Happy Holidays from Heroes in the Night!

2013 was a great year for Heroes in the Night-- we saw publication, some great reviews, and some fun in-person events. We've got more of the same planned for 2014, but now it's time for a holiday break.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Author Tea Krulos with local Real Life Superhero team The Challengers at their annual charity toy drive.

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Challengers Christmas Toy Drive a Huge Hit!

Local Milwaukee RLSH team the Challengers do a charity toy drive every year and this is the fourth year I've done a small part in helping them with their mission. At this annual event the team asks for in-person donations of toys and art supplies for two charities. Gingerbread House donates toys to low income families in Washington County. Meta House is a rehab program in my neighborhood (Riverwest) for women and their families. They incorporate a lot of art therapy into their programs.

This year, we set up the RLSH appearance at Dryhootch, a non-profit benefit coffee house that helps veterans and their families with a variety of issues.

It was a cold and snowy day, but that didn't prevent the Challengers from showing up in force. The Watchman, Blackbird, Night Vision, the towering Skyscraper, and the Junior Challengers--Wonder Boy, Badger Boy, and Guardian Girl-- were all there.

Overall, the toy drive was a huge success. Our friends at comic book store Lost World of Wonders hosted a show earlier in the week and offered free admission with a toy donation, and donated generously themselves. The Junior Challengers even pooled some of their own money to buy donations. Good work!

FOX 6 stopped by to shoot some footage for last night's News at 10. Here's the clip:


Pretty cool, huh?

When I returned home and checked in on Facebook, I realized the Challengers weren't the only ones try to do some good out there this weekend.

For example, Crusader Prime reports that he and fellow Chicago RLSH handed out supplies-- gloves, blankets, shirts, socks, hand warmers, and food-- to the homeless yesterday in the area around lower Wacker Drive yesterday. He says they ran into a lot of people in need and handed out the amount of supplies they usually spend all night distributing in about an hour and twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, on in the West, teams were participating in a quarterly RLSH outreach program called S.I.G.N.S. of HOPE. In San Francisco, the California Initiative handed out supplies including water, first aid kits, cookies and 240 homemade burritos (!) yesterday in the Mission District. Also, in Seattle, members of the Washington Initiative and other Seattle superheroes teamed up to do a similar hand out of supplies and food.

WAI members will discuss S.I.G.N.S of HOPE tonight (9PM EST) on the Initiative hosted Tribe Radio:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tribetalk/2013/12/16/5-of-7-neighborhood-heroes--tips-training-and-tales-ft-the-wai

Tune in!

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.

Heroes in the Night Featured in La Crosse Tribune!

A recent edition of the La Crosse Tribune featured an article by Mike Tighe on La Crosse, WI Real Life Superhero Electron (with guest appearance by Rochester, MN's Geist)-- two of the many RLSH discussed in my book, Heroes in the Night.

To the right of the article you'll find a lengthy sidebar that talks about Heroes in the Night and offers my insight on some "RLSH 101."

You can read the article HERE.

Electron

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HEROES IN THE NIGHT, available for pre-order at IPG///BARNES & NOBLE///AMAZON///POWELL'S///INDIEBOUND
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Book available OCTOBER 1, 2013!

HERO PROFILE #1: The Watchman

The Watchman Photo by Pierre-Elie de Pibrac

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Team affiliation: The Challengers

Activities: Neighborhood crime patrols, charity events

Favorite comic book superhero: Superman

Author's Notes: I couldn't start the new Heroes Profile with anyone but The Watchman. He's a local RLSH and the reason I got started on Heroes in the Night. I had heard a news blurb and thought the topic would be interesting to write on and so I began searching for a local RLSH. I found The Watchman. Over the last few years I've stayed in touch with him on a regular basis and have joined him on quite a few of his adventures, as well as seeing his team, The Challengers, evolve.



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HEROES IN THE NIGHT, available for pre-order at IPG///BARNES & NOBLE///AMAZON///POWELL'S///INDIEBOUND
GOODREADS///FACEBOOK
Book available OCTOBER 1, 2013!

