Tag the watchman

Date: December 17, 2010
Where: People Serving People.
614 South Third Street  Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415
From Razorhawk:

The GLA toy drive is taking monetary donations at our site www.glhg.info there is a donation button on the left side of the screen. All donations recieved will be split between the Minnesota and Wisconsin branches of the team. We are accepting donations up until Dec. 10th as the Minnesota group consisting of Geist and I, hopefully Legacy and Celtic Viking as well will need to deliver the toys to People Serving People on December 17th.

References:
http://www.therlsh.net/bulletin-board-f23/milwaukee-gla-toy-drive-news-t6531.htm
http://heroesinthenight.blogspot.com/2010/11/watchman-goes-to-campus-2.html
 

By Garth Olson
The Valley Wire

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

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

Originally posted:http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2010/10/podcast-mad-as-hell/
By Mark Metcalf
The children (and now, adults) of Generations X and Y spent their formative years deeply immersed in a culture of fantasy. Between comic books and Saturday morning cartoons, the cultural fascination with super heroes — specifically those who, underneath the masks and capes, are just average people — grows with each new generation.
But America’s love, and in some ways, yen for a hero is nothing new. In fact, those well-known characters of fantasy were all borne out of a collective desire to have control when the world seems to be going down the toilet. When senseless crime is on the rise and the people and institutions put in place to protect us can barely keep an adequate staff on the payroll.

In pop culture, people have found hope in fictional Everyday-Joe-cum-caped-crusader stories since the early days of Spider-Man. But in real life– and right here in Milwaukee — there are a few among us who have taken the concept and run with it.
Several years ago, Tea Krulos caught wind of a real-life superhero movement happening right here in the Midwest and, as he learned, beyond. Though apprehensive, Krulos immersed himself in their world, interviewing as many people as possible and traveling as far as Vancouver and as near as his own backyard of Riverwest to learn more.
Local author Tea Krulos.
What he found was a diverse group of people, fed up with the state of their own neighborhoods and cities who decided to do something about it… mask, cape and all.
You can learn more about Tea’s book Heroes in the Night here, and more about his research here. Be my hero and subscribe to Backstage with Mark Metcalf through iTunes.

Originally posted: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/10/04/Costumed-crime-fighter-watches-Milwaukee/UPI-51441286227453/
MILWAUKEE, Oct. 4 (UPI) — Somebody in Milwaukee is on a personal anti-crime crusade — and he’s got the costume to prove it, observers say.
Armed with a flashlight and pepper spray, the Watchman — he won’t give his real name — patrols the streets of Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood dressed all in black except for a bright red face mask and a large yellow W on his shirt, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“I’m what people refer to as a real-life superhero,” the 6-foot, 200-pound, 30-something crime fighter says.
“Somebody needs to do something,” explains the Watchman, who says he thought about becoming a police officer before donning his mask.
“While most reactions to what I do are positive, there are a few negative responses,” he says, adding that the disguise protects his family — a wife and two young sons — from any of that.
“I’m the one who decided to do this, not them,” he says. “They should not have to suffer for it.”
Despite the pepper spray, he says his cellphone is his weapon of choice, the newspaper said.
“It’s about reporting it,” he says. “Contacting police, or getting an ambulance out here if it’s a medical situation.”
Super powers? None, he says. “I’m just a guy. I may look a little funny, but I’m just a guy. And I’m out here to let everybody know that they can do their part.”

Originally posted: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/104252724.html

He’s hitting the streets to root out injustice – without superpowers

By Mike De Sisti ?•

Originally posted: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/64194
Real World Superheroes of the Midwest
by Miss Cellania – August 19, 2010 – 10:33 AM
There are everyday folks who spend their free time anonymously helping their communities -anonymous because they are costumed superheroes! We already met some of these superheroes in the southern US; here are some who protect the cities of the Midwest.

