HEROES in Madison and Saint Paul!

It was a great weekend for Heroes in the Night as I got to get out and visit two cities that are my favorites but don't get to as often as I like. I saw some old friends and met some cool new people, too, and got to tell people all about my book.

First I made a stop Saturday night at Westfield Comics in Madison, WI. I was joined by Electron, who used to live in Madison but is now in La Crosse. On Sunday I made an appearance at Common Good Books in Saint Paul, MN. We had a nice, enthusiastic crowd and I was joined by four RLSH: Razorhawk and Geist (who star in a chapter of the book) and Misery White and Blue. The book sold well. Common Good also now has a stock of signed copies of the book, if you're in the Twin Cities area.

Next up for me-- I'll be tabling at the Milwaukee Zine Fest on Nov. 9.

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HEROES IN THE NIGHT, available  at IPG///BARNES & NOBLE///AMAZON///POWELL'S///INDIEBOUND
Add us on:
GOODREADS///FACEBOOK

Minneapolis RLSH Hit the Street!

Yesterday, a group of Minnesota RLSH hit the streets, handing out supplies to homeless people, patrolling, and making donations to Minneapolis shelters People Serving People and Higher Ground.

The group included Geist, Misery, Blue, and new recruits Murrica and Amethyst.

L-R: Murrica, Amethyst, Blue, Geist

The group with Misery, furthest right

I'm excited to see this crew and the fine folks of the Twin Cities when I make an in-store appearance on Sunday, October 20 at Common Good Books in Saint Paul at 4PM.

Here's the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/467455183351314/

Heroes in the Night at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con: the report!

Thursday was truly a fantastic day for me as I made an appearance at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con to support my upcoming book Heroes in the Night (out Oct. 1, Chicago Review Press) by hosting a panel discussion with some Real Life Superheroes.

The panel included the Watchman and Blackbird of Milwaukee, WI, Electron from La Crosse, WI, Geist from Rochester, MN and Moon and Crimson Catalyst, both of the Chicago area.

After arriving at the con, I got a big stack of postcards that featured info on my book and on the panel from one of Chicago Review Press's marketing people, Mary. She was dressed for the con in a fantastic Doctor Who themed ensemble. Me and the RLSH handed out about 300 of this postcards before the panel and a quite a few more afterward.

Blackbird (left) and the Watchman field a question.

The panel took place in Room 42 at 5PM, and it went absolutely great. I was not sure what to expect for attendance and we had a really good turn out. I had the RLSH sit in the last row of the room and led with just under ten minutes of slides, quickly breezing through an overview of a short history lesson, how I first got involved in the story, and relaying some of my travel for the book. After the slides, I called forward the RLSH, introduced each panel member and asked them a question that I thought would be a frequently asked question or something relevant to who they are.

Panel members (l-r) Moon, Crimson Catalyst, Electron.

After that, I opened the floor up to the audience, and we got a lot of thoughtful, curious questions. Not one single stupid question.

The Defuser questions the panel.

We got an audience question from a surprise guest-- Jarrett Crippen aka "The Defuser," the winner of the second season of Stan Lee's reality show Who Wants To Be a Superhero?  As a law enforcement officer, he expressed concern about RLSH getting in the way of law enforcement, and the panel expressed how they try to avoid such situations.

Toward the end of the panel I pointed out two RLSH who we weren't able to get on the panel, but who had shown up in their gear to lend support-- Wraith and Crusader Prime. They helped me by handing out more postcards as the audience left. I invited the audience to pose for pictures in the hallway after the panel, and we spent another 30-45 minutes posing for pictures and answering more audience questions.

L-R: Electron, Geist, Crimson Catalyst, Tea Krulos, Moon, Crusdaer Prime, Blackbird, the Watchman, Wraith.

After that, I wandered around the con, taking in the sights. Wow! I was reminded yet again how important the superhero mythology is to our culture. At 7:30 we all met up again to take a walk down the road to a pizzeria to have dinner together. But first a small crowd gathered in the lobby and we had another photo session. In the pizzeria parking lot (while waiting for a table), we again had fans from the con (and some bewildered looking Chicagoans) request pictures. We sat down and as I sat down with the colorfully clad RLSH for pizza, I thought about how uniquely great this experience of writing Heroes in the Night has been.

We split ways after pizza. Thanks much to Mary from Chicago Review Press, my lovely assistant Mary Beth, my family who showed up to support me, and most of all the panel of RLSH who all did an excellent job of representing themselves. And, of course, the audience-- thank you, you guys were awesome! I'm really hoping to organize similar panels at future cons.

Meet the fans: the RLSH were a hit everwhere they went, even the parking lot of a pizzeria. 

P.S. We will have a video of the panel available soon, so you can watch it for yourself!

You can find a list of my upcoming October appearances in Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, and the Twin Cities HERE.