The Challengers 2012 Christmas Mission

The Challengers, with special guest appearance by Santa Claus.

The Challengers’ annual holiday toy and art supply drive was a success. Through a donation box set up at Blush and an in-person appearance by The Watchman, Blackbird, and Night Vision at Brewed Cafe, the team collected donations.  that benefits the Gingerbread House (in West Bend) and Meta House (here in Riverwest). It was a rainy and cold day, but they stuck it out and collected donations of toys, art supplies, and cash. All together, they ended up getting a couple boxes worth of donations- good work, guys! 

Online fundraising (all monetary funds will be used to buy more toys and art supplies) will remain open until Friday, December 21 here: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6Om35

Happy holidays!

The Challengers 2012 Christmas Charity Mission

Author's note: This is the third holiday season that I've helped out (mainly with press and e-mails) The Challengers- a local Milwaukee group of  RLSH. Each year they try to gather donations of toys and art supplies to donate to two charities. We had a good success with it in 2010. 2011 was a little disappointing, but we're hoping 2012 will be the strongest year yet. All the info for this year's event is below. Happy holidays!

Photo by Lacy Landre

LOCAL “REAL LIFE SUPER HEROES” ON A CHRISTMAS CHARITY MISSION

Superheroes to appear in person December 15 at Brewed Cafe

-December 5, 2012

Milwaukee’s team of “Real Life Super Heroes”-- The Challengers--  are once again working on their annual Christmas charity mission. Like the last two holiday seasons, they’ll be making an in-person appearance to collect toys and art supplies for two great local charities.

The Gingerbread House is a charity in West Bend that collects toys for low income families that need help buying gifts. Meta House, in Milwaukee, is a rehabilitation center for women and their families that has a need for toys and art supplies for their art therapy programs.

The Challengers are using their time and flashy appearance to help attract attention for these charities and collect donations for them. Monetary donations will be used to buy more supplies to donate.

This year, there are multiple ways you can get a donation to The Challengers:

In person: The Challengers will be making an in-person appearance at Brewed Cafe (1208 E. Brady Street) on Saturday, December 15, from 11-4. They will be accepting donations of toys, art supplies, and cash. This is a great chance to meet the “Real Life Super Heroes” in person and help them out with their cause.

There is also a donation box set up at Blush Beauty Boutique (249 N. Water Street) from now until December 15^th where donations can be dropped off anytime during business hours (Mon: 11-5, Tu-Sat: 10-6).

In addition, there is a page set up on Fundrazr where you can donate money online: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6Om35

###

A CHALLENGERS CHRISTMAS

The Challengers outside of Fuel. Photo by Lacy Landre- Third Coast Digest.

The Challengers volunteered for a couple of holiday missions over the last few weeks. Their annual toy drive took place again this year outside of the Fuel Cafe here in Milwaukee (right in my neighborhood, Riverwest)where they took donations of toys and art supplies to be divvied up between two charities, the Gingerbread House and the Meta House.

The Gingerbread House is in nearby Washington County and provides toys to low income families who can't afford to buy gifts.

The Meta House is right down the street from me in Riverwest and is a rehab program for women and their families. They are always in need of art supplies for their art therapy programs.

Challengers The Watchman, Crimson Crusader, Night Vision, and Blackbird as well as Watchman heirs apparent Wonder Boy and Guardian Girl were on hand to collect donations. Things were slower this year compared to last year. We were not able to get the media placement like we did last season and--I don't know--times are hard.

Still, we did get some donations and these were delivered to Gingerbread House by The Watchman and to the Meta House by Blackbird and myself.

The Challengers helping out the Veterans for Peace. Photo by Gary Porter, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Something interesting that came out of the event was meeting a man named Terry who works with a group called Veterans for Peace. He was very interested in what the guys were doing and invited them to an event Monday night.