Shadow Hare

Cincinnati. Ohio

Shadow Hare patrols the streets of Cincinnati and attends large public events to watch for crime in progress, sometimes even making citizen’s arrests. He is trained in martial arts and has occasionally been injured in the line of duty. The local police force doesn’t officially encourage Shadow Hare’s activities, as they don’t want a civilian to be hurt, but they don’t condemn his behavior, either. The masked man has inspired other Cincinnati costumed heroes who form the group Allegiance of Heroes. Shadow Hare says he was an abused child and grew up in foster homes and therefore wants to make his community a better place for others. He is often seen lending aid to the homeless in addition to fighting crime and injustice. See Shadow Hare in a news report at YouTube.

Geist

Rochester, Minnesota

Geist patrols the streets of Rochester and Minneapolis to deter crime and works with many charities. In 2007, he stepped in to help flood victims in St. Charles, Lewiston, Rushford and Stockton, Minnesota. Hisfavorite causes are Paws and Claws animal shelter and the Ronald McDonald House. Geist is a leader in the Great Lakes Heroes Guild.

Foxfire

Royal Oak, Michigan

Foxfire is a female superhero who promotes the use of the supernatural to fight crime and injustice. From her MySpace page:

I am dedicated to helping those in need, preserving our natural resources, and, most importantly, teaching anyone who will listen about the hidden world, the more interesting stuff that goes on beneath the surface of their humdrum little lives. My goal is to itegrate magic, mystery, wonder and awe back into the modern American’s psyche–which is, at most, a slim chance. Still, it must be done!

Doctor DiscorD

Indianapolis, Indiana

Doctor DiscorD is a member of the Justice Society of Justice, which began as a joke, “a sort of street theater”. The Doctor and his compatriots found there were real problems in the city that they could help alleviate, and the mission became serious. He works to protect the city of Indianapolis from crime, but wonders if the publicity that comes with being a superhero might inhibit a hero’s effectiveness.

Mr. Silent

Indianapolis, Indiana

Mr. Silent is Doctor DiscorD’s crimefighting partner and works to protect Indianapolis. He is an Asian superhero who wears a bowler hat and carries a cane. His name was born of his inherent shyness, but the mask enables him to take action when needed. When not fighting crime, Mr. Silent does what he can to help the homeless. See an interview with Mr. Silent at YouTube.

Razorhawk

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Razorhawk refers to himself as a masked adventurer rather than a superhero because he has no supernatural powers. He does safety patrols in Minneapolis and his hometown of St. Anthony Village, Minnesota. Razorhawk is one of the leaders of the Great Lakes Heroes Guild. He spends a lot of his time working with various local charities.

Captain Jackson

Jackson, Michigan

Captain Jackson has been in the superhero business since 1999 as the leader of the Crimefighter Corps in Jackson, Michigan. He works with local authorities to instill civic pride and good citizenship. Keep up with Captain Jackson’s activities on his blog.

Queen of Hearts

Jackson, Michigan

The Queen of Hearts is a superhero compatriot of Captain Jackson. She works to fight domestic violence by teaching young people how to recognize and prevent it. Her favorite side projects are the Pleasant Lake Playground project and the Michigan Theatre.

The Watchman

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Watchman does safety patrols and charity work in Milwaukee, and is a member of the Great Lakes Heroes Guild. His sidekicks are the Watchdog and Wonder Boy, who sometimes appear at charity events. See a video of the Watchman in this post.
Coming soon: more real world superheroes of the US and around the world.

By Tea Krulos
Since it was Father’s Day yesterday, I decided to take a look at some real life superheroes and their superhero children. Unlike Hit Girl in Kick-Ass, real life superhero kids tend to be mild mannered and trained in how to use butterfly knives.
Many real life superheroes that have children cite them as a reason for what they do- they want to make an attempt to make the world a better place for their children and inspire them.
The offspring inspire their super parents in return.
Silver Sentinel, for instance created his persona based on a superhero story he and his daughter created together.

