Our Poll Position this week deals with super-heroes transitioning to new roles in their professional lives:
Discussion after the jump.
We've seen various characters put into political roles throughout comics, whether it's Superman as the head of the Soviet Universe in DC's alternate reality or Iron Man as President of the US in the Marvel Universe. "Ex Machina" is a great comic about a guy with super-powers who gives it up to be the Mayor of New York City. So I got to thinking about what other characters might do if they decided to hang up the tights.
- Batman becomes Secretary-General of the UN: Let's face it, the UN as it currently exists is kind of a wussy group. They wear light blue helmets, for the love of Pete! Can you imagine a group of armed individuals run by Bruce Wayne running around looking like that? And the changes would only get better from there. For instance, all guns would be replaced by exploding Batarangs -- tell me THAT wouldn't rattle any given third-world dictator! Also, you can forget that whole "peaceful missions of non-violence" crap, the UN would quickly become the best rapid-reaction fighting force in the world. On second thought, maybe this is not such a good idea ...
- Flash becomes Postmaster General: I'm tired of my mail taking a week to get to me. And FedEx Next Day Guaranteed? Please. Flash could have your mail delivered mere seconds after you drop it in the box. Nationwide! Hell, if he got on that Cosmic Treadmill thing he could probably get it delivered BEFORE it was mailed, and you can't tell me that's not worth forty two cents.
- Reed Richards becomes Governor of California: They already elected the Terminator, so clearly they're open to the idea of uber-human overlords there. And the state is so screwed up at this point they'd probably elect Cthulu if he promised to balance the budget. But here's what I like about the idea of a comic based on Mr. Fantastic taking the job -- Reed Richards' fantastic intellect plus the absolutely insane and irrational Californa laws / people would equal hilarity.
- Superman becomes head of NASA: Just what the hell does NASA do in a Superman-inhabited world, anyway? Why would they spend billions of dollars on a Mars probe when Clark can give 'em the lowdown with a nice five minute squint? He's been to other worlds already. His DAD was a scientist. NASA's mission is peaceful, but it seems Supes is constantly running into someone he has to punch in the face whenever he leaves the atmosphere, so it would help raise the agency's profile considerably.
- Wolverine becomes head of PETA: "From now on the only red coloring splattered on fur is gonna be your blood. Capiche?"
- Wonder Woman becomes head of NOW: Again, a group that's pretty much a joke would get a significant profile boost. It's a natural fit, too, since Diana comes from an island where women run things. I would think she'd be fairly appalled at the role of women in American society given her own history, and it would be nice to see her doing something about it. Which I think she might have been doing recently, I kind of stopped reading Wonder Woman when George Perez jumped ship.
Anyway, there you have it. I am sure you can think of other good fits, but those are the ones that came immediately to mind. I have to say that the two most intriguing are Batman as Secretary-General of the UN and Reed Richards as Governor of California. I think, though, that the latter is the most appealing. It has a lot of great built-in conflict: East Coast Yankee can-do-ism vs. West Coast wackiness; hyper-intellectual person of the mind vs. Hollywood superficiality; stretchy guy vs. non-stretchy guys.
What would you pick?