The event, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, was a sort of unloading party. Fifty volunteers, including firefighters, veterans, and others unloaded and stacked a donation of 350 cases of food for the Veterans for Peace Food Pantry. Blackbird, Crimson Crusader, and Night Vision joined the human assembly line to help stock the food. The 484th Army Band played Christmas carols as the volunteers worked. The RLSH had a good reception and already are talking with Terry about more ways they can work with Veterans for Peace.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
No matter what you celebrate (even if it is the maniacal Real Life Supervillain holiday Ubermas) I wish you all a happy holiday season. I will have a short holiday hiatus myself, but expect a new blog post the first week of January.

LINKS
GINGERBREAD HOUSE: www.volunteernow.net/vc_no_menu_gingerbread.shtml
META HOUSE: www.metahouse.org
VETERANS FOR PEACE: www.milwaukeevfp.org

HERO PROFILE #83: Night Vision

Photo by Lacy Landre
Operates out of: Milwaukee, WI

Team affiliation: The Challengers

Activities: Night patrols, charity events

Author's notes: Night Vision is a local RLSH I've met up with a couple times now, once on patrol and once at a Christmas charity event last week. He got inspired to get involved after he found out that his friend was none other than the mysterious Milwaukee RLSH known as Blackbird.

THE CHALLENGERS CHRISTMAS CHARITY DRIVE

Editor's note- I'm continuing my own annual tradition of helping my local RLSHs by writing a press release for their holiday charity mission.
This year they are again collecting toys and art supplies for two great charities- The Gingerbread House in Washington County and the Meta House right here in my neighborhood, Riverwest. Press release follows.

The term “Real Life Super Heroes” (or RLSH) describes an international movement or subculture of people who adopt their own costumed personas and head out to try to make their communities a better place. For some this is charity or humanitarian efforts. Others use the concept as a platform for activism. And some choose to actively crime fight.

Milwaukee has its own team of RLSH- The Challengers. Much of the team growth has occurred over the last year. The founding member is The Watchman, who operated as Milwaukee's sole superhero for a few years, but is now joined by his team- Blackbird, Crimson Crusader, Charade, Night Vision, and Electron (of Madison).

The team has done charity events, handed out supplies to the homeless, and done a crime watching program similar to a neighborhood block watch (although in superhero gear).

This year, the team is continuing The Watchman's annual tradition of collecting toys and art supplies for a couple of charities- The Gingerbread House, of Washington County, provides toys to low income families. Meta House is a rehab program for mothers and their children located in Riverwest. In addition to toys, Meta House has cited a need for art supplies for their art rehab programs.

On Saturday, December 10, The Challengers will be in person in front of the Fuel Café (818 E. Center Street) from 10AM-3PM collecting donations. They are looking for (new) toys, art supplies, board games, or cash (which will be used to buy additional supplies). Donations will be delivered in person to the two charities the following week.

They aren't saving the world from killer aliens or battling escaped supervillains from Arkham Asylum, but here is an opportunity to meet some superheroes and help out some local charities.

At a glance:
WHAT: The Challenger’s charity toy drive
WHEN: Saturday, December 10, 10AM-4PM
WHERE: Fuel Café, 818 E. Center Street
Milwaukee's team of “Real Life Super Heroes,” The Challengers, is working to collect toys, art supplies, and money for two charities- the Gingerbread House in West Bend and the Meta House in Riverwest.

For more information or to set up an interview with the The Challengers, contact:
Contact: Tea Krulos
teakrulos@gmail.com

RLSH storyline on "Castle"

Heroes in the Night fans pointed out that the most recent episode of the ABC comedy-drama "Castle" featured a "Real Life Super Hero." In the episode, titled "Heroes and Villains," lead character Richard Castle (played by Nathan Fillion) is hip to the "real life super hero subculture." He shows his detective partner a YouTube video of a bumbling RLSH named "Red Maroon." The two then line up suspects for a RLSH named "Lone Vengeance" who may or may not have murdered a criminal with a samurai sword.

We won't spoil the ending- the episode is available to watch at ABC's website.

Although this is latest fictitious RLSH to appear on a TV show, it isn't the first. A year ago, Heroes in the Night reported on the ABC police drama "Rookie Blue," which also featured a story with a RLSH named "The Guardian."
(heroesinthenight.blogspot.com/2010/09/090410-center-street-patrol-and-other.html)

ALSO: Yesterday was the birthday of The Watchman and I joined him and his Challengers team mates Blackbird, Crimson Crusader and a new recruit, tentatively named Night Vision at his house for a grill out- bratwurst of course, this is Wisconsin. Happy birthday!