Kid Civitron
Civitron is from New Bedford, Massachusetts and his 6 year old son has adopted two different hero personas- Kid Civitron and Mad Owl. Civitron explained the origin of Kid Civitron in a phone interview.

“When he was three he was playing with these two little Lego action figures and one of them wore a little helmet and the other was red with black hair. And these two little guys were going on an adventure. And he was playing by himself and I was in the doorway watching him, and he was playing out the adventures of his dad, Civitron, and his dad’s friend, Citizen Prime (a RLSH from Salt Lake City). That afternoon he comes up to me and says ‘Dad, can I be Kid Civitron? My powers are I can run really fast and I can climb mountains.’ I was really shocked, I was really amazed, I never even really thought about it.
He designed his own costume and drew it out. His original suit was yellow, with a red cape; he said ‘when you think Civitron, you think fire!’ So he picked fire colors. He has a mask with a light bulb on it, because he has good ideas. So I got him a cape with fire on the back, and he became Kid Civitron. After that, he found another mask that looked like owl eyes or bird eyes that were angry and he became the Mad Owl and that became his superhero persona. And the Mad Owl became the defender of animals. Any animal in trouble any animal lost.”

Mad Owl got to live out his mission with a stranded turtle at the park.

“We were out on a water bottle mission to the park and he found these two little girls by the pond. And he ran up to them and said, ‘what are you two doing?’ They said, ‘we found this turtle in the parking lot, and we’re trying to get it out of the parking lot and back into the water.’
“They didn’t want to push it or pick it up, or hurt it. And he said, ‘well, I’m a superhero, so I can help.’ They came up with the idea that they would all walk together and take really tiny steps behind the turtle. And as they walked, I don’t know how long it took them, a very long time, taking tiny little steps behind the turtle to get it back into the water from the parking lot.
It’s funny, I think of the scope of accomplishments and the perspective of age, talent, whatever, and he’s done a lot more than I have, just by doing that!”(Laughs)

I asked Civitron if he hopes that Kid Civitron will continue to be a RLSH as he grows up.

“It is up to him. If he wants to do it, that’s great, but the costume part, the superhero part, that’s personal. I don’t want to force that on someone if it is not truly them. I don’t want to be that crazy pageant parent with training and stress. I want to treat it as something positive that could enrich his life. Not something weird and out of the ordinary, but something positive.
It is ok to be creative; it is ok to take that power and control of your personality. Be true to yourself, and do the things you think are important and not think it is weird or odd. I think it has worked. He is really, surprisingly sure of himself. Even where he feels that if he’s not good at something, he is comfortable and confident enough to feel that to know that, and he is ok with it.”

Danger and Wonderboy
The Watchman, my hometown hero here in Milwaukee, decided to get his sons involved with his superhero act, letting them participate in charity events. They thought of their own names- Danger and Wonderboy. The trio delivered a supply of toys together to the Gingerbread House, a non-profit that gives low income families donated gifts for the holiday season. The Watchman told me about this in person and in an e-mail filling me in on how his end of the 2nd Annual Great Lakes Heroes Guild Christmas toy drive challenge was going.

“I’ll have about $100 to buy toys with. I’ll probably be dropping them off either (December) 19th or 20th. I’m still planning on taking my boys along for the drop, but I have to come up with costumes/uniforms for them. The oldest is sticking with the “Wonderboy” name, while the other one has chosen “Danger” as his name.”

He chronicled the mission in a YouTube video, panning over the stock of My Little Ponies, X-Men, Iron Man, and Star Wars action figures, Barbies, G.I. Joes, iTunes gift cards(“older kids often get overlooked” Watchman noted) and video games .
From his lair in his basement, Watchman described the charity.

“The gingerbread house takes care of needy families. They donate toys to families whose parents don’t have enough money to provide toys as presents for their children. This year they served 600 families. That is up quite a bit from last year. I was fortunate this year in that I was able to triple what I was able to do for them last year.” He also introduced Wonder Boy and Danger.
On their very first mission, they helped me donate the toys, they helped me carry them in a dropped them off at the gingerbread House. Good job kids, I’m very proud of you.”

