Boxman: Amherst’s Newest Superhero
“Hold on, Ma’am!” a voice cries out, “you left your eggs on top of your car!”
“Oh my goodness, thank you,” says the bewildered old woman. A 6-foot tall man dressed entirely in cardboard armor stands proudly in a superstore parking lot.
“Just doing my job,” the mystery man mumbles through his cardboard helmet. He lifts his brown paper gloves and gives a thumbs up. “Boxman away!” he cries before striding away.
This is Boxman, Amherst’s local superhero. He doesn’t have any superpowers, but he still roams the streets performing good deeds for the citizens of Amherst. Although few know his real identity, his presence within the town has made him a local legend. He has accumulated over 10,000 views on his YouTube channel and has been interviewed multiple times by the local Amherst newspaper. For many residents, Boxman is a symbol of hope, a bringer of joy and an inspiration to both children and the elderly.
Behind the mask and the heavy suit of cardboard armor is 20-year-old Mike Bumble. Since he was a child, Mike has always been obsessed with superheroes. He has seen every Marvel and DC movie and has spent his entire life collecting comic books, action figures and posters of his favorite heroes. His bedroom is completely decked out in superhero memorabilia, the most noticeable being a lifesize cutout of Superman, Mike’s favorite superhero.
“Superman is my favorite because he’s always trying to do the right thing,” Mike says, “and that’s very inspiring because most people don’t want to make the world better, they just want to focus on themselves.”
Mike lives with his Catholic mother and attends Holyoke Community College, while also working shifts as a greeter at the local Wal-Mart. Regarding his strict religious upbringing, Mike says it “taught him how to be a good person in the same way comic books did. Jesus was basically the first superhero.”
Mike’s secret life as a superhero creates some contention between him and his mother. “This superhero stuff is nice, but kind of a waste of time,” his mother says, “I wish he would focus more on his schoolwork and finding a career instead.”
Raised solely by his mother, Mike has never met his biological father. “Superman didn’t know his dad either,” Mike says. “When I was a kid, I liked to fantasize that my real dad was on some other planet and that I was secretly an alien. It gave me a lot of comfort growing up.”
Mike tells me that superheroes helped him through a particularly rough childhood. Because of his weight and social awkwardness, Mike was routinely bullied in school.
“When I was 11, I was very depressed,” he tells me, “I think superheroes showed me a little bit of light when I needed it the most.”
Mike first developed the character when he was 12. He claims he was inspired by the 2008 film Iron Man. “If Tony Stark could build a robot suit in a cave,” he says, “I can easily build my own suit at home.” The first version of the suit was constructed when Mike was 16, using empty boxes his mother kept piled up in the garage. The suit was finished with the help of Davis Maines, Mike’s best friend and personal “Alfred.”
Mike and Davis met each other in middle school. “We used to play GTA together at my grandma’s house,” Davis tells me, “I always wanted to be a professional cosplayer and I thought it would be cool to design an original character.” Using only cardboard and duct tape, Davis was able to invent a full bodysuit for Mike, one that would make it easier for Mike to move his arms and legs. The only problem with the suit, Davis tells me, is that it’s impossible to turn your head.
Davis also works as Boxman’s videographer. For every adventure, Davis follows Boxman around with his phone and posts the videos to Boxman’s YouTube channel. The channel consists of videos where he’s performing good deeds, such as helping people cross the street and picking litter up off the sidewalk.
As far as superheroes go, Boxman does very little crime fighting. The reason, Mike claims, came from a previous altercation with the Amherst police. “A house down my street got broken into,” Mike says, “when I went to investigate as Boxman, the cops arrested me for trespassing. My mom had to leave her work and pick me up at the station.” Since that incident, Mike has felt “discouraged” to fight crime.
“Sometimes I wish I had Superman’s strength” Mike confesses, “but mostly I just wish people could be nicer.”
Mike admits that there were times he almost gave up on the superhero life altogether. In one instance in particular, he attempted to intervene with a man and a woman having a violent argument in the middle of a public sidewalk. When Davis tried calming the situation, the man began shoving him and called him a “fatass piece of shit.”
“That was the moment where I felt the most powerless,” Mike claims, “but I suppose every superhero goes through tribulations.”
Despite the various setbacks, Mike says that becoming a superhero has given him a renewed sense of purpose. Boxman has offered Mike an escape from his normal life and has given more strength and confidence.
“To me, being a superhero is more than just about wearing a suit or having powers,” Mike says, “it’s just about doing the right thing. I think anybody can do that, whether they wear a suit or not.”
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