![]() "Will you touch my heart, save my life, and give me $9.40?" His parents live a two-hour bus ride away, in central Washington, and he's only $9.40 short for the fare home. "Crime doesn't care how I feel," he replies. A couple of my old injuries are flaring up, like some broken ribs. "The cut's still bleeding, internally and externally. Other than some junkies and drunks wandering around like zombies, the place is deserted. We head downtown and park in the business district, a bunch of empty office buildings in a nice part of Seattle. by the time we reach his very messy apartment, where he quickly changes into his full superhero costume: a black-and-gold rubber suit complete with stab plates and a pouch for his Taser and Mace. They're regular men with jobs and families and responsibilities who somehow have enough energy at the end of the day to journey into America's neediest neighborhoods to do what they can. Most undertake basically safe community work: helping the homeless, telling kids to stay off drugs, etc. There's New York City's Dark Guardian, who specializes in chasing pot dealers out of Washington Square Park by creeping up to them, shining a light in their eyes, and yelling, "This is a drug-free park!" And there are dozens and dozens more. ![]() There's RazorHawk, from Minneapolis, who was a pro wrestler for fifteen years before joining the RLSH movement. There's DC's Guardian, in Washington, who wears a full-body stars-and-stripes outfit and wanders the troubled areas behind the Capitol building. Phoenix didn't know this when he first donned the suit about a year ago, but he's one of around 200 real-life superheroes currently patrolling America's streets, looking for wrongs to right. We both look surprised: This big masked man, six feet one and 205 pounds, is barely out of boyhood. By the way, why do you name a pediatrician as your doctor?" "You're allowed to stay with your pediatrician until you're 22," Phoenix explains. It's very important that you go home and rest. "The good news is there's no serious damage," he says. "There's no point worrying about it," she says with a shrug.įinally the doctor arrives with the test results. ![]() "A few hours ago I went to use the bathroom and I started peeing blood," he says. That attack had burst a hole right through Phoenix's skin. Unfortunately the head of the bat landed exactly where he'd been punched a week earlier by another bar brawler holding a car key in his fist. "I ran across the street, and he jabbed me in the stomach," he says, pointing at a spot just below his belly button. A few hours ago, they were patrolling when they saw a guy swinging a baseball bat at another guy outside a bar. Fortunately, he was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time.By "we" he means his ten-strong Seattle crew, the Rain City Superheroes. Fodor was also shot while on patrol in Tacoma. He’s had his nose broken and was stabbed while breaking up a drug deal. Fighting crime is serious business and he’s endured several injuries since he first put on his mask. “I’m going to go out there with the most equipped, most protected, smartest team with the best tactical decisions I can, regardless of what that costs me personally,” Fodor told Seattle’s KING 5 News. New recruits have to prove that they can complete five pull-ups and 25 sit-ups in two minutes. He’s not totally opposed to allowing old members to join the new squad but they must meet certain physical requirements. In addition to problems with local police enforcement and several members not following the rules, Fodor said that several of his co-heroes were just too dang tubby to legitimately run down criminals.įodor, who also competes in mixed martial arts tournaments under yet another pseudonym, “Fear the Flattop,” has since given the RCSM a reboot with the help of four other heroes. In May, he posted a message on Facebook saying that the whole thing had gotten out of hand. Unfortunately, Fodor recently decided to pull the plug on his super squad. Over the years, they’ve prevented muggings, carjackings, assaults, and in 2011, a costumed superhero even stopped a guy who was trying to hijack a city bus. Secondly…several of them apparently need to lose some weight.įor the better part of the last decade, Seattle man Ben Fodor has patrolled the means streets of his city dressed as a costumed vigilante named “Phoenix Jones.” He’s also the leader and founder of The Rain City Superhero Movement, a group of Seattleites who, inspired by Fodor/Phoenix, defend truth, justice, and the American Way.īut Fodor and his colleagues, who also wear “super suits” and have aliases like “Omega” and “The Mantis,” aren’t a bunch of ComicCon cosplayers. Firstly, the Emerald City has a band of superheroes that fight crime around the city.
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