# Superheroes who are actually good at their day jobs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134 "2013-04-08T03:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/21 "2013-04-08T13:21:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > For what it’s worth, when Thor was holding down a job as Doctor Donald Blake, he was a _staggeringly_ competent physician – to the point where the writers would make a story interesting for the lower-powered heroes by having the big guy busily saving lives as a frail and brainy surgeon: he simply wouldn’t leave the operating room to fight crime until after he’d finished treating the patient on the table. Very true - and when the Wasp was critically injured, it was Dr. Donald Blake who performed the operation that saved her life. IIRC, he also operated on Captain America at least once. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/22 "2013-04-08T13:30:58Z")
Before running his own safari company, Jon Sable was an Olympic pentathlete, explaining why he’s a crack shot with the stamina of a cross-country runner. He then became a costumed super-hero with pretty much the same skill set, but set up a secret identity as best-selling children’s author Buford Flemm, who _“turned out to be more popular than Dr Seuss,”_ with book sales in the billions (and that’s before counting the games and the toys and the television special). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/23 "2013-04-08T13:35:02Z")
The MAD magazine version “Superduperman” from 1953 has Clark Bent as pretty much incompetent at everything: [http://www.pulpartists.com/Bio%20Materials/Wood/53-04,Superduperman.jpg](http://www.pulpartists.com/Bio%20Materials/Wood/53-04,Superduperman.jpg) (See Lower Right panel, coff, coff) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/24 "2013-04-08T13:45:57Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Aquaman and Namor were/are competent Atlantean monarchs, but, y’know, keeping the plot interesting required frequent dethroning. Deboning? It seems to me that superheroes for the most part are very competent at their jobs, examples above with Clark Kent and Mr. Fantastic being ones that I would point to. I think though that often the superhero life gets in the way of the hero’s private life – see Peter Parker for examples. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/25 "2013-04-08T13:49:28Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Back when they tried to make him a TV reporter, it was established that he was an award-winning newspaper reporter. He would often use his super speed to write up what happened to Superman and get the stories to the paper. The 40s Lois Lane used to complain all the time about how he would scoop her. The 50’s tv series with george reeves had a non-bumbling clark kent – was played very well, and the other characters would look to him if they needed some serious sleuthing or thinking through a conundrum. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/26 "2013-04-08T13:49:33Z")
An interesting question: Are Clark Kent and Peter Parker actually good at their jobs, or are they hacks because they rely so heavily on “interviews” and “candid photos” of their alter egos? Peter Parker, especially, wouldn’t have a job at all if not for his frequent photos of Spiderman. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/27 "2013-04-08T14:01:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > An interesting question: > > Are Clark Kent and Peter Parker actually good at their jobs, or are they hacks because they rely so heavily on “interviews” and “candid photos” of their alter egos? Depending on how thin you split that hair, Kent was getting scoops thanks to his powers as far back as SUPERMAN #1. I mean, the dude has telescopic x-ray vision and super-hearing; if he wasn’t so busy doing newsworthy stuff as Superman, he’d be scoring investigative coups without bothering to get involved. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/28 "2013-04-08T14:03:04Z")
Reed Richards may be a brilliant technological inventor, but at least one early Lee / Kirby story showed that he was a colossally bad investor / businessman - the story (I forget which issue) has the FF evicted from the Baxter Building after Reed makes some bad stock investments and they can’t pay their rent! The team are then forced to merchandise themselves, in this case appearing in a “Fantastic Four” movie. Unfortunately for them, the movie studio was owned by Namor the Sub-Mariner (still their enemy at the time.) How did Namor end up in control of a Hollywood movie studio? He scoured the bottom of the ocean for sunken pirate treasures and used the accrued wealth to make his own stock investments, including a hotile takeover of the film studio! Apparently Namor was TERRIFIC at picking stocks. Ah, early Marvel Comics and it’s gritty realism. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/29 "2013-04-08T15:00:03Z")
Another wrinkle: the Samaritan from _Astro City_ basically outsourced his (publication fact-checker) job to an AI, programmed to make just enough mistakes to turn in a good but not suspciously perfect job. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/30 "2013-04-08T15:06:42Z")
I’m not sure if this counts, but Captain America was a fairly mediocre soldier before getting the Super Serum. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/31 "2013-04-08T15:10:22Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > I’m not sure if this counts, but Captain America was a fairly mediocre soldier before getting the Super Serum. He was 4F before the serum and disqualified from service because of that. There were some early comics where Cap acted like a clumsy oaf in front of his sergeant to conceal the fact that he was Captain America, but I don’t know how long they actually kept that up. I kind of like that Cap doesn’t really have a secret ID. He doesn’t really care and he doesn’t really need one either. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/32 "2013-04-08T15:31:32Z")
