Superheroes can’t get by on being big jerks all the time. Batman. Batman, stop it. You are ruining my point, Batman.

Okay, superheroes can’t get by on being big jerks all the time, unless they’re Batman. Or Cyclops. And real life “superheroes” really can’t get by if they’re going to be jerks to people. I’m not saying the Keene, New Hampshire group who went around topping up expired parking meters and calling themselves “Robin Hood and his Merry men” are necessarily real life superheroes. But I am saying that they probably should have been very careful about making sure they weren’t being jerks to the folks whose job it is to enforce parking while they were doing it.

Jess Thom is a 31-year-old woman who suffers from tourette syndrome, an uncontrollable tic disorder. But instead of simply dealing with the cards she was dealt, Thom had decided to make something positive out of it – she made herself into a superhero called Touretteshero. 

After being arrested for assault earlier this week, the man behind the mask of real-life superhero Phoenix Jones has been revealed. Benjamin Fodor, a 23-year-old man living in Seattle who has a family of his own and moonlights as a man in a rubber suit, fighting crime and protecting the innocent. And he has Gerald’s haircut from Hey Arnold!, which we would never exaggerate about.

Attention East Coast residents: You were supposed to stay inside yesterday! Unless you were Spider-Man. If you were Spider-Man, you were allowed to try surfing in the hurricane-tormented Atlantic Ocean. But really, only if you were actually Spider-Man, Marvel Superhero and not “Some Dude in a Spider-Man Outfit” who admits he’s “not being that smart” about trying to catch some waves. But what’s done is done, and we are assuming this masked man is now safe. But also: Watch for a guy in a poncho trying to be Rocky the Flying Squirrel at about the 2:00 mark.

Seriously, what the hell is everyone doing on the beach during a f*cking hurricane??

(Topless Robot)

GQ‘s Jon Ronson reported on a recent ride-along with real-life superhero Phoenix Jones and provided us all a lengthy, detailed exposé about the man in the mask who roams Seattle fighting crime. It’s actually a pretty incredible story and reveals more about Mr. Jones than we’ve ever read before. But we couldn’t help noticing that conversations that occur in the RLSH community sound like they’ve been taken straight out of The Venture Bros.

We love our real-life superheroes, and HBO‘s documentary — aptly titled Superheroes — has been following such people in their humble, comic-inspired efforts. Are they crazy? Are they noble? Judge for yourself: it airs tomorrow night at 9 PM. (But guys: Stan Lee is kind of concerned for your safety. Just letting you know.)

(Superheroes: The Movie, Design You Trust)

We at TMS like to keep tabs on the international real-life superhero movement, so nothing saddens us more than when a real-life superhero is just not needed. Actually, that might be a good thing, if that means there is a lack of crime to stop. But that still leaves someone with unrealized dreams of bringing justice to their community. Like Deadpool. Or, at least a guy who decide to use the name “Deadpool” instead of coming up with his own name.

If you’ve been following the news lately (maybe only in the New York area), you might have heard about the Long Island Serial Killer who has been killing sex workers who advertise on Craig’s List. Human remains have been found on Long Island beaches, and up to 10 women appear to have been murdered by this killer. Predictably and sadly, not everyone has a lot of sympathy for these women because of the line of work they’ve chosen, and some believe that the cops aren’t taking the case very seriously. A group of real-life superheroes in New York, calling themselves the New York Initiative, think that’s wrong, and they are out to teach potential victims how to protect themselves and help find this killer.

While promoting their movie Super, about a man who becomes a real-life superhero, actor Rainn Wilson and director James Gunn were visited by actual real-life superhero Phoenix Jones. The panel took place at Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con, so the city’s resident plebian crimefighter thought he’d stop by with fellow crimefighter Pitch Black to compare notes with Wilson.

(Bleeding Cool)

First, there were stories about a Seattle superhero operation featuring a guy who calls himself Phoenix Jones. Then, there was the truly humbling story of Birmingham, England’s Statesman, a real-life superhero whose mother likes to talk to the press about her son’s secret fight for justice. And now, more “civilian superheroes” are being spotted throughout the UK as well as Australia. As many as 16 people are roaming the streets of the UK, looking to save their fellow citizen from danger, costumed and using pseudonyms. But according to an American author researching these people for a book, they are different than the real-life superheroes in the US.