Most people imagine that the life of a super hero is action packed, full of battles with super villians, space creatures, and monsters. For my recent project "Daily Life of Super Hero", I have been interviewing super heroes and drawing scenes from their everyday lives.
This is Benevolent Man. His super power is a form of extreme benevolence. When in battle, he has the ability to use his benevolent nature to induce feelings of empathy in his foes. I spoke to B.M. about some of his most recent work.
Ken Tanaka- What kind of battles have you been fighting recently?
Benevolent Man: "It had been a very slow year, up until this week. I think I had, maybe two or three major jobs...and then a couple of little side gigs, like getting frisbees off of a roof, or finding an elderly man who had wondered away from home.
Every time I go to the unemployment line, it seems like I see another hero that I know. Usually recessions are a boom time for us, crime goes up and our phones start to ring. But it's different this time.
The police and civilian crime fighting groups have increased their productivity with new technology like tasers, and such, and they only call us as a last resort. There's just a lot of down time now, and that's been hard. "
K.T.- You said it had been slow up until this week? What happened this week?
B.M.- On Wednesday I got a call from President Obama. It's the first time I got a call from a US president since Reagan asked me to go to San Salvador in '86.
K.T.- What did the president ask you to do?
B.M.- I can't really talk details, but Mr. Obama asked me to fly to Florida to meet with a man who had been making some threats that the President feared could lead to violence or even war.
K.T.- Was the job a success?
B.M.- It looks like everything is fine now, but I may have to go back. It will take a lot of benevolence to keep this man on the right path.
Illustration: Benevolent Man and his dog Timber enjoy a morning walk at Patterson Park.
Collage with Gouache, Oil paint, Acrylic Ink, and dog.
