Armed with pepper spray, a flashlight, and a cell phone, a masked crimefighter patrols the streets of Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood in the dead of night.  His identity obscured by a red mask that covers half of his face, he refers to himself as The Watchman and won’t reveal the name of his alter ego.  He wears black boots, black pants, black leather gloves and a black hoodie with a large yellow circle containing an emblematic “W” on his chest.

The masked crimefighter told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he belongs to a group known as the Great Lakes Heroes Guild. “We combine resources, work together, and share information…There’s something everybody can do to make the world a little bit better.”

Though he admits he has no superpowers, he has found a way to combine his twin passions, a love for reading comic books, and a need to help people in trouble. “I'm what people refer to as a real-life superhero,” he told the Journal. 

And he is not alone.  Milwaukee writer Tea Krulos is chronicling the exploits of The Watchman and others like him around the country in a forthcoming volume entitled Heroes in the Night: Inside the Real Life Superhero Movement.  Krulos claims to have interviewed over 150 real life superheroes from all across the U.S. and Canada, who she describes as ranging from “inspiring and brilliant to crazy and stupid.”