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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!

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
GOODREADS///FACEBOOK
Book available OCTOBER 1, 2013!

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

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We Play 'em On TV: RLSH on NCIS

RLSHs on NCIS. "Spandexia," far left, is obviously based on Terrifica, while "Whipcord" far right, is based on Geist. The lady with a star shirt plays a NCIS forensics analyzer who happens to be a RLSH fangirl (and potential "cape chaser" I would imagine.)

NCIS joined the list of TV shows to feature an episode based on Real Life Super Heroes, a sort of art imitating life imitating art imitating...ah, you get the point. Previous portrayals have been featured on shows like Rookie Blue and Castle.

This episode featured several RLSH characters and contained several clues that the show's writer, Stephen D. Binder, must have done some digging around to find material for the story. Consider these points:

- One of the RLSH is found dead and a video similar to the "Pepper Spray Incident" (which I witnessed first hand, btw) with Seattle Rain City Superhero Movement founder Phoenix Jones surfaces.

- One of the characters tells a story (albeit an exaggerated one) about The Fox, an environmental activist, sometimes cited as a RLSH "early prototype."

-A website based off the World Superhero Registry, a defunct but often cited RLSH website.

- RLSH characters clearly based off actual RLSHs Terrifica ("Spandexia")of NYC and Geist ("Whipcord"), of Rochester, MN. Some of the characters contained various elements here and there of other RLSH, too. There was one that looked a lot like Motor-Mouth.

-The RLSH crew the detectives discover are participating in a "bait patrol," a somewhat controversial tactic some RLSHs have used.

Twin Peaks fans will note a guest appearance by Ray Wise, aka Leland Palmer, as the father of one of the RLSH (named "ICU").

You can watch the episode online here: www.cbs.com/shows/ncis/video

THE COLIN McENROE SHOW

RLSH and radio show guest Knight Owl, left, and Zimmer

I was a guest today for an hour long radio show, The Colin McEnroe Show, on Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR). Also joining me as guests over the course of the hour- Knight Owl, Geist, Rock N Roll (see previous entry for a profile), and Seattle detective and department spokesman Mark Jamieson.

Det. Jamieson is kind of destined to be the man who has to answer questions about Phoenix Jones and the Rain City Superhero Movement until the end of time, often telling media outlets that he feels the RCSM are putting themselves and others in danger.

We were really hoping to hear from Jack aka Razorhawk, so he could talk about his RLSH design shop, Atomic Hero-Wear, but unfortunately the clock ran out before he had a chance to speak.

There were a few questions from listeners who called in, and a guest caller- Superhero of Clearwater, Florida. Apparently the lines were jam packed the entire show.

I also mentioned local Milwaukee RLSH The Watchman and former Connecticut RLSHs Runebringer and Scavenger (where are they now?).

I think the show went absolutely great and a big thanks to the Colin McEnroe Show crew and the guests who called in.

You can listen to the show here:
www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/wnpr/colin-mcenroe-show-being-real-life-superhero

HEROES in the NIGHT Author Tea Krulos at Film Society of Minneapolis Event

On Saturday night I was a guest at a showing of the Real Life Super Hero documentary "Superheroes," directed by Michael Barnett. The screening was presented by the Film Society of Minneapolis at the St. Anthony Main Theatre.

Also in attendance- Minnesota Real Life Super Heroes (and members of the Great Lakes Alliance) Geist, Razorhawk, and Arctic Knight.

Attendance was kind of small- about 25 people. It was suggested we would be doing a Q and A after the film. We didn't spot anyone to facilitate this, so I jumped up and said- "hey, we got some Real Life Super Heroes in the audience, if you want to ask them questions!" We went down to the front of the theater. No one had questions immediately, so I threw out a couple for the guys to answer. People seemed to warm up to the idea then, and we got asked several questions about the RLSHs inspiration and goals.

After that, I headed out to catch up with my friend and the guys headed ventured into the freezing Minneapolis night to make a donation of some canned food at a local charity and patrol.

It was what it was- I'm glad I went, it was nice to get out of town for a weekend trip.

HOPE 2011- A REPORT

IN WHICH AUTHOR TEA KRULOS TRAVELS TO SAN DIEGO, VISITS COMIC CON, STAYS IN A CONDO WITH A GROUP OF REAL LIFE SUPERHEROES AND JOINS 30 OF THEM ON A HUMANITARIAN MISSION, AMONG OTHER THINGS

FRIDAY, JULY 22- San Diego

I spent much of the early hours of Friday traveling by taxi, bus, and plane and had at last arrived in San Diego. I sat outside the airport taking in the pleasant California air, admiring the long rows of palm trees everywhere. A young man approached me and said "Are you Tea Krulos?" It was Anonyman, the Real Life Super Hero of Saskatoon. Through secret superhero information networks (ah, ok, the internet) we found that our flights were touching down less than ten minutes apart. After asking at the info desk, we ran and caught a bus, then a trolley train, then another bus and eventually arrived in Mission Beach.

