot get a copy, I hope Phoenix magazine will go easy on me for presenting a copy here for the community to enjoy!
Citizen Prime