This is a tribute in a way.
2011. That was when
Channel 5 broadcast its Super Heroes of Suburbia (yeah, HBO were late on the
scene with Super Heroes For Real -Americans!). Again, as with HBO, it started looking at the joke aspects BUT it
dawned on the programme makers that these were REAL people who had bad times in
the past.
HBOs later documentary echoed this.
Black Void and The Dark Spartan
At the time I did tell Dark Spartan and The Void to be
careful. “He needs to learn about the world,” said Noir's mother. I believe he
did get some rough handling from yobs at one point.
These are human beings but there are reasons they did what
they did. Justice Union UK
appears to be gone now. Dark Spartan has not up-dated his Face Book page since
2015. The Void. The Man In Black. Noir. Citizen Obsidian . No more internet
links.
I'm not sure what they are doing now but I hope they are
enjoying themselves.
First guy -can't recall (sorry), Black Void, The Dark Spartan and Citizen Obsidian.
Here is the item I published back in 2011.
The article by Steven Morris of The Guardian :
By day he is a mild-mannered financial adviser from Devon. But at night he dons an outfit that makes him look like a cross between a riot cop and a gladiator to become “the Dark Spartan”, roaming the mean streets of Torquay on Friday and Saturday nights trying to keep the good people of the English Riviera safe.
The Dark Spartan – aka 27-year-old Will – is the star of a Channel 4 programme, First Cut: Superheroes of Suburbia. According to the programme, there is a growing band of upstanding citizens such as Will to be found trying to clean up the streets of Britain. As well as the Dark Spartan, there is a former soldier called Ken who operates as “the Shadow” and uses “ninjutsu” techniques and smoke bombs to tackle boy racers in Yeovil, Somerset. In Yorkshire, Keiran, a 17-year-old comic-book obsessive, takes on the persona of “Noir” to target muggers.
The programme does not appear to be a spoof. Devon and Cornwall police confirmed that it was “aware of the presence of the Dark Spartan in Torbay”.
However, officers are not routinely picking up the phone to him when trouble is afoot. “Police in Torbay will continue to deal with any incidents as part of their normal duties and investigate any allegations or offences as appropriate,” said a spokeswoman.
Will is accompanied by a Robin-style sidekick on his rounds of Torbay – a comic-store worker who dubs himself the Black Void, sporting a Spiderman costume and carrying a cane. “The Void” admits he has a weak spot, suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, which can cause problems if things get “a little tasty”.
It is probably just as well that one of the pair’s main duties appears to be escorting drunks home rather than fighting twisted master criminals. If messages posted on a Facebook page in the Dark Spartan’s nameare accurate, there is quite a bit of gratitude in Torbay.
“Dark Spartan, I love you. Even when I behaved like a drunk idiot last night, you remained patient and even carried me some of my drunken way home!” reads one message.
Inevitably, not all are kind. “Dark Spartan isn’t a real superhero! He’s a man in riot gear who helps drunks home … why don’t you just not bother, most of ‘em make it home anyways. Let the police do there jobs and get out the way,” spits one critic.
In the programme, Will, a father-of-two, describes how he broke the news of his alter ego to his wife, Julie, telling her: “I’m off out tonight, love, to patrol the streets of Torquay and check out some crime.”
She took it in her stride: “I wasn’t that surprised. I’ve heard worse from him, to be honest.”
On Facebook, Dark Spartan explains why he took on his superhero persona: “Every one of us at some point in our lives experiences injustice,” he says. “Some of us seem to attract injustice.”
He continues: “Money – what people are willing to do for it – makes me sick”.
The Dark Spartan said his personal tragedies, including losing his father at a young age, had made him realise the world is “actually full of bad guys and, no matter who you are or at what point you are in your life, they’ll get you”.
Christian Watt, the director of the programme, said it took him a while to track down the Dark Spartan and the others. “Like all true superheroes, they were reluctant to reveal themselves,” he said.
“Some might say it seems quite absurd to watch them at times, but when you hear their background story, you could say they are quite brave.”
TV’s Superheroes of Suburbia shows secret lives of citizens who patrol streets
The Dark Spartan wears strange clothes, but he’s one of many upstanding citizens featured in a new Channel 4 documentary
The Dark Spartan, aka Will, 27, from Torquay, one of the superheroes of suburbia featured on Channel 4. Photograph: Richard Ansett/Channel 4
The Dark Spartan – aka 27-year-old Will – is the star of a Channel 4 programme, First Cut: Superheroes of Suburbia. According to the programme, there is a growing band of upstanding citizens such as Will to be found trying to clean up the streets of Britain. As well as the Dark Spartan, there is a former soldier called Ken who operates as “the Shadow” and uses “ninjutsu” techniques and smoke bombs to tackle boy racers in Yeovil, Somerset. In Yorkshire, Keiran, a 17-year-old comic-book obsessive, takes on the persona of “Noir” to target muggers.
The programme does not appear to be a spoof. Devon and Cornwall police confirmed that it was “aware of the presence of the Dark Spartan in Torbay”.
However, officers are not routinely picking up the phone to him when trouble is afoot. “Police in Torbay will continue to deal with any incidents as part of their normal duties and investigate any allegations or offences as appropriate,” said a spokeswoman.
Will is accompanied by a Robin-style sidekick on his rounds of Torbay – a comic-store worker who dubs himself the Black Void, sporting a Spiderman costume and carrying a cane. “The Void” admits he has a weak spot, suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, which can cause problems if things get “a little tasty”.
It is probably just as well that one of the pair’s main duties appears to be escorting drunks home rather than fighting twisted master criminals. If messages posted on a Facebook page in the Dark Spartan’s nameare accurate, there is quite a bit of gratitude in Torbay.
“Dark Spartan, I love you. Even when I behaved like a drunk idiot last night, you remained patient and even carried me some of my drunken way home!” reads one message.
Inevitably, not all are kind. “Dark Spartan isn’t a real superhero! He’s a man in riot gear who helps drunks home … why don’t you just not bother, most of ‘em make it home anyways. Let the police do there jobs and get out the way,” spits one critic.
In the programme, Will, a father-of-two, describes how he broke the news of his alter ego to his wife, Julie, telling her: “I’m off out tonight, love, to patrol the streets of Torquay and check out some crime.”
She took it in her stride: “I wasn’t that surprised. I’ve heard worse from him, to be honest.”
On Facebook, Dark Spartan explains why he took on his superhero persona: “Every one of us at some point in our lives experiences injustice,” he says. “Some of us seem to attract injustice.”
He continues: “Money – what people are willing to do for it – makes me sick”.
The Dark Spartan said his personal tragedies, including losing his father at a young age, had made him realise the world is “actually full of bad guys and, no matter who you are or at what point you are in your life, they’ll get you”.
Christian Watt, the director of the programme, said it took him a while to track down the Dark Spartan and the others. “Like all true superheroes, they were reluctant to reveal themselves,” he said.
“Some might say it seems quite absurd to watch them at times, but when you hear their background story, you could say they are quite brave.”
Above: Black Void, Noir and The Dark Spartan.
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