“I think it is important to help out, especially around Christmastime. You’re never too young or too old to be a hero.” Wonder Boy says to camera.
“It’s good to give to people who don’t have enough. I hope we made a difference.” Danger adds.
Blue Girl
BloodRaven is a 21 year old from Waldorf, Maryland. She is trained as an EMT and going to school for criminal justice. She described her transformation into a superhero in an e-mail interview.

“I became a masked hero during the summer. My boyfriend decided he didn’t have time for me, so I became preoccupied with other things and as a consequence, almost forgot about him, LOL. Learning everything it takes to be a productive RLSH distracted me from problems in my own life and switched the focus to the world in general. I’ve always been interested in justice work, super heroes, comics… it was a natural switch.”

Besides patrolling her campus, she does litter pickups with her two and a half year old daughter, Blue Girl. As a single mother, it is clearly about connecting in a fun way and establishing a mother-daughter bond.

“(One of the most rewarding things is) teaching Blue Girl what’s right and what’s wrong. She won’t ever litter. She picks it up and puts it in the trash if she sees it. She’s two and a half. She knows about bad guys and that heroes are good.”
Getting kids involved, even at this small level, could do wonders for crime rates and litter rates in the future. The problem is that kids don’t really care these days. No one explains why something is wrong, or why something is right. They don’t get that littering is bad because it kills plants, or that it could hurt animals. They’re just too lazy to find a trash can. I wanna do something to change that. Break the cycle. Kids are much too spoiled these days.”

I asked BloodRaven if she would like to see Blue Girl grow up to be a RLSH.

“I’m not sure. I definitely want Blue Girl to be involved in the community, no matter where we are living. All kids should be. I wish my parents had brought that on me as well.”

I think this will be a great follow up story for my future self- will these kids grow up to be real life superheroes like their parents- or will they pull an “Alex P. Keaton” choosing an opposite path…like the path of a supervillain?! -dun dun DUN!

Written by Janice Christensen
Tuesday, 08 December 2009
by Tea Krulos, Photos by Paul Kjelland

The Watchman is a “real life superhero,” one of a growing movement of people who adopt costumed comic book-style personas. These people do charity events and safety patrols of their neighborhoods, looking for criminal activity.
Patroling with the Real Life Super Heroes
I first met the Watchman last March. I was writing a profile on him for Milwaukee magazine, and we met on a cold night in Gordon Park. Since then, I’ve met up with him several times. I joined him and his colleague MoonDragon, also of Milwaukee, for a patrol of National Avenue on June 12. MoonDragon patrols National Avenue, and wanted to patrol an area where two Milwaukee police officers had been shot a couple days earlier.
The Watchman and I cruised up to Minneapolis on June 27 in the Watchmanmobile to meet his Great Lakes Heroes Guild teammates Razorhawk, Geist, and Celtic Viking. Our meet up spot was the statue of Mary Tyler Moore. We patrolled the streets, and dropped off food at People Serving People. The sun was rising as we headed toward the Wisconsin state line.
The Watchman also lent his time to patrol Riverwest during the Riverwest 24 bicycle race on July 24. He patrolled on foot and by car, keeping a watchful for anything hazardous that might disturb the cyclists.
We have also been interviewed twice. The first time was in July and was for a possible real life superhero reality show being developed by a production company. The second time was this November for a segment on FOX 6 News at 9.
Messages in Chalk
My latest adventure with Watchman, was on November 7 – he had a plan for a bit of public art. He picked me up, wearing his new costume: a red rubber mask, red leather gloves, spandex shirt with his logo on it, and a black trench coat. He had a bucket of sidewalk chalk. The idea for this night’s project came from one of his superhero colleagues.
“I came up with the idea after reading something on the Heroes Network forum, posted by Thanatos,”Watchman told me.
The Heroes Network is a site where RLSHs share information and ideas. Thanatos is the green skull-masked RLSH of Vancouver. Thanatos suggested that RLSHs go out and create chalk outlines, like one you would find at a murder scene, and then label it with the fatal ills of society.
Lying on the Sidewalk
We set off. My job was to lie on the concrete and The Watchman did the chalk work.  In the alley behind Stonefly, we left an outline with the word GREED in it. DRUGS was left near the marsupial bridge underneath Holton Street.
We left two in Cathedral Square Park, GANG VIOLENCE and DOMESTIC ABUSE. We chalked two on the river walk, near Wisconsin Avenue and Wells Street, ALCOHOL ABUSE and CHILD ABUSE.
We left the last one outside the Journal Sentinel building on 4th Street, labeled POVERTY. We finished this one in the nick of time. A Bucks game had just let out across the street at the Bradley Center, and Watchman was just lettering the “Y” in POVERTY as the light turned green, and a large group of people began to walk over the outline. Some looked startled or confused; some didn’t seem to react at all.
Worth Trying
“Hopefully people see it. I guess I hope that even if it wakes just a little bit inside of them and makes them think  enough about it to make them change something in their lives or help prevent any of those things, then I think it was successful,” Watchman explained. “This is one of those cases were we aren’t going to know if it does any good, but it’s worth trying.”
Watchman’s team, the Great Lakes Heroes Guild, will raise money for Christmas toy charities for the second year in a row.  In addition to charities in Minneapolis and Florida, the Watchman will use his share of funds raised to bring toys to the Gingerbread House charity in West Bend.
You can help these heroes out with this great cause, by donating funds at: glhg.webs.com/psptoydrive.htm
http://www.riverwestcurrents.org/20091207208/News/Articles/Operation-Sidewalk-Chalk.html

