Pandabonium tipped me off (thanks) about a store in New York: The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. Yes, there’s a place to get a kinds of crime fighting gear from utility belts to waving capes. It’s actually the second store, the original first appeared in San Francisco but with a pirate theme. That kinda’ figures doesn’t it. While everybody having a ball picking out his or her favorite crime fighter garb, the patrons might discover that the store itself has an alter ego as an all-volunteer writing center.
From here
By July, the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. was open for business, and walking inside, visitors were not disappointed. There were in fact capes and other superhero costumes; there were ropes and grappling hooks for scaling buildings; there were invisibility potions and X-ray goggles; and there were cans filled with anti-matter. But why sell superhero supplies? Is there really a market for that sort of thing? Well, the answer (and could there really be a better answer?) is that they are selling superhero supplies to support 826NYC, their non-profit writing and tutoring center, which is housed in the back of the store.
The writing center opened its doors in September 2004 to students in the area aged six to eighteen with the express goal of helping them improve their writing ability. 826NYC offers free writing workshops, publishing projects, and one-on-one drop-in tutoring Sunday through Thursday. Moreover, they host field trips for entire classes to visit the writing center for workshops on topics like storytelling or bookmaking, or for meet-the-author events where kids can ask solicit advise from published writers.
Again New York is proven to be the epicenter of the Superhero, but this time it’s accessible to the average person… and folks needing help with their writing.
6 comments:
That is soooo cool. I would bet however that most of the clientele would be into show tunes, if you get my drift.
I want a Tick costumer with working antennae.
costumer = costume
Wow.
At art school I lived with a guy who was a hardcore comic fan who was very shy. Almost a classic comic fan*. One day as part of a project, someone made for him a cape and mask (out of layers upon layers of latex housepaint made into 'fabric' and cut to shape).
He only wore them once (at the crit) and the strange thing, the really strange thing, was that when he put them on he was a different person. He acted in a way that I'd never seen him do before or after wearing the costume. He wasn't acting; he didn't refer to himself in the third person or as 'capatain so-and-so.
But, while he was wearing the cape and mask he stoood up straighter, moved with more grace and spoke clearly and confidently.
Seriously.
*his senior project was a 6'x 4' oil portrait (bust) of Superman in a massive home-made frame. Within the frame were small 3" x 3" frames that featured painted reproductions of famous Superman panels. It was truly magnificent.
That sounds very interesting! Maybe a place to visit next time I'm in New York (which is what, 2x in the last 40 years?). Has to be better than Times Square!
Wow. Far more interesting than I thought. They definitely need a Tokyo branch.
Post a Comment