# Dirt poor superheroes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927 "2014-06-29T12:29:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/21 "2014-06-29T23:28:36Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Mmm Mmmm, rubber band filled tacos, with extra rubber bands on the side, my favorite. I am rather curious what the artist’s intention was there. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/22 "2014-06-29T23:53:16Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I am rather curious what the artist’s intention was there. Well, Brian Bolland, the cover artist, is British… his exposure to tacos may have been limited when he got the description for the art. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/23 "2014-06-30T01:31:08Z")
Sure, but he still presumably thought he was drawing _something_. He might not know what a taco is filled with, but he knows they’re not filled with rubber bands. Sliced onions, maybe? You’d think he’d go with a generic textured lump of who-knows-what, though (which could be a lot of different foodstuffs). EDIT: Oh, and I’ll admit that the first time I looked at that picture, I didn’t even notice what the tacos were filled with. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/24 "2014-06-30T01:33:03Z")
Well, it’s stretching the genre limits a bit, but doesn’t Jack Reacher deliberately own nothing but the clothes on his back? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/25 "2014-06-30T03:59:16Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Well, it’s stretching the genre limits a bit, but doesn’t Jack Reacher deliberately own nothing but the clothes on his back? Reacher refuses to carry more than a toothbrush, yeah, but he has resources. I think he’s got about half a million stashed, currently. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/26 "2014-06-30T04:19:35Z")
The Silver Surfer doesn’t need food. Thor was a successful doctor, as Donald Blake, for awhile, and also a construction worker. Also Defenders can always crash at Doc Strange’s. Avengers could crash at Avenger’s Mansion. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/27 "2014-06-30T05:54:20Z")
Also, and I really only kept up with comics in the 60s and 70s, so I’m not up to date on all the reboots: Didn’t Hal Jordan and Barry Allen both keep their day jobs? Hal continued to fly for Ferris Aircraft and Barry kept up his work with the CCPD. At least for a number of years until the DC Universe started turning upside down. They weren’t the Flash and GL 24/7 any more than Clark Kent went everywhere in the blue tights and red cape. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/28 "2014-06-30T06:00:51Z")
Howabout **The Maxx** - straight-up homeless guy. Very occasionally crashed on Jungle Queen/Julie’s couch. ---
**Author:** ![irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irritant)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/29 "2014-06-30T10:32:59Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Really bad at their jobs: > Iron Fist/Power Man’s “Hero For Hire” company where they never got paid. > Daredevil’s Law Firm where Foggy works for free and they never get paid. > > Homeless people whose job is unpaid superheroism: > Bucky Barnes, the original Bucky, who is basically an orphan who was adopted by some army guys. > Samuel Wilson, The Falcon, who was a reformed pimp and drug dealer who was living on an abandoned island learning to talk to falcons when Captain America found him. > Most of the X-Men except Angel and Xavier, as revealed in many comics and the films, they were usually abandoned by their families and homeless for being mutants. > Shang Chi, no idea how he eats but apparently his weapons are homemade. Somehow walks the streets of New York barefoot, probably not by choice. > The Question and Ralph Digby the Elongated man, whose job is apparently free detective work. > Cloak and Dagger possibly work at a homeless shelter or live there, it’s hard to tell. > > Homeless people with irregular work: > Bruce Banner, the Hulk, somehow make tons of money doing government jobs once every few years and spends the rest of the time wandering around getting hunted by them. > > Heroes with jobs but bad pay: > Captain America, Steve Rogers, is officially in the Army but apparently not pulling Captain’s salary, although in several issues his “Captain” title is real. In several issues, he usually takes shifts watching the Avengers mansion as a part-time job. He’s also left the army on several occasions to be a comic book artist or school teacher. > Peter Parker, Spiderman, was getting ripped off for his photos for the Daily Bugle for years and usually would repeatedly say his inability to get a full time job prevented him from marrying Mary Jane or completing college. > Hector Ayala, the original White Tiger, lost his job (dishwashing) because of his drug addiction and tried to go back to college. > Wonder Woman’s original employment in WW2 was nurse then secretary to Steve Rogers, and her side job was secretary of the Justice League. > > Live a rich life with no discernible income: > Dr. Strange has huge house and servant in Manhattan, probably inherited from the Ancient One, but neither had any kind of job. Known to be