Electron, Heroes in the Night in Badger Herald

Electron- photo by Matt Hintz/ Badger Herald

Madison, Wisconsin is the capitol of Wisconsin and located about 90 minutes West of Milwaukee. Madison has a sole reserve member of the Milwaukee based team, The Challengers, named Electron. The Badger Herald, a newspaper associated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently ran an article on Electron with a quote from Heroes in the Night author Tea Krulos thrown in for good measure.

The article, written by Lin Weeks can be found here:
badgerherald.com/artsetc/2011/09/20/electron_the_many_la.php

THE CHALLENGERS FEATURED in WISCONSIN TRAILS MAGAZINE

photo by Jerry Luterman- Wisconsin Trails magazine- The Challengers in Gordon Park

Local Real Life Super Hero team The Challengers will be featured in an upcoming issue of Wisconsin Trails magazine and photographer Jerry Luterman shares the photos and some Q and A with the members here-

wisconsintrails.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/the-challengers/

The featured members include The Watchman, Blackbird, Charade and Crimson Crusader of the Milwaukee area and Electron from Madison.

Riverwest 24 Bonus

THE CHALLENGERS TEMPORARILY BECOMES LARGEST RLSH TEAM AS OVER 150 PEOPLE SWORN IN AS HONORARY MEMBERS UNTIL 8PM

The Riverwest 24 is an annual bicycle race organized by members of the community of Riverwest. Riders in solo or team divisions test their endurance by seeing how many laps of the route they can complete in a 24 hour period.

Along the way there are several opportunities to complete bonus checkpoint challenges to gain extra points. Last year I was invited to come up with a bonus checkpoint that featured local Real Life Super Heroes The Watchman and Blackbird. We had people assemble a superhero costume and talk about what it means to be a hero in front of a video camera. He can see my blog post on that effort HERE.

We were invited to return with a bonus checkpoint this year, and decided to set up in Gordon Park midnight- 2AM.

As riders approached the entrance to the park, they were given two options- travel down path A or path B. Going down the right path would lead them out of the checkpoint, going down the wrong path (path B) would be a dead end where they would meet the mysterious Blackbird...


Going down the correct path (path A) led them into the woods where they encountered The Watchman and Crimson Crusader. They had the riders raise their right hand and recite this oath:

AS a deputized member of The Challengers, I vow to perform the following duties until the end of the Riverwest 24-

Keep myself hydrated

Obey traffic laws

Keep vigilant about my safety, the safety of other riders and the citizens of Riverwest.

A rider pledges her support as an honorary Challenger

The Watchman and Crimson Crusader, leading riders in reciting the oath

After their pledge was completed, the riders were recorded as having completed the checkpoint and reentered the race route. The person tallying the bonus tells me 151 people completed the checkpoint. In addition, a couple groups of people not signed on for the race heard about the checkpoint and ventured into the woods to check it out.

More riders sworn in as Challengers

A somewhat surly looking David Beyer, Jr. and his assistant Courtney being sworn in. David is a cartoonist and has contributed a few illustrations to Heroes in the Night

After the checkpoint I headed out but The Watchman and Crimson Crusader carried on to do a foot patrol.

As always, a good time. The race ends today at 8PM, so I'm heading out now to cheer the riders on! (and you can see live updates on their site-riverwest24.com/leader-board)

HOPE EVENT THIS WEEKEND

ALSO- PHOENIX JONES APOLOGIZES, SQUASHES PARTY CRASHING RUMORS

Real Life Super Heroes are already beginning to congregate in the city of San Diego to enjoy Comic Con related events and prepare for HOPE 2011, a large scale homeless outreach program. The event was organized by Razorhawk who solicited donations and put a year worth of work into the event. The result is about 200 backpacks filled with supplies for the handout and a crew of 30 some RLSH attending to help him.

