The Photo that Brought us Back to Earth-1218
- admin673363
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
On August 22, 2026, social media feeds came alive with what appeared to be a cover of the latest superhero comic. It had all the classic elements: Spider-Man, arm pulled back and fist ready to attack, facing a man in partial military camo and aviator glasses, using a large white cross as a shield. All around, people crouch as an American flag, held in an anonymous grip, begins to fall. The only thing missing was the masthead, publication date, and issue number because this image wasn’t from a comic book cover. It was a photo taken by Chris Juhn during a real-life altercation between Nicholas William Love II, dressed in a Spider-Man costume, and extreme right-wing activist Jake Lang as he marched behind a truck driving along a sidewalk through Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Videos and photos shared later in the day showed Love’s fist hit Lang in the mouth as pepper spray erupted around them. Minneapolis police who had escorted the truck rushed in to stop the altercation. Both Lang and Love were arrested.
For comic book aficionados, Love’s costumed vigilantism is nothing short of heroism. To boot, Love was a 33-year-old Black man, and many saw this as a parallel to Miles Morales's Spider-Verse storyline. Morales was a Black Brooklyn teenager who became the new Spider-Man after the Peter Parker of his timeline was murdered.
However, in these celebratory posts, people failed to mention that Spider-Man isn’t universally loved in the comics. Miles Morales’ father, who is a police officer, thinks Spider-Man is a menace. Even in the more well-known Peter Parker Spider-Man stories, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson views Spider-Man as a dangerous, unmasked “menace” and a criminal who works outside the law.
According to a blog post from Phillip Davis called “Governance Failures, Vigilantism, and its Dangers,” vigilantes appear when protective systems fail. While some might think this benefits society, this form of justice has many drawbacks.
The most obvious is the physical threat, not only to those fighting but also to innocent bystanders swept up in the fray. Less obvious is the promotion of corruption caused by vigilantism. If someone is already acting “outside the law,” it is easy for others to say it's okay to do the same, morality aside. However, when people feel authorities are failing them, whether due to lack of motivation, conviction, morals, or resources, people will often look for someone to “save” them from a broken system.
Love was arrested with Lang after an altercation during a Minnesota Rally
The pros and cons of vigilantism are discussed regularly in comic books and their TV and movie counterparts. In the 2015-2021 Supergirl TV series, several seasons focused specifically on Jimmy Olsen’s vigilantism under the name Guardian. Multiple viewpoints presented him as either a “hero” or a “danger,” depending on how it related to other characters’ situations. This contrasted with Supergirl, who was validated as a “superhero” because her government affiliation sanctioned her actions, even though Guardian and Supergirl were friends, knew each other’s real identities, and supported each other’s actions.
Perhaps the reason no one mentioned vigilantism specifically in social feeds is that those familiar with comic book lore already knew Love’s actions would be judged from many perspectives. Or maybe we were too stunned to see fiction play out in real life instead of on the silver screen.
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