The age of superhero's is upon us. (I could not be more psyched)

[JaxiD]

I do not know if anyone has seen this already, but wow, honestly, it amazes.

Link click.

Some nerdy young adults are running around pretending to be superheroes and trying (trying being the key word) to stop crimes.

The way I see it however, there are no other superheroes in today’s world, so therefore as they are the only current real life superheroes, then they must be superheroes. By default.

And this means I finally have a use for my Supervillain costume, so I, Professor Insano, can put a stop to their good deeds, once and for all.

Either way it causes amusement.

[Alondro]

*grins evily*  Time for the super villains to appear...

*puts his Charles Arrancar costume back on and heads to Cincinnati* 

Today Cincinnati!  Tomorrow... the world! 

[JaxiD]

I call shotgun on being the head of the legion of evil.

On a more serious note, and yet nothing I could say beyond this point could be thought of as serious, they must be doing that for a joke right?

I am half tempted to go to Cincinnati and enact my wrath of diabolical scientific creations down upon them in order to see what their reactions are. It would be priceless.

[Brunhidden]

a little story- i got into criminal justice partially because when i asked the chat what they imagined me doing for a job one of them said 'punching bad guys in the face'. it was a life changing moment

so call me clubman, batman was already taken. any cries of 'not the face' will be ignored...

[techmaster-glitch]

I think this is pretty cool, actually. Their only issue is most likely that no one--not the criminals, not the police, not the people--is taking them seriously.

And that's pretty cool too, Brunhidden

[GabrielsThoughts]

I saw a similar story on CNN a few months back...

I don't get it, you don't have to wear tights to help people. Just doing something to benefit your community would be enough.

[JaxiD]

I think this is pretty cool, actually. Their only issue is most likely that no one--not the criminals, not the police, not the people--is taking them seriously.

He hit the nail on the head.

I'm not even sure they're taking themselves seriously to be honest.

It seems fun though. Yet real criminals carry guns, which I have to admit could be seen as an issue.

[Faerie Alex]

Actually, I heard about something like this on the local New York news a few months ago, where (I think) it was three guys who went around, trying to help people who needed it and, if memory serves, they did claim to have stopped a couple of crimes in progress. They made a point of not being armed, and they were taken somewhat seriously, though the police's stance mainly seemed to be "just be careful you don't get yourselves killed."

[Brunhidden]

brief interlude of reality- believe it or not it is technically illegal to be a masked superhero or any other form of freelance vigilante.

however the possibility exists to have government funded heros, but fat chance that will happen in this sue-happy world

[Kipiru]

As much as I'd like to congratulate those guys(and girl), what their doing is rather stupid and dangerous. They could cause some major problems to the police by acting this way. Taking the law in your own hands is extremely rarely a good idea.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

brief interlude of reality- believe it or not it is technically illegal to be a masked superhero or any other form of freelance vigilante.

however the possibility exists to have government funded heros, but fat chance that will happen in this sue-happy world

Really?

Which law, and where, Brun? Not that I disbelieve you (anything but) but I'm curious as to the exact wording, and what the lawmakers were _trying_ to do...

[Lysander]

It's like The Incredibles without super powers. Eventually someone's going to get a door broken down and then the lawsuits begin.   

[Alondro]

That's why smart vigilantes use a sniper rifle and dress like a ninja.   

[Netrogo]

This growing community sounds like they read one to many issues of "Kick Ass" it's a recent comic book that litterally mirrors what Shadow Hare here is going on about.

[JaxiD]

This growing community sounds like they read one to many issues of "Kick Ass" it's a recent comic book that litterally mirrors what Shadow Hare here is going on about.

Seems that way, except with much less success.

[Brunhidden]

Which law, and where, Brun? Not that I disbelieve you (anything but) but I'm curious as to the exact wording, and what the lawmakers were _trying_ to do...

vigilantism used to be the main form of law enforcement, but after the wild west era the government saw a problem with people taking the law into their own hands, thankfully this was also the time where city police departments were becoming common enough to consolidate them and institutionalize standards for police to make them into one cohesive force across the nation. oddly enough though, the police department is still technically a 'gang', and fits more criteria to be a gang then most gangs do.

fun law enforcement history- the wild west era had exactly the same law enforcement plan that feudal England did. a shire reeve (sheriff) had the right to form a posse for the purposes of pursuing criminals. however for most of history a sheriff's main duties included collecting taxes, assembling jurors, and public service with the apprehension of criminals being the last of their duties. also, for most of history law enforcement officials were not paid, so did one really crappy job

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Explains why bribery worked so well. :-/

[Kafzeil]

Hmm...I got two black trecnhcoats...all I need now is some mirrored sunglasses, a fendora, and a maybe something to cover my face. I always did like the Question. Or I could just brandish a pair of grenade launchers and wear a Luchador Mask.

Joking aisde, I'm rather uncomfortable with this due to way too many parallels with Watchmen.

[Netrogo]

I'm not uncomfortable with it in the slightest. The way I see it if this spreads and they actually do some good, more power to them. If they don't then, much like the comic I mentioned earlier showed us, they wind up dead on the side of the road.

So either they save part of the world, or have no effect what so ever.

Either way, doesn't affect me.

[M]

I really wish I could support their efforts, because helping people is something I really get behind. But the one guy mentioned he got hurt while trying to do good, and there is so much danger in vigilantism that I wouldn't be comfortable with people putting themselves in such a situation. I'm not saying that you should never step in if you happen to see something and think you might be able to help, but don't actively seek out crime because you're trying to fancy yourself a hero. Officers are trained to handle criminals. These people are most likely not. More often than not, they'll get in the way of the police.

If you want to help people, that's great. But this kind of action seems more counterintuitive towards that desire to help.