The basis for this was the concept of "equal time." I asked three people to write statements giving a positive testimonial about Master Legend and three people to give a negative testimonial. I asked people who I knew were not shy about their opinions and who I had seen share their opinion of Master Legend before. I'd like to thank all six participants for taking part.
--> TESTIMONIAL: Superhero
Superhero, of Clearwater, Florida,is a founding member of Team Justice, along with Master Legend. They have worked together on many missions.
I've know Master Legend for more than a few years now. I've had the privilege of working with him in the field on many occasions as well. Probably the moment that sticks out in my head the most about ML was from last year’s Christmas mission in Orlando. There was a clearly disturbed woman, about my age, walking around telling people about how her baby was killed years ago and other stuff that quite frankly nobody could make heads or tails of. ML walked up to her, they spoke, and she calmed right down and accepted some water and a package from him. ML was the only person she would listen to. He just had that calming effect on her and on that group of people in general. People in that economic bracket have been hurt so many times, but they just know ML is genuinely there to help them. I've seen it first hand and it's why I wanted to make Team Justice an official recognized organization.
People don't seem to realize- I think the impression is that Symbiote and I handle the nuts and bolts of Team Justice and ML just kind of is there. But just the opposite is true. ML is a man of the people, he knows how to find them and what they need, and he was doing it long before we were there.
As for the “powers" as they are called? I can honestly say ML has NEVER made any kind of a prediction for me or warned me about a event that was going to happen that turned out to be wrong or didn't come to pass. Nuff' said.
CRITICISM: Wolf <--
Wolf is a detective with RLSH ties from Toronto. He thinks that Master Legend is a bad role model and his advice could lead people to getting into trouble.
Master Legend.
Having never met the man, never given an opportunity to interrogate him, or to view his mannerisms, I am unable to give no concrete evidence as to his offline exploits, apart from second-hand accounts. As these are not permissible even in court, I will exclude them, and only include what I've observed, solely with his online comments and activity.
To his credit, he has done some good in his time. He is an active member of Team Justice. He is well spoken of by one I respect: Superhero. And he has documented cases of good deeds he has done.
But so has my postman.
The main reasons I am a strong critic of Master Legend are his constant hypocrisy, arrogance, inability to hold a reasonable conversation, consistent giver of bad advice, and showing himself as a bad role model.
Many people in this hero community are little...unusual. So this is tolerable, to a degree, with Master Legend. However, his claiming to be, not just a regular angel, but an archangel named "Metatron" goes to provide insight into his extreme arrogance, not just some unusual quirk. Not to mention, he takes every single opportunity he can to egotistically remind people of that fact. Additionally, he claims to have also been granted magickal powers from a voodoo queen, while systematically remaining an avid follower the Bible. However, if you are to try to disprove, or disagree with this, or any other of his outrageous claims, (like his ability to turn invisible, his magickal stone, or other magickal ability), you suddenly are said to have "Master Legend envy," and should "Go get an ice cream from mommy/move out of mommy's basement."
This shows too, then, his complete inability to hold a logical conversation, or show any sort of reasoning. Reasoning and logical problem solving are incredibly important traits in everyday life, let alone in our...line of work. Getting into a debate or disagreement on any subject results in the exact same thing every time.
-Poor English.
-Poorly proven points.
-Inability to use, or win an argument, using logic.
-No evidence to back up a claim.
-A personal attack against the doubter.
If he cannot maintain a peaceful, friendly, ONLINE debate, it stands as proof against him how he would handle any real-life situation. I wanted to post an example of what happened just after someone bumped into him on the street, (and his instigating a fight after making a sexual remark to the man's girlfriend,) but his blog has seemed to have been removed.
Add to this his well documented reckless driving habits, poor advice he gives to new ones joining the community, his hypocritically using the Bible to advise, while breaking its tenets himself, his reputation for drinking, rarely useful online posts or advice, and various first-hand reports I've heard from others, I remain, a strong critic of Master Legend.
But, of course, I obviously have Master Legend envy. Perhaps I will now go get an ice cream from my mother.
-->TESTIMONIAL: Apocalypse Meow
Apocalypse Meow, of Portland, Oregon, is an administrator at therlsh.net forum along with her husband, Zetaman. She hosts a weekly internet radio show called Meow and Friends. A recent episode was titled "Master Legend: Freak or Freakin' Awesome?" Meow's conclusion was that he was "freakin' awesome."
