Teacher by day and superhero by night, Michael Mutzhaus is making a difference in children’s lives every day. A Halloween costume as a college student and a chance encounter at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival inspired Mutzhaus to join Critical Care Comics and bring Spider-Man to life for children in hospitals. As the longest-serving volunteer in the organization and a tireless champion of the work, he now serves as the nonprofit’s president.
Mutzhaus takes the motto “with great power comes great responsibility” to heart. He recently spearheaded a successful initiative to expand Critical Care Comics’ reach to every children’s hospital and long-term treatment facility in Las Vegas. He also helped implement the Cancer Survivor Scholarship program which recently sent a young woman to Harvard.
What started as a handful of friends trying to brighten the days of sick kids has become a thriving organization with more than a hundred volunteers and eight monthly hospital visits, of which Mutzhaus has participated in hundreds. As he focuses more on the big picture, he dons the Spider-Man mask less often but it doesn’t make him any less of a friendly neighborhood hero.