Random Most Unexpected Day Jobs Worked By Superheroes (14 items)

• 

  (#2) Deathlok

  There have been many Deathloks in the annals of Marvel Comics, but they're all fairly similar - cyborgs from the future with extremely lethal capabilities. The individual known as Deathlok Prime features the body of an unrepentant serial killer paired with a noble and heroic AI, a combination that probably shouldn't even be allowed on school grounds, much less in a teaching position.

  Still, when the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning found itself in desperate need of substitute teachers, Deathlok Prime made the transition from Wolverine's X-Force squad to the teaching staff. Deathlok's lessons primarily consisted of informing students of their precise statistical odds of experiencing tragic ends - which, in all honesty, is probably an important part of the curriculum at a school for mutants. He stayed in the role until he went back to the future.
• 

  (#5) Green Arrow

  • Identity Crisis, More Fun Comics, Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters

  Oliver Queen has been many things in his life. Billionaire. Vigilante. Mayor. Justice Leaguer. A section of the Green Arrow’s resume that is rarely commented on, however, is his time as the successful owner and operator of a flower shop.

  At one point in a previous continuity, Green Arrow and the Black Canary moved to Seattle to settle down away from the superhero scene - and they opened up Sherwood Florist to give them some semblance of a normal life. While Queen wasn't often depicted putting together arrangements on-page, the concept did prove memorable enough to make it onto television for one Arrow storyline.
• 

  (#11) Moon Knight

  The vigilante known as Moon Knight is afflicted with dissociative identity disorder, which manifests in the form of several distinct personalities. Marc Spector, the original personality, employs his mercenary skills as the Moon Knight while simultaneously using the riches and fame of his movie star Steven Grant persona to bankroll the entire operation.

  Holding down multiple careers at the same time sounds like a lot for one individual, but Moon Knight also spends a significant portion of his time as Jake Lockley, a fairly ordinary taxi driver. While this probably makes him the only billionaire cabbie in the history of fiction, this gig actually serves an important purpose in the Moon Knight operation - allowing him to always keep an ear to the ground and an eye on things from the street level.
• 

  (#12) Superman

  • Superman/Batman, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Action Comics, Superman: War of the Worlds, The Superman Madman Hullabaloo, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

  Superman's day job as Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, is oftentimes treated as more of a disguise than a career. That's not entirely fair, however, because in DC's previous continuity, Kent was a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, which should qualify him as one of the best journalists in the DC Universe. Still, his straightforward demeanor has always seemed like more of a fit for non-fiction writing than something more imaginative - but, it turns out, he's equally capable of fiction.

  In universe, Kent has released two fictional novels, including one, Under a Yellow Sun, that was more or less an autobiography of his life as Superman - and which became a bestseller. DC even went so far as to "release" the novel as a one-shot comic. Amazingly, even such an obvious clue as a novel outlining his origin tale wasn't enough for the public to realize that Superman and Clark Kent are one and the same.
• 

  (#10) Iceman

  From the beginning, Bobby Drake - a founding member of the X-Men - has always been the "fun one." Iceman's inability to take himself seriously is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness as a character, which makes it especially peculiar that he would choose a career typically thought of as antithetical to a good time: accounting.

  While taking a break from superheroics, Drake went to college, got his CPA, and enjoyed a brief period of employment at the law firm of Harras, Anderson, and Brown. When Jean Grey returned to life, however, the original X-Men got the band back together and Bobby left accounting behind - at least for a time. Years down the road, he would also keep the books for the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning, where he worked under Headmasters Wolverine and Kitty Pryde.
• 

  (#4) Hal Jordan

  • Green Lantern Corps: Recharge, The Brave and the Bold

  There have been many Green Lanterns from Earth, but Hal Jordan has always been both the coolest and most popular. Even before his time with the Green Lantern Corps, Jordan was an ace flyer and an Air Force test pilot - which makes the career change he made in the midst of his Justice League days all the more unusual.

  In part to help create a plausible explanation for his appearances all over the country as Green Lantern, Jordan took a job as a traveling toy salesman. That's certainly a far cry from the danger and prestige that comes with being a test pilot, and it resulted in at least one embarrassing incident for Jordan, in which his fellow superheroes caught him with a suitcase full of dolls. But after a continuity reboot, he was right back to being a pilot.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking