Thursday, January 6, 2011

He's Gotta Be Good And He's Gotta Be Strong

...and he's gotta be fresh from the fight.

A Seattle man who calls himself "Phoenix Jones" appears to have taken 2010's comic book film "Kick-Ass" to heart.


Like the main character in the independently produced hero fantasy, Jones has taken it upon himself to dress in a colorful outfit and roam the streets looking for crime.

And on Sunday night, while trolling the streets of the Seattle suburb Lynnwood, he found one.

A man, who asked local reporters to identify him only as Dan, said his car was almost broken into by an unknown criminal when out of nowhere a masked man in a "skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit" rushed in and chased the crook away.

His heroics caught the attention of KIRO Eyewitness News, which went up-close with Jones, the self-named "Guardian of Seattle."

He carries mace and tear gas, and a stun prod for fighting off criminals. Jones's outfit was also equipped with stab plates and bullet-proof material, he said.

Jones is just one of a team that calls itself the "Rain City Superhero Movement," which calls to arms regular citizens who are sick of waiting for others to take direct action against criminals. They base their principles on the "Real Life Superhero Movement," a website formed after comic book icon Stan Lee's television show "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" caught on in 2006.

"Officially, a Real Life Superhero is whoever chooses to embody the values presented in superheroic comic books, not only by donning a mask/costume, but also performing good deeds for the communitarian place whom he inhabits," the "movement" declared on its website. "You don't necessarily need to engage in a violent fight to be a crime fighter - you might patrol and report whatever crime you see. So basically, terms like 'good deed' or 'crime fighting' are open to various interpretations."

Hey, worked for Blackwater and Sam and Max.

Hope he has health insurance.

3 comments:

  1. The Guardian Angels have been in Philly and New York and elsewhere for decades. But they just wear T-shirts and hats, not Halloween costumes.

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  2. Too bad the equivalent of "Lex Luthor Elected President" occurred before this man was born.

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  3. I don't see this as turning out well. There's a reason superhero fantasies are just that.

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