Fabio Heuring was standing outside a Seattle nightclub with a friend on Saturday when a man bolting from a bouncer ran into them. Enraged,the man prepared to give Heurings buddy a beating. Just then,in swooped a bizarre sight: a self-proclaimed superhero in a black mask and muscle-suit. He doused the aggressor with pepper spray,much to Heurings shocked relief. A couple hours later,though,using those tactics on another group of clubgoers would land the superhero,Benjamin Fodor,or Phoenix Jones,in jail,sending pangs of anxiety through the eccentric and mostly anonymous community of masked crime-fighters across the US. The comic book-inspired patrolling of city streets by real life super-heroes has been getting popular in recent years,thanks to movies like Kick-Ass and the HBO documentary Superheroes. And as the ranks of the masked,caped and sometimes bullet-proof-vested avengers swell,many fret even well-intentioned vigilantes risk hurting themselves,the public and the movement. Some have gone so far as to propose a sanctioning body to ensure that high super-hero standards are maintained. The movement has grown majorly, said Edward Stinson,a writer from Florida,who advises superheroes on a Website. What I tell these guys is,Youre no longer in the shadows. Youre in a new era. Build trust. Set standards. Its not clear how many costumed vigilantes there are in the US. The website www.reallifesuperheroes.org lists 660 members around the world. Fodor,23,is the most prominent face of the Rain City Superhero Movement,a collection of vigilantes who appeared in Seattle over past year. Early on October 9,after he saved Heurings buddy,Fodor charged a group of people leaving a nightclub. He insists he was breaking up a fight when he hit the crowd with pepper spray; the people who got sprayed told police there had been no fight. He was briefly booked into jail. Although (Fodor) has been advised to observe and report incidents to 911,he continues to try to resolve things, the police report noted. Fodor remained unapologetic. He says hes just like anyone else except I decided to make a difference and stop crime in my neighbourhood. Filmmaker Michael Barnett followed 50 real-life crime fighters for 15 months for his documentary Superheroes. Masked crusaders began appearing in the 1970s with San Diegos Captain Sticky,who used his Superman-like costume to fight for rental car rip-offs and tenant rights,Barnett said. They spread in the 1980s and 1990s,and became more popular thanks to faster communications and online support communities. Barnett said he met plumbers,teachers and firefighters who leave their day jobs behind every night in the name of security.
