Ah, yes they exist. An estimated 150 and 200 real-life superheroes (or "Reals" as some call themselves) are believed to, er, fight crime in the United States. About 50 are believed to "work" internationally.

Of course in the real world, things don't always quite work out as they do in the comics, or the movies.

Soon Geist faces his first obstacle: parking on the left side of a one-way street. "Usually one of my superpowers is parallel parking," he chuckles as he eases his car into the spot, emerging victorious with a foot and a half between curb and tire.

In addition, there's the costumes to contend with:

On the street, he encounters businesspeople on lunch break—some stare openly; others don't even notice his garish attire. "It's easier in winter," Geist says with a laugh. "Winter in Minnesota, everybody's dressed weird."

If you don't want to make the suit yourself, there's a guy who'll do it for you online at Hero-Gear.net.

There are some interesting anecdotes:

One evening when Master Legend was on patrol, he heard a woman scream and ran to investigate. But when he located the damsel in distress, she thought he was attacking her and called the cops. "They wanted to know if I was some kind of insane man, a 41-year-old man running around in a costume," he recounts. "Apparently, they had never heard of me."

If you read the full article, don't forget to have a have a look at the Details box, which has links to an excellent slideshow of "Reals", video and other links, plus a Real Life Superhero Map (via Google maps).

The UK's contributions to the ranks of "Reals" are the "Black Arrow" whose work includes instructing people on how to care for their pets and the environment, and a hero I have heard of before, and for whom I have much admiration, Angle-Grinder Man. It seems that there are many others in the UK whose good work goes unnoticed and unrecorded.

Great stuff. And it's real. No pun intended!