Originally posted at http://hubpages.com/hub/Real-Life-Superheroes
What is happening to America? Our once proud country is becoming a black hole of despair. Social Security is going broke, Our national debt is sky-high. Health-care costs are rising through the roof. People are losing their jobs, their homes and their hope. As the dreams of our fathers slip farther and farther from the the sight of most Americans, people are losing faith in our politicians, our systems and each other.
What can we do to bring back our hope? Here are the stories of a few people who decided to fight on the side of hope and justice. People who believe that one person CAN make a difference. People who are trying to make our world a better place…
Real life superheros…
Do You Have a Superhero In Your Neighborhood?
These superheroes live in our neighborhoods, patrol our streets and help our needy. They live normal lives and hold normal jobs. The superpower they hold is caring. These heroes have taken upon themselves the daunting job of helping others. Their super-caring has led them to a life where action is preferable to inaction…where lending a helping hand is necessary…where love and justice are not just words, but a way of life.
What makes a superhero? Many will never understand, but there are a few people in this world who know. We may or may not sympathize with their need to don the superhero uniform and go forth to help others, however we should be able to recognize the altruism that is behind it. Let’s get to know some of today’s real life superheroes before we judge them.
Phantom Zero
From: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=48882705&blogId=457750147
“I’m a relatively normal citizen who wants to increase the amount of good in the world…” (Phantom Zero @ MySpace)
Phantom Zero speaks of how he did not always fit in as a child. Growing up, his feelings oscillated between a longing to fit in and a pride in being different. Phantom Zero’s sense of being different was one reason he found superheroes appealing. Here were some who, due to special powers or extraordinary life events, would never be like the other people in their lives. He connected with these misunderstood “monsters”.
Over time Phantom Zero came to realize that different was not bad…different was unique, special, and admirable. Realization that it is the person, not possessions, that makes the man, a sense of self strengthened in his soul. Phantom Zero acquired the power to be himself, to know himself and to love himself.
Phantom Zero…an ordinary man turned superhero or a superhero disguised as an ordinary man? Many of us question our ability to change our world. We question our ability to alter our reality. Not Phantom Zero! He knows that change is within each and every one of our grasps. We are each superheroes, all we need to do is to make a decision…a decision to live with honorable intent. Phantom Zero has made “a pledge to increase the amount of good in the world to counteract the evil.” Will you join him in his pledge?
Phantom Zero’s Philosophy on being a Real Life Superhero
“The most important aspect of being a Real Life Super Hero is as simple as this:
You selflessly serve a pro social mission.
It’s not about conquering groups of people to display your physical or martial prowess.
It’s not about having scads of cutting edge technology at one’s disposal.
It’s not about training one’s mind to the limits of human perfection so they can out think everyone and everthing that comes their way.
It’s about being a champion of good (and almost everyone has the capacity to do a little good every day).
The reward one receives from doing good deeds is the deed itself, the service to the greater good, and the benefit that said service offers to mankind.
At least, in my mind, that is what being a Real Life Super Hero is.
Sincerely,
Phantom Zero”
Quoted from: Phantom Zero’s MySpace Blog)

