Move Over Batman, Real Life Superheroes are Here to Save the Day - Or at Least Brighten It

Real Life Superheroes - What?

The explosion in popularity of comics and superheroes is pretty evident today. So much though, that a group of people have answered the call to bring superheroes into reality. And with the help of the media, this niche of people have become more visible in the public. Called Real Life Superheroes, or RLSH (or "relish" as I like to say for more convenient ease), this group of people are spread across the globe for the purpose of helping people.

So How Do They Help People? Because They Sound Like Vigilantes

I should quickly state that I neither condemn nor condone the activities of this group of people. 

The way that they help people ranges from passing out food to the homeless to organizing and holding neighborhood watches. Very few take part in vigilante activity and the main RLSH community keeps their distance from those who do. As stated, the majority spend their energies toward with helping people in non-violent ways. Some have their own special brand of helping people out in an off-beat way such as Polar Man located in Canada who spends his time shoveling the driveways and walkways of the elderly during the winter.

Polar Man on a Mission to Make the World Better Place One Driveway at a Time.

Where are the the Real Life Super Heroes Located?

Pretty much everywhere. From big cities to small towns, it just depends on if someone in the community decides to take up the cape and a persona. 

Curious to see if there's a RLSH in your community? Check out here:  http://rlsh.wikia.com/wiki/Location

Or a quick web search with your community's name and Real Life Superheroes should turn up answers.

Some are more active in certain cities than others - I was surprised recently when the Chicago Tribune ran an article on a group in the Great Lakes region. I never knew of any activity in Chicago (I'm originally from the Chicagoland area). http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/409/article/p2p-78942465/

That's So Awesome! I Should Totally Do That! I Always Wanted to Be a Superhero!

Umm, no. You shouldn't. Even though I ultimately cannot tell you what to do, I am going to tell you that you should not (there so no one can blame me if you make a bad decision). 

But really, it's not about crime fighting. Yes, some do hold community watches, but it's not about fighting crime, but rather to prevent it. In a short documentary that I have included below real life superheroes even state that they are activists, not crime fighters. They even talk about other acts they do to help their community out such as cleaning up graffiti and putting up flyers of missing or wanted people.

 And even as I have written above, the community tries to distance itself from those who decide to fight rather than prevent - sometimes getting a bit zealous about it. Here's a well-known incident that brought the RLSH community further into the spotlight: http://abcnews.go.com/US/citizen-superhero-phoenix-jones-arrested-seattle/story?id=14704985

So Now That You're a Bit Sucked into the World of Real Life Superheroes But You Want to Enjoy it From the Safety of Your Couch, Here's Some Recommendations:

-    Kick-Ass  - There's the movies and the comics

-    Super        - This is a very dark comedy FYI

-    Real Life Superheroes = Next Level Role-Playing    - A short documentary on Real Life Superheroes. I should note that an interesting aspect of those interviewed all state that they are activists. Not vigilantes, not crime fighters, but activists. Watch it below here:

-    Watchmen  - Yes, this is a movie but I highly recommend the actual comic over the movie. And    yes, their is a guy with powers and another has unlimited money for space research, but everyone else are normal people.

-   Superheroes -  A documentary that filmmaker Mike Barnett made and met with a number of members from the RLSH community :http://www.reallifesuperheroes.com/tag/superheroes-movie-documentary/

-    Heroes in the Night - A blog by a writer who is currently working on a book about this community. Check it out here: http://heroesinthenight.blogspot.com

-   Real Life Superheroes Archives  -  After a virus took down the site, a group of dedicated RLSH's and supporters created this site that contains the stories, photographs and more from the original site. Here's a link: http://rlshorg.wordpress.com