I will be there myself to give Razorhawk a hand and report on the weekend's events. I've met Razorhawk twice before, and other RLSH I've previously met attending include Thanatos, Knight Owl and Geist. Many others I'm familiar with and have written about here on the blog including Anonyman,DC's Guardian, Superhero, Miss Fit (see previous entry), and members of the Xtreme Justice League and the Black Monday Society. There will be many others and I am looking forward to meeting them all.

Besides the hand out, there will be patrols, a screening of the RLSH doc Superheroes at the Comic Con,some media, and some down time enjoying San Diego.
I won't be reporting daily like I did for my Vancouver trip- not enough time- but I will after my return home.

---

And while I'm in San Diego, Milwaukee's RLSH team- The Challengers- will be conducting their own HOPE event handing out supplies to the homeless in Milwaukee and Madison, WI.

---

One person who won't be attending the event is Phoenix Jones. Jones' history with the RLSH (Jones calls himself a RCSM- Rain City Superhero Movement) has often been contentious and filled with drama. This clash of egos led HOPE organizer Razorhawk to agonize over whether to let him attend- and have several people that don't get along with him drop out- or to ask that he not be present. It was not an easy decision for him.

Internet whispering then suggested Jones might show up and crash the event in San Diego. That seemed far fetched, so I asked Jones himself via Facebook message.

He replied- "NO I WAS ASKED NOT TO ATTEND BUT I HAVE A REQUEST COULD YOU POST MY APOLOGY LETTER ON YOUR BLOG IT IS ON MY FAN PAGE."

You can read this letter in its entirety below.

HOPE 2011

I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING SO I AM GOING TO TURN THE CAPS OFF AND USE PUNCTUATION. Hope 2011 is an event run by Razor Hawk that will be taking place in California. At my request, a news publication that recently featured me provided a majority of the funding for Hope 2011. I assumed I would be able to attend the event and be able to help with the homeless outreach but I am the only superhero that has been banned from this event. I've never communicated with Razor Hawk directly, but I've heard via a third party that I am too controversial because I confront criminals directly and detain when necessary until the police arrive.

When I first became a superhero I was excited about joining the RLSH community and was quickly disappointed when I was banned before I ever even had a chance to make a post. I was notified by email the reason for my exile from the online community is because I lie about my deeds and there was no proof I was actually fighting crime. I would be fine with that if everyone else on the site had to prove their actions as well, but they are taken at their word. In the past few months through news media sources, guest patrols with other RLSHs, video, Phoenix Cam, and police it has been proven I patrol on a regular basis with a purpose to fight crime and stop acts of violence. I am offended that I am still ridiculed and put down by this community. I have more documentation and actual crime interventions than any other 'superhero' other than Master Legend of course.

I have not participated in the online bashing and gossip that consumes a lot of superhero's lives. But there has been media publications quoting me saying less than favorable things about certain members of the RLSH and of that I am guilty. Most of the comments I have made come from feelings of resentment that have arisen from being so discriminated against by the community. I have identified myself as a Rain City Superhero Movement member as opposed to an RLSH for three reason: 1, Certain members of the RLSH hacked my FB and deleted it and told me not to use the RLSH term because I was not one. 2, Most of the RLSH I know focus on humanitarian work and crime fighting second. 3, RLSH is a broad term and I wanted something more city specific to what we needed in Seattle.

I have always felt that the most effective outreaches are done in safe environments. I know a RLSH in Seattle who was robbed of his handout food during an outreach. If they would target him, I can only imagine what they do to the people receiving the food after I have left. If I am able to take away the violent offenders in these areas our homeless outreaches will be a lot more effective.

The point of this message is that we are all masked human beings trying to better the environment that we live in, each in our own specific areas of expertise. Hating each other, bickering and slandering, and banning people from events is ridiculous (I will enclose links that support my statements). It just minimizes our effectiveness, corrupts the message, and takes up valuable time that we could be using on the streets. I have tried my best to stay out of this drama but from this point on I am not participating in any way, shape, or form. I think its important to live your message, so here it is, I AM SORRY.

