Have you seen this masked man, Seattle?
First reported in November, a man wearing an exceedingly well-made superhero costume has been stalking the streets of Seattle, looking for crime to fight. Like in Kick-Ass, except real. He calls himself Phoenix Jones, and apparently, he has actually prevented a crime.
In his most recent success, Jones prevented a carjacking, literally coming out of the shadows and scaring the near-criminal off before he could commit the crime. Here is news video on the story:
Phoenix Jones is part of an eight-member vigilante group called the Rain City Superhero Movement, who all dress in costume in hopes of helping their community and standing up for citizens in trouble. According to Jones, all members have military or mixed martial arts backgrounds. His weapon of choice is a taser attached to a nightstick. (Which Kick-Ass didn’t think of, though Hit Girl would have, and then thought, “Yeah, that would be f**king adorable…”)
Naturally, police aren’t thrilled with the Rain City Superhero Movement (which is associated with the Real Life Superhero Community, a nationwide movement) and say that vigilantism has led to suspects being released when the superheroes declined to identify themselves, to say nothing of their brushes with physical peril — they’ve been shot at and stabbed on more than one occasion.
The Real Life Superhero community isn’t completely deluded. They do not claim to have superpowers nor do they try to kill bad guys. In fact, they’re really just trying to lend a hand while living up to what Dave Lizewski was doing in Kick-Ass: Standing up and doing something as opposed to just ignoring people who need help. They give (anonymous) tips to police, help the homeless, and give blood.
But what happens when someone starts the Real Life Super Villain community …?
(via Asylum, Seattle PI)
