 "Photo: Lauren Gerson/The Daily Texan Staff")
In every cell of a comic book’s pages, within the text bubbles and beyond a caped hero, there lies the power to invigorate the superhero within children and adults alike.
Austin Police Department Detective Jarrett Crippen, also known by his superhero alias The Defuser, raised spirits and money for local charities by selling his comic book and premiering his SyFy channel movie, “Lightning Strikes,” at La Zona Rosa on Saturday. In addition to his superhero activities, Crippen runs a charity which raises funds for cancer research, in particular, through funds raised from a haunted house that runs each October.
The Defuser is a blue-spandex-clad herald of justice equipped with a utility vest and belt sporting non-lethal weaponry. Crippen created the hero in middle school and revived him for the SyFy channel’s 2006 game show “Who Wants to be a Superhero?”
“My message is to tell kids that whether it’s school, sports, chess — whatever it is — give it 110 percent,” Crippen said.
“And I want kids to know guns can be dangerous, but they are also just a tool … I think if I can get anything across to kids, it’s how to be a hero in your
community.”
Crippen competed among 25 participants through challenges reflecting superhero encounters, including one where The Defuser fought through 75 feet of a simulated hurricane created by turbo fans coupled with fire hoses.
The show was hosted by Spider-man creator Stan Lee, who granted a Dark Horse Comics book deal and an appearance in a SyFy movie to the competitor that survived through all the challenges.
Since winning the show, Crippen has made appearances at comic book conventions, parades, boy and girl scout camps, and multiple school functions. At each appearance, he sells Defuser merchandise, including comic books and T-shirts, and donates the profits to cancer-related charities.
Crippen used his Defuser appearance Saturday to promote his charity, SCARE for a CURE, and raise funds for The Breast Cancer Resource Center of Texas. The group’s assistant director Susan Pratt said the charity raised over $10,000 last year in scholarship money for students affected by cancer.
Pratt said the group’s main event each year is an interactive extreme haunted house that runs the last two weekends in October. The house is built by volunteers and showcases a frightful tour with volunteer actors in makeup waiting within.
Over a thousand volunteer hours have already been put into the haunted house, she said.
She said the charity also promotes blood drives and attends events such as Eeyore’s Birthday, Bat Fest and the Alamo Drafthouse’s Terror Tuesdays.
Ian Wolf is a volunteer for the charity who has not only helped build the house, but has also played the part of a crazed doctor with bloodshot eyes for the house’s guests.
“It’s great for the community because all the money that we raise stays here in Austin — it’s Austin-bound,” Wolf said. “It’s building a haunted house to scare people for a good cause — how [much more] weird can you be than that? It screams Austin.”
Crippen said although he is occasionally recognized by citizens as a result of the SyFy show, his aim is to promote The Defuser’s message, which he said has eclipsed himself.
He encourages children to be more proactive within their community and adults to be more selfless and use their resources to garnish goodwill.
“There are just so many ways to volunteer. You just have to make a decision you are going to get up and do it,” Crippen said. “If I can do anything to inspire people to take some of their own personal time and give a little bit, my job’s done.”
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www.scareforacure.org