The Real Life Superhero Files: Mutinous Angel

By Lauren Smiley Tue., Dec. 13 2011 at 5:10 PM

Categories: WTF?

Mutinous climbed a wall on our photo shoot. For real.

In this week's cover story, we presented The Ray, a Target employee from Antioch who was arrested in the General Strike in Oakland last month while acting as a Real Life Superhero. The Ray is far from the only civilian-turned-comic book hero fighting crime and helping the needy around the Bay Area.

There are more. Many more.

Here's Mutinous Angel, a brooding vigilante who turned to fighting crime after his ex-girlfriend broke his heart. He's part of The Ray's superhero crime-fighting squad, the Northern California Protectorate.

Handle: Mutinous Angel. "I chose it because I follow God. I'm a Christian. I know I make mistakes, that I'm not going to be perfect. So I came up with mutinous. It's kind of like an oxymoron."

Age: 29.

Costume: Purple and black spandex, groin protector, titanium gloves, and face mask.

His Ride: The Mutinous Mobile, a black Mitsubishi Eclipse with glowing purple lights underneath

Weapon: A AR-15 semi-automatic rifle locked in a case in the back seat of the Mutinous Mobile. He's an NRA member, too.

Origin: Six years ago, Mutinous was dating a Muslim girl, who was "kidnapped" by her

family and made to marry within her faith. "I don't want to be with anybody else, so men who are single on their own really want to do something extreme, I guess. Kind of like a soldier, or get into law enforcement, careers like that are perfect for us." Mutinous first joined the Marines, but says he was dishonorably discharged after headbutting a drill sergeant. "It's not something I'm really proud of." He then became a superhero.

Crimes stopped: While in the Mutinous Mobile, Mutinous saw a man stealing car stereos. Mutinous stopped, the suspect pulled a gun and walked back slowly, then darted out of the neighborhood. Another time, Mutinous chased down a hit-and-run perp in the Mutinous Mobile, and gave the license plate number to the cops.

On why he doesn't like to wear his costume: "The only thing I'm worried about is people seeing me as some sort of weirdo."

On why he wears his costume anyway: "If I got out there without gear and something happens, I can walk or drive away. But if I'm there in gear, there's no walking away."

Even superheroes have problems: In high school, "I grew up looking a bit too feminine, so people, even teachers, used to mistake me for a girl. So when they see someone like that they're going to try to pick on him or fight him.... I used to get suspended a lot." Mutinous lives with his mom in Tracy, after their Hayward home was foreclosed on. He's currently unemployed.

How he'd like to be seen by society: "Something close to Batman. Like a vigilante -- not really liked, but getting the job done."