Anonyman

The streets of Mission Beach were filled with people walking about with surfboards or body boards tucked under their arms. The weather was incredibly beautiful.

We found our lodging for the weekend- a condo on the beach nicknamed the "Hero House" (not to be confused with the proposed RLSH reality show for the IFC channel)and after a call to Knight Owl were given the access code to the door. Me, Knight Owl and Anonyman's roommates- EON, down from Monterrey, Superhero and Lady Hero, from Clearwater, Florida, Thanatos, from Vancouver, and Sage and The Handler (along with her trained service dog, Gio) from Los Angeles.

Hero House roomies: EON, Knight Owl, Lady Hero, Thanatos

As I promised to do, the first thing I did was changed into swimming trunks and dived into the bay outside the Hero House. It was refreshing. Then I quickly changed and headed to the Comic Con. I sat next to a woman dressed as Poison Ivy and a woman dressed as some sort of elvish warrior on the ride there. I was pretty stoked- I have always wanted to go to SDCC and here at last it was happening.

Outside the Con, I met up with San Diego RLSH Urban Avenger, who let me use his Con pass to get it. I shortly met up with Knight Owl, who guided me through the huge exhibition hall. I can only describe it as completely overwhelming- thousands of people walking around in costumes of every comic book, sci fi, video game, horror movie and cartoon character you can think of and many you had no idea could exist. I even saw a sexy dalek and a sexy ewok costume.

After cruising around some of the major points, like the DC Comics pavilion and the Marvel Avengers stage, we headed out to the lobby where we met Superhero and Lady Hero. Superhero is an old school RLSH who adopted his name and gimmick from his days as a former semi pro wrestler. He now works in broadcasting.

Lady Hero, Superhero and Knight Owl inside Comic Con

And soon we were also joined by Good Samaritan, of Los Angeles, and Anonyman arrived too. I headed with them back to the Con floor, which was closing up soon.Soon the streets outside the Con were packed with superhero aficionados.

There was a meet up for a patrol with several visiting RLSH in attendance, but me and Knight Owl agreed it had been a long day on our feet, with another long day to follow, so we headed up 5th Street. We got dinner at a pub then took a taxi to the Ruby Room to catch a set by renowned nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot. It was a good show in a laid back atmosphere.

After the show we were picked up by EON, who had just rolled into town and we headed back to the Hero House. It was a full house with Anonyman sleeping on the couch and Thanatos on the floor. Thanatos woke up on our arrival to greet us. His tattoo count had climbed since I last saw the 61 year old RLSH on the streets of his hometown of Vancouver in February- he now has 109. He explained some chinese characters on his back that translates as- "death is only the beginning." Me and EON decided to camp out on the roof of the Hero House. At that point I didn't care if I was sleeping on a bed of nails. I was pretty dang tired.

SATURDAY, JULY 23

THE HOPE MISSION

Saturday was the big day for the RLSH. It also started out on a note of high tension- someone had posted a Facebook page saying that New York Initiative member Zimmer (currently staying in Austin, TX) was dead. The relieved RLSH were able to get confirmation that someone had gotten him on the phone and that the Facebook page was some sort of twisted hoax.

As the other Hero House room mates headed to Olive's Cafe- a nice little place where the Hero House met daily for breakfast- I got into Sage and The Handler's van, along with Anonyman. Gio rested on the floor. I was unfamiliar with this couple, so I was glad for a brief chance to get to know them. The Handler, originally from the Canary Islands, is a professional dog trainer and Sage is a consultant and author of the new book How to Become a Superhero. He very generously gave me a copy and I look forward to starting to read it soon.

The Handler and her trusty sidekick, Gio

We got Razorhawk, the chief organizer of the HOPE event on the phone and he directed us to a parking lot near Garfield High School, the staging area for HOPE. A refrigerated food truck from the charity Feeding America, arranged by Sage, was idling in the lot. Inside- hundreds of Subway sandwiches, granola bars, pears, Naked brand fruit juice, and bottled water.

RLSH and media quickly began to arrive in the lot and the scene soon became dozens of RLSH hugging, shaking hands, slapping each other on the back and cameramen adjusting their equipment. Violet Valkyrie and Hope, of Southern Mississippi arrived, followed by Mr. Xtreme, leader of the San Diego Xtreme Justice League. Director Michael Barnett and producer Theodore James, creator of the RLSH documentary Superheroes showed up with a crew to get footage for a possible DVD extra.

