Now ain't that a punch in the nose?

No, really, a punch in the nose. In recent posts we've been talking about Phoenix Jones the real life superhero who has been patrolling the dark, mean streets of Seattle,WA these past few months. While that may sound a tad odd, if you haven’t been following this blog, you don’t know the half of it. You see, Phoenix has been doing this in a mask and cape, armed with only his wits and a stun gun.

Yeah, you read that last part right. Well his last time out, he didn’t fare so well, you see, he got his nose broken by two actual criminals.

Jones, who was the subject of a bunch of articles and news reports about a month ago, is a weird dude who walks around Seattle in a costume and sneakers, apparently trying to stop crime. He did not do so well with this particular crime, however:

“With great responsibility...” indeed.

Some folk need a new hobby

Yeah, yeah, I like comics, and have been reading Superhero comics as long as I have been able to read, but (except for one Halloween), it never occurred to me to dress up as a superhero and actually fight crime. Apparently these folks walked down a decidedly different path.

A group of caped crusaders with names like Thorn, Green Reaper, Penelope, and Phoenix Jones have sprung up in Seattle. These masked vigilantes say they're part of the Rain City Superhero Movement -- self-described superheroes who patrol the streets at night and fight crime. They're part of a larger movement of crime fighters who host this website for the Real Life Superhero community -- giving tips to Regular Joes and Janes who want to take to the streets and perform "good deeds for the communitarian place whom he inhabits." Someone's been watching too much 'Kick-Ass.'

Yeah, you read that right, they are actually acting out their personal fantasies by fighting crime as superheroes...

Seattle police are getting a bit antsy about people putting themselves in unnecessary danger. A group of superheroes outside a gas station in ski masks didn't bode well with authorities, and one dressed in all black was almost shot running out of a dark park. Phoenix claims he was stabbed "while trying to intervene with a drug dealer and a citizen." Why do they risk it? "Because someone's gotta do something," the author of RLSH says.

Personally, I just don’t think that this stuff plays out the same way it does in either the comics or on the silver screen. Take my advice kids, leave the crime-fighting to the professionals.