# How do superheroes bring villains to justice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237 "2012-01-03T06:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/41 "2012-01-09T18:14:00Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > One of the (excellent) Astro City stories dealt with an element of this. I don’t have the story in front of me, but here’s my hazy recollection. > > A mobster killed a guy in front of dozens of witnesses. His lawyer claimed that he was actually framed by a shapechanger who took his form and did the killing. > > In a world with shapechangers (who can even change their fingerprints), this was sufficient to get him off. That was just one possible theory. It could also have been the product of mind control, or an evil twin from a parallel dimension, or maybe the victim wasn’t actually dead in the first place (or any of a variety of popular superhero tropes). ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/42 "2012-01-09T19:59:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course, this is part of Daredevil’s schtick. By night, he goes after crooks himself, but by day, he argues in court to convict them. And his superpowers often give him insight into the right questions to ask, so he’s got a pretty good conviction rate. That can’t be right. Matt Murdock is not part of the district attorney’s office, he always has a private practice. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/43 "2012-01-09T22:49:51Z")
Ever wonder why the recidivism rate in Gotham is so high? This is why. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/44 "2012-01-10T16:16:28Z")
Yeah, if I’m on trial for being a supervillian’s henchman, I demand the right to cross examine my accuser and none of this Superman crap. What is your real name and occupation? My attorney has the duty to provide me with a vigorous defense and that starts with taking a good hard look at the reliabilty of this witness in the blue long johns and cape. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/45 "2012-01-10T17:24:00Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I was just thinking this also. There were at least two times something like this was mentioned in the TV show. Either Commisioner Gordon or Batman says that the Dynamic Duo is deputized and another where a citizen complains to a traffic cop that she has to pull over for the Batmobile. > > Of course, this is the 60s Batman TV show, so take that with as many grains of salt as needed. 😕 But the 60s Batman TV show is _ **CANON** _! ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/46 "2012-01-10T17:34:52Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > 😕 > > But the 60s Batman TV show is _ **CANON** _! No, you’re thinking of the [Fatman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQaNeIecJkE). ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/47 "2012-01-10T20:53:52Z")
If I remember right, Batman did not start out as just a “superhero” he was also a detective and as such would actually gather evidence and follow clues to catch the perp. So, he would, at least, have an evidence trail that is a little more concrete than “I saw him through the wall of the bank with my X-ray vision!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/48 "2012-01-10T21:38:05Z")
Of course, in _Watchmen_, all the supers who don’t agree to become de facto government agents have to give up their crimefighting gigs after passage of a Federal law. In _The Incredibles_, Mr. Incredible is sued for injuries suffered by others when he saves a man leaping to his death, and for stopping an elevated train that would otherwise have plunged to disaster. A law is passed prohibiting costumed vigilantism; as one legislator says, “It’s time for their secret identities to become their _only_ identities.” The government helps all of the supers go into a kind of witness-protection/relocation program. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/49 "2012-01-10T21:44:23Z")
There was a really good issue of Spider-Man that tackled the topic of the complications of heroes hauling in criminals without the benefit of police procedure (and Spidey’s ingenious approach to resolving it). You can read a synopsis of the story here: [Spider-Man Tangled Web #22](http://spiderfan.org/comics/reviews/spiderman_tangled_web/022.html) ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/50 "2012-01-11T00:10:48Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yeah, if I’m on trial for being a supervillian’s henchman, I demand the right to cross examine my accuser and none of this Superman crap. What is your real name and occupation? My attorney has the duty to provide me with a vigorous defense and that starts with taking a good hard look at the reliabilty of this witness in the blue long johns and cape. How do you compel him or her to show up? ---
**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:** [January 11, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/51 "2012-01-11T00:36:22Z")
In at least some versions of the Superman mythos, it’s common knowledge that he’s an alien from the planet Krypton, nationalized American, and with his given name at birth being Kal-El. Does the right to confront one’s accuser imply a need for any further knowledge? For that matter, is there any legal problem with the same person having two different legal identities? Could Kal-El be accused of fraud or some other offense for presenting himself as Clark Kent? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/52 "2012-01-11T01:20:00Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > How do you compel him or her to show up? Well, if you don’t, the case just might be dismissed, which would please the defense. So the prosecution is going to want him there. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/53 "2012-01-11T02:20:12Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > How do you compel him or her to show up? As the accused, that’s the state’s problem. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/54 "2012-01-11T17:05:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Could Kal-El be accused of fraud or some other offense for presenting himself as Clark Kent? According to the 1960s/'70s version of the mythos, after the Kents found the child in the rocket they dropped him off at an orphanage anonymously, then came back the next day and legally filed for adoption; so Clark Kent was his legal name. But in the original 1938 telling, and in the 1986 reboot, they just found the baby and kept him, so that might be a problem. The 1980’s reboot added that a record blizzard hit Smallville shortly after the rocket crashed. No one saw the Kents for months, allowing them to concoct a story that Martha actually gave birth while they were snowed in. It wasn’t entirely a convenient coincidence, though. The blizzard was engineered by aliens who were monitoring the child and wanted his existence concealed for reasons of their own. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/55 "2012-01-11T17:21:45Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > According to the 1960s/'70s version of the mythos, after the Kents found the child in the rocket they dropped him off at an orphanage anonymously, then came back the next day and legally filed for adoption; so Clark Kent was his legal name. But in the original 1938 telling, and in the 1986 reboot, they just found the baby and kept him, so that might be a problem. Slight nitpick: in the original 1938 telling, a passing motorist drops the kid off at the orphanage and – that’s it, really; in ACTION #1, we aren’t told whether the motorist returned later, or whether the foundling got adopted by somebody else – or whether young Clark just grew up there until he was old enough to, y’know, get a job. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/56 "2012-01-11T23:59:18Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Slight nitpick: in the original 1938 telling, a passing motorist drops the kid off at the orphanage and – that’s it, really; in ACTION #1, we aren’t told whether the motorist returned later, or whether the foundling got adopted by somebody else – or whether young Clark just grew up there until he was old enough to, y’know, get a job. I’ll have to go reread the story. That doesn’t jibe with my memory. Or maybe I’m thinking of the expanded version from \*Superman \*#1. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/57 "2012-01-12T01:03:58Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I’ll have to go reread the story. That doesn’t jibe with my memory. Here’s the [link](http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/yeung/actioncomics/page1.html). ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/58 "2012-01-12T04:17:32Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > How do you compel him or her to show up? [Zee…zee…zee…](http://superman.nu/theages/Encyclopaedia/signal-watch.php) ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/59 "2012-01-12T04:55:52Z")
In the Civil War arc spanning the Marvel Universe legislation was proposed to put a government handle on superheroes: since these “private citizens” assume the authority and responsibility of law enforcement/military members, they should be treated as such. The results were disastrous. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237/60 "2012-01-12T07:06:45Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > By the way, my favorite superhero nitpick is on one of the old Logically Critical podcasts. How many people die every year from drunk driving accidents alone, not to mention reckless driving in general. Batman has a car that can drive itself, and yet he hoards this technology for himself. Selfish bastard! Yeah, kudos for keeping Cat Woman from stealing the Gotham Diamond, but dooming thousands to fiery deaths is way uncool, (Bat)man. [shrug] Everybody knows, [Reed Richards Is Useless.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReedRichardsIsUseless) Different 'verse, same principle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-superheroes-bring-villains-to-justice/608237.md?page=4)