Following them in a steady stream- Vigilante Spider, Good Samaritan, Bearman, Radnor, Moon Knight (who styles himself after the Marvel Comics character), Miss Fit (along with her documentary crew), Geist, Crimson Crow, Prof. Midnight (of the Black Monday Society), Sam Chen, Alpha Blue, and then the previously mentioned room mates from Hero House. A crew filming for the National Geographic show Taboo were there, a local San Diego news affiliate, and Knut, a Norwegian photographer.

Real Life Superhero Project coordinator Peter Tangen and DC's Guardian arrived in a truck hauling a trailer. Inside the trailer- hundreds of sleeping bags and backpacks filled with supplies. Each backpack had socks, a t-shirt, water bottle, and toiletries.

DC's Guardian at the trailer full of backpacks, sleeping bags, and supplies

Vigilante Spider looks on as Mr. Xtreme, DC's Guardian, Razorhawk and Geist rally the troops

The RLSH were divided into three teams and I requested to be assigned to a team as well. My team leader was Mr. Xtreme and my team mates were Prof. Midnight, The Handler, Sam Chen, Moon Knight, Thanatos, and Anonyman. The teams headed down the street where each team was assigned to a street- 15th, 16th, and 17th streets. My team had 16th. The food truck and supply wagon followed us and everyone began loading up on backpacks, sleeping bags, and filling bags with food.

We soon encountered a block long section where people were sleeping right next to the sidewalk in makeshift tents constructed out of tarps, cardboard, shopping carts, and whatever else. It was a hot day. We began to hand out the supplies. The RLSH talked to several people living in the tents about who they were and passed out the supplies. I saw one guy beginning to eat the sandwich so quickly I thought he might choke.

Mr. Xtreme's team in action

Superhero, EON and Miss Fit on the street

As we continued down 16th we encountered an outdoor festival where a large group of homeless had congregated. The teams and trucks all met up and decided to operate out of this stationary location. Joining us at this location was Danger Man, Night Bug, and Rock N Roll. There was also a brief appearance by RLSH supporter/ artist Ohm.

I jumped into the food truck to help Sage, Sam Chen, and other volunteers distribute food. We put together a little of everything into bags as a lunch and handed them off to RLSHs who distributed the food. Across the street, RLSHs were passing out the backpacks and sleeping bags as well as shaving cream and razors.

Sam Chen, Sage, EON and another volunteer inside the food truck

Word got out.

Soon both the trucks were surrounded by a huge group of homeless and downtrodden people. I will never forget looking out the back of that food truck at the crowded group of dozens and dozens of hungry, desperate faces. We were working to put stuff together for them as fast as we could. We ran out of bags, so began filling empty boxes. We ran out of water, but kept going, giving people extra juice. We ran out of sandwiches but kept passing out granola bars and fruit. Across the street they had gone through everything. The vast amount of supplies had been distributed in what I would guess was about an hour.

A RLSH assembly line moves supplies from truck to trailer

Heroes united- you can see me in the back row behind Razorhawk, between Crimson Crow and Bearman

TANGEN SHOOT

After things were wrapped up near 16th and Market, there were a couple group shots, and then everyone headed to a studio Peter Tangen had procured for doing some portraits and full body shots to be used for a HOPE group photo.

As we walked back to our cars, I got a chance to talk with Razorhawk.

"It's really weird how much these guys mean to me," he said. "It's the one thing I feel I got right in my life, besides my family." He also says he is indeed going to plan a HOPE 2012, and based on what we had seen today, hopes to double the effort.

When we got back to the parking lot, I got into the passenger side of Mr. Xtreme's van- not only his vehicle, but was also his home for awhile when he fell on rough times.

At the studio time was pressed so the RLSH lined the hallways waiting for their spot in front of the camera. The hallway was filled with RLSHs talking shop about gear, sometimes in muffled voices through spandex, as people were sometimes shouted for down the hall to get in the studio.

"ANONYMAN?! WHERE IS ANONYMAN?" and "BEARMAN!" and "URBAN AVENGER- MOVE TO THE HEAD OF THE LINE!"

XJL member Orange Cricket met up with everyone at this point.

Ladies of HOPE at the Tangen shoot- Miss Fit, Violet Valkyrie, Rock N Roll, The Handler, Lady hero

Geist, myself, Urban Avenger at the Tangen shoot

After quickly rotating through, people began heading out for the screening of Superheroes at the Comic Con.

SUPERHEROES AND AFTER PARTY

I was very thrilled to see the Superheroes documentary, and even more so to see it sitting next to the stars of the film. I have always felt that the success of Superheroes is probably good for me, as we cover a lot of the same ground. The scenes of the New York Initiative's apartment- I stayed there! The streets of Vancouver- I joined Thanatos there!

Superheroes was picked up by HBO and premieres there early August. All I can say is the film was fantastic and exceeded my expectations. They got a good mix of material and the editing, soundtrack, and film work was great.

