Guerrilla Masquerade Party: The Good! The Bad! and the Mutated! October 15, 2005

Ever since The Clock, The Shadow and The Spider brought their vigilante justice to the pages of pulp novels, the evil-doers of the world have had an elite group of men and women to tangle with: The Super Heroes. Every plan to freeze the earth and every attempt to hold NYC hostage has been foiled by these special people with special powers. In thanks for their hard work, Guerrilla Masquerade Party is throwing a special pre-Halloween party at 10pm Saturday, October 15th in their honor: THE GOOD! THE BAD! AND THE MUTATED!

And what location will act as our Hall of Justice (or Legion of Doom, if you prefer) for the night? One location stood out above all others for two reasons: It recently thwarted a dastardly plot to destroy it, and it accomplished that goal by crossing the street, becoming a Bizzarro version of itself. That's right... the Twilight Exit (now at 2051 E Madison St.)

Back in the day, comics were all about Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Aquaman, the Green Lantern, Batman and their ilke -- heroes with mythical or otherworldly origins, or just a whole lot of cool gadgets. But over the past several decades we've grown to love a wider array of Super Heroes (and grown to hate a wider array of Super Villains) -- and not just in comics.

'Advances' in science and technology gave our Heroes powers due to exposure to chemicals and radioactivity: The Fantastic Four gained their special abilities after enduring a storm of cosmic rays in space, Bruce Banner became The Hulk after being exposed to Gamma Radiation, and Peter Parker only became Spider Man after being bitten by an irradiated spider.

As our world changed, our heroes and villains kept up with the times: Women's lib spawned strong female heroines like Ms. Marvel, Elektra, WitchBlade, and Raven, and super villainesses like Catwoman... The continuing fight for racial equality has brought us minority heroes like African Americans Static and Hardware, X-men's Storm (of Kenyan descent), the Vietnamese super heroine Karma, Korean-American Xombi, and the Cuban Kobalt... and the Gay Rights movement brought us the gay Northstar, the lesbian Flying Fox, and gay parents Apollo & Midnighter.

Of course, there are a few animal super heroes out there, too -- like Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew, Danger Mouse, and Underdog. And we shouldn't forget about the more bizarre super heroes, including the brain damaged 'Flaming Carrot', and The Tick.

But comic books aren't the only place we cheer on our favorite good guys. TV, Movies, and especially Cartoons have provided a wider and wider array of characters who arguably fall in the Super Hero or Super Villain category. Even the Transformers and Thundarr the Barbarian could be considered Super Heroes -- as they fight for the fate of planet earth, each in their own way.

Of course, you needn't dress up as a Super Hero that already exists. Why not make up your own Super Hero or Villain? You can design your own costume, decide on your super powers, and develop a backstory! You could even coordinate with a friend to come as arch-enemies!

Need some ideas on how to put together a super hero costume? Think tights, unitards, tighty whities, and old sheets... Or, for check out how this guy made his amazing Superman costume.

To make the night a little more Bizzaro, we suggest popping into the new Safeway just one block up Madison street and buying an odd item first to bring along with you. Maybe a can of whipped cream, or an air freshener?... or perhaps a single rose or a jar of mint jelly? Anything unexpected that might help you fight crime. Just not celery. Celery is Dirty Bunny's kryptonite. And if you're asked by the anyone at Safeway why you're dressed up, tell them you need that box of Magnum condoms to save the world from Dr. Doom. The staff are sure to get confused by the end of the night.

Whether you dress up as The Riddler or invent Egg Carton Girl, discard your mild-mannered alter-ego, put on your Super outfit, grab a jalapeno or a wire whisk from Safeway, and join the rest of the Good, the Bad, and the Mutated at the Twilight Exit at 10pm this Saturday, October 15th!
The Twilight Exit is now at 2051 E Madison St., in the old "Oscar's II" space, across the street from it's previous location

For more information, check out http://www.gmpseattle.com/

Guerrilla Masquerade Party is a bi-monthly event consisting of large groups of people dressed in costumes of all sorts, arriving unannounced at various locations (most often bars). The agenda of GMP is simply to dress up and have fun. Nothing political, nothing complicated. We just want to add a little variety to Seattle's nitelife, and a little chaos while we're at it.