Life-changing event prompted a mild-mannered man to become a superhero.(The Seattle Times)

AUBURN, Wash. _ Mark Wyzenbeek and his stepson glide through the shopping-mall doors, a trio of villainous teen-age girls hot on their trail and ogling the man with the big "S" on his chest. The tight bright-blue bodysuit. The red shorts and boots. The flowing cape.

Wyzenbeek turns and confronts the girls, who giggle and whisper to themselves until one of them crows, "Are you doing a dare?"

"Naw, he likes it," says stepson Rick Stewart.

Wyzenbeek smiles. "People would have to dare me not to do it."

The girls consider this. "I dare you not to do it," one finally says.

Kapow! A zinger for the Man of Steel! Go on: Take your best shot. Plenty have already. "Yo, Spandex-Man!" they shout. Or: "Halloween's next month, dude." Such comments are mere marshmallows rained on the Metropolis Marvel.

Not that Superman doesn't feel pain. He's felt it in a big way. But he's also a guy who grew up believing in heroes, because, to paraphrase a popular saying, bad stuff happens, and someone's got to come to the rescue.