After the film ended, there was much applause and a Q and A session with Mr. Xtreme, Thanatos, Superhero, and a psychologist and police officer featured in the doc.

And after that? After party! The film makers had booked a private room at the Hard Rock Cafe across the street for the RLSH and film crew. It was kind of funny to see the RLSHs in their gear mingling with well heeled movers and shakers. There were quite a few people from HBO there, I imagine, and even the actress who plays the naughty vampire Jessica from True Blood attended. There was complimentary food and drink and the RLSH moved around the room socializing. Good times! After the party, Sage and The Handler loaded their van with weary RLSH and returned us to the Hero House.

Mr. Xtreme and me at the Superheroes after party

SUNDAY, JULY 24

Tea Krulos vs Miss Fit Arm Wrestling Competition Outcome: DRAW

Sunday was a more relaxed day where a lot of people did their own thing. After breakfast at Olive's, I went swimming again, then returned to the Con. I wanted to see a Doctor Who panel/ signing but the line was outlandish, so I just strolled around the Con taking in the sights.

In the afternoon Miss Fit and her husband Gregg picked me up and we went over to Balboa Park. The two wanted to get some footage of me and Miss Fit interviewing each other for the documentary they are creating titled The Adventures of Miss Fit. She asked me questions about my journey writing Heroes in the Night and I asked her about her goals as Miss Fit. I think this interview went extremely well.

Miss Fit is a body builder and I thought a great way to test her muscle power was to challenge her to arm wrestle. For added fun, I suggested loser donate 20 bucks to charity. As the cameras rolled we struggled to budge each other. Miss Fit has superior bicep power to me, but my long arms (I'm about a foot and 4 inches taller than her) give me leverage. After feeling the burn, we decided to call a draw and agreed I would pay 20 towards her charity, a Cancer benefit, and she would pay 20 towards mine- the Red Cross.

Krulos vs. Miss Fit 2011

Rematch 2012? It's possible!

Me, Gregg, and Miss Fit returned to the Hero House to discover that Superhero had been hard at work at the grill using his superpowers to grill us up some fantastic steaks. There was a lot of socializing and saying goodbye as people left. Monday morning, the Hero House crew made sure the house was in order, had breakfast, and then headed to the airport.

What a weekend! Also, I'm officially announcing that I will be attending HOPE 2012.

See you in San Diego!

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.

MOTIONARY COMICS, Page 1

I've been meaning to post the finished results of Motionary Comics 2.0 for some time, but a series of deadlines and technical issues has kept me from it.

But at long last here are the six pages created for the event. All photographs were taken by Kelly Crandall, and if you click on the thumbnail, larger versions will pop up.

You can read more behind the scenes stuff in a series of entries from the first week of this month- Motionary Comics Week, in which the artists, RLSHs, villains and various other angles are discussed.

Art Imitating Life Imitating Art Imitating Life

MOTIONARY COMICS WEEK!

Once we had established Motionary Comics 2.0 would be about Real Life Superheroes, I had to think about what kind of story I wanted to write. I had thought about doing something non-fiction, but then decided fiction would be more fun for the artists and everyone involved.

Since the story was six pages, I decided to focus on the Real Life Superheroes most well known in Milwaukee- The Watchman and Blackbird (although I added a last minute cameo appearance by Geist of Rochester, MN in the beginning of the story)- we added an open invitation to Midwest RLSH to attend the event and meet the artists and audience. And so we had a crew of six RLSHs for the largest Wisconsin team up to date- The Watchman, Blackbird, Geist, Charade, Electron, and Crimson Crusader.
Here are some pictures by Motionary Comics photographer Kelly Crandall.

The Watchman and I checking out the scene.


The Watchman copying a pose from his comic counterpart.


Geist and Blackbird.


This was my first time meeting these two RLSH- Electron, left, of Madison, WI and Crimson Crusader of an undisclosed Milwaukee suburb.


And here's Milwaukee's newest superhero, Charade. I didn't even get a chance to meet him, or if I did it was in a blur of lots of activity!


Geist casts his vote on the ending of the comic.


We also had some non-RLSH heroes at the event- Chang Beer was a sponsor of the event, and agreed to donate a percentage of beer sales to the charity we were fund raising this evening, United Way (who also had a table set up) and sent the mighty Chang Beer Girls to represent!


Yelp.com acted as a media sponsor and tabled at the event with their representative dressed up as Yelp Girl!

The RLSHs hung around, posing for pictures and answering questions from curious audience members, and also shooting interviews with Matthew Pniewski for his RLSH documentary titled More Than Just a Mask.

After awhile though, they wanted to get out of the crowd so they could have a chance to talk and patrol the streets of Riverwest. They started by taking a trek into the woods to drop off supplies at a homeless camp, then started on a patrol of the Center Street area. It was pretty quiet, The Watchman tells me. At some point, the group encountered some gang graffiti.

