Matthew Genser’s uniform is, well, more colourful than most, to say the least. But if it’s not the neon green shirt and hot pink “M” that catches your eye, surely it’s the bright blue cape and matching mask. This is one of several outfits sported by “Mazing,” the real-life superhero with a mission to banish any bad hair day that crosses his path.

It all started when Genser noticed a short-haired woman across the street in 2012 — her bob was “kind of lumpy on one side,” as he describes it — and the stylist felt compelled to do something no one could have expected. 

“I said, ‘You! You see how your hair has that bulky spot right there? I can fix that for you,’ ” he recounts. 

And right then and there — at the bar’s outdoor patio — the woman got a free, impromptu haircut. Genser did the same thing for 50 more people at the bar.    

Stool in hand, the owner of Matthew Genser Salon + Medical Spa was soon spending his days strutting through Kensington Market in his supersuit, ready to give strangers free cuts.

Genser isn’t the only sorta superhero to walk the streets of Toronto. Toronto Batman has a large following and is a favourite of selfie-taking tourists. There is also a Toronto Superman as well as a Batman in Brampton, to name just a few. 

Among Genser’s clientele are the homeless, a population with which Genser has always felt a connection. 

“If I didn’t find something that I loved, I would probably be on the streets myself,” says Genser, 29.

Indeed, the stylist was kicked out of every school he attended and had more than 50 jobs due to a debilitating case of attention deficit disorder.

But despite a tumultuous journey, Genser has always been devoted to helping others — a quality he inherited from his mother.

“One of my best friends died giving birth,” says Genser’s mother Johanna, who took in her friend’s three-year-old and newborn daughter after the incident. “My children were taught from very little that they were not allowed to be selfish.”

“When you do something for someone and you make them feel good, it makes you feel good,” says Genser.