Stooperheroes: A Grab Bag of Unlikely Avengers

True Crime Campfire

True Crime, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Most of us grew up loving superhero stories. My favorite was always the X-Men. I liked the idea of these people who were born with mutations that initially made them targets of bigotry or fear, then harnessing those differences to do good in the world. I’ve always been a big believer in “give what you’ve got”—if you have a special gift or talent, use it to make the world better. But here’s the thing: Most of us recognize that superheroes are a metaphor for this idea. You’re not supposed to literally dress up in a cape and tights and go around town looking for muggers to fight off, or create a mysterious fake identity to rally people toward a nebulous cause. Evidently, though, some folks never got the memo on that. We’re gonna tell you about a couple of them. Sources:Phoenix New Times: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/penis-man-graffiti-returns-to-phoenix-after-yearslong-absence-15573929https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/penis-man-grafitti-tagger-sentenced-and-fined-in-tempe-11533751https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/penis-man-graffiti-tempe-arizona-vandalism-culture-neighborhood-11421292Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7943525/Penis-Man-tagger-reveals-just-one-vandals-using-slogan-Arizona.htmlYouTuber Gavin Wants Pizza Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/seattle-superhero-phoenix-jones-charged-after-undercover-drug-bust/The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/12/the-superhero-complex-masked-man-real-life-inspired-podcast-phoenix-jonesReal Life Superheroes Wiki, Phoenix Jones: https://wiki.rlsh.net/wiki/Phoenix_JonesYouTuber Interesting Stuff From Around the WorldYouTuber Atrocity Guidehttps://youtu.be/HWo9OchEdg4?si=onwsCoGnBIpAqRg6https://wiki.rlsh.net/wiki/Rex_Velvethttps://komonews.com/news/local/12-year-old-secret-agent-helps-foil-local-villainFollow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=enTwitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.comMERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, campers, grab your marshmallows and gather around the true crime campfire.
0:04.8	We're your camp counselors. I'm Katie. And I'm Whitney.
0:08.1	And we're here to tell you a true story that is way stranger than fiction.
0:12.0	We're roasting murderers and marshmallows around the true crime campfire.
0:20.4	Most of us grew up loving superhero stories. My favorite was always the X-Men. I like the idea of
0:27.1	these people who were born with mutations that initially made them targets of bigotry or fear,
0:32.5	then harnessing those differences to do good in the world. I've always been a big believer in give what
0:38.4	you've got. If you have a special gift or talent, use it to make the world better. But here's the thing.
0:44.5	Most of us recognize that superheroes are a metaphor for this idea. You're not supposed to literally
0:50.6	dress up in a cape and tights and go around town looking for muggers to beat up,
0:55.0	or create a mysterious fake identity to rally people toward a nebulous cause.
1:00.7	Evidently, though, some folks never got the memo on that.
1:04.1	We're going to tell you about a couple of them.
1:06.2	This is Superheroes, a grab bag of unlikely Avengers.
1:09.7	Music His stupor heroes, a grab bag of unlikely Avengers.
1:24.2	Case 1. A Hard One to Solve. The Tale of Penis Man.
1:29.5	So, campers, for this one, were in Tempe, Arizona, right at the end of 2019.
1:32.0	COVID hadn't hit the U.S. yet.
1:36.5	We were all blissfully unaware of the chaos that was about to fall upon us, and in Tempe,
1:38.2	a mystery was unfolding.
1:40.6	The mystery of Penis Man.
1:46.7	All over town, people were noticing his mark, the name penis man in a distinctive all-caps handwriting. Tempe was no stranger to graffiti, but this guy was prolific. He was tagging
	...

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