I'm still very much opposed to vigilantes. But I just read this comment on a thread about President Obama's response to former President Jimmy Carter's statement that racism was a factor in some people's response to Obama's presidency:

"Jimmy Carter, however, has a much wider berth in the racial discussion arena. I see it sort-of as a Batman / Comissioner Gordon relationship: Gordon must operate by the rulebook to bring in the criminals, Batman does not."

14. Sean;
http://www.racialicious.com/2009/09/23/open-thread-i-was-black-before-the-election/#comments


-snip-

I hadn't thought that Batman, Superman, and all the other superheroes were vigilantes.

While I like the idea of superhuman characters averting danger and coming to the aid of humans in times of trouble, I can see how it could be very problematic if those superhuman crime fighters turned to evil-which I guess is why there always are plots like that in comic books & movies.