Should Heroes Get Paid

Or should life or death fights be free of charge?

Hmm, paying them could lead to trouble like the Marvel Civil war- because they'd need to be registered to receive a government wage.

If they just received a reward for saving the city/world/cat out of a tree, then you could see some villains getting in on that action. Or even anti-heroes withholding services until the right reward is selected.

Maybe something like how Superior Spiderman got his HQ and helpers funded by the city? (I'll admit to not reading the books, but the idea sounds ok- with less blackmail involved of course!)

Interesting

Really hard to make it work realistically without going sketchy with pressure from whoever giving them money.

You know what discussed this? Civil War.

Well, mostly The Initiative. I believe the conclusion they came to was that paying heroes would make heroics their job, therefore not making them heroes in the classic sense of the term. Or something.

No one asks them to do this stuff. They're on no ones payroll.

Unless they make a business out of it, no.

yeah if your an Avenger or a Hero for hire.

They should only get paid if they've made a profession out of it. Otherwise they've volunteered.

Heroes for Hire.

Cloak and Dagger did some moonlighting.

X-Factor kind of falls under this.

Generally though, they should be compensated in some way in currency comprised of pizza and lattes from the populace. Getting their dry cleaning picked up, cleaning, laundry, etc. Something nice for them to feel appreciated. Not statues. Statues don't do windows.

If they are getting paid they seem like somebody just doing a job (A good one obviously) but to me it makes them seem less heroic

they should, but where does the money come from? if the government then theres the civil war problem, also the heroes are more obligated to do what the government wants

if people and companies donated, and one of the donators get robbed/killed it could tarnish their reputation, also high donators trying to get personal preference

Getting Paid For Saving The World Defeats The Purpose Of Being A Hero. Having Super Powers If Enough Of A Award For Me. Having Money Will Leak Private Info. Such As Secret Identity, Family, Or Anyone Else Who Need's Protection. Like Your Girlfriend.

lol

As long as they feel like volunteering no. However is they asked to be paid they deserve it and should be compensated just like anyone else.

Alpha Flight are payed with Canadian taxpayers' dollars. They've been registered and working for their government since before the SRA was brought up. I wonder if they know about Weapon X.

No way. Super-heroing isn't a job. It's a choice. For example, should Batman get paid?

Absolutely not. His parents weren't shot so that he could get a paycheck for wearing all black later in life.

Superman? No. He got radiation-ified. And decided to not just waste his abilities on a farm.

Green Lantern may be an exception. The Guardians probly have some sweet space-cash on em.

Actually, better idea. A superhero welfare plan. Pretty sure that, at one point, Spiderman was poor. As was Aunt May. But since Peter does a great service to the city, the government should give him some dough since his financial situation isn't that great.

Yeah, but the Canadian government constantly screws them over. Alpha Flight has tried to fund itself on several occasions, and I don't know that any of them were successful.

However, you're absolutely right about the SRA- Canada had it in place for god knows how long (likely decades) before Civil War brought it up. I'm actually rather disappointed there's so little attention paid to Canada in Marvel comics, it's stuff like this that makes me wonder how things function there, both in terms of the superhero community and in general.

Weren't the Avengers getting paid at one point?

Justice Leaguers(and the branching groups) do, or at least use to. In some of the earlier Morrison Animal Man issues they kind of deal wit it. JL members also got a bunch of extra perks like getting high end security systems built in their homes, free repairs to any damage done by a super villain or aliens invading, can get help from people who capable of aiding or training superheroes. Then there's the bases everywhere that they have full access to. Avengers also use to get paid IIRC.

Like some have already said, being a superhero is a voluntary job. Being paid is nice, but not necessary at all.

Not if they want to keep being called superheroes.

@_atomikill_: When was superman radiation-ified? I always thought that he was born with superpowers but perhaps I was wrong.

@blade_r: Do you think firefighters are less heroic for accepting a paycheck? What about police officers or soldiers?

Not really, but to me a superhero accepting a pay check is a little different. I'm not sure why but I wouldn't think of Superman as a great hero if he wanted a paycheck.

@blade_r: So you would rather risk has life saving the world for free? And what do you mean by not really? How is it any different?

No, of course he should get something for it, but if Superman was only doing it for a check and not because he genuinely wanted to help I wouldn't think of him as very heroic. And not really just means not really, don't think about it too much. I have plenty of respect for most law enforcement officers, firefighters and soldiers.

@blade_r: What would you consider fair compensation for saving the world?

Hell if I know. Like I said he should get something for it, money or whatever im just saying if Superman said he would only save people and the world if he was getting paid I wouldn't think of him as a great hero anymore.

@blade_r: So firefighters are considered heroes by you despite the fact that they get paid, however if superman decided to ask for monetary compensation then he would no longer be a hero in your eyes? Is that what you're saying?

No- in yellow sun radiation, Superman gets his powers. On Krypton they don't have all them abilities. Different sun.

No. What I am saying is that if he only did it for money he wouldn't be a great hero in my eyes. Like if he literally had no interest in helping people and only did help because he got money out of it, that wouldn't seem very heroic to me.

so like bounty hunters? I guess heroes for hire worked out for the most part...

but on the flip side there are people like spider-man who literally ended up homeless at one point because he couldn't make money while super heroing......

Yeah I am not saying they shouldn't be rewarded for what they do. They should, especially if they can't even afford a house, food or clothing. I'm just saying if said hero doesn't genuinely care about helping people at all and only does it because he gets money, that doesn't seem heroic to me.

I think what he means is that if Superman sat on a bench, watching a meteor plummeting towards Earth- waiting for the UN to transfer the right amount of money into the ATM in the Fortress of Solitude, instead of leaping into action without thought of the rewards., we wouldn't really like him that much

Same as your "everyday" heroes, an Ambulance officer who walks past someone having a heart-attack because he's just finished his shift for the day isn't very heroic. Whereas the same guy dragging someone out of a flaming car that he saw whilst jogging is considered a hero- despite that being his source of income (rescuing/saving/helping people obviously).

Thank you! Lol I knew somebody would get it.

I never read heroes for hire, and all my knowledge about Luke cage and Ironfist has been modern, but i liked the dynamic they had on avengers earth's mightiest heroes. They still did good deeds but every once in a while Luke was concerned who the bill was going to.

there are stories like Capes Inc and Heroes 9 to 5 where they were paid by the government to just be supers. Any job they did I guess they wrote off

no, but some could use the money to live.

Whatever plot hook works, man. Han Solo, Michael Douglas' character in Romancing the Stone, Spider-Man... all of them set out to make some fat bank working for Team White Hat, but in the end, altruism won the day.

some heroes really do need a pay check, while others don't

basically if you need to eat to survive(Thor, Superman etc...), or aren't a hero cause you have so much money it's not a problem(Batman, Ironman etc...), you don't need a paycheck, if you live a middle-lower class life, and are struggeling with bills, and save lives on a daily basis, a paycheck would help

sometimes you're provided for when you join a team, i think both x-men and avengers have a rich guy they'll pay the poor members, and alpha flight and justice league of america get it from their respective governments

It wouldn't work. It'd be Civil War all over again. Given that many superheroes are vigilante's it wouldn't really pan out due to their "illegal" actions.