Heroes in the Night Will be at Wizard World Comic Con Chicago!

The Watchman and Blackbird-- 2 of the 6 panel members.

We're happy to announce that Heroes in the Night author Tea Krulos will host a panel of six RLSH titled "Meet the Real Life Superheroes!" at this year's Wizard Con in Chicago.

Details below.

MEET THE REAL LIFE SUPERHEROES!

Thursday, August 8, 5PM, Room 42

     

Join Tea Krulos, author of the new book Heroes in the Night: Inside the Real Life Superhero Movement, a non-fiction that explores the "Real Life Superhero" (RLSH) subculture-- people that invent their own costumed persona and hit the street to do charity events and sometimes even attempt crime-fighting. 

In a rare team up special, Krulos will be hosting a panel that includes actual RLSHs. They are: Razorhawk, who leads the Great Lakes Alliance in Minneapolis, Watchman and Blackbird of the Milwaukee team The Challengers, Electron from La Crosse, WI, and Chicago's own Moon and Crimson Catalyst.

HERO PROFILE #80: Arctic Knight

Operates out of: Minneapolis, MN

Group affiliation: Great Lakes Alliance

Activities: Patrols, charity events

Favorite quote: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Author's notes: I met Arctic Knight on a trip to Minneapolis over the weekend and saw Razorhawk and Geist again- I've met those guys several times in the past. I didn't get to talk much, but was amazed to find that the Arctic Knight was taller than me (I'm 6'5!)

THE WATCHMAN GOES TO CAMPUS 2

In a report posted here at the beginning of the month, I detailed the college craze for local RLSH The Watchman and Blackbird. They appeared in a front page story for Marquette University's student newspaper, the Marquette Tribune. They also appeared in a segment for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's campus news program PantherVision. They were interviewed for radio station 88.9FM Radio Milwaukee (I'm being told there were production delays on that, but it might yet appear in the future.)

The UWM Post, UWM's student newspaper, has also picked up the story in a special Riverwest themed issue of the paper that came out today. "Real Life Superheroes- The Watchman Patrols Riverwest," was written by staff writer Kevin Kaber and I think he did a good job with the article. He keeps it light-hearted but not insulting, shares who these guys are at a glance pretty well, and includes a quote from yours truly. It's also great to see the guys included amidst the other articles on interesting things going on in Riverwest.

The print version has an additional gag that the online version doesn't. The article ends "As for his secret identity? Obviously The Watchman is (See WATCHMAN page 21)"

After flipping through the pages in confusion, you realize there is no page 21 (the paper is only 16 pages) and that the UWM Post has been pulling your leg as you look for a reveal that doesn't exist. It fooled me and caused me to LOL, so well done!

You can read the article HERE.

I got a chance to hang with The Watchman and Blackbird last night. Before we went on a patrol in Blackbird's Birdmobile (it was a quiet patrol while I was with them, after they dropped me off they encountered a suspicious vehicle and reported it to a police officer they found nearby) we discussed strategy in taking part in the Great Lakes Alliance annual holiday toy drive.

We will be donating the toys to at least two (maybe three) Wisconsin charities. We will be setting up a time and location for people to drop off toys and meet the heroes in person here in Riverwest. People can also donate funds online at the GLA's website HERE.

Updates on this mission will be posted throughout December.