Villain Calling Out Phoenix Jones Might be Least of His Problems
Am I really reporting on this? Don’t worry, there is an even more shocking accusation further down. So this time around, the internet has deemed this “newsworthy?” Okay, here we go. I am sure you have probably heard of Seattle crime fighter, Phoenix Jones. Phoenix seems to be a very polarizing figure in the Real Life Superhero movement. People seem to either love Phoenix, or strongly disapprove of him. I have met Phoenix Jones many times, and he has always been nothing but nice to me. Jones, his wife, “Purple Reign,” and the Rain City Superhero Movement try to do good around the city, and have even gone as far as to start a charity to raise awareness about domestic violence. Their first major fund raising event is actually scheduled for Saturday May, 12th (tickets are still available) here in Seattle (see the full story here) and check outhttp://www.purplereigncampaign.org/.
But despite the good intentions, some people openly despise Jones. A new video has been let loose on the world, announcing the rise of a new “super villain,” who goes by the moniker of “Rex Velvet,” and who is definitely not a fan of Phoenix Jones. See his video below.
It seems that the Rex Velvet video is really more of a tongue-in-cheek piece of performance art, rather than a real rivalry. The entire thing is rather ludicrous, yet amusing. Apparently, Rex Velvet has been harassing Phoenix via social networks– to the degree that Phoenix even requested that his fans report this antagonist’s Facebook page. So with the release of the video, the geek news feeds are all atwitter about this new rivalry; but is this the first time Jones has been challenged by a self-proclaimed “super villain?”
The answer is “no.” In January of 2011, another video was posted by a villain calling himself “Dark Sin.” Without the attention generated by Phoenix Jones publicly acknowledging him, Dark Sin quickly faded from memory. His video on YouTube has a whopping 268 views as of this writing. You can check it out below.
So why has Rex Velvet garnered so much attention where others have failed? As I mentioned before, Phoenix Jones made the mistake of publicly acknowledging his existence. Factor this in with the fact that after receiving wide publicity following his arrest (no charges were filed) stemming from an unfortunate altercation during one of his nighttime patrols, and subsequent public unmasking, Jones has received quite a bit of national and international attention– which attracts those looking to steal some of his thunder, presumably people like Rex Velvet. To be fair, Rex Velvet also has a much better video than Dark Sin had. Rex Velvet’s video demand that Jones unmask himself, makes it obvious that he isn’t serious enough to know much about Phoenix. Jones has already been unmasked long ago, and is often seen without his mask on live patrol Ustreams, during the Rain City Superhero Movement’s pre-patrol meet ups.
So starts a new chapter in the Phoenix Jones saga. Any visions fans might have of heroes running around the city and outwitting nefarious villains at every turn, seem fanciful when the reality of the situation is little more than a high tech flame war and attention seeking. But hey, at least it’s entertaining. In the meantime, be sure to follow the situation via Phoenix Jones’ Twitter and Facebook feeds, as well as Rex Velvet’s respective Twitter and Facebook posts.
However, a super villain rival might be the least of Phoenix Jones’ problems. Today in Seattle, mayhem broke out on the streets, as a group of individuals used the cover of a May Day General Strike protest to surge through the city, and smashed the windows of businesses like NikeTown and American Apparel, as well as those of random cars. Jones was at this event, and local weekly paper, The Stranger, is reporting on their Slog (blog), that someone is claiming they were pepper sprayed by Phoenix Jones during today’s stupidity. The Stranger’s Cienna Madrid says in the following statement:
”I ran into Slog commenter Baconcat, who was pepper sprayed by Phoenix Jones.Baconcat was taking pictures at the courthouse and Phoenix was screaming at the group, ‘I’m not against you guys, I’m here to keep the peace and protect this historic building,’ and then took them out with pepper spray. Baconcat says his eyes are dry as hell. Tear gas went off shortly thereafter; it’s unknown if the tear gas belongs to the ‘superhero,’ too. ‘Beware: Phoenix Jones is still on the loose. But it’s still peaceful here in Westlake.’”
Phoenix Jones responded via his Twitter account:“I NEVER PEPPER SPRAYED ANYONE I DID GET SPRAYED BY ANARCHIST ‘PROTESTER’ OCCUPY IS OK BUT [riots] ARE NOT”
Purple Reign backed this statement up via her own Twitter account:
“For those following protests & riots downtown Seattle @ThePhoenixJones is there helping & despite false rumors has NOT pepper sprayed anyone”
Could this new villain already be putting into motion some devious plan to tarnish Phoenix Jones credibility? This might be a hard accusation to deny when the local news is running footage of someone in the vicinity of Jones clearly spraying pepper spray in an effort to defend a federal building from violent protesters. Has the world gone mad? After today’s events, the answers to these questions are a resounding “maybe.” Expect Phoenix Jones to be a popular news item for the next few days.
UPDATE: Shortly after this post went live, Phoenix Jones posted the following comment through his Facebook page, exactly as it was posted:
“YOU WANNA KNOW MY STANCE ON OCCUPY HERE YOU GO. I DON’T CARE IF PEOPLE WANNA PROTEST IT IS YOUR RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN I AGREE SMALL BUSINESSES ARE BEING DESTROYED BY CORPORATIONS. TODAY THE PROBLEM WAS NOT THE PROTESTERS OR THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT.
IT WAS A SMALL GROUP OF BLACK WATER ANARCHISTS THAT HAD MADE OPEN THREATS TO TRY AND DESTROY KEY BUILDINGS IN MY CITY. IT IS RIDICULOUS AND AGAINST EVERYTHING I STAND FOR TO WATCH PEOPLE PURPOSELY COMMIT ACTS OF TERROR, VIOLENCE, AND MAYHEM.
SO WHERE DO I STAND? I STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH ANYONE WHO UPHOLDS JUSTICE AND FACE TO FACE WITH ANYONE WHO WANTS TO COMMIT VIOLENT FELONIES (i did not pepper-spray anyone, my whole video will be up soon…but if any of the anarchists have a problem with being pepper-sprayed you should probably stop attacking and breaking into federal buildings).”
Tags: Charity, Cienna Madrid, comicbooked.com, Dark Sin, General Strike, May Day, news, pepper spray, Phoenix Jones, protests, Purple Reign, Rain City Superhero Movement, RCSM, Real Life Superheroes, Rex Velvet, riots, RLSH, Robb Orr, Seattle, super villain, The Stranger
About the Author
Written by Robb Orr
Robb Orr is a comic bibliophile and game aficionado from the “Emerald City” of Seattle, WA. He hopes to win enough favor to gain pet status after the upcoming and inevitable monkey apocalypse comes to fruition.
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