• Interview With Phantom Zero
• YouTube – PhantomZeroHero\’s Channel
• Phantom Zero’s MySpace Profile

A Change in Perception When I first read about these Superheroes, I thought it was just a joke. After doing the research for this article, my thoughts changed drastically… From humor, to interest, to wonder, to joy…I have found a group of people who are actively working to increase the amount of good in the world…without any wish of return. True altruistic activity! I have focused on Real LIfe Superheroes found in North America, but rest assured, Real Life Superheroes are actively increasing the good all around the world. I have not yet seen one, but when I do I will personally walk up and shake their hand and thank them. In the meantime, here is a big shout-out to all the Real Life Superheroes in the world: Thank You for all you have done and will do! You have my respect and support. Knowing you are there has increased the joy in my world. You are dawn in a night of strife. Your effulgence radiates outward, rippling toward a better world. Let us all be a part of this ripple; let caring and compassion unfurl in our world, expanding and pervading to touch each of us. There were too many wonderful Real Life Superheroes out there to cover each one. I have included a few more of the videos I found and links to find out more about them. You will find several others if you take the time to search. It will be time well used. When you need a pick-me-up from the greed and apathy of our world, read of these beacons of hope and be inspired. Master Legend “I’ve cut trees and rescued people and animals. I’ve brought water and snacks (to those in need) with the help of my friend “The Disabler”. I’ve done big things and little things and they all seem to equalize. I’ve saved a few lives and shut down a lot of crack houses. I love watching them get torn down. I want people to realize this is not a joke. I have almost been killed doing this. I am always out to save and protect in costume or not. I have scared some people and have been attacked by people I was helping. I walk or drive around looking to help if needed, giving what ever kind of help I can supply. I did not choose this life, it chose me.” (Master Legend: Quote from The EnemyBlog.com)

• Master Legend MySpace
• The Legend of Master Legend : Rolling Stone

Superhero “I have the exact same arrest powers as anybody reading this article: citizen’s arrest. If a perp is going to leave the scene or is hurting someone, then I will step in and use reasonable force to detain them.” (Superhero quoted from: Rational Reality)

• Real Life Superheroes: The Other Side Ration Reality
• Team Justice
• Superhero-MySpace

Amazonia “I do what I can to help stranded motorists and others who may need assistance to handing out supplies to the homeless. I also do the crime fighting side of RLSH work, I have helped people who were being mugged, beaten or otherwise harassed in one way or another. I will do whatever it takes to ensure that another human being is safe. I don’t have a death wish, but I will lay down my life if it means the preservation of anothers.” (Amazonia @ MySpace)

• Interview with Amazonia
• Amazonia Alkidike | MySpace
• Amazonia FaceBook
• YouTube – amazoniarlsh\’s Channel

• Thanatos-MySpace
• Thanatos\’s MySpace Blog | Thanatos, the Dark Avenger
• Capeless crusaders – The Globe and Mail

• The Beetle-MySpace Blogs
• YouTube – RLSHBeetle\’s Channel
• The Beetle-MySpace

• Ferrox | MySpace