Combating gang graffiti is a major mission for Geist, so he reached into his duster jacket* and grabbed a can of grey spray paint and painted over it. This attracted attention from a nearby house party (sounds like it might be the famous punk house known as The Vault) who called the heroes over. A massive crowd from the party gathered to talk with the heroes. Finally the heroes thought the volume of the crowd was becoming a nuisance, so they said good bye and continued the patrol.

Tomorrow: Villainy!



*Earlier in the evening Geist had also pulled a green smoke emitting smoke bomb from his jacket to use as an effect for our group photo shoot as seen HERE.

MOTIONARY COMICS IN MOTION!...

Illustration by David Beyer, Jr.

...AND OTHER COAST TO COAST REAL LIFE SUPERHERO UPDATES!

This Friday, April 29, will be a monumental day for local artists and real life superheroes alike. Motionary Comics 2.0 is set to roll. We have a huge crew of painters, wranglers, choreographers, actors, writers, photographers, directors, and lots of helpful people ready to roll and create a giant, wall sized comic mural.

You can get a good run down of the participating artists in a rundown HERE.

The giant six page comic is written by yours truly, Tea Krulos, and will star Milwaukee RLSHs The Watchman and Blackbird. Not only will those two be there, but so will fellow RLSHs Geist of Rochester, MN, Electron, of Madison, WI, as well. There is also speculation that Citizen and Abyss of Chicago and newbie heroes Shade and Crimson Crusader will also be there! That is up to 8 heroes- quite a line up!

Also present will be Matthew Pniewski and his crew, who are working on a documentary about Midwest RLSHs titled More Than Just a Mask.

In writing this comic, I've been using the Marvel style, which Stan Lee describes as a process in which he gave the artists the idea of the storyline, and after they drew it he rolled with the mood of the art and wrote the captions and dialog. The seed of the idea of the storyline actually comes from The Watchman and Blackbird. They were walking through the woods to drop some supplies off at a homeless camp, when they heard eerie noises in the distance. Blackbird remarked that "it sounded like a werewolf."

With the assembled heroes present, we hear that we might be hearing from the comic's supervillain as well, the evil Dr. Lupus, who created his army, Team Werewolf, in his labs high atop Mount Lupus. Hopefully there won't be too much trouble.

In reflecting the charitable nature of the RLSH, we decided we should raise funds for a charity at the event. Producer Kurt Hartwig has a connection to United Way, so we decided to go with that. Chang Beer generously stepped in as a sponsor and will be donating a dollar from each beer sale to the cause (and we're told they are sending their own Chang Beer superheroines!) We are also doing a silent auction to raise money (got something to donate?)

Also, I'm looking forward to the last method we have to raise funds- the ending of the comic story. The audience will be able to vote on the end of the story by putting money into either Jar A or Jar B to vote on the "smiley face emoticon" ending or the "nuclear apocalypse" ending. I got this idea directly from the Batman A Death in the Family storyline, in which DC Comics had readers vote on whether the Jason Todd Robin should be killed off by calling a hotline.

Now some of you readers who aren't from Milwaukee might be like, yeah, yeah, superheroes, werewolves, raising money for United Way- that's all great but I'm (somewhere else). Well, I'm glad to say the whole thing will be streaming live on the internet all evening, so you can take a peek at what is going on and how the comic is progressing. The camera will be running about 6PM--? CST here:
www.livestream.com/motionarycomics

More media on this event should be appearing on this over the week, updates will be posted on this blog as they arrive.

MORE RLSH NEWS

NYI CONTINUES CRAIGSLIST CAMPAIGN

The New York Initiative released a press release that described their Craigslist campaign to reach potential victims of a serial killer called the Long Island Killer. Heroes in the Night first reported on this HERE and since then the story has been picked up by the Village Voice (HERE) and the Daily Mail, which is a British newspaper (HERE)as well as other websites and blogs.

The NYI has a Facebook page HERE where you can find more info and pictures of the group. Updates on the group's efforts will be posted here in the future.

RAIN CITY STINGS HEROIN DEALER

In Seattle, Rain City Superhero Movement members Phoenix Jones and Pitch Black made the news again by apparently capturing a heroin dealer, according to a report by Seattle Crime.com. The report says Pitch Black, who was undercover, was approached by the dealer. He and Phoenix Jones detained the man until police arrived and booked the man with a drug charge. Stay tuned- I'm being told there is possibly video of this. Full story HERE.