absolutely broke from origin issue from his old medical career. Dr. Fate also seems to have a cool lair, cool stuff, and no job. > Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow: seems to be losing/regaining his fortune every other issue. > The Fantastic Four: Reed sells stuff, I think, and apparently they own the entire Baxter Building. The other three members apparently contribute nothing. > > Lost their job because of their powers: > Green Lanterns immediately do green lantern stuff full time the second they get the ring and never go back to work. Hal Jordan apparently is so cool that Pieface and his girlfriend both left the airplane company they all worked for. > Ted Grant, Wildcat, whose boxing skills are so good they’re a superpower and prevent him from making money with it in the ring. > > Had good jobs that gave them powers and then never worked again: > Hourman: doctor. > Flash: scientist. > Hal Jordan: Test pilot. > Ben Grimm: Test Pilot. (Astronaut?) > > Mooches from other dimensions/universes with no Earth money always trying to crash on your couch and eat your food: > Thor > Hercules (at least he has the class to sometimes look for a job) > Silver Surfer > Green Lanterns besides Hal Jordan. > The entire Legion of Super Heroes Iron Fist is the head of a huge company and is a millionaire, and Heroes for Hire is a tax write-off and an excuse to hang out with his HLP Luke Cage. Cage is also an Avenger. The Avengers are funded by a trust set up by Tony Stark (so they continue to operate even though he tends to go broke about once a decade) and the full-time members evidently draw paychecks, in addition to living in the fabulous mansion. So Cap, Hawkeye, Falcon, Luke Cage, etc. have money despite not seeming to do much besides save the world. The X-Men, likewise, are funded by the various millionaire members of the team like Prof. X, Angel, and Emma Frost. They all live in the mansion and the adults draw salaries as teachers at the school while the kids are all students there. Shang Chi’s an old-school Buddhist, I believe, and mostly uninterested in worldly concerns, so he wanders the earth near-penniless on purpose. He worked as a secret agent in most of his stories and presumably got paid, but I assume that he wouldn’t spend more than the bare minimum needed to stay alive. After decades of living on dollars a day he probably has a lot stored up. The Question is an on-air TV personality in Hub City, although he is about as dedicated to that job as Homer Simpson is to his. He’s not much interested in money, though. Sue Dibny is an heiress, so her and Ralph have no monetary concerns. According to Wikipedia, Cloak and Dagger “live in churches, supported by friends and priests.” So they’re homeless. The last couple years Peter Parker has been making big money as a research scientist. Back in the 80’s he did a Spidey-themed photography book that sold big, and in the 90’s MJ was apparently working as a supermodel. Reed Richards was funding his research with a substantial inheritance before the FF came into existence. He makes millions off his inventions, but he also controls a pretty substantial merchandising machine because the FF are beloved and the members are stars. Green Arrow has lost and regained his fortune more times than Iron Man, yeah. Dr. Strange, all the Green Lanterns, Silver Surfer, Thor, etc., are all beyond worldly concerns. Hercules is not beyond worldly concerns, but he doesn’t really need money to survive, and anyway he’s an Avenger. There are numerous Hourmen, but the original, Rex Tyler, still worked as a research chemist as far as I know. Barry Allen kept on working as a CSI while he was the Flash. Wally West did nothing as far as I can tell. Apparently in the original version of his solo book he won the lottery and lived off that. I always thought after he revealed his identity that the city gave him a stipend or something. I want to say that the L.O.S.H. come from a post-scarcity society, but I’m not sure. In the “threeboot” I recall that Princess Projectra’s fortune financed the team, but I don’t know about the original continuity. > [@Superhal](#): > > Another category: > > Inexplicably had good jobs with no education, talent, or ability but then was never mentioned again: > Dazzler: disco queen during roller skate era. > Billy Batson, Captain Marvel: radio news announcer while 12-year-old orphan. > Matt Murdoch, Daredevil, is supposedly the best trial lawyer in New York. But it seems unbelievable that he was dirt poor while is father was alive and he could see, but the second his father died and he was blind put himself through school and then law school. Dazzler’s backstory has always included her being a pop star; she started as a disco singer, but the sliding timescale has changed up her specific style over the decades. Nowadays I guess you’d say she was like Pink or something up until a few years ago, but then was outed as a mutant and lost that gig. Billy Batson’s radio gig is really more of a hobby. Battling Jack Murdock saved his entire life so that Matt could go to the best law school there was, plus Matt probably had scholarships and stuff. While he was in said school he was still scrimping to get by, although he also had a rich roommate (Foggy) and a rich girlfriend (Elektra). