Can Iron Man’s Superhero Registration Act be far behind?

ABC and the Times Online have printed stories about a recent trend in the U.S.: home-grown, costume-wearing superheroes. Known as Real Life Super Heroes (RLSH), more than 200 people in the United States and abroad have donned spandex and begun fighting crime in their local areas.

According to the World Superhero Registry, only non-lethal means of subduing criminals are condoned, and small-timers like prostitutes and drug users are “of limited value to society.” Based on the Times article, this new trend has been attributed to causes ranging from 9/11 to the boom in superhero films.

Some have been fairly brazen, like the Ghost and Insignis of Utah’s Black Monday Society, who have taken down drug deals and armed thugs in public parks. Others, however, have been more unbalanced than heroic, as the Arizona-based Black Owl had a brief stand-off with the police after escaping a psychiatric ward.

As for the day-to-day of the superhero life, the anecdotes seen in the Times piece range from hilariously poignant to downright dangerous:

Mr. Invisible is cheered that at least his grey one-piece “invisibility suit” works, proven when a drunk urinated on him in an alley… [meanwhile,] Master Legend of Florida, who arms himself with a pepper-spraying cannon powered by cans of antiperspirant, was attacked by a man with a hammer.

Yet Master Legend, one of the original Real Life Super Heroes, has an even deeper back story, shown in this month’s Rolling Stone. You can check out more of the real-life vigilantes here and here.

[Image from Citizen Prime's MySpace account.]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 12:25 pm and is filed under News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.