It was recently brought to our attention that Superman, the adopted son from Krypton, is seen by many to be of modest means, particularly when compared against Batman, heir to the Wayne fortune. While Batman is certainly wealthy, we felt it important to clarify and correct several misconceptions.
Batman is indeed the World's Greatest Detective and may in fact be the smartest living being on the planet (a debatable point; more likely, his is the smartest sane mind on the planet; the most effective brain on Earth). And it is well established that he is a match for the Man of Steel on the battlefield, and by far his superior when it comes to selling comics.
However, for all his accomplishments, Bruce Wayne is nowhere near as wealthy as Clark Kent. Despite his cover as a simple reporter, Superman maintains an vast offshore estate - off any shore, in fact: his fortune is housed on the frozen ocean at the North Pole.
In addition to a priceless collection of unique artifacts inherited from the doomed planet of his birth, Superman has added thousands of weapons, devices, and trophies confiscated from battles all over the Earth, across the cosmos, and throughout time itself. This includes technology of alien origin from a thousand years in the future.
On top of this, he is constantly amassing gifts from alien worlds eager to express gratitude and better their relationship with The Man of Steel, in the hope he'll assist them later in political or military situations.
He has an army of robotic assistants which would likely be valued in the billions. He has precious gemstones collected from the far reaches of the Universe or formed by Superman, himself, who is able to crush coal into diamonds in the palms of his hands. Finally, he maintains a private zoo containing alien species.
The monetary worth of his holdings is literally incalculable.
And yet, unlike Batman, who reports the entirety of the profits earned through his corporate enterprises, Clark Kent reports only his salary as a newspaper reporter to the IRS.
Superman is the richest being on Earth, and he barely pays a cent in taxes to any government on the planet. His violations of US tax codes are more egregious by far than those committed by Lex Luthor.
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2 comments:
Good points... i didn't know Superman had an army of robotic assistants, though I must admit I've learned more about all these comic characters in the last 7 or 8 months than I think I knew from childhood... isn't that weird? :D
Back in the Golden Age, Superman and Supergirl each had a small army of the things. They'd cover when they needed both identities to be seen at once or if they needed someone to go deal with Kryptonite (which was everywhere, back in those days).
Every now and then they still come up (they had a fairly sizable role in All-Star Superman, for example).
I think they vanished from prominence mainly because they were omitted from the Donner movie (probably for good reason).
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