# Was Joe Chill a utilitarian time traveler? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [March 15, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460 "2026-03-15T15:46:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/21 "2026-03-18T19:19:29Z")
I didn’t say it was _good_, I said it was _extra_. Everything about Batman is extra. He’s not just good at figuring things out, he’s The World’s Greatest Detective. He’s not just good at fighting, he’s Mastered Every Martial Art. And he’s not just rich, he’s The Richest Man on the Planet. There’s a scene in the Justice League animated series where Batman casually drops that he’s bought an orbital space station for the League’s headquarters, and hidden the cost in a line item in the Wayne Industries budget. _He’s so rich he can hide a whole-ass space station in the petty cash slush fund_. That’s objectively hilarious, and there’s no way you’re going to convince me that he’d be improved as a character by making him not rich enough to do shit like that. > [@Frodo](#): > > I don’t see how that makes him special, except in inviting the obvious conclusion that Gotham would be better served by him donating all his money to the poor. He does. That’s literally my entire point. He’s just got so much money that it would take him decades to spend it all, and comic books don’t really do the whole “passage of time” thing - Batman is eternally ten to fifteen years into his war on crime. If it takes thirty years to blow through the entire Wayne fortune, then he’s perpetually halfway through his inheritance. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/22 "2026-03-18T19:21:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > didn’t say it was _good_, I said it was _extra_. Everything about Batman is extra. He’s not just good at figuring things out, he’s The World’s Greatest Detective. He’s not just good at fighting, he’s Mastered Every Martial Art. And he’s not just rich, he’s The Richest Man on the Planet. But all the others are personal qualities, inherent to the person, being rich is not. I kinda get your general point though, it just irks me that being rich seems to be considered a personal achievement. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/23 "2026-03-18T21:34:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There’s been a lot of different takes on Joe Chill over the years. I’m sure; there always are, in comic books. But Joe Chill as a random nobody is the one that best serves the story, so that’s the one that I choose to consider canonical. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/24 "2026-03-18T21:51:33Z")
Have there been any successful comic books about multimillionaires that just spend their money helping the poor? Comics like that will not sell. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/25 "2026-03-18T22:11:17Z")
Conversely, have there been any examples of real world multimillionaires decided to dress up in tights and a cape and go out on the streets punching bank robbers? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/26 "2026-03-18T22:23:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > This is such a tired cliche. Bruce Wayne canonically donates _billions_ of dollars to charity. He runs jobs programs, soup kitchens, domestic violence programs, scholarships, and more. He’s explicitly the largest philanthropist in the DC universe. There’s a comic where Batman shows up at Black Mask’s apartment where he’s surrounded by henchman. Instead of fighting them, he pops a DVD in the player and Bruce Waybe appears on the television saying something like, “You all probably had some difficult circumstances that led you to this life. You’ve probably gone to prison and weren’t able to find a regular job when you looked for one. But eventually you’re going to go back to prison or get injured and Black Mask isn’t going to take care of you. He doens’t care about you. If you come down to the Wayne Foundation tomorrow, I promise each and every one of you a job. You can start a better life.” The henchman look at Batman, they turn to Black Mask, and they walk away en masse. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/27 "2026-03-18T22:25:04Z")
Spoiler: The job is being bat-henchmen, doing the same thing they’re doing now, with the same risk of injury or death. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/28 "2026-03-18T22:35:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Have there been any successful comic books about multimillionaires that just spend their money helping the poor? In WATCHMEN, a costumed adventurer donated his family fortune to charity before (a) making a _second_ fortune, and getting yet _more_ charity work funded, in his spare time from (b) working to mitigate deforestation and free up money for nations “to spend upon their old; their sick and homeless; on their children’s educations.” What a guy! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/29 "2026-03-18T22:42:08Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > The henchman look at Batman, they turn to Black Mask, and they walk away en masse. Yep, one of my favorites! > **[\[Comic Excerpt\] Batman clears an entire room full of thugs by offering them...](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/pqjypp/comic_excerpt_batman_clears_an_entire_room_full/)** > > 6771 points | 234 comments — u/AnimeNightwingfucku ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/30 "2026-03-18T22:46:56Z")
This thread reminds me of a [Jason Pargin reel](https://www.facebook.com/jasondavidwongpargin/videos/the-joker-is-a-paradox-and-if-you-look-carefully-you-will-see-it-in-the-real-wor/945433987882367/) I saw the other day. Maybe of interest but a tad off-topic. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/31 "2026-03-18T22:50:35Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What a guy! And then he went on to kill millions! What a guy, indeed! ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/32 "2026-03-18T23:00:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And then he went on to kill millions! _“To save . . . billions!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/33 "2026-03-18T23:04:28Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > “To save . . . billions!” Nothing ever really ends… ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/34 "2026-03-18T23:10:50Z")
Well, _that’s_ a relief; if you’d ominously intoned that, say, _everything_ ends, I’d be getting kind of concerned… ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/35 "2026-03-18T23:24:32Z")
There is still time…brother ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/36 "2026-03-18T23:33:14Z")
The matador! The matador! Me! Me! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/37 "2026-03-18T23:45:33Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > > And then he went on to kill millions! > > _“To save . . . billions!”_ I don’t think anybody who reads _Watchmen_ now can see it the same way we read it back in 1987. Nowadays we know that a nuclear war with the Soviet Union was not inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/38 "2026-03-19T05:20:26Z")
The 1987 of Watchman already had several major deviations from the real 1987: Richard Nixon was still president, the existence of Dr. Manhattan allowed the US to run a much hotter Cold War, and the US was no longer on the oil economy, thanks to Dr. Manhattan’s ability to synthesize large volumes of otherwise ultra rare fissile material. It was those specific factors that, with the trigger of Dr. Manhattan disappearing, would lead to nuclear war in Ozymandius’s calculations. His prediction never applied to the real world chance of nuclear war, only one where a single metahuman was the lynchpin to the entire world order. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/39 "2026-03-19T23:44:32Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Nowadays we know that a nuclear war with the Soviet Union was not inevitable. I think that the original readers were also supposed to regard it as not inevitable. It’s just that Ozymandias thought it was inevitable. He was justified only in his own mind. A mind which, despite all his genius, was all too fallible. > [@Miller](#): > > It was those specific factors that, with the trigger of Dr. Manhattan disappearing, would lead to nuclear war in Ozymandius’s calculations. But Dr. Manhattan only disappeared because Ozymandias had engineered that, too. It really does come down to “It’s all Ozymandias’s fault, because of his immense hubris”. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/40 "2026-03-20T00:15:53Z")
Dr. Manhattan was going to leave Earth sooner or later. He’s barely connected to his former humanity, and less and less concerned with human affairs in general. Ozy’s smear campaign against him was to make sure it happened on a time-table Ozy could control. And his departure is going to cripple the US. He’s not only our primary nuclear deterrent, he’s the cornerstone of our entire energy economy. After the last several decades of repeatedly humiliating the Russians thanks to our big, blue, naked win button, they’re going to respond to that aggressively, and the American response is going to be determined by Richard Milhous Nixon. Ozy was absolutely right about the inevitability of nuclear war. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460.md?page=3)