Three young boys in Bolivia wound up in the hospital after coercing a black widow spider to bite them, to see if they transformed into superheroes, just like Spider-Man.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is one of the most beloved fictional super-heroes, with many kids spending hours on end imitating his web shooting moves. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as children understand that Spidey and his super-powers are not real, and that getting bit by a spider, even a radioactive one, doesn’t turn you into a superhero. Unfortunately, as evidenced by this story, kids sometimes have a hard time telling fantasy apart from reality.

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He calls himself “Black Widow”, but his homemade spandex costume makes him look like a cross between Spiderman and Deadpool. He has been patrolling the streets of Norfolk, in Hampton Roads for the past two years, although not many people even know he exists. That may have something to do with the fact that he hasn’t done much crime busting so far.

Black Widow refuses to reveal his face and his real name, but goes by the alias Matsuda Yuuma, and claims to be 20 years old. He says he is a first Dan black belt, and has also tried karate and Muay-Thai, but he hasn’t had the chance to test out his fighting skills in a clash with wrong-doers. In fact, he spends most of his days helping out the homeless, performing first aid in case of accidents, and the little crime fighting that he does mainly resumes to preventing car break-ins and de-escalating potentially violent situations. Still, he always carries a trusty can of pepper spray and a retractable police baton, in case things get hairy.

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The residents of Beaverton, Oregon, can rest peacefully at night, knowing their streets are being patrolled by their very own real-life superhero. ‘The Guardian Shield’ has taken it upon himself to ensure the neighborhood’s safety after dark, and in true superhero fashion, the masked crusader hasn’t revealed his identity because he wants people to focus only on his mission.

“I want to be taken seriously,” he told FOX 12 Oregon. “Everything I do is legit, as much as possible. I make sure no one is breaking into cars, no one’s fighting, everyone is getting home to their families after a hard day of work.”

The Guardian Shield, or simply ‘Shield’, wears a red costume and is always armed with pepper spray, a stun gun, a baton, a flashlight, a first aid kit, a GoPro camera, and of course, a shield. He says the police are aware of his crime-fighting ways and he’s only had positive interactions with officers. They don’t encourage him to intervene in dangerous situations, but they do appreciate being tipped off when there’s trouble brewing.

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JT Network, a company that owns a chain of licensed DC Comics retail stores across Asia, has now ventured into the restaurant business. They’ve opened two new superhero-themed cafes in Malaysia which cater to comic-book fans in the country. A third ‘DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe’ is all set to open in Singapore on September 1.

“Fly, zoom or swoosh down to the DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe – yes, the official DC Comics cafe!” reads the description on Malaysia’s restaurant search website Offpeak. “Dine-in or chill out in our universe, surrounded by the awesome ambience that is home to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and other members of the Justice League.”

Every dish on the menu at these theme cafes has a popular DC Comics character’s name attached to it. Some of the treats include the Aquaman Justice Jumbo Prawn Cocktail, the Superman of Steel BBQ Chicken Burrito, and the Dark Knight Mini Wagyu Beef Burger – a black bun treat emblazoned with the iconic Batman logo.

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Communications specialist Clay Hielscher seems like an average guy, but pay his home a visit and you’ll realise why he’s called the real-life Tony Stark. The Kansas man not only resembles the popular comic book character, but he is also passionate about building superhero suits from scratch – his house is like a costume prop shop for a motion picture studio.

Hielscher is a former law enforcement officer, which sort of explains his obsession with superhero battlesuits. It all started a few years ago, when he was building a 17-foot kayak, just to let off some steam. One of his friends took a look at his work and suggested that he try to construct an Iron Man battlesuit.

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Meet Somchai Nitimongkolchai, Bangkok’s biggest Batman fan. The 43-year-old has been investing in Batman memorabilia for the past decade – his vast collection now consists of a whopping 50,000 pieces, including a LEGO Gotham City. And it’s all on display at his very own ‘Batcat Museum & Toys Thailand’.