I admire Master Legend because he is more active than many people in this community and he puts forth more effort than many of the people that are putting him down. He does not spend his time gossiping and causing issues, and even though he is regarded as closed minded and homophobic, he is just as dedicated to his beliefs as others are about their own. He shares my love for pissing people off, and is able to hone in on what people find so maddening just so he can poke you. This is actually funny, and only upsetting if you are jealous of his charisma. Master Legend has struggled to make his life count despite an abusive background. When people suffer, he worries and wants to help.
Despite his beliefs, he does not hold prejudice against the people he assists. He is unique, eccentric and hilarious. He does not hold grudges, and he will help anyone that is hurting despite how they have treated him. If he was truly a danger to society, why would stable and established people like Peter Tangen or Superhero work so hard to support him?
I am not upset when he makes off-the-wall claims or assumes unearthly titles. It does not annoy me, threaten me, or keep me up at night. His behavior isn’t any different from other people that have a gimmick. He does not shake my faith or prompt me to defend it. And if half the people that think he’s crazy don’t believe in God anyway, why are they so offended?
Master Legend is a legend. He is one of the greats, and he is my friend.
CRITICISM: Poop Knife <--
Real life supervillains exist, however they only engage in internet villainy. One thing unites most of these villains- a dislike for Master Legend. When Poop Knife called into the previously mentioned Meow and Friends show about Master Legend, he had his line cut when he began his criticism. Other villains have weighed in on Master Legend recently in the blogosphere.
In life we are defined by the roles we play in society. Each individual is unique and has the ability to change their environment for better or worse depending on what value system they believe in. No one is exempt from failure or success in the goals and tasks they wish to accomplish. What is righteous in one culture is heresy in another. There is one defining rule that governs all of the works of civilized modern society.... do no harm.
Do a few kind acts make up for a lifestyle of destruction? Master Legend has chosen to protect the world based on his own personal views that do not represent the vast majority he seeks to defend. In his self appointed quest he denies others of their inalienable rights as guaranteed by the laws of the government of the country in which he lives. Without law and order we are thrust into chaos and anarchy.
Master Legend can accept the consequences of his actions.... but not the responsibility of them.
--> TESTIMONIAL: Dark Guardian
Dark Guardian, of Staten Island, is also an administrator at therlsh.net. At first he was a critic, but grew to appreciate his fellow RLSH.
I have known Master Legend for a long time. I did not like him when I first came across him. I was thinking- who is this crazy guy with these crazy stories? We did not get along to say the least.
After time and seeing what he does to help others my opinions of him changed. This is a guy who goes out of his way to help others and will put his life on the line to protect others.
People may not like him, agree with the way he does things, or his opinions, but the man is a true hero. I still don't agree with everything he says or does, but he keeps working to make the world a better place. What people need to focus on is the good work he does. I am proud to call him colleague.
CRITICISM: Z <--
Z lives in Brooklyn, is a member of the New York Initiative, and a long time critic of Master Legend.
Anyone who knows me knows my feelings on the subject so I’m going make this short and sweet - Master Legend is included in everything concerning the real life superhero community, because of an article Rolling Stone magazine did on him, mainly to make spectacle of his idiocy and using it to put dollars in their pockets. Good on them for pandering to a nation of ADD kids, but they damaged the real life superhero community- probably permanently- by using him as a poster child.
They put you in a hole that is so serious that capable people can’t even try to get involved with you guys. The only thing the RLSH has going for it is its message- and the only way that message is going to mean a damn is if you are incorruptible. The moment you stray from the path, your only “power” is stripped from you. The RLSH is simply a face and a symbol for a larger movement and the majority of you have allowed that face to be this:
An obvious alcoholic. I’ve seen this with my own eyes in person. The man simply cannot stop drinking.
A bigot and a racist. He has gay bashed on numerous occasions, which I also saw with my own eyes.
Someone who claims to be an archangel. Again, I am a witness to this. And more recently Master Legend admittedly staged a fight with crackheads for the benefit of a documentary crew.
Really guys, whether you want to or not, this is the message you are sending to the world- “We permit our image to be sullied by anyone who wants to pretend they are a superhero. We don’t care what our message is as long as we have tights on.”
A lot of people say to me that “Master Legend has done a lot of great things for people and still does.” Ok. THEN HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER. Seriously. If the man is even half as good as you think, he should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us. He is an unapologetic screw up and when you confront him about his issues he has many excuses and you guys just seem to think his crap tastes like cotton candy.
You’re not helping anything- you’re making assholes of yourselves and you’ve made an asshole of everyone involved. You are who you allow to represent you, step up and use the power of the media for its best use- to genuinely interest people about a story of elusive freedom fighters , silent but ever present Americans, and of course radical thinkers- but make sure there is substance behind it, not a fool in a mask. If you genuinely care about this community- you will do what is best for it.
People need real heroes and not more corrupt ideology.