XTREME JUSTICE LEAGUE INVITED BY DEPUTY MAYOR TO SPEAK AT PUBLIC EVENT

Mr. Xtreme and Urban Avenger of the Xtreme Justice League, gathered attention in January for handing out flyers and patrolling to try to help nab the Chula Vista Groper, a molester terrorizing women of the Chula Vista area.(which I blogged about HERE) Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez has invited the duo to speak at a May 2 "Public Office Hours" in the Chula Vista City Hall. Joining the heroes will be the Deputy Mayor, the Chula Vista Police Department, and a martial arts instructor. Full press release HERE.

Operation: Coloring Book

Geist, in coloring book form- artwork by the Purple Lotus

Geist, of Rochester, Minnesota,says that when he started out as a RLSH he wanted to be a "dark avenger type," but "eventually found that implausible in my situation and environment, so I concentrated more on humanitarian aspects of what we do."

Throughout this humanitarian work, he has encountered kids. He recalls one time when he got a letter signed by an entire second grade class. Another time he met some kids at a homeless shelter that were hip to Geist.

"I was surprised that one day, making donations at a homeless shelter that the volunteer kids at the front desk who I had never met had heard of me. They asked, 'You must be Geist, right?' I was like, 'Yeah, you must have just seen me on CNN's webpage, huh?' (I was pretty puffed-up and full of myself, I think.)

And they said, 'No, Man. Word on the street. Word on the street...' That was better than CNN or anything because it proved to me that what I actually do has an effect. And people hear about it. And if they hear that someone is looking out for them, then that's the message."

Geist found that he had a big fan in a young fellow named Ben who lives a bit Northwest from Geist in Alexandria, Minnesota.

"I'm not sure how Ben and his family heard about me at all." Geist says. He says one day he got an e-mail from Ben's mother on Facebook.

"She said that her son, Ben, had asked her to buy a Geist action figure. I really did laugh out loud. I said 'Sorry, but I'm not exactly on the market,' or something like that. Then she asked if I would be willing to meet Ben when they're in Rochester visiting the Mayo Clinic in April."

It was then that Geist found out that Ben is ill, and the prognosis isn't good.

"I told (Ben's mom) that I would be sending the one and only Geist action-figure known in existence, and some other items. I sent the action figure custom-made by Rev. Tom Fury, 3 autographed photos, a piece of material that my mask is made from, an LED gimmick and a letter," Geist says.

[Note: The Rev. Tom Fury is an artist who creates illustrations, puppets (including the nefarious villain puppet Octavious Fong), and custom made action figures of real life superheroes.]

After this initial exchange, Ben's family remained in contact and even joined forces with Geist and his fellow heroes of Minnesota.

"I want to mention that they've done so much for us since my initial package to them.

They substantially packed a whole buncha supplies that Blue picked up from them in Alexandria. Blue, Arctic Knight, Razorhawk and I gave them out in loads to People Serving People in Minneapolis, which houses entire families in need of housing and food."

In addition to Geist, Ben was quickly becoming a fan of Geist's RLSH allies.

Ben's story led to a brainstorming session on Geist's Facebook page in which a proposal to create a RLSH coloring book very quickly got rolling. A large number of RLSHs and artists volunteered to make the coloring book happen.

"The coloring book is an ongoing process that's probably working faster than I am at this point and that's great. I love the fact that there's momentum in this project and that there are other people not jumping, but leaping to join in." Geist says, explaining that the first book will go to Ben, and more copies potentially could be given to other kids in the future.

"The very first book is going to go to Ben. He's our cause and our care."

Meeting Ben is an event Geist looks forward to.

"Tea, there's nothing about this meeting with Ben that doesn't get tears streaming down my cheeks, man. I feel very emotional about it and I'm also inspired by how the rest of the RLSH community and ALSO the 'just-plain-fans' are stepping up to help Ben."

**UPDATE: I'm now being told Ben has adopted his own superhero persona- Power Boy- and received complimentary costume gear from Hero-Gear, a company that supplies RLSH and others with masks and suits.

Ben's fan art of Geist

HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE REPORT

Wonder Boy, a Meta House nurse, The Watchman, and Blackbird outside of Meta House

On Saturday, December 11, I joined The Watchman, Blackbird, and Citizen (of Chicago) for an in person toy/art supply drive in front of Fuel Cafe, here in Milwaukee. People were generous and I wrote more about the day and shared photos in a previous blog entry HERE.

I again joined the heroes for the two deliveries of the donated bounty. On Friday the meet up spot was my kitchen, from which we headed a short distance over to the Meta House. Blackbird arrived first, followed by The Watchman with his son and heir apparent, Wonder Boy. Wonder Boy has traditionally joined Watchman for his holiday charity events.

We had several bags of art supplies and toys. We were met outside of Meta House by two staff members, and led inside into their office. The Meta House is located in a couple of beautiful old buildings that used to house a Catholic school and convent for nuns. As we walked through the halls we encountered some of the Meta House residents who reacted with delighted surprise at the sight of the superheroes patrolling the hall.