Somchai, a self-confessed superhero geek, became obsessed with the Dark Knight ever since the 2005 film Batman Begins. He was blown away by Christian Bale’s performance as Batman. “I saw Batman Begins and was really impressed by how smart and brave Bruce Wayne was,” he said. He felt like Batman was an ‘approachable hero’ for the real world. “Anyone could just put on a mask and be Batman.”

Somchai, who ran an event-organising company at the time, had never collected anything until then. But the film inspired him to purchase his first collectible – a ceramic Batman piggy bank – for his office desk. Since then, he has combed every flea market and garage sale in Bangkok, looking for stuff related to his favorite superhero. “I started shopping on eBay and then learned more about how collectibles are marketed,” he said.

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Chinese student Zu Bingqun is living the dream of almost every comic book lover in the world. No, he hasn’t become a superhero himself, but he does have an amazing collection of Avengers suits that he built himself, from scratch. Zu said that by building the suits, he is trying to fulfill his own childhood dream of becoming a superhero.

A senior student at the Changchun University of Technology, Zu has been working on the outfits since 2012. He starts by downloading a blueprint of each superhero’s suits and buying the necessary materials for the build online. He then begins the painstaking process of molding each part of the suit and putting it all together.

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Mangetsu Man is a likable Japanese superhero whose only superpower is the determination to keep the streets of Tokyo clean, especially the Roppongi district, which locals say is always in need of a dust sweep. As you might have guessed, his arsenal of super-weapons consists of a broom and a dust pan.

Donning a purple suit and a big yellow ball for a head, Mangetsu Man – which translates as ‘Full Moon Man’ – spends a considerable amount of time sweeping the streets of Tokyo. He also puts on hilarious skits, recites Buddhist Prayers, and uses his amazing basketball skills to spread his message of joy, happiness and peace to the world

According to his official website, Mangetsu Man sprang into action in October last year, with a mission to ‘beautify Earth’. He also hopes his actions will inspire others into helping the greater good worldwide.

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Roaming the campus at the University of Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City, is a real-life masked superhero. Everybody knows him as ‘Zorro’ – he can be seen wandering around UP at various times of the day, dressed a lot like his fictional namesake (cape, toy guns and mask included). Going by eye-witness accounts, ‘Zorro’ comes across as an incredibly sweet guy with impeccable manners.

No one knows the man behind the mask very well; some believe he’s just having some fun, while others think he’s schizophrenic. He’s harmless though, he just appears to be in living in a world of his own creation. A few students who have interacted with him say that he’s actually quite the gentleman. He greets students everyday and reminds them to take care of their belongings.

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It’s not the first time we’ve reported cases of real-life superheroes here on OC. But this sure is a first – a female superhero who has gladly shared her identity. And that’s not all. She’s also probably the first superhero to be concerned about her own safety. So she only patrols the streets of Brooklyn with fellow male superheroes. She is ‘Prowler’ by night, dressed in black spandex, red cat mask and clawed gloves, and Nicole Abramovici by day, a 32-year-old home-organizing businesswoman.

Abramovici is a part of the Big Apple chapter of a group called Superheroes Anonymous (only, she isn’t). She came to know about this group of male superheroes patrolling the city through a newspaper article and was inspired to join them. “I am one of the very few females active as a real-life superhero,” she said. “I wanted to help the homeless and the abandoned animals of New York, so pretty much immediately I decided on the name Prowler.” Abramovici admitted that the name Prowler isn’t always seen in a positive light, and is perceived as a person who creeps around at night, stealing. “But I wanted to make the prowler a force for good,” she said. On most nights, you can find her seeking out the needy with her superhero mentor, ‘Life’.

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Think you have what it takes to become a superhero, but lack all the necessary accessories and superpowers? Don’t worry, in the real world, antimatter and immortality can be bought by the gallon. Well, at least at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop they can.