I am sorry if I have said bad things to you directly, I am sorry if I have sad bad things behind your back, I am sorry if you haven't understood or were offended by my crime fighting methods. But most of all, I am sorry that we had to make this public. I forgive anyone who has said anything bad about me. From here on out all slates are clean as far as I am concerned. We are fighting each other when we should be fighting the evil in this world.

CHALLENGERS PATROL--07/05

Members of The Challengers. L-R: Charade, author Tea Krulos, The Watchman, Blackbird, Crimson Crusader in a Riverwest alleyway.

"Walk toward the light," The Watchman told me over the phone. It was 10:30pm and I was standing near the basketball courts on Center. A car with headlights on idled across the street. I walked over to it. Blackbird was behind the wheel, listening to Tupac. The Watchman was in the passenger seat and I joined Crimson Crusader in the back. Blackbird took off.

* * *

We drove around the neighborhood for a few minutes, then cruised by the courts again to pick up Charade. Then we headed to a quiet corner near some forest trails. Charade grabbed a couple bags filled with food and supplies and we headed into the forest.

* * *

Back in February I had been informed that there were people living in the woods. Blackbird and me headed down there to check it out (See "Out in the Cold."). We found a base camp and later Blackbird returned and actually found what turned out to be not one, but a four people living down there. He talked with them a long time. He has returned a few times, sometimes bringing others.

* * *

We descended the trail and found the base camp. The firepit was cold, an empty pack of cigarettes sat on top the charred wood. Blackbird attached a night vision camera to his shirt and handed me a small monitor. The Watchman and me stayed at the base camp while the other three went further into the woods. The river was still in front of me and the air was thick with mosquitoes. On the monitor we could see the tent huts. Blackbird wasn't sure if they were inside sleeping or not, so they left the bags outside the hut.
"Shall we roll out?" Blackbird asked. We headed back up the trail.

* * *

From there we walked through the neighborhood to Reservoir Hill. This was the scene of a disturbing crime over 4th of July weekend. The night of July 3 a mob of teenagers began to amass on the east side, crossing the river to Riverwest. They looted a gas station, stealing armfuls of chips and candy, and then headed to Reservoir Hill. A group of about 20 people from the neighborhood were hanging out there, they had been watching fireworks. I know several of these people- a friend from high school, a former room mate, guys from a band I wrote about, etc.

As the mob ran into the park and encountered more youth, the two groups decided they would suddenly run and beat down everyone else in the park- men, women, everyone. In a split second people were being pushed over and kicked in the head and hit with bottles. A couple people had wallets stolen. Racial epithets were shouted at the victims, who were white. Race relations are poor in Milwaukee, to say the least.

It is a big story here, the chief of police and the mayor have held press conferences and a community meeting here in Riverwest.

The Challengers took a walk to the top of Reservoir Hill. Great view of the skyline. In fact I had written a blurb for Milwaukee magazine's "Best of" issue stating that this was the best view of the skyline in the city. There was no chaos up here tonight. Just the view. As we walked back down we encountered a young man giving his girlfriend a piggyback ride.
"Y'all going to kick some ass?" He asked.
"Only if we have to," The Watchman replied.

* * *

Quarters had a band howling away inside, but other than that Center Street was quiet. A man in a dirty orange t-shirt asked the group for spare change. He was not at all surprised or interested that they were dressed as superheroes- he didn't even raise an eyebrow. The RLSHs felt up their pockets, but none of them had brought cash on patrol. The man wandered away.

* * *

Smokers are more likely to spot a RLSH since the smoking ban has gone into effect.
Outside Riverhorse:
Girl (slurring): "Heeeey- where's your helmets?"
RLSHs: ?
Guy: They're...
Girl:..they're trying...
Guy: Superheroes!
Girl:...they're trying..
Guy: Ha!
Girl:...they're trying...
Guy: Ha!
Girl: they're trying to SAVE THE WORLD!

* * *

Outside Foundation

Guy: (after long stare inhaling a cigarette) uh, is it Halloween today, er....?

* * *
Sometime after 1AM I parted ways and Charade walked home. The Watchman, Blackbird, and Crimson Crusader got into Blackbird's car and did a rolling patrol around the neighborhood and the UWM campus. The only thing they saw was a huge police presence at the scene of a crime near Holton and Locust.

* * *
The Challengers plan to patrol again next week.

HERO PROFILE #73: Charade

photo by Kelly Crandall

Operates out of: Milwaukee, WI

Team affiliation: The Challengers

Gear: flashlights, pen and notepad, night vision goggles

Quote: "I've always wanted to be a super hero. I just never knew how to go around doing it. Then I saw the Watchman in the paper. That's when I knew that it was what I had to do."

Author's notes: Charade is a young hero that lives right here in my neighborhood, Riverwest. He's also a member of The Challengers (see post from a couple days ago)I hear word his brother is also joining him on patrols.

Introducing THE CHALLENGERS and HOPE 2011 Update

Members of The Challengers at Motionary Comics 2.0 (l-r) Electron, special guest Geist, Charade, Blackbird, The Watchman, Crimson Crusader

Over the last few months, new Real Life Superheroes have appeared here in my hometown of Milwaukee. These folks have chosen to join local RLSHs Blackbird and The Watchman in their quest to patrol the streets of Milwaukee and participate in charity and humanitarian efforts.

As such, a new team has officially been launched- The Challengers. In addition to The Watchman and Blackbird, the team includes Crimson Crusader, Charade, Argo, and Electron (of Madison, WI) as a reserve member. There are other prospects, too.

The team patrolled the Riverwest neighborhood on Sunday, after the popular Locust Street Art and Music Festival, and here is an account from The Watchman:

Sunday went well. I met up with Charade, Electron, and Trig (a RLSH prospect) around 10:30pm, and we were joined by Crimson Crusader about an hour later. We arrived on the streets of Riverwest as the Locust Street Festival was shutting down and things were getting packed up. We were amazed at how quickly it was cleared out. Still, a fair amount of people remained at the bars and on the streets of Riverwest for a Sunday night.

We walked down Center Street before weaving up and down the streets that cross it. As usual, there was no set route. We simply enjoyed the freedom to travel whichever course suited us, visiting whatever locations we felt needed visited along the way.

There was no set mission save for one - to meet Trig. He doesn't even have all of his gear together yet, but my first impression was positive. I would love the opportunity to meet with him where we could discuss his plans more in depth, and give him a better opportunity to ask me questions.

It was also an opportunity for me to talk to Electron in person for only the second time since he started. The first time being the Motionary Comics 2 event, during which I was kept far too busy to really get a feel for what he is like, I had to form my previous opinions of him based on his online postings and personal messages sent to me. I was pleasantly surprised.

There wasn't much going on. There was a good police presence in the area, and although we heard a lot of sirens, they seemed to be mainly due to traffic violations.

We did hear the typical things called out like "What, is it Halloween?", and were called everything from Batman to the Power Rangers, but the night was filled with a lot of positive reactions.

We heard a lot of thank yous and got to answer some questions about what we do from some people who lit up at the idea of people like us being out there. One man even mentioned being friends with the owner of the Art Bar, and suggested swinging by the next time we're trying to raise money for a charity.

H.O.P.E 2011

HOPE 2011 is an event conceived by Razorhawk of Minneapolis- the idea being a large scale RLSH meet up to coincide with the San Diego Comic Con. The heroes, through donations and their own means are assembling about 200 backpacks filled with supplies to hand out to San Diego's homeless population.

The main hand out will be Saturday, July 23. Approximately 28 RLSH have been confirmed as attending, many of which have been written about here at Heroes in the Night.

In realizing that not everyone can make it to San Diego, Razorhawk and others developed the concept so that RLSHs in other cities around the country by hosting their own HOPE event on the same day in their own city. The Challengers, for example, will be hosting a Milwaukee event on that day.

I myself will be attending the event in San Diego, to join a good mix of people I've met before and many I haven't. Of course I will be reporting the experience here on Heroes in the Night.

You can see the full list of attending heroes, find more info (including a list of the contents of the supplies in each backpack) and make a donation towards buying the supplies on HOPE's webpage:www.hope2011.info