It’s a tough grind for the modern superhero, having to get up every morning, brush your teeth, and save the world from inter-galactic alien marauders. It’s often difficult to remember that most of our favorite heroes are not the billionaires Bruce Wayne is, and they have 9-to-5 jobs they need to perform in order to make ends meet.
While it’s easy to remember that Clark Kent is a reporter, some DC heroes have strayed off the beaten path in their choice of vocation, so here are 10 DC Superheroes with side jobs you didn't know about.
10 Kyle Rayner: Freelance Artist
One of Earth’s (many) Green Lanterns, Kyle Rayner has figured prominently in the history of the Corps since his induction. Aside from being the sole Green Lantern for a time following Hal Jordan’s decimation of Oa and the entire Corps, Kyle was also Ion, the (symbiotic) embodiment of the willpower entity.
But before all this, Rayner was a freelance artist, making extensive use of his imagination to illustrate comic books and take on projects to make ends meet. Kyle’s imagination was one of his defining attributes as a Green Lantern, as his innovative constructs served him and his Corps members well in battle.
9 Black Lightning: Educator
With the ability to generate and absorb energy, create force fields, and subdue adversaries with prowess in the martial arts, Black Lightning is a formidable superhero, to say the least. Moreover, as his alter ego, Jefferson Pierce is a teacher/principal at an inner-city high school in Metropolis, discipline and order can be assured, as no one would want to mess with that superpowered skill set! Even more surprising was his appointment as Secretary of Education during Lex Luthor's Presidency, as a superhero being appointed to such a position by one of DC's marquee villains seemed circumspect.
8 Wally West: Unemployed Mechanic
Wally West has been one of the DC Universe’s resident speedsters since he was a teenager, working with the Teen Titans as Kid Flash and replacing Barry Allen as the Flash following his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths. From such a young age, Wally’s superheroics always seemed to be the focus of his life, leaving his day jobs on the back-burner. Wally was most notably employed as a mechanic for the Keystone City Police Department, and also managed to win the lottery in-between stints of unemployment. Unfortunately, he managed to run through the money almost as quickly as he runs down the street!
7 Batgirl: Librarian
Barbara Gordon was always a talented and resourceful young woman. Aside from stepping into the limelight as the first Batgirl, Barbara continued her crime-fighting career following her horrific injury at the hands of the Joker as Oracle, the Bat-Family’s source of tactical information.
This transition from in-the-field crime-fighter to “woman-behind-the-desk” was no doubt facilitated by Barbara’s time as a university librarian. With expertise in information retrieval, computer systems, and boots-on-the-ground crime-fighting, Barbara managed to parlay all her former vocations into one role, serving an immeasurable good for all of Gotham’s heroes.
6 Blue Beetle & Booster Gold: Casino Owners
Most readers will recognize the Ted Kord version of the Blue Beetle as the owner of Kord Industries, a scientific research firm in which he is the chief scientific mind. However, most wouldn’t know that he and his best friend, the hero from the far-flung future, Booster Gold, once opened a hotel/casino on the Pacific island of Kooey Kooey Kooey! Rooted deeply in the Giffen/DeMatteis, "Bwa-Ha-Ha" era of the Justice League, the duo named the establishment "Club JLI," in an effort to capitalize on the team’s name and their notoriety. Unfortunately, their get-rich-quick scheme backfired, as the island turned out to be a sentient entity!
5 Guy Gardner: Social Worker / Special Education Teacher / Police Officer
If there’s one thing Guy Gardner is known for, it’s being a hot-headed, no-nonsense, act-first-and-ask-questions later Green Lantern. His quick temper and volatile personality are most probably due to unresolved issues involving his childhood, and the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Guy tried to bury his anger in several early career attempts, choosing to explore his sensitive side through the rehabilitation of prison inmates as a social worker, and as a teacher for students with special needs.
However, his pugnacious but well-meaning nature showed itself in full and equal measure through his career as a law enforcement officer, both in the Baltimore PD and the Green Lantern Corps.
4 Catwoman: Prostitute
The off-again, on-again, off-again love interest of Bruce Wayne, Catwoman has spent most of her history as the proto-typical bad girl: a cat-burglar who despite her occasional impulses towards good behavior, can’t seem to shake her law-breaking instincts.
Following Crisis on Infinite Earths and the reimagining of the DC Universe’s continuity, Catwoman’s vocation took on another form. In Frank Miller’s more gritty take on the Bat-mythos in Batman: Year One, Selina Kyle was a prostitute who left her pimp to strike out on her own as a thief. Although this origin was (somewhat) retconned in subsequent years, for a time, this was Selina’s backstory.
3 Batman: Criminal
Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, and any comic book fan worth their salt knows that Batman has dedicated his life to ridding Gotham City of all of them. To that end, he has adopted the identity of a criminal in order to facilitate gathering information about Gotham’s underworld. Under the guise of Matches Malone, a small-time hood whose accidental death afforded Batman the opportunity to appropriate his identity, the Dark Knight moves through the ranks of criminality with impunity, gathering intelligence and shaping events from the inside.
2 Wonder Woman: Boutique Owner
Modern film audiences and comic book readers alike are probably most familiar with Wonder Woman as a sword-wielding Amazonian Princess whose battle prowess is beyond compare, but the fact of the matter is, she wasn’t always depicted as such. During a brief period in the late 60s’ and early 70s’, Wonder Woman was de-powered, and worked as a women’s clothing boutique owner!
Although she continued to fight crime, she did so in a jumpsuit and with the martial arts training she learned from her sensei, I-Ching. Thankfully, Diana regained her traditional powers, costume, and stature shortly after, becoming the badass warrior fans know and love!
1 Superman: Adult Film Star
One of the more bizarre stories to come out of the immediate post-Crisis world came in Action Comics #592-593. When the villain Sleez visits Metropolis after being exiled from Apokolips for being too depraved (you read that right). He uses his powers of persuasion to brainwash Big Barda into doing a suggestive dance wearing close to nothing, which he then sells on the black market. Ever the entrepreneur, Sleez realizes that a perfect follow-up to this would be to shoot a film with Barda and a mind-controlled Superman in flagrante delicto. Thankfully, the shoot never happened, but for a fleeting moment, the Big Blue Boy Scout was an adult film performer!