Working Class Heroes: 10 Weird Jobs Classic Superheroes Actually Had

Being a superhero sure seems to be a full-time job. Between the weekly alien invasions, trips through time, and battles against archenemies, there doesn't appear to be much time for a hero to do much else, let alone hold down a job. That is probably why so many superheroes are independently wealthy, to begin with.

But not every hero can be super-wealthy as well as superpowered. Many heroes are busy trying to pay the rent and keep the electricity on while they're saving the city, and these jobs aren't always glamourous. Sure, there are the heroes who have singing careers like Dazzler and Black Canary, but there are others who found themselves taking any job they could get, or being forced to work a job they never wanted in the first place.

10 Wally West Went After Villainous Tax Cheats

Shortly into his time as Flash, Wally won the lottery and suddenly found himself a millionaire. Just a few years later, Wally found himself deeply in debt because he didn't pay his taxes. In order to stay out of jail, Wally took a job with the IRS tracking down superpowered beings who owed the government some cash.

9 Hal Jordan Worked The Roads And Toy Shops

Before he was Green Lantern, Hal Jordan had the coolest job in the world; he was a test pilot. Hal kept up the job while he was out protecting the galaxy with the rest of the Green Lantern Corps, but when his boss Carol Ferris, who also happened to be his girlfriend, dumped him, Hal quit and moved away.

Hal soon found a job as a traveling toy salesman for the Merlin Toy Co, but it didn't last long. Half a year later, Hal quit hocking toys to join his pal Green Arrow on a cross country trip, and the classic story Hard Travelin' Heroes began.

8 Spider-Man Worked For The Mob

If Batman is known as the rich superhero to most of the world, then Spider-Man is the guy people think of when it comes to being broke. No hero has had more money problems than the web-slinger, and while Peter Parker's best-known job is his gig as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, he has actually had a number of careers over the years, including a brief period as a bodyguard.

Spidey's best-known work as a bodyguard was when Silver Sable hired him to keep the Symkarian king sade during the "Assassin Nation Plot" storyline, but the wall-crawler also worked as a bodyguard for a mob boss, making $12,000 a day.

7 Moon Knight Picked Up Fares

Moon Knight is one of the rich superheroes, but that hasn't stopped him from taking on a day job. Well, in this case, it's a night job with a secret agenda, but it is still a job. A man of many personalities, one of Moon Knight's more useful personas is Jake Locksley, a cab driver in Manhattan. Doing his own version of Taxi Driver as  Jake Locksley, Moon Knight is able to travel around the city and keep tabs on what is happening without drawing attention to himself. Plus, he can make some extra cash in tips, which probably doesn't hurt.

6 Barbara Gordon Wanted Your Vote

While she is best known for her heroic antics as Batgirl and Oracle, Barbara Gordon once tried to deal with crime in another way; by running in a special election for Congress. Barbara began her run for a government seat in Detective Comics #422 and won her election just two issues later. For eight years, Barabra split her time between being a Congresswoman in Washington DC and a vigilante in Gotham City, but her constituents weren't happy with Barbara's work, and in Detective Comics #488 she lost her re-election run.

5 Wonder Man Played A Strong Man On Cable

A member of the Avengers, Wonder Man is one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe, but he has always had dreams of being more than a superhero; Wonder Man wants to be a movie star. And while you may suspect that being a world-famous superhero would give Wonder Man the opportunity to skip a few rungs on the acting dues ladder, you would be wrong.Before he made his way to the silver screen, Wonder Man started his acting career as the strongman Mr. Muscles on The Uncle Elmer Show.

4 Wonder Woman Asked People If They Wanted To Supersize Their Order

In most cases, the princess of an island of Amazon warriors probably wouldn't need a job, but when Wonder Woman came back from an adventure in space to find that Themyscira had cut off all communication with the world and left her with nothing, she was forced to get a job.

While Wonder Woman has an impressive resume, the job market wasn't the greatest and Diana found herself working behind the counter at Taco Whiz. Still, as she does with all things, Wonder Woman gave the job her all, working to not only improve the food for the patrons, but the working conditions for her fellow employees as well.

3 Captain America Drew Himself

Being one of the greatest symbols of America and sacrificing so much of his life to protect the country and the world, it would seem like Captain America wouldn't need a day job, but for much of his career behind the shield, Steve Rogers was also a struggling artist.

Steve took on a number of art jobs but often found the work to be less than fulfilling, especially when he tried to work in advertising. But Steve finally found his home when he got hired by none other than Marvel Comics as the new artist on Captain America.

2 Nightwing Took Off The Mask And Became A Cop

Dick Grayson began his fight against crime as Robin when he was just a teen. In time, the Boy Wonder grew up and became Nightwing, leaving his life as Batman's sidekick behind to be his own man. When Dick moved from Gotham to Bludhaven, he found that the crime in Bludhaven had taken many forms.

To better deal with government corruption, Dick became a police officer in his new home city, working to get the mob bosses and dirty politicians out of the city's municipal infrastructure. Dick quit the force after a while, and while he has hinted at why, the full story has never been told.

1 The Thing Worked Found Work In The Squared Circle

As a member of the Fantastic Four, the Thing has a lot of problems, but worrying about money has never really been one. For him, taking on a job was less about the need for survival as it was about finding a way to blow off some steam and make some new friends. That's how Ben Grimm found himself joining the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. Taking time off from the FF and looking for something new, Thing came across the superpowered wrestling organization and decided to give it a go. Soon enough, Thing became the UCW champion and the biggest draw the organization ever had.

Next: Nightwing: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Bludhaven's History


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