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/30 "2014-06-30T11:01:20Z")
The Legion of Super-Heroes was originally financed by R.J. Brande, the thirtieth century’s wealthiest person. In some versions, Billy Batson’s radio gig pays enough for his rent and groceries. When he needs an adult to sign legal documents, he transforms into Captain Marvel, changes to civilian clothes, and masquerades as his own father. Among the Watchmen: Ozymandias was a self-made millionaire. The original Nite-Owl was a city policeman. I’m not sure about the second Nite-Owl. I kind of got the impression he was a trust-fund baby. Then again, he was a brilliant inventor, so maybe he had some lucrative patents. The original Silk Spectre was a wannabe actress and professional celebrity. The second Silk Spectre generally seems to live off of her boyfriends. “At least I don’t sleep with an H-bomb!” “Jon is not an H-bomb!” “Honey, the only difference is, they don’t have to get the H-bomb laid.” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/31 "2014-06-30T11:26:59Z")
> [@irritant](#): > > The Avengers are funded by a trust set up by Tony Stark (so they continue to operate even though he tends to go broke about once a decade) and the full-time members evidently draw paychecks, in addition to living in the fabulous mansion. So Cap, Hawkeye, Falcon, Luke Cage, etc. have money despite not seeming to do much besides save the world. They get something like “a thousand dollars a day” as I recall; it came up in a Spider Man comic way back when. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/32 "2014-06-30T12:26:32Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > The Legion of Super-Heroes was originally financed by R.J. Brande, the thirtieth century’s wealthiest person. Who actually ended up being a Durlan, and Reep Daggle’s (Chameleon Boy)father, didn’t he? Of course, that was before the reboots started. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/33 "2014-06-30T12:53:01Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Samuel Wilson, The Falcon, who was a reformed pimp and drug dealer who was living on an abandoned island learning to talk to falcons when Captain America found him. I never read anything about Sam being a pimp and/or a drug dealer, and Exile’s Island certainly wasn’t abandoned when he and Captain America liberated it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/34 "2014-06-30T14:33:40Z")
I’ve always wondered how Wayne Enterprises survives. One good tax audit would put their accountants, and probably Bruce Wayne, in prison. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/35 "2014-06-30T14:49:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > EDIT: Oh, and I’ll admit that the first time I looked at that picture, I didn’t even notice what the tacos were filled with. I’ve looked three times and still haven’t noticed the tacos. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/36 "2014-06-30T23:06:24Z")
Marshall Law- He’s paid by the city. But, it can’t be much judging from the apartment he lives in and the stores he shops at. Madman- I gather he lives on some kind of stipend from the two mad scientists. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/37 "2014-06-30T23:18:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sure, but he still presumably thought he was drawing _something_. He might not know what a taco is filled with, but he knows they’re not filled with rubber bands. Sliced onions, maybe? You’d think he’d go with a generic textured lump of who-knows-what, though (which could be a lot of different foodstuffs). > > EDIT: Oh, and I’ll admit that the first time I looked at that picture, I didn’t even notice what the tacos were filled with. My guess is that’s supposed to be shredded cheese. Cheese on the taco, cheese on the nachos. StG ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/38 "2014-07-02T04:12:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Tick** , of course. No visible means of support. Not clear he really needs one. It’s not evident he has any physical ne4eds, including food. But (at least in the animated series) he decided he needed his own Fortress of Solitude and superhero stuff and ran up Arthur’s credit cards getting it. I was under the assumption that when the superheroes were given out assignments in the first or second episode, that the arrangement included getting paid at least on a per crime stopped basis. It wasn’t specifically mentioned either way, however Arthur quit his job to be a superhero full-time, and none of the other heroes seemed to have another job IIRC. It couldn’t have been a huge amount, but they had to be getting income from somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/39 "2014-07-02T04:39:51Z")
Nitpick: It’s Spider-Man. Two words, hyphen, capital M. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927/40 "2014-07-02T06:20:35Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I am rather curious what the artist’s intention was there. Bolland always was big on [Synthetti.](http://www.djfood.org/djfood/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/prog-216.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirt-poor-superheroes/691927.md?page=3)