The kids of Meta House were all in school, but after dropping of the supplies, the Meta House staff suggested the superheroes stop in the basement to say hi to some of the women who were having some social/ craft time. We filed down the narrow stairway and were met with more surprise. The Watchman briefly told the women what being a RLSH was all about and was greeted with great enthusiasm and well wishes. We wished the residents and staff a happy holiday and left.


Outside of the Gingerbread House

On Sunday I found myself cruising on the highway through the forests of bare winter trees, billboards, and outlet stores in the Birdmobile, with dance mash ups bumping on the stereo. I was riding with Blackbird as we headed to meet The Watchman in West Bend to make the second donation. The Gingerbread House is a charity that gives donated toys to poor families in Washington County. Again, we had several large bags of toys that filled up one of Gingerbread House's bins in their makeshift warehouse facility. The Gingerbread House staff was very kind and gave us each a Christmas card. They said it has been a rough year and any donations were very helpful.

The heroes talk with Gingerbread House staff inside their facility

MEANWHILE...

Geist and Arctic Knight with donations for People Serving People

In Minneapolis, The Watchman's Great Lake Alliance team mates- Geist and Razorhawk, along with Minneapolis's newest RLSH addition, Arctic Knight also did a delivery over the weekend. The trio dropped off toys and food at People Serving People, a large shelter and facility in downtown Minneapolis. They also read Frosty the Snowman to kids who reside in the shelter.

And so, the superheroes did what they could to try to capture the holiday spirit and give to others, and helped out three charity organizations. Good work!

HOLIDAY BREAK...
I will be taking a holiday break from Heroes in the Night to try to catch up on some other facts of life and will return to this blog January 5. I hope all of you have a great holiday, no matter if you are a hero doing a Christmas or New Year hand out or whether you are a sinister villain plotting during Ubermas, happy holidays to all.

Tangen/ Krulos Crossover Special

Tangen, left, and Krulos in Riverwest

RLSH have now long known Peter Tangen as "that guy who is making us look awesome with his incredibly well produced movie posters" and Tea Krulos as "that suspicious character who is scrutinizing us." And so it's inevitable that our paths have crossed several times.

When I first heard about Peter's LA shoot for his Real Life Superhero Project I said "He did what?!" and was amazed then, as I still am today, by the scope of his project.

Peter Tangen is a real life superhero visionary.

Besides the project itself, Peter has used the project to get a lot of positive press for real life superheroes in general, as well as participating in RLSH projects other than his own.

That is what led him to Milwaukee. Peter has signed on to help with a documentary being produced in LA and has been hard at work helping with the film. The documentary crew has been touring the country and when they heard Peter would be shooting a job on location in Detroit, and then heading to Peter's home state of Minnesota, they all said, "hey wait, doesn't that suspicious character Tea Krulos live somewhere in between? Isn't he working on some sort of RLSH book?"

And so you see, I got the news that Peter Tangen was coming to Milwaukee to film me for possible use in the film and to meet our local RLSH.
"Now that is pretty sweet." I thought. And it was.
The interviewing went well, the only issue we were frustrated with was background noise. Peter (and I) both wanted me to be interviewed in my office, which made sense since my office is set up as a RLSH headquarters, as you can see from this photograph revealing it for the first time.

Towards the top:framed pictures of RLSH at Superheroes Anonymous 3, Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman (my patron saint for this book project),and Thomas Jefferson as well as the clocks of justice. Middle: A Calendar(one of my most important tools), bulletin board, and a US map pinpointing RLSH I've interviewed (although it badly needs to be updated). Bottom: Framed articles I've written on RLSH, messy desk, messy shelves. Far right: Another bulletin board with press I've gotten for the book so far. Far left: dart board.

Although the background was a good visual, the noise level was not. You see, my neighborhood is very noisy on a hot Sunday afternoon- kids yelling and jumping in kiddie pools, dogs, lawnmowers, car vacuums, babies, engine revving, sirens, etc. So we struggled frequently with outbursts of noise interrupting. Also, I live without air conditioning so my office got to be pretty stuffy.

Still, we kept at it and got it done. After that we had a long discussion at my kitchen table with Watchman and Blackbird. I'd like to point out that this kitchen table has so far hosted RLSH meet ups with not only a local photographer, but RLSH seekers from Paris and Los Angeles now! Not too shabby for a small upper flat in Riverwest.

We had a great conversation with Peter about his project and developements of where it might go in the future, as well as some stories from his photo shoots for the Spiderman movies and Batman Begins, and Watchman and Blackbird got to share their stories with him. Peter then hit the road, trying to get a couple hours start on his trip to Minnesota, where he was going to visit family as well as Geist and Razorhawk.

It was a great meeting and I am glad to support Peter in any way I can.