2007 Hero of the Year

2007: HERO OF THE YEAR
The Really White Vigilante shares a moment with Dos Equis.	There really was little doubt in my head as to who really was the Hero of the Year in 2007. With so little hope for honest change in politics and the world, pop culture eating America from the inside out, and voices of sanity who carry a clear conscience and a pure heart all but removed from society, I had but one choice to make: The Really White Vigilante is the 2007 Hero of the Year.

Amazingly, I was able to find our little hero scribbling some notes of his own at Rio Rita on a warm December afternoon. After buying a few beers, our reluctant hero opened up for a quick interview:

SV: So with the publication of the Really White Vigilante comic book, how has your notoriety changed you?
RWV: Well, people seem to know who I am now, and that's a bit disconcerting. I've always enjoyed being a bit outside the limelight, but now some people see me and try to get me worked up about things. I'm happy the book put gentrification and the problems East Austin is facing in the spotlight a bit, but I never thought strangers would know who I am.

SV: How has the changes in East Austin affected you personally? Do you still get upset seeing each new loft project being built?
RWV: Well, I just think its sad. It seems there's a new loft project being built every week, and the crowds at bars on the East Side are getting worse and worse. Soon, they'll be a Starbucks somewhere on the East Side and that'll kill me. I was at a party on the East Side just last week that was filled to the brim with hipsters. Kids were outside the bathroom lined up in twos like it was Noah's Ark, but all they wanted to do was some coke. I just think its sad there are so many people moving into the neighborhood who use it as their personal playground. So yeah, it's getting rough, you can definitely see the changes taking place and sometimes the wait for a beer is way longer than what it was.

SV: What is your current relationship with Dos Equis?
RWV: I really don't want to go into that right now, but we are talking, and she is a great girl.

SV: How do you react to all the hipsters who are now ubiquitous on the East Side?
RWV: Well, there's just an overriding blandness to them all. They seem really boring - they all look alike, think alike, and talk alike. There are a few that stick out though - I ran into my new favorite while drinking downtown with a friend last weekend. He dresses like a Hassidic Jew, with a full thick beard complete with a yamika. God Bless Him!!! I mean, he probably spent weeks trying to figure out the most obscure identity he could co-opt and he came up with that. He walked into the bar with his parents, who were not Jewish and seemed upper middle class. Just another trust fund kid who is trying way too hard.

SV: At the end of the comic book, you walk away from your superhero identity, are you planning on ever making a comeback?
RWV: Well, I can't really talk about that either. Let's just say my mask and costume is kept in a nice, secure place, and brings back some fond memories.

SV: Have you made any new friends or enemies because of the book?
RWV: Lots of folks have come up to me and told me the book really mirrors what they're going through, and that's been flattering. But I've also heard lots of rumors of some people being upset. I don't think the guy who wheatpasted 'Stop Gentrifying East Austin' all over town is too happy with the book. Surely, there were plenty of targets, so I'm sure somebody is upset with me, but I haven't received any hate mail yet. A few weeks ago I was riding my bike, stopped at an intersection, when a Mexican drove past me and flipped me off with an angry look on his face. I just smiled, waved, and yelled, "It's not me you should be angry at!"

2007
Year End Review
Recaps
Hero of the Year
Employees of the Year
Behind the Scenes
Ups and Downs
Looking Ahead

Recaps

Jan, Feb, Mar

Apr, May, Jun

Jul, Aug, Sep

Oct, Nov, Dec

MARCH
I spent a week in Kerrville as the token white guy painting a mural with my great friends Marty and Charles. Between hard days of work and late nights laughing, it was one of the best weeks of the year. I came back in town to catch the entire SXSW debacle and kept finding more fodder for my comic book.

THE LATEST STORIES...

+ BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS
Austin's biggest art show of 2009
+ JESUS CARRIES A BIG STICK
A look at my painting for the New Testament Show
+ REALLY SMALL, STILL REALLY WHITE
My friend sculpted a miniature Vigilante!
+ VOLUME THREE: TURNING THE CORNER
Laying out the third RWV comic book
+ 2008 HERO OF THE YEAR
Who is Zina Saunders? Find out now!
+ PINATA TIME!!!
the White Vigilante meets his match
+ A4 PAPER: HOW I LEARNED TO HATE REAGAN
I finally figured out what bothered me all these years...
+ KANSAS CITY BBQ TAKES ON AUSTIN
a gift from the BBQ capital of the universe to Texas
+ AUSTIN CRITICS' TABLE AWARDS
a surprise nomination, win, and a speech or two

MY COMIC BOOK SIDE PROJECT:
TALES OF THE REALLY WHITE VIGILANTE #1 the satiric tale of one young man's attempts to stop the gentrification of East Austin by becoming a superhero in a Mexican wrestling mask.
TALES OF THE REALLY WHITE VIGILANTE #2 the tale continues with the White Vigilante teaming up with Dos XX during Austin's largest music festival to fight a new, more menacing threat to Austin.