Sure, most comic book superheroes made their own costumes, but these are busy times, and it’s more convenient to buy them That’s where the Superhero Supply Shop, in Brooklyn, New York comes is. If you have a few buck to spare, you can conceal your true identity behind a cool mask in no time at all. But capes and costumes are just a few of the awesome things you can find in this amazing place. Just because we haven’t all been blessed with incredible strength, mind control powers or lightning speed, doesn’t mean we can’t be superheroes, right? It just means we have to buy our superpowers, and there’s no shortage of those at the Brooklyn Superhero Supplu Shop. You can find x-ray glasses, grappling hooks, cans of gravity, cloning fluid, and even an invisible jet that costs $42 million. Whatever you need to make crime-fighting easier, these guys have it.

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Paulo Henrique dos Santos, a pool attendant from Brazil, wanted so much to impersonate the Incredible Hulk for a local running event that he painted himself with green industrial paint. He later found out the paint won’t come off no matter how hard he scrubbed.

I always thought becoming a superhero was hard, but a young Brazilian Hulk fan proves it’s returning to human form that’s really tricky. According to Brazilian news site Globo Extra, 35-year-old Paulo Henrique dos Santos achieved celebrity status in the Villa Cruzeiro favela of Rio Janeiro, after he covered himself in green industrial paint, only to realize it won’t wash off. His intention was to dress up as the popular superhero for a running event, but since shops didn’t have the brand of paint he normally used, this “genius” decided to go with industrial paint normally used for ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines.

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Batman is in the news again, this time from Slovakia. Unlike his Brazilian counterpart, the Slovak Batman hasn’t been hired by the police, he’s self-appointed. 26-year-old Zoltan Kohari, from the southern Slovak town of Dunajska Streda, has donned a leather Batman suit that he’s stitched together himself, in an attempt to help the people of the town. He goes around cleaning the streets, helping the old, and calling the police when he spots something suspicious.

Incidentally, Kohari was a petty criminal prior to his superhero-avatar; he had spent eight months in jail last year and also attempted suicide just after his release. This was before he realized that he had a larger mission – to make life in his community better. “I have decided to do good for the people. I take care of order and help clean up the environment so we can keep living on this planet,” he says. Since Kohari doesn’t really have a full time job, he’s moved into an abandoned apartment in a dilapidated building on the edge of town. He has no electricity or water supply, but the place serves the purpose of a Batcave perfectly, to conduct his town patrols from.

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Ever fancied meeting up with a superhero? Well you could have, had you been in Beijing this past Christmas Eve. For that was the day a real-life superhero walked the streets of the city, helping out the poor. She calls herself the ‘Chinese Redbud Woman’.

Dressed in low-cut black tights and wearing a blue mask, her pictures leave us wondering if she attracted attention for more than just her generosity. Jokes aside, she did do a pretty good job of helping out – handing out food, warm clothing and gifts to beggars and homeless people. Why she didn’t put on some of the warm clothing herself on a cool December night, is something we don’t have an answer to. The appearance of this mysterious woman did cause a stir of sorts among the residents of Beijing. People started talking about her on the internet and in local media. Pictures of her acts of kindness at public places such as the Xidan subway station and in front of the Wangfujing bookstore have been doing the rounds ever since the night of Christmas Eve. The superlady herself communicates with the world through a microblog, written in Chinese. She currently has over 7,000 fans online.

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Herbert Chavez, a Superman fan from the Philippines, is so obsessed with the Man of Steel that he underwent several plastic surgery procedures just to look like his favorite superhero.

According to a video report by Bandila News’ Marie Lozano, 35-year-old Herbert Chavez has dramatically altered his appearance to look more like Superman. Unfortunately, the report is in Filipino and I’m not very good at that, but the guys at Real Self Blog translated some of it and managed to uncover that Chavez first went under the knife in 1995 and he’s had several other procedures since then. He had a chin augmentation to get Superman’s cleft, rhinoplasty to get Christopher Reeves nose, silicone injections for more plump lips and even thigh implants for a more muscular look. Examining the before and after photos, they speculate he may also have had eye surgery, cheek augmentation and jaw augmentation.

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