Spiderman used to web his automatic camera to a wall before a battle that took him all over Manhattan. And then he’d go to J. Jonah with perfectly composed negatives of him and the villain in mid-air. How staggeringly good do you have to be to accomplish that?!?!?! The OP references movies. That stops the thread right there. The movies are not canon; they’re separate universes. Comic book superheroes - which means mainstream Marvel and DC superheroes; sorry independents - are all omnicompetent. You can’t be a true super hero unless you are super all the time, way down into your soul. And Steve Rogers has 50 years of secret identity issues. He’s split off or discarded Captain America a half dozen times so that he can have a life as Steve Rogers. How can you say he doesn’t care? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/33 "2013-04-08T15:39:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Back when they tried to make him a TV reporter, it was established that he was an award-winning newspaper reporter. He would often use his super speed to write up what happened to Superman and get the stories to the paper. While it may make him a successful journalist, I don’t think a career based on lying to the readership/viewership is generally considered being a good journalist. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/34 "2013-04-08T15:51:37Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > While it may make him a successful journalist, I don’t think a career based on lying to the readership/viewership is generally considered being a good journalist. What’s the lie? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/35 "2013-04-08T16:05:26Z")
Peter Parker has always wanted to be a scientist, but his adventures would get in the way. He’d get pulled away to the Secret Wars, and his fruit flies would breed out of control or some such. Oliver Queen _was_ a billionaire, but he lost his fortune basically by ignoring his business and letting himself get framed. I would say that he’s kind of the paradigm of the guy who let his day job languish after he became a superhero. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/36 "2013-04-08T16:13:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What’s the lie? Imagine if it had turned out that Deep Throat was Carl Bernstein. It is generally bad journalism to hide, let alone actively lie about, your involvement in the story you are covering. Also, the extent that Clark Kent covered the exploits of Superman, it is an unacceptable conflict of interest. Further, even when not covering himself, his superpowers grant him access to information that is unethically acquired. Using see through vision to look into a private residence and see the meeting of the corrupt politician and super hearing to know that they are discussing their latest graft isn’t any better than the phone tapping scandal that got Murdoch in trouble. So, again, he may be a wildly successful journalist but I would question whether he is a good journalist. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/37 "2013-04-08T16:53:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > An interesting question: > > Are Clark Kent and Peter Parker actually good at their jobs, or are they hacks because they rely so heavily on “interviews” and “candid photos” of their alter egos? > > Peter Parker, especially, wouldn’t have a job at all if not for his frequent photos of Spiderman. In the case of Clark, his reportorial skills are exactly as good as the story calls for, no more or less. Both the gold and silver age versions of Clark were sometimes chided for not being aggressive enough in getting “scoops.” But of course, Lois Lane had to be more aggressive, or she wouldn’t have needed rescuing by Superman. We need to remember Perry White’s description of Clark from the first (Christopher Reeve) Superman movie. > [@](#): > > Lois, Clark Kent may seem like just a mild-mannered reporter, but listen, not only does he know how to treat his editor-in-chief with the proper respect, not only does he have a snappy, punchy prose style, but he is, in my forty years in this business, the fastest typist I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/38 "2013-04-08T18:28:27Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > > [@The Other Waldo Pepper](#): > > > > For what it’s worth, when Thor was holding down a job as Doctor Donald Blake, he was a staggeringly competent physician – to the point where the writers would make a story interesting for the lower-powered heroes by having the big guy busily saving lives as a frail and brainy surgeon: he simply wouldn’t leave the operating room to fight crime until after he’d finished treating the patient on the table. > > > > Very true - and when the Wasp was critically injured, it was Dr. Donald Blake who performed the operation that saved her life. IIRC, he also operated on Captain America at least once. > > Very true - and when the Wasp was critically injured, it was Dr. Donald Blake who performed the operation that saved her life. IIRC, he also operated on Captain America at least once. Additionally, in the 80’s, Thor adopted the disguise of construction worker Sigurd Jarlsen, whom you’d have to imagine was pretty handy with a hammer! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/39 "2013-04-08T18:32:04Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > We need to remember Perry White’s description of Clark from the first (Christopher Reeve) Superman movie. Conceded. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134/40 "2013-04-10T01:09:35Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) was also (at the very least) a multi-millionaire. I don’t even remember how he got it…whether it was inherited or if he earned it somehow. Queen inherited a company about the size of Wayne International and ran it into the ground. Last I saw, he worked in Black Canary’s flower store, barely. I don’t think he’s ever worked a real job, with regular hours reporting to someone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-are-actually-good-at-their-day-jobs/655134.md?page=3)