Comic book-writing crime fighter insists 'it's hip to give tips'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A local figure whose fictional creations somewhat mirror his own life has been honored nationally.

Alonzo Washington has been named to The Grio’s 100 list.

"100 African-Americans in 10 different fields that are making black history," he explained.

On a rainy day in Kansas City, Washington was handing out fliers to encourage citizens to call in tips to solve crimes, and making a radio appearance to get across his message “it’s hip to give tips.”

Those are just two of the ways he fights crime, much like the characters in his line of comic books featuring African-American heroes.

They were created as a tool to help him in his work as a community activist trying to reach young people.

"I said well, there's something that I can do to capture their attention a little bit more than just talking," he recalled.

At his first signing, he says about a thousand people showed up. That’s when he knew the comics could become a successful business that could fund his community activism as well.

Since then, the comic line has grown.

“I’m one of the few African-American publishers that have a universe of characters; I have Omega Man, Original Woman, Mighty Ace, Dark Force, Dark Wolf Assasin…” he counted off just some of the characters.

"When I first started it, Omega Man came from a future with an African-American president. I thought that was fiction, that's reality now," he said.

Like his comic book creations, he too has solved crimes, mostly from tips gathered through his connections in the community. By far the most famous case was that of “Precious Doe” as the body of a young girl dumped near a park came to be known.

The girl’s identity remained unknown for years, but Washington worked to bring attention to the case. Even his barber told him it would never be solved, he remembered.

But eventually, through talking to a tipster, Washington helped identify the girl as Erica Green. Her stepfather was convicted of her murder.

“I realized activism is a lot more powerful than I thought. You know, it solved a case that nobody thought could be solved,” he said.

But one case he's never solved is the 1996 killing of his beloved aunt, a mentor, who he says, made him who he is today.

"She was murdered in Shreveport and it just … you know, it still hurts me. To this day I don't know who killed her," he said.

In the meantime, he has adopted new methods to help solve crimes.

“I’m blogging against crime, I do YouTube videos and I’ve been very successful with that,” he said.

He tries to focus on the positive; like the adults who now tell him they were inspired by his heroes as children.

"Those are those small successes that you can't really see because you don't know who you impacted that way, but you can look on the news and see that murder took place last night," he observed.

He admits he sometimes gets tired and discouraged.

“If an activist is like being a superhero, the only thing is, I have no super powers … and I have no real backing, but the thing is that with faith and with tenacity, persistence, never giving up … you can make a difference,” he said.

He considers himself an entrepreneur. When he couldn’t get a publisher interested in African-American comic book heroes, he says he went to the library, read a book on publishing and figured out how to do it himself.

“The comic books and the activism kind of relate because in comic books as a kid, it was always the message is one man can make a difference,” he said.

He would like to give his characters national attention, especially in movies or on television.

He says he was approached by movie producers not long after the first comics were published.

“I haven’t done a movie yet because a lot of those creators want to take it in a comedy level or they want to take it from a stereotypical perspective, and Omega Man’s about breaking those stereotypes,” he explained.

“We want to make a complete paragon of virtue that is African-American, that all Americans can respect,” he added.

In the meantime, he still works to solve real crimes; “I just got a tip yesterday, that if